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Had a group of forward-thinking construction experts got their way in the mid-2000s, a monorail – yes, a monorail – would now be gliding above the streets of Ashford.
Dan Wright recalls where the idea came from and what happened to it...
The Simpsons classic from 1993, where the people of Springfield are persuaded to buy a monorail, does not inspire confidence in the highway in the sky.
For anyone not familiar with the TV programme, the city gets a thrown-together system that spins dangerously out of control on its inaugural run until Homer saves the day.
Now widely regarded as one of the sitcom’s best-ever episodes, it is still jokingly referred to whenever plans for a monorail are floated.
But such jibes didn’t put off the Ashford Construction Focus Group (ACFG) when it presented plans for a line around the town in late 2007.
The group feared Ashford’s future was threatened by the “wealth of opportunities” in Folkestone, Canterbury and Maidstone and wanted to boost its fortunes by bringing a “wow factor” to the borough.
It believed a town centre action plan drawn up at the time didn’t go far enough and, with the support of the chamber of commerce, was keen to see a more radical approach to attract investors.
The group, an alliance of 26 construction companies in Ashford, hoped to link the town centre with the Designer Outlet in the first phase of the system.
Members lacked any form of funding but they thought the scheme would make the area stand out and allow it to build on its railway heritage.
Kennington’s Albert Walton, now 73, was chairman of the focus group at the time and felt sure the idea would prove to be an “excellent transportation solution”.
“We thought it would be a quick-win and wouldn’t cost an awful lot of money because monorails use existing travel routes,” Mr Walton recalls.
“You just dig a hole in the ground, put a column in and build the thing on the top.
“Initially, we planned to have one train of two or three carriages going backwards and forwards between the Designer Outlet and where the Elwick Place complex has now been built.
“To keep the costs down, it wouldn’t need to be high speed – it would only do about 15mph – but would give a travel time of about two or three minutes between the two places.”
In December 2007, the ACFG approached Ashford Borough Council (ABC) to request funding for a detailed feasibility study to see how workable the idea really was.
It was hoping to secure up to £150,000 to cover the cost of the report, but Cllr Gerry Clarkson (Con), now the council’s leader, described the figure as “alarming” and the authority said it could not take on the commitment.
“I think the fear was that it would be incredibly expensive, whereas we felt it wouldn’t necessarily be,” Mr Walton says.
“There’s a monorail in Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia which was incredibly expensive to build – it’s a great big one with huge concrete beams and goes incredibly fast – while another one at Alton Towers is like a fairground ride and was built very cheaply.
“We were thinking about something between the two – something that was a little bit better than the one at Alton Towers but it could have been on similar grounds, running on a simple steel structure.”
Despite being only half-a-mile in length, Mr Walton thought the first phase of the project would help solve the connectivity problems between the Outlet and the town centre.
Three stations were planned on the initial route, with stops at Elwick Road, Ashford International station, and the Outlet.
If successful, there were plans to extend the system, with the line running to the former John Lewis store next to the Drover’s roundabout, where a now-shelved park and ride was also set to be built.
On the other side of Ashford, the ACFG hoped the track could branch out to the Orbital Park, Waterbrook and Park Farm, with more trains and stops added as it increased in size.
“We thought it would make the town more vibrant,” Mr Walton explains.
“Getting on a bus is boring but a monorail is a different story – there aren’t many of them in the world.
“It wouldn’t have been held up by traffic lights as it would have sat above the road system; even though it’s using the same travel corridors, it would not interfere with them.”
Mr Walton, of Burton Road, had hoped the scheme would be up and running in time for London 2012, but with ABC not taking up the feasibility study, the project hit the buffers.
It did, however, receive support from some in the council, with Cllr Jim Wedgbury – who still sits on the authority today, representing the Conservatives – one of those backing the project.
In February 2004, three years before the monorail bid was shared with the council, the Park Farm resident set out his pledge to improve the town’s public transport.
“Why don’t we look at things like monorail? We have only been looking at buses,” Cllr Wedgbury said at a meeting of ABC’s overview and scrutiny committee.
“I know monorails are expensive initially, but they are clean and exciting and we are supposed to be a forward-looking town.”
Almost two years later, he was so opposed to bus-based proposals in a local transport plan that he tore up the document at a meeting of the joint transportation board.
“It is utter rubbish,” he said.
“It is about time people realised buses are not the best way forward.
'Unlike Folkestone, Ashford hasn’t got a multi-millionaire putting money into it...'
“They are a way of getting public transport on the cheap and keeping the poor in poverty, because it prevents them getting real freedom and being able to work in other places.”
Cllr Wedgbury says he feels the same way even now – and would like to see the monorail link the town centre with the William Harvey Hospital.
“I think with the growth in population of the town, we have to be more innovative in how we deal with public transport,” he says.
“I was only talking to officers at the council about a monorail last week – I think it is the way forward.
“It would mean less car parking at the hospital and its timings are always dead accurate.
“All we seem to think about is buses but I don’t think they are green enough.”
Mr Walton, who had retired but now works as a building control surveyor on a part-time basis, says the automatic monorail wouldn’t have needed a driver, just like the Docklands Light Railway in London.
“The stations themselves wouldn’t have needed to be very big,” he says.
“They would have been up in the air, with a lift on ground level taking people up and solar panels on the roof.
“We felt it could have been done very cheaply, sustainably, and it wouldn’t have needed much manpower.”
He remembers how Ashford MP Damian Green was “quite keen” on the project at one stage, but admits “I think he felt it was a bit pie in the sky”.
Last week, Mr Green told KentOnline: “I always thought it was a long shot in terms of practicality in that I can’t help thinking that a few more buses would be better – and there has been a lot more building in the town centre now.”
Despite the lack of political support, Mr Walton says he believes a monorail “would have definitely been a green solution”.
“We have the same bus service now as we did in the 2000s,” he notes.
“We haven’t got any electric buses in Ashford. We just have diesel buses that continue to pollute.
“A monorail would be environmentally friendly and economical, but without the feasibility study to back it up, you are not going to get the private investment needed to fund it.”
When asked about the project last week, ABC said there was very little it could say as it is not in the authority’s corporate plan and “doesn’t feature anywhere in our priorities for the future”.
But almost 15 years since he first presented the idea to councillors, Mr Walton remains a staunch monorail supporter.
“Unlike Folkestone [with Roger De Haan], Ashford hasn’t got a multi-millionaire putting money into it so it needs something to help bring in the investment,” he says.
“Don’t get me wrong, the town has improved and is a lot better than it used to be with the Elwick Place cinema complex, the brewery and the college.
“It’s all good stuff and has moved Ashford along but it’s got a long way to go... I still think a monorail would be viable because the idea still speaks of today.”
For an in-depth feature on the history of Ashford's County Square shopping centre, click here
