A race to pave over our paradise

It was some time ago, when the council was busy agreeing to the destruction of Chilmington Green that I suggested it would not be too long before development plans would be set in motion for any number of the borough’s villages, adding to the “dormitory” status of the area and, yes, providing extra homes – but for people who, by and large, will neither work in the area nor shop in the town.

A couple of weeks ago, surprise, surprise, the KE reported that representation had been made to the Ashford Borough Council cabinet on behalf of Shadoxhurst, Orlestone, Aldington and Bonnington, Brabourne, Charing and Brook, all of whom were concerned about the destructive effect of proposed development plans.

There appears to be an almost maniacal determination to citify our once beautiful borough with office blocks and housing estates, demonstrating a brutal disregard for the wishes of the very folk to whom the council owes a duty of care and respect.

This kind of steamrollering is a direct consequence of a council without any credible opposition. The current “accept what you’re given” approach is a poor reflection on the ideals of democracy

A significant addition to the town’s cultural life is the recent opening of the Knole Gallery in Bank Street. I called in there last Friday and was met by a charming lady – Kim McGuire – who told me the art gallery is the brainchild of Chris Hallett who has recently retired from his position as chief clerk to a London firm of barristers.

I’m always amused to read the reasons given by large companies for any changes they make to their services.

The most recent of these concerns the “Little and Often” bus service between the town centre and Park Farm.

The change, they say, is to improve the journey for residents. This has been shown not to be the case for some “Park Farmer” pensioners, who say the new service follows a different route from the old one, giving at least one elderly soul a 20-minute walk to catch the bus outside Tesco.

This so-called “improvement” in the service is, I suspect, not to make the journey easier, but to reduce the cost of running double-decker buses in which I, sometimes, was the only passenger.