I came into local politics nine years ago because I believed that Wye residents needed an alternative and that national party politics had no place in Ashford Borough Council. That belief has not changed; if anything, as the Westminster dramas have continued to unfold over the last two electoral terms, my beliefs have grown stronger. National political alliance is a distraction that creates unhelpful theatre and ensures that unpopular policies are followed by our council. National party whipping brings even ward members with the best of intentions back to follow party lines. National incentives bribe councils to ignore local views.
Ashford Independents are a group of like-minded people who come together to compete alongside national parties in the local political field. We do not have a party whip, so answer only to our electorate. We operate a respectful system that ensures discussion to explore all sides of an argument before entering public meetings. We encourage our members to ignore political rock-throwing and we are ruthlessly honest as well as self-funding. There are no external influences on our views, except those of our residents. Our agenda is local, open, and we will not lie to you.
A Council led by Ashford Independents would be pan-political; we are pragmatically green, business savvy and community driven. We would introduce policies to support the environment in the next Ashford Local plan. Services and goods required by the council would be locally sourced for the dual benefit of reduced carbon footprint and support of our local businesses. Development would be focussed on that which provides homes that people on local wages can afford. We would invest for the future after meaningful consultation with the people of Ashford Borough, organised so that working people can participate. We would work to make Ashford a place to be proud of and which would attract businesses to provide quality employment for our young people. We are not change averse, but we value Ashford’s heritage and would work to preserve it. A council exists to provide services. Ashford Borough Council looks after housing, parking, planning, environmental services such as refuse collection and looking after council-owned facilities such as leisure centres and offices. Our objective would be to fund all basic services from income not investment, taking risk out of the equation to safeguard services. Like every council, Ashford Borough Council is required to work alongside our County Council and government. We believe that an Independent Ashford Borough Council would change the dynamic that has comfortably existed for many years, just as we did in Ashford Borough Council in 2019. When the number of Ashford Independent elected members grew from 3 to 11, the tone of debate for the electoral period was changed for the better. With the support of the community, we hope to extend that support further, grow our team and our influence, challenge the status quo, and bring Ashford resident’s voices into our local council to be heard, not just at Borough level but at County and government level too.