COUNCIL EXTENDS BOCKHANGER SQUARE CONSULTATIONS

COUNCIL EXTENDS BOCKHANGER SQUARE CONSULTATIONS 

 

Kennington Community Council has extended the consultation on options for building a community facility at Bockhanger Square until Saturday 4th March. 

 

Following a public meeting on 22nd February at St Mary’s Community Centre in Kennington, the Council responded to suggestions that the consultation should be kept open for a further week and efforts made to increase the response rate, especially among young people in the area. 

 

Unusually, the consultation is open to those aged 13 and upwards. Any new community facility will want to expand opportunities for youth activities and two options would involve the Council taking out loans which would be repaid into the future, when young residents will find themselves eligible to pay the Council Tax precept which provides the income for the Council. 

 

Residents are being asked to rank 4 options, ranging from leaving the square as an open space to developing affordable housing on the site and paying for a community facility through housing loans. Between these, two options are discussed for building a community facility: 

 

● one using modular building techniques to build a stand-alone facility of some 200 sq m and the Community Council funding the majority of the two-year project; and 

 

● another using conventional building techniques and incorporating a large hall, similar to centres available in other suburbs such as Repton and Singleton – the cost and funding of this option are more uncertain. 

 

Residents wishing to complete responses can use the leaflet delivered last month to every household in Kennington or go online and use the Ashford Borough Council Consultation Hub. https://haveyoursay.ashford.gov.uk/2023bockhanger/consultationHome 

 

Copies are available locally in the following convenience stores, where complete questionnaires can also be return to avoid postage costs: Dhanda Stores on Bockhanger Square. 

 

Additional copies can also be found at Bellas on Faversham Road and Kennington Grill on Tile Kiln Road. 

 

Because loan repayments by the Community Council would affect the Council Tax across the whole of Kennington, all households in the area and everyone in the household aged 13 and over are eligible to record their views.