Does tram mean an Olympic bid?

After months of suggestions on how to waste money on a theatre in Ashford, we have now moved on to an even more ridiculous proposal by Cllr Heyes regarding a tram on the Ashford to Hastings railway line. I note that he represents Godinton and lives on the other side of town, so has no detailed knowledge of Park Farm or Bridgefield. Trams are universally used for short journeys due to the infrastructure required. They cannot share track with trains for various technical reasons, not least the fact that Network Rail owns it. I used to live near Croydon and the installation of a tram system was disruptive, expensive and took several years.

It was eventually launched successfully but there is probably a financial burden on Transport for London, who are the operators. Even if it were technically possible, who does Cllr Heyes imagine would fund it - surely not the financially naive Ashford Borough Council?

Many cities throughout the world with trams - other than national capitals - are Olympic venues. I look forward to the fantasists on ABC launching a bid for the next available Games. After all, the high-speed Javelin train service between Ashford and St Pancras worked very well in 2012.

I have lived on Bridgefield for eight years and am in two minds about the failure to get a rail halt on our development. The prospect of us becoming a Park and Ride location is not attractive and most of the time the Stagecoach B bus is adequate. Brian Jackson’s point regarding lack of capacity on the existing trains is a separate issue which should be resolved by Southern Rail.

Philip Rickard,

Cheesemans Green Lane, Ashford parts. I drive down the road every day and a series of potholes specifically by the traffic lights and turning onto Leacon road have made it almost impossible to avoid damage to tyres.

As a car driver, I could not imagine how dangerous this stretch would be to cyclists and motorcyclists.

Sadly, as you reported on December

15, a fatal crash occurred on Brookfield Road between two vehicles. My thoughts and prayers go out to those involved. Unfortunately, this has not been the only crash on this road. By looking at police crash records since 2015, 11 crashes have occurred around the Matalan roundabout three of which were serious. The roundabout and the surrounding roads were supposed to be improved by Kent County Council in cooperation with developers building the new Chilmington Green site.

Unfortunately, disagreements between the developers and KCC have meant a major delay over the improvement to infrastructure works. In an article on November 28, Cllr Paul Bartlett called the delay “a positive one for Ashford”. I couldn’t disagree more. The delay to improvements has meant that traffic around the area can be at a standstill and safety improvements would help to deal with this.

I do agree with Cllr Bartlett that there are other infrastructure improvements such as Junction 10a which are occurring currently. But, improvements such as filling in potholes on Brookfield Road could help to lessen the chance of a crash.

I would like to call on KCC to implement small improvements whilst the delay is still ongoing.

Alex Ward,

Sir Bernard Paget Avenue, Ashford

Potholes are among the dangers faced by motorists in Ashford