Planning and Development

New Local Plan for Cabinet Approval

southashfordcf 2 June 2016 0 Comments

Ashford Borough Council’s Local Plan to 2013 will go before the Council’s Cabinet on 9 June 2016. The Plan includes proposals for development on new sites in South Ashford as well as further development in Kingsnorth.

Following approval by Cabinet the proposals will be published for public consultation.

Daniel Carter, Principal Policy Planner from Ashford Borough Council will attend the South Ashford Community Forum Meeting on 13th July to discuss the proposals.

https://secure.ashford.gov.uk/committeesystem/ViewAgenda.aspx?MeetingId=2003

Ashford Borough Council, News, Planning and Development, Planning Policy, Safety

Application to rebuild fire flats

southashfordcf 26 May 2016 0 Comments

Two planning applications have been submitted to rebuild a block of flats, in Oak Tree Road, partially destroyed following an explosion on 15th June, last year. The entire roof and part of the first floor of the building were destroyed, leaving the occupants homeless. The remains now comprise of the ground floor shell and some walls to the remaining first floor flats.
Separate applications have been submitted:

the first is for the repair of the existing remains, retaining some the existing structure and re‐building where required,
the second is for the demolition of the existing remains down to the ground floor slab level and re‐building off the existing footprint

The applications can be viewed on Ashford Borough Councils on the website using Case No.s 16/00674/AS and 16/00669/AS

Ashford Borough Council, News, Planning and Development

Elwick Place construction to start in August

southashfordcf 21 May 2016 0 Comments

A staged construction programme has been issued for the Elwick Place development, as part of a submission to resolve conditions placed on the planning permission. It indicates that work will start on site in August with enabling works and construction of the car park. Work on the hotel is planned to start in October, construction of the cinema following shortly after. Completion is planned for March 2018.

http://planning.ashford.gov.uk/Planning/details.aspx?systemkey=103627

News, Planning and Development

SACF May 2016 Meeting

southashfordcf 12 May 2016 1 Comment

The next meeting of South Ashford Community Forum will take place

at 6:30 pm
on 18th May 2016
at South Ashford Baptist Church
Brookfield Road, TN23 4EY

The Agenda can be downloaded from the Minutes and Agendas page.

Representatives of of U+I Group, will attend this meeting to give an update and answer questions on ‘Victoria Way‘ and Powergen Site developments. The meeting time has been set at 6:30pm to allow the development proposals to be displayed before the formal start at 7:00pm.

The current proposals for the ‘Victoria Way‘ development can be downloaded from the dedicated website victoriaway.com. Our comments on the proposals can be viewed from the Publications page.

The planning application for the Powergen Site can be viewed on the Ashford Borough Council planning application search, using Case No. 15/01671/AS. Our comments on the Application can be viewed from the Publications page of the South Ashford website.

An Electoral Review of Ashford is in progress. Ashford Borough Council has proposed that the number councillors is increased. We will discuss what this could mean for South Ashford.

Democracy, News, Planning and Development, SACF

SACF Meetings 2016

southashfordcf 30 March 2016 0 Comments

South Ashford Community Forum have provisionally booked speakers for their next three meetings:

18th May 2016 – 18:30 – Arlene Van Bosch, U+I, Victoria Way and Powergen Sites
13th July 2016 – 19:00 – Daniel Carter, Principal Policy Planner, Ashford Borough Council; Ashford Borough Local Plan 2030
21st September – 19:00 – Chris Dixon, Ashford Borough Council; Victoria Park and Watercress Fields Masterplan

and although a speaker is yet to be selected the final meeting will include:

16th November – 19:00 – Parliament Week

All meetings are held at South Ashford Baptist Church, Brookfield Road, TN23 4EY.

To ensure you receive notices and updates from us sign up for SACF e-mails at bit.ly/sacfsignup
(read our Privacy Policy southashford.org.uk/index.php/website/cookie-policy/).
Meeting details will be included on our Calendar bit.ly/sacfcal
Minutes of and Agendas for Meetings will be available from the Minutes and Agendas page bit.ly/sashfordma

Democracy, News, Planning and Development, SACF

‘Victoria Way’ EIA Screening Submitted

southashfordcf 18 March 2016 0 Comments

03-PRS- Developer U+I have requested that Ashford Borough Council screen their proposals for land at the junction of Beaver Road and Victoria Road (the ‘Victoria Way’ development) for the requirement to carry out an Environmental Impact Assessment.

