We shouldn’t lose A&E to huge centralised beast

It’s worrying, isn’t it. I receive daily updates from Kent

Online and last week I read the disturbing news that ‘Tory politicians are teaming up to convince Boris Johnson to back Canterbury’s super hospital bid.’ As you might imagine, developer Mark Quinn has put his oar in by offering to build the shell of the proposed hospital in return for permission to build 2,000 homes. Boris Johnson is bouncing around like Tigger and promising to scatter unbelievable amounts of money on everything that falls within his vision. Surely, we know he won’t be able to do this when the time comes but the prospect of losing our A&E to some gargantuan, centralised beast in Canterbury is truly frightening. If anything, we could really do with more, small A&Es like the old cottage hospitals. People with life-threatening conditions need help to be close at hand, not at the end of a harrowing journey along inadequate roads.

For reasons beyond our control, Mrs B and I couldn’t get down to Dover Place to have a look at how ABC is spending our money. There is a sad irony in the fact that part of the scheme will be known as the Event Yard when we remember that the much-loved Ashford Youth Theatre was turfed out of their space. This was in order to make way for something that is speculative with a planned life of only five years.

We’re told that the new scheme will have (yawn) food and drink outlets and live sports and films projected onto something or other. I can’t help thinking of the ‘bread and circuses’ ploy of the ancient Romans as a means of pacifying a restless citizenry.

Fancy, eye-catching schemes are all very well in their place but they should come second to social and council housing and the essential improvements that would make life more liveable for disabled citizens.

‘People with lifethreatening conditions don’t need a harrowing journey along inadequate roads’