Newtown Railway Works Approved. Council Press Release

PRESS RELEASE

From: SUE MULLAN, CHAIR, SOUTH WILLESBOROUGH AND NEWTOWN COMMUNITY COUNCIL

Subject: APPROVAL OF MIXED DEVELOPMENT ON NEWTOWN RAILWAY WORKS

First, let me congratulate Ashford Borough Council for organising the virtual Planning Committee meeting and delivering it so well.

South Willesborough and Newtown Community Council was disappointed with the outcome. It saw the benefits of the development but felt that the disadvantages, especially to those residents living closest to the site, outweighed them.

We remain particularly concerned not only about the height and impact of the hotel, the lack of an affordable housing component and the relatively meagre developer contributions to our community but mainly about the additional parking pressures in nearby streets and traffic management in the area.

We are also disappointed that funding to support new health facilities in the area is deferred and will only be forthcoming if the developer can sell apartments at a higher price than the current
valuation.

We have always maintained that Ashford Borough Council and Kent County Council should thoroughly examine the cumulative impact of developments like this one and the Klondyke site on parking and traffic and are disappointed that the Committee not only rejected our request to have the application deferred until the true impact is determined but that it also rejected our preference for a comprehensive traffic management strategy that would incorporate parking, cycling, walking and public transport.

We were encouraged, however, when Leader of Ashford Borough Council, Gerry Clarkson emphatically insisted that parking will not be a problem and SWAN residents will not be disadvantaged by this development

We are pleased that Ashford Borough Council pledged to include SWAN more in future communications and that action will be taken, amongst other things, to improve the Crowbridge Road hump bridge, introduce new community facilities within the site, commission an arts project that will interpret the site’s railway history and that environmental considerations were well thought through.

We remain committed to improve the quality of traffic management in our area and want to reassure our residents that, despite this decision, we will continue to lobby on their behalf for improvements.

This was a baptism of fire for a new Council like ours given the scale and complexity of the development. It consumed a lot of our time and I’d like to thank the members of my Planning and Highways Committee, the Council Clerk and our Ward Councillors, David Smith and Andy Rogers for their contributions as well as tipping my hat to the residents who attended the two public consultation events and took time to send in their comments

End
Dated 23rd April 2020