The submission indicates that three applications will be submitted

Application A – Brewery (located on the junction opposite the Station) Residential and Commercial Units (located behind the Beaver Road Service Station)
Application B – Hotel (located on the junction opposite Home Plus)
Application C – Foodstore (located between Victoria Road and the Railway)

The developer concludes that the proposed development (individually and cumulatively) will not result in any significant environmental impacts that give rise to a need to undertake an Environmental Impact Assessment. (more…)

Ashford Borough Council, Environment, News, Planning and Development

Beaver Road/Victoria Road Development Exhibition

southashfordcf 15 March 2016 1 Comment

Development Group U+I are exhibiting proposals for the derelict sites on either side of Victoria Way at its junction with Beaver Road. U+I say that the proposed development, which they have named Victoria Way, is set to transform the two sites. The regeneration includes 222 new homes, a 120 bed hotel, a foodstore, Chapel Down’s new Curious Brewery and visitor centre and flexible office / retail floorspace.

The regeneration will see an increase of £3.9m in spend per annum by new residents and tourists visiting the town’s attractions. There will also be an increase in employment with the creation of 203 jobs and 40 new indirect jobs.

U+I are exhibiting their proposals:

On Friday 18 March 10am-6pm and
Saturday 19 March 10am-4pm
U+I will be in the foodcourt at McArthurGlen Outlet offering samples of the delicious Curious Beer and Cider. Come on down to County Square shopping centre
On Tuesday 22 March 11am-5pm and
Wednesday 23 March 11am-5pm,
they will be in County Square shopping centre giving away a free Easter egg in return for your opinions on our proposed scheme.

U+I have set up a website at http://victoriawayashford.com/

News, Planning and Development

Forum responds to Park Masterplan

southashfordcf 14 March 2016 1 Comment

Kentish Express
17 March 2016

South Ashford Community Forum are pleased that Ashford Borough Council’s Cabinet have recognised the importance of Victoria Park and Watercress Fields to the residents of Ashford and that the planned development in the area creates both the need and the opportunity to provide investment into the Park.

Some residents have expressed concern that the proposals might cause a loss of open space in the park but we believe that this results from misunderstanding of what is intended. It is important for people to understand that the Masterplan is Draft and constitutes outline proposals that will be subject to consultation. Detailed proposals will be developed from the Masterplan and implementation is dependent on the availability of funding from grants and contributions from developers, of sites such as the Powergen and Jemmett Road Campus. The timetable given in some of the information being circulated is the outline programme for Fountain Zone work, not the implementation of the whole plan. Even these proposals are subject to two successful bids to the Heritage Lottery Fund.

We look forward to working with the Council in development of the proposals and will continue to provide updates at our meetings and via our website and facebook page.

Ashford Borough Council, Environment, Heritage, News, Planning and Development, Press, Victoria Park

Victoria Park Masterplan

southashfordcf 4 March 2016 1 Comment

Following the presentation by Chris Dixon at the South Ashford Community Forum September 2016 Meeting, Chris with other officers and consultants employed by Ashford Borough Council have produced a Draft Masterplan for the development of Victoria Park. The Draft Masterplan will go before ABC’s Cabinet on 10th March for adoption.

The first part of the proposals that will be developed is based on the heritage of the Park, focused on the Hubert Fountain. A Heritage Lottery Fund bid is planned to finance this part of the work. The first stage of the bid will be submitted this month, to fund Development of the heritage proposals. If the bid is successful, the Development Phase is expected to take a year to complete, after which a further bid will be made to fund Delivery (implementation) of the Proposals. The Delivery is expected to take 15 – 18 months from March 2018, completing between July and September 2019. (more…)

Ashford Borough Council, Environment, News, Planning and Development, Victoria Park

‘Building Better Places’ report welcomed

southashfordcf 27 February 2016 0 Comments

A House of Lords Committeee have released a report titled Building Better Places

Civic Voice have welcomed the report in a press release, emphasising the recommendations for maintaining and improving local control and community engagement in the planning process, and preservation of the historic environment:

The House of Lords Committeee on National Policy for the Built Environment have released a Report of Session 2015-16 titled Building Better Places last week. The report (which is available here) covered areas such as the recent trends in the built environment, creating better places through design, quality and standards, building for the long-term, delivering more housing and local leadership, delivery and skills. Members of the committee included Baroness Andrews, who works with Civic Voice to raise our issues in the House of Lords. (more…)

Democracy, Government, Localism, News, Planning Policy