Sunday 25 July 2010

Open Letter: Removal of Skating Facilities

Dear Sirs,

The closing down of the skateboarding site on Tannery Lane must come as a disappointment to many young residents.

The site forms part of core activities for youth engagement in Ashford that do not involve paying to enter, and has played a significant part in reducing perceived youth antisocial behaviour In the town.

It is clear that the closing down is due to some form of health and safety issue, and I hope that such a descision does not form part of the over-zealous health and safety culture seen nationwide. Alongside issues with restoring Victoria Park playing facilities, we are in danger of telling children they must not run in case they hurt themselves.

Ashford are seeing a significant reduction in recreational facilities for residents for the summer as it is, with the Stour Centre on limited availablity.

The far larger risk with the the reduction of access to free resources is the young people will utilise other, potentially dangerous sights to skate and experiement with parkour such as the town centre.

Yours faithfully

Kelly-Marie Blundell
Ashford Liberal Democrats

Open Letter: State of the Borough Debate

Dear Sirs,

I was concerned to read that the Ashford Borough Council Executive have decided that the “State of the Borough Debate” is no longer needed (Kentish Express, 22nd July 2010).

At a time when residents are so concerned about potential planning developments that additional seating needs to be provided at council meetings, the comments that not enough people attend seems invalid.

While only 40 people were able to attend last year, Ashford Borough Council cannot deny that they received so many submissions for questions, they were forced to limit the number heard to 25.

In spite of the decision to remove the debate, it is still currently listed on the council website. I find it saddening that the local government do not have the same faith in democracy that their national counterparts hold, and as a result they are not prepared to listen to genuine concerns and encourage debate and community engagement.

Planning is not the only issue that residents in Ashford are concerned about, but the decision to delay Ashford Futures proposed development plans until September would ensure a good attendance at the November debate, not to mention the ongoing dispute with antisocial behaviour, fly tipping and inadequate waste collection and appropriate allocation of public funded resources.

I hope that the Kentish Express will campaign to return this debate to Ashford Borough Council as my local party will be.

Yours faithfully

Kelly-Marie Blundell
Ashford Liberal Democrats

Sunday 4 July 2010

Open Letter: Save Our Courts

Dear Sir

The Kentish Express this week identifies the proposed public sector saving cuts leave Ashford Magistrate Court and Ashford County court are threatened with closure.

In making the decisions as to what courts to close, it is likely that government will consider that the lack of custody suite is reasonable justification. This is because it will save money and demand on police and court staff time by simply using courts which already have immediate access from police cells.

Before the closure of Ashford Police Station's Custody suite, people who warned that this would lead to the closure of the magistrates court where accused of scaremongering.

we are now at risk of not only losing significant resources for community policing and community safety, but also the resources to prosecute those criminals. This is likely to lower people's feelings of safety within the borough on the whole not to mention their faith in announcements made by public services.

Assurances were made by Kent Police that the custody suite loss would not lead to the losing of the Magistrates Court. However, whether disingenuous or simply an unfortunate coincidence, this is likely to have a direct impact on whether Ashford can sustain the Magistrate Court.

We have already seen significant job losses as a result of the movement of the custody suite, and now we face more along with the double-edged sword of risks to public safety.

To lose the County Court would also be a significant blow to Ashford. This undermines the principles of Civil Law by denying those the opportunity to seek recompense and justice at a convenient location. Travelling to Canterbury County Court, where it is a significant difference from the West station and with no direct bus route, would not make it easy for people to pursue litigation.

I wholeheartedly support the Kentish Express campaign to Save Our Courts, but I am concerned that their fate is already sealed by past decisions.

Kind regards



--
Kelly-Marie Blundell
Ashford Liberal Democrats
Kennington

Ashford to Bear Weight of Criminal Justice Cuts

The Kentish Express this week identifies the proposed public sector saving cuts leave Ashford Magistrate Court and Ashford County court are threatened with closure.

In making the decisions as to what courts to close, it is likely that government will consider That the lack of custody suite is reasonable justification. This is because it will save money and demand on police and court staff time by simply using courts which already have immediate access from police cells.

Before the closure of Ashford Police Station's Custody suite, people who warned that this would lead to the closure of the magistrates court where accused of scaremongering.

Now, those of us who were accused of being cynical look on as proposals to close Ashford Magistrate Court gets underway.

