Press Releases for 2005

NOT ENOUGH MONEY FOR ESSENTIAL FACILITIES

24th February 2005

Steve Dawe attended one of Ashford Borough Council's stakeholder workshops on Ashford's Future(1). It was made clear in the meeting that the Council does not know where all of the necessary funds for facilities for Ashford will come from up to 2031. Similarly, the Council is extremely concerned about job creation to avoid Ashford turning into a dormitory settlement. Steve Dawe comments:

"There was a striking candour in the Workshop I attended. Councillors and Council Officers are at a loss to know where the funding for social housing, education places, health provision and social care will come from(2). "On jobs, the Council and its consultants are considering the issue of obtaining the transfer of a Civil Service department to Ashford, something Ashford Green Party has previously suggested. As Mr Kelvin Campbell of Urban Initiatives pointed out, better locations than Ashford do exist around the M25 so attracting new private sector employers is difficult. "The Council is still negotiating with the Environment Agency to try to obtain an Integrated Water Management Strategy for the Ashford area. But apparently no one is clear about exactly where and how additional water supplies are going to be found. Whilst this and other problems have been caused by insufficient Government funding, stakeholders attending the Workshop were not impressed that their requests for a very compact model of expansion for Ashford have not been entirely met in the current version of the Masterplan (3). "Progress on obtaining more Further Education in the Borough is in hand. However, Higher Education expansion waits on the outcome of negotiations (leaked to Ashford Green Party) between Wye College and Canterbury Christ Church Univeristy College."

ENDS c280 words

FURTHER INFORMATION: Steve Dawe, on 01233 645167 or 07747 036192. Contact address as above.

Notes: 1. A report on an Ashford's Future Stakeholder Workshop held at the Civic Centre, Ashford on 21st February 2005 is available from Steve Dawe stevedawe at gn.apc.org and will appear under Reports/Factsheets shortly at www.kentgreenparty.org.uk This workshop was considering the Masterplan for Ashford up to 2031- The Greater Ashford Development Framework. This can be considered to be an agenda setting stage for the first Ashford Development Framework which will replace the existing Local Plan. This report is part of a series of documents Ashford Green Party has prepared on Ashford's Future. See in this section of the website our report on the Capacity Study; on the inappropriateness of Park and Ride; our Ashford Borough and Wye Transport policies. See also press releases on Ashford in the press releases section [use Google search to obtain listing of all press releases relating to Ashford].

2. A point strongly emphasised by Richard Alderton, Head of Planning, ABC. 3. Option 6 Map already out of date at the Workshop.

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29th March 2005