Residents in bid to save open space from development

Ashford residents fear there will be no open space left if plans to designate a plot of land as a village green are turned down.

Transcript

00:00 My parents bought the house just opposite there in 1971, so we've been connected for the area 53 years, 52 years.

00:06 It is a community area, people walk their dogs here, children play here, it acts as a natural barrier between the road

00:13 and it should be kept for the community and for people to enjoy, so there's no way that it should be developed.

00:20 I don't believe that it should be changed, I think it should be left with trees and general areas for the public,

00:27 all types of people to be able to wander around.

00:31 In general, Ashford itself is losing all its greenery and there's so many places being built on

00:38 that when the children do start to get bigger and everything, they'll have nowhere to go, it'll just be all concrete.

00:47 One of my interests and fields of expertise, I've worked in economic development before, is how we bring communities together

00:54 and this green space really achieves this. It's rare that you see somebody not playing on it, children kicking a ball about,

01:03 others perhaps celebrating the conker season, playing under the horse chestnut trees, there are cricket matches

01:11 and we really do use this green for dog walking and other activities.

01:17 It's a very strong application, we've had an awful lot of support come through from the local residents,

01:22 it's really quite incredible and I think Councillor Barclay said it was one of the strongest applications

01:28 that Kent County Council's received in a very long time. So we're hopeful, we've got a good case

01:33 and we've got lots of evidence, so we're hopeful that things will go our way next Wednesday.

01:39 Very hopeful that the village green application will be approved, I think the village green application

01:46 will go a long way to help keep this site safe from development and help preserve this green space

01:54 for future generations. I've grown up using this green space as a local resident and as a councillor

02:03 and I'd really like to see it stay the way it is.

02:07 At this stage it's important that we don't take anything for granted.

02:12 The Borough Council has just made its call for new development sites for the next plan,

02:18 so this village green application is crucial that we get it through and approved by the

02:24 County Council in order to protect this area from potential future development.