Further Implications of the Closure of Custody Suite

As well as losing the jobs of those recruited to manage the custody suite, further jobs have been transferred to Folkestone within the Criminal Justice Unit as case working staff cannot work at such a distance.

One has to ask what is the cost to the public sector of paying both redeployee fees to those staff no longer needed within the police service, as well as travel fees for those relocated.

If spending cuts as proposed in the budget must be so severe, perhaps challenging current decisions to chop up and move around public services should be done in the first instance with the schedule of future losses, as would be normal in the private sector.

To narrow the argument, it can be seen as the least 60 jobs will have now gone from Ashford police station, to be followed by the staff of the magistrate court and potentially the County Court.

Therefore residents in Ashford lose both employment opportunities and public protection.

I do not wish to see this happen, and if you do not either, please take part in the consultation.

Portfolio Holder Councillor Michael Claughton is quoted as saying Communities must come first. Why did he not campaign in the first instance to prevent the removal of both the custody suite and the levels of community policing in Ashford town centre?

The Potential Real Cost of the Development of St Mary's Church

This week's Nuts and Bolt column in the Kentish Express identifies feckless fly tipping in the churchyard in the town centre.

The disposal of a post-modern pink Christmas tree may amuse people, but the implications are more wide reaching.

While the Church of England has agreed to the development may go ahead and will fund the disinterring of the graves, if residents cannot respect both the integrity of the graveyard or the residents who suffer from regular antisocial behaviour, in the surrounding area,one must ask if they will ever respect or act responsibly towards the proposed development.

As the column identifies, equipment and work will be impossible to protect from the three fair of rowdy weekend revellers who already cause much distress in this area.

Is the development of the Church worth (in addition to the proposed spending plan of one million) the legal costs of people suing for falling down holes, or the cost of security guards to patrol the area?

Open Letter: Sir Terry Farrell's Proposed Design Plans for Ashford

Dear Sirs,

Sir Terry Farrell's presentation for Ashford cites transport as being at the “heart of vision for the future” (Your Ashford, June 9th 2010).

The architect may wish to more fully understand Ashford's heritage before he decides on railway being the single most important piece of Ashford's history.

The railway was introduced to Ashford in 1842, while the Tenterden and Rolvenden of Kent and Sussex railway was established later in 1900. If Railway was so integral to Ashford's heritage, then why was it not also designated a National Heritage site?

Sir Terry Farrell also fails to address the true heritage of the town, the Market, which was established in 1600. In spite of this, previous perpetrators of “design excellence” moved the integral market to a flood plane in the 1990s and the street market has suffered significant erosion in the last two decades.

The site of the true heritage of Ashford is now being sold to developers for housing, in spite of Ashford Borough Council promising when the market was relocated in the 90s that the space would not be used for housing.

Residents now find the land being sold between the town centre and Victoria Park which will further separate the residential communities from shopping and the ubiquitous traffic facilities Sir Terry is so keen to highlight and implement.

I would be happier to see a developer focusing on the needs of the communities in Ashford and the usefulness of design, with sensible traffic infrastructure and more jobs, community facilities and events than another concrete wilderness.

Yours faithfully,

Kelly-Marie Blundell

Ashford Liberal Democrats
Kennington

Bybrook Supermarket Expansion

The Kentish Express (July 1st) details plans to double the size of Sainsbury in Bybrook.

Warren Business Side has suffered a since the move of other large stores such as Curry's to locations closer to the town centre. However, it is still an integral supermarket link for residents of Bybrook for their weekly shopping and petrol supplies.

My initial response when I saw that it was going to expand was to think, fantastic, perhaps they can sort out the parking.

One thing that has always irritated me when visiting Sainsbury is that the parking of the structure lacks direction with the random cones and sleeping policeman attempting to control the flow of traffic in some form of Serpentine towards the store.

However, it seems that in spite of doubling the size of the store and potentially demolishing the two buildings next to Sainsbury's, parking will only increase by 51 spaces. Confusingly, 47 of these will be for disabled drivers and 31 for parents and children.

Therefore, rather than gaining 51 spaces, the site will actually be losing 17 spaces.

Indeed, as anyone who visits the store past 10 pm or prior to 6 am knows, is significantly limited by the number of Lorries parking there for a nap rather than pay ludicrous fees at junction 10.

Whether or not the parking layout will be addressed is not mentioned in the article, but as we can assume, as the store will stay open, this will not happen.

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