Most people oppose plan for allotments

Further to your article Fears Over Parking Plan For Community Park (Express, January 5), Ashford Borough Council must have been at a different community consultation meeting to me at the Queens Head.

Most people seemed to be against allotments (carefully disguised as community gardens) and there are serious concerns about car parking in Cheesemans Green Lane, which could encourage crime and anti-social behaviour.

This plan has taken six years to reach this point and some of the Bridgefield Section 106 funds have been used for the Multi-Use Games Area in Kingsnorth Village, which is of little or no benefit to those living on the development. Kingsnorth Parish Council has been particularly unhelpful in supporting the views of people living on Bridgefield.

Despite the number of residents, Bridgefield does not have any direct representation on the parish council. The chairman, Alison Breese, has been a longtime supporter of allotments, although she doesn’t seem to want them in the village.

The main requirement on this site is recreational facilities for children and young people. The current play area at Herdwick Close, provided by the developers, is woefully inadequate and compares extremely poorly to the one on Park Farm.

Given the time already taken to get nowhere, I am not holding my breath for anything to happen in the near future. Philip Rickard Cheesemans Green Lane, Kingsnorth from the welcome and friendly atmosphere, and green open spaces that is Kennington.

My comparison I made in the previous week’s paper with Calais was with the extensive high fences all around the entrances to the Tunnel and the French port.

The fence around my local prisoner-ofwar camp during the Second World War was less substantial than that which now exists around Bybrook Barn’s car park.

I welcome any attempt to make the “barn” more attractive, but I don’t think that fence achieves that.

Perhaps clematis, or other flowering climbers might be planted along the fence to give it more appeal. Please don’t fence us out. Ted Prangnell Kennington