As Leader of the Borough Council, I am frequently asked “What is your vision for the town?”. My reply is normally “How long have you got?”
It often surprises people that, despite being a born and bred Ashfordian, I’m not stuck in the past; we can’t roll the clock back. Like many, I love to reminisce about Saturday morning pictures at the Odeon, usherettes with torches and trays of ice cream in the interval. I have strong memories of the old market (particularly the doughnut van!) but the reality is we live in the present and we must look to the future.
I want Ashford to build council homes; decent quality houses and flats, indiscernible from private dwellings. It’s the only answer. We have reached the point where a single person on a minimum wage income cannot afford to rent a room. When Ashford was a much smaller town it had 14,000 council owned homes – now it has less than 6000 whereas the number of private dwellings has more than doubled in the same period. If we want to be a sustainable town, with thriving businesses then we need to ensure that there is affordable accommodation for all types of workers. It stands to reason that for people on lower incomes, travelling to work is expensive and best avoided by living close to places of work.
There needs to be a vision for Ashford; proper placemaking delivered through the future Ashford Local Plan. If we want a town where people live, work and play then we need to gaze a little into the crystal ball and start shaping the future now. We need to start building the right homes, for the right people, in the right places. Our decisions need to be bold enough to shape the future. It won’t be easy, but we have a plan, an actual plan! You can read it here, on the council’s website, Planning-a-bright-future-council-Borough-Plan Your Ashford Independent team together with our Green Party partners will not shirk from it. We will take this vision and mould our new Ashford Local Plan around it, enshrining our aspirations in policy to deliver the dream.
I could go on and indeed I might if anyone is interested! Just not today!
Noel Ovenden