Planning a bright future for Ashford
Posted on 1 August 2024Ashford Borough Council has set out its focus for the next four years in a new corporate plan.
Titled ‘Our Plan for the Borough – 2024-2028’, it sets out the vision: To make Ashford a place where people, business and nature can collectively thrive.
Three pillars support this vision and form the areas against which progress will be measured:
- Planet - Working to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and creating places for nature will be at the heart of everything we do.
- People - Listening and serving the Ashford community is our philosophy; we will make best use of available resources to build an equitable and fair society.
- Place - We are planning for the future of our community and to make Ashford a place people are pleased to call home and love to visit.
The Borough Plan sets out the Council’s priorities over the next four years. We face many challenges, maintaining financial stability, serving a growing population, and tackling climate change. Our aim is to make Ashford a place where people, business and nature can collectively thrive
Cllr Noel Ovenden, Leader of Ashford Borough Council
Public views helped shape areas of focus
The council’s current Corporate Plan covers the period 2022-24 and is therefore coming to the end of its life. The draft Borough Plan was developed over the past year with input from Cabinet members, wider members and senior council officers.
The draft Borough Plan was submitted to Cabinet in April 2024 seeking approval for it to be subject to a public consultation. The consultation was held between 10 May and 16 June 2024. There were 158 responses, which was a fantastic response.
Senior council officers considered the responses to the consultation at a meeting in June and the final version has been informed by the consultation responses and that meeting’s discussion.