Tough time for restaurants as Mr Oliver stays away

Restaurants, restaurants and still even yet more restaurants. This seems to be council leader Gerry Clarkson’s amazingly inventive suggestion for Ashford’s revival. With thousands more residents coming to our high-rise dormitory town every year, it becomes clear that there has been a need for commensurate numbers of nail bars, phone shops and, for the chaps with cutesy top-knot hairstyles, loads of barber shops. Council thinking indicates that our population will be wealthy enough to spend their free time drinking uncountable cups of designer coffees and perusing the menus of high-class, perhaps even exotic, eateries.

Well, at least we won’t be getting a Jamie Oliver outlet following the collapse of his dining empire. Indeed, the few minutes I spent perusing the internet indicated that there are quite a few restaurant chains having a hard time.

It’s amusing to know that the council’s crystal ball has been advising our masters to buck this trend!

But wait! There has now, at last, been an infusion of new blood into the council chamber.

The new councillors need as much support as we can possibly give them in order to overcome the inertia built up over past years. We must encourage the new chaps to resist – and even reverse - the cuts to essential services for the disadvantaged members of our community. Bockhanger residents should fight tooth and nail, not just for a new community centre but a first-class community centre.

Many people have asked me where the millions of pounds have come from to allow the council to buy large chunks of real estate.

I don’t know and I’ve so far been unable to find anyone who does actually know; has there been that much money stashed away in the coffers; has the council been borrowing the money; has it come from the government?

How did they manage, a while ago, to give every councilor a thousand quid to buy new computers and such. That was, potentially,

£43,000 that might well have gone to public services.

With parliament in turmoil and fresh blood in our council, can we be looking forward to a bright new future?