NEWSLETTER August 2004

Below this Newsletter are details of the annual coach tour on Oct. 28th. Please read the details and ensure you book in good time. We are planning to visit a number of sites in Ashford scheduled for or considered for development during the next decade or so, and we hope to have a member of Ashford Strategic Planning Dept. to accompany us and explain what proposals are for each site.

This Newsletter is going out a little earlier than usual since matters are moving on and we want to keep you up to date. As your Chairman I am setting out below a number of feature proposals and I am taking the liberty of adding my own comments.

NEW HOUSING

Between 2001-2011 it is anticipated that some 7,900 new houses should be completed, of which 30% should be classified as affordable.

COMMENT - These 'affordable' houses will be subsidised to the tune of £12,000 each, which I am given to understand will be paid to the builder. Thus the house will be sold for £12,000 less than it's market value. No-one has explained to me how a speculator is going to be prevented from buying the house at the discounted price and then selling it on at market value. This would be a complete negation of the intention.

JOBS

During the same time scale it is proposed that 5,900 new jobs will be created, and whilst a growing population will generate some new jobs, it is not clear how many will fall into the public sector or how many are expected to be absorbed by private enterprise.

COMMENT - The rate of employment at present in Ashford is very low compared to the south west of England, and the major growth is forecast for Bucks, Herts, and Surrey. There is no guarantee of new jobs creation for Ashford.

THE TOWN CENTRE

The town centre is quite rightly seen as an island that needs to be brought back into being a natural part of the town. New proposals are to turn the ring road into a dual carriageway, build a new dual carriageway starting at the end of the Orbital road and heading north past the Design Centre, then west past the rail station and on over a new steeply angled bridge over the railway and round joining into the route down to the big roundabout close to the M20. Provision for a bus service with stops is built in, and the area in front of the station on the normal passenger side will be closed off, and a single entrance, currently that used for the CTRL, will serve both Euro and domestic lines.

COMMENT - The designs we have been shown look well thought out and with trees and screening should enhance the environment and avoid through traffic entering the town centre. Transport in general has been given much thought and consideration. New bus routes are planned to serve the outlying areas with direct service into the centre. Park and Ride is being considered. A new station on the Hastings line just south of the Orbital road is planned, and facilities to encourage cycling and walking are all in the review. Not yet decided is the site for the new proposed Discovery structure - see below.
DISCOVERY BUILDING

Out of a number of designs submitted the Council has chosen one. The Committee of your Trust have yet to debate on this design, but suffice it to say that it is ultra modern and as such highly controversial. The Trust in principle would like to see all new developments form a uniform pattern and one that is aesthetically pleasing, We have therefore suggested to the Council that they should hold a Public Meeting to allow general comments before proceeding with what some might later consider a very expensive 'White Elephant'.

SERVICES

We all take for granted supplies of water, electricity, gas, and sewage facilities. The further addition of some 8,000 new houses plus industrial and other units is going to place a considerable burden on the provision of these services.

Let us take electricity first. The Power Station at Dungeness is due for closure during the next two or three years. The only proposal so far for replacing the current it generates is for building wind farms, which will produce only a fraction of the power needed and are in themselves an expensive and controversial media for electricity production. One can hazard a guess perhaps that supplies will be sought from European sources, and these will not come cheaply!

Water provision is in itself a problem, albeit not insuperable. Plans to increase supply from Bewl Reservoir may be flawed, and are dependent it seems on a much higher than average rainfall. If new supplies have to be connected from far afield the cost of water supply is going to soar. Little wonder there are proposals to insist that all new developments are fitted with meters and households encouraged not to waste water. Treatment of sewage is handled by plant at Bybrook on the river Stour. This plant is already working at near max capacity. Somewhere an additional new plant will have to be constructed all of which will cost a great deal of money.

Gas perhaps is the least of the problems, but the cost of this may rise if oil fields run out and supplies are restricted

THE TWO 'F,s' - FINANCE AND FEASABILITY

A question mark hangs over how much of all this new building will be financed by government grants and how much by private finance and Council funds. So far the hoped for expansion of industry and jobs has not transpired in Ashford, and areas set aside for industrial development remain vacant. The transformation of the town centre will in theory attract new shops and perhaps some industry. The Council and other public bodies will doubtless need to increase staff, creating new jobs - but at whose expense? No doubt we will see how much progress is made on these fronts during the next few years, but make no mistake the future is clouded by uncertainty. Rest assured that your Committee are keeping a watching brief on all this. Indeed we have become more an Urban Trust that a Rural Trust. We see our role as one of encouraging the better projects and highlighting to the bodies concerned our disapproval where appropriate. We hope that you support our aims and objectives and will bring to our notice any matters that you consider we should investigate.

Ian Grant - Chairman Ashford Rural Trust.

Archive reports

Autumn 2003 Spring 2003 Autumn 2002 Spring 2002