ELWICK PLACE
DELIVERED BY
ASHFORD
SITE HISTORY
PLANNING POLICY
Achieving the Vision and Objectives for the Town Centre
Opportunity Sites
Spatial Area
Residential Transition
Quarter
Specific Allocated Sites
1856 and this was key in the development of Ashford as a
market town. Following a historic meeting when graziers and
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Civic
Quarter
Town Centre Core
agriculturists met at the Saracen’s Head Inn and founded the
Ashford Cattle Market Company Ltd, George Elwick Jemmett
Commercial
Quarter
Southern Expansion
Quarter
who was Lord of the Manor leased a field on Elwick Road.
In 1997, the market was relocated to Orbital Park to make
International Station
Quarter
way for the High Speed Rail service, and the company is the
oldest surviving registered company in England and Wales.
When it was used as Ashford Cattle Market, it was considered
as a meeting place as well as a place to trade, and became a
hub of the community. This history is remembered in an art
installation Til the Cows Come Home, which depicts cattle
engraved on the original market walls to the edge of the site.
Ashford was one of the first towns to have a purpose built
cinema, built on Tufton Street in 1911. This was followed by
a cinema on Beaver Road in 1912 and the Odeon in the High
Street.
© Crown Copyright. Licence Number 100024427
Ashford Town Centre Area Action Plan
Ashford is the largest service centre within the Borough and therefore, it plays a key role as the
commercial centre for the town and the hinterland. The adopted Core Strategy, 2008, sets the strategic
growth vision for the whole Borough up to 2021 and the Town Centre Area Action Plan, 2010, (AAP)
focuses specifically on the development of Ashford town centre.
Elwick Place is located in Ashford’s defined town centre which provides the main retail, leisure and
cultural services in Ashford. At present, it caters for residents’ everyday needs but residents tend to
travel to competing centres for a wider retail, leisure and cultural offer. The existing services need
expansion, not only to meet the needs of the rapidly expanding population of Ashford but also to
increase the attractiveness of the town in terms of its retail, leisure and cultural offering and reduce
The proposals aim to build on the history of the site as a
meeting place for the community, and celebrate its history by
introducing clues to the previous use as a cattle market through
potential artwork and installations. The leisure element also
reflects the history Ashford has with cinematography and
film.
the need for residents to travel to competing centres. Therefore, the Core Strategy and the AAP
identify the town centre for substantial mixed use development, incorporating retail, residential,
employment, education, leisure and cultural uses.
Elwick Place is allocated for mixed-use development under Policy TC3 of the AAP which should
include residential and commercial uses including a cinema and a hotel. The proposed development
responds to these policy requirements and will provide a significant new leisure facility including:
multi-screen cinema; restaurants and cafes; 60-bedroom hotel; a mixture of residential units.
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It will also incorporate the existing public square into a comprehensive public realm network for
the site which will improve connectivity between the site and its surroundings, including improved
pedestrian access to the pedestrian bridge over the railway.
The proposed mix of uses will enrich the vitality of Elwick Place and increase the resident population
within the town centre. The regeneration of vacant land and surface car parks, combined with
By this time Ashford had become an important and
flourishing market town, known mainly for livestock. It had
improved pedestrian links across the former ring road and to the Southern Expansion Quarter will
good road links and several large estates in the district owned
by the nobility.
improve connectivity within the town centre and reconnect it with the adjoining areas.
Charles II granted a charter to hold a market on every
second Tuesday.
1672
1842
EXISTING SITE
Currently the site is vacant and in need of regeneration. It is comprised of three adjacent areas,
phase 1 is the proposed cinema, hotel, restaurants, and car park; phase 2 is proposed to be for
residential class; and the third site is adjacent owned land. The sites are flanked by the High Speed
1 train tracks, and the County Square Shopping Centre, with the flagship store Debenhams facing
the site. Ashford’s Shared Space scheme along Elwick Road borders and filters into the site, and will
The railway arrived in Ashford in November. The South
Eastern Railway opened its main line from London to the
be integrated as part of the proposals. The bridge above the railway lines links Victoria Road with
town.
1870
Elwick Road, and is an important pedestrian route into the site. This development will go some way
to completing the shared surface scheme.
Introduction of Ashford's Annual Cattle Show Exhibition.
1.
1911
Pha
se
1
6.
5.
4.
3.
Pha
2.
se
2
Own
ed
One of the country's first purpose built cinemas opened on
Lan
d
Tufton Street in Ashford.
1912
A second purpose built cinema is built in Ashford on Beaver
1.
Road.
1936
2.
The Odeon cinema opened in Ashford High Street and seated 1,600
people . The projection screen was on of the most up-to-date at the
time. The cinema also contained a restaurant.
1996
3.
4.
The new Ashford International station began operating International
services.
2009
5.
The Ashford International station started serving the High-Speed Rail
link taking passengers to London St. Pancras in 38 mins.
6.
Ashford Town Centre Area Action Plan Ashford Borough Council Local Development Framework
The site accommodated the Ashford Cattle Market from
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