Works start to restore the listed buildings at Newtown Works despite challenges in progressing the scheme

Ashford International Studios has the potential to deliver on the ambitions for growth at a local, regional and national level, but there is still a long way to go and there remains many challenges which still need to be met. That was the headline at Ashford Borough Council’s Cabinet meeting who received an update work on the scheme’s progress last night (Thursday 27 September).

It is hoped the Ashford International Studios / Newtown Works project will regenerate a 4.8-hectare brownfield site with 5 grade II listed buildings into a dynamic Ashford International Film Studios, residential development, education centre, commercial space and hotel.

Ashford Borough Council was awarded £14,773,745 from the Government’s Levelling Up Fund (LUF) Round 1 to support the delivery of the Newtown Works development scheme that received planning consent in September 2020.

Principally at the time it was thought that this funding would be used to address the abnormal costs of the development and ensure the significant heritage assets are restored and brought back into active and sustainable use, deliver site-wide infrastructure which, given the history of the site, is at a level not normally associated with this scale of development and create a development of space capable of accommodating new education space linked to the TV/Film production sector.

The key challenge for the project was the timescales for the LUF funding associated with the delivery of the education space that has planning permission to be delivered within the Locomotive Sheds on the site. The delivery of the Locomotive Sheds has been delayed due to issues surrounding rising costs, inflation, rising interest rates, and a softening of residential values, impacting on the developments viability and the requirement to look at value engineering solutions.

As with many proposed developments, the issue of Nutrient Neutrality has been a major factor. The challenges around the Film and TV industry with the writers and actors strikes within the last 18 months has also significantly impacted interest in building new studios during this period, which then has had a detrimental impact on the requirement for the provision of the specialist educational facilities for Film and TV production students.

With a set deadline of the end of March 2025, and the challenges with taking forward the Locomotive Sheds and educational facilities within those timescales, the Council and the Ashford International Development Company (AIDC) have looked at alternative options to ensure the LUF funding could be spent on works that would retain value and viability into the site.

The East Kent College Group (EKC) were consulted and supported this approach to enable the funding to be retained in the project, enabling the delivery of the educational space in the future as part of the delivery of the funding for the whole site, which results in the funding of the college facility now being funded by AIDC as part of the overall development funding.

The works brought forward funded by the Levelling Up Funding include:

• Brickwork Cleaning for the Locomotive Shed and Engine Shed
• Scaffolding to enable the Brickwork cleaning and repairs
• Brickwork Repairs to the Locomotive Shed and Engine Shed
• Works to restore the Clock Tower, Paint Store and Acetylene Store to shell and core, ready for fit out as part of the later development of the site.
• Works to the access roads for the entrance points into the site.

These works will be undertaken alongside the original demolition works, reclamation works, S278 works, utilities work, professional fees, and design works to bring forward the scheme. Additional funding from the Levelling Up funding has been allocated to these works to ensure they can be completed, reducing the requirement for private funding from the company at these early stages, supporting the reduction in finance costs for the project to maintain overall viability of the scheme.

Cllr Peter Feacey, Chair of the Ashford International Development Company (AIDC) said: “Although there have been some significant delays to the original programme for this development - with the major driving factor behind them due to nutrient neutrality - substantial works have still been undertaken during the past few years.

“With the challenges of bringing forward both the residential and Film and TV Studios on this site, moving forward with these works will still protect the heritage of the site, by enabling earlier restoration works to the five listed buildings on the site, and the ability for the educational space to then be delivered later on through the overall wider development funding.”

Cllr Simon Betty, Portfolio Holder for Commercial Property and Investment, said: “There have been many challenges being faced in delivering such a complex project, for example the need to find a solution to the nutrient neutrality issues that have arisen following necessary design modifications required, resulting in the likelihood that a new planning application will have to be made.

“I am pleased that despite the delays, the Project Adjustment Request has been accepted by the Government, enabling the LUF funding to be directed to bringing forward the restoration of the listed buildings on the site, thus retaining viability within the development.”