Chilmington Green Area Action Plan

The principle of development at Chilmington Green is established within the council's adopted Core Strategy and even though Ashford is no longer a designated 'growth area', there remains a need for additional houses up to 2030 and beyond. These homes will help support jobs and sustain local services, as well as cater for the changing needs of Ashford's current residents. Not all of these homes can be provided on brownfield sites within Ashford, therefore other sites will be needed.

Chilmington Green was identified through the Core Strategy as being suitable - a position tested and supported by an Independent Planning Inspector. The Chilmington Green Area Action Plan (AAP) has gone through public consultation and examined by an Independent Planning Inspector.

Traffic congestion and the impact of the development on the surrounding road network will be a key consideration when determining the planning application.

The transport assessment which has been submitted with the planning application details the transportation and highways implications of developing the site, but the details of exactly what improvements will be needed will be determined by Kent County Council (KCC) in their role as the local highway authority. The transport assessment submitted with the application states that KCC's preferred option is as follows:

• Improving the alignment of the Matalan roundabout
• Widening of the A28 road bridge over the railway, north of Matalan roundabout
• The bridge widening will allow the entire section of the A28 between Matalan and Tank roundabouts to be duelled
• Signalisation of the A28/Brunswick Road junction
• A28/Loudon Way signalised junction modified to offer greater capacity, with an increase in lanes to facilitate greater turning and straight-ahead movements, plus full turning movements
• Signalises Hilton Road to become exit only at its junction with the A28
• Improving the alignment of the Tank roundabout

In addition a range of other road improvements will be necessary including the creation of a new road network within the development, the creation of attractive pedestrian and cycle routes, the provision of a regular and efficient bus service connecting the development with the town centre and traffic calming measures on the existing local routes so that their attractive rural character can be maintained.

The responsibility for supplying water to development lies with South East Water. They have been involved with the evolution of Chilmington Green through the council’s adopted Core Strategy and have confirmed that there is capacity available to serve the development. They have also recently upgraded their strategic supply network to Ashford and do not therefore foresee any issue in so far as water supply is concerned.

The draft AAP requires development at Chilmington Green to be self-sufficient and sustainable, with each phase providing the required social and physical infrastructure both on-site and off-site. Four primary schools and a secondary school will be accommodated within the development, as will sufficient indoor sports and community leisure provision.

Social and community facilities will be provided in accommodation in the District Centre, possibly with additional space for community and social care facilities in the proposed Local Centres. The phasing and delivery of these facilities and/or funding to support such services will be agreed with the relevant service provider through the planning application process and should planning permission be granted, included in the S106 Agreement.

The starting point for the approach to providing affordable housing at Chilmington Green is Policy CS12 of the adopted Core Strategy and the Affordable Housing SPD adopted in 2009. The council’s position on affordable housing in the Chilmington Green development is as is set out in the draft AAP – to adopt a flexible approach to the delivery of affordable housing, ensuring that if viability work demonstrates that the earliest phase cannot support 30% affordable housing, then the deficit will be clawed back during later phases. The planning application will be determined in accordance with the AAP.

The council is committed to ensuring that Chilmington Green is a development of real quality with the aim of creating a positive and lasting legacy for the town. The application proposes that each phase of the development will be sustainable in its own right, meaning that the right levels of social and physical infrastructure will be delivered at the right time to serve the residents throughout the development.

The commitment to pursuing quality is at the heart of the council’s policy framework as expressed in the Cabinet’s 2030 Framework and through recent Cabinet’s announcements about pursuing some of the principles of the Garden Suburb movement at Chilmington Green.

It is accepted that considerable concern has been raised about this development during the publicity associated with the Area Action Plan. These views are respected, but the principle of a significant scale of development at Chilmington Green has been previously considered, assessed, consulted upon and examined in length at the Core Strategy stage.

The Core Strategy has already established what the appropriate balance of houses and jobs should be at Chilmington Green, taking into account the location and type of development envisaged. The draft AAP now promotes fewer homes than the Core Strategy (5,750 compared to 7,000), yet still seeks to deliver at least 1,000 jobs.

In fact, the AAP actually envisages that 1,184 jobs will be created at Chilmington Green, in addition to those residents that will work from home, a significant expanding sector of the workforce.

The principle of the impact of the development on the residential development within the hamlet was taken into account at the time the Core Strategy was adopted in 2008. However, the detailed approach to development within and around the hamlet is dealt with in the AAP. The hamlet is described as one of the “Character Areas” in the AAP, where a bespoke approach to its development within the context of the wider Chilmington Green development is fully justified, due to it being the principal “heritage” part of the AAP area.

The AAP provides specific guidance to ensure that new development is designed in a way that recognises the particular characteristics associated with the “core” area of the hamlet and the remaining character area. If outline planning permission is granted, a detailed design strategy will be needed to inform the preparation of detailed proposals in line with the design principles and parameters outlined in the AAP and this design strategy will have to have been approved by the council in advance of any detailed planning permission or approval of reserved matters is granted.

The Outline Planning Application is accompanied by an Environmental Statement (ES) which deals, amongst other things, with the impact of the development on ecology. Natural England and the Kent Wildlife Trust have been consulted on the application, and an independent consultant will be appointed to provide the council with an independent assessment of the adequacy of the ES, including the section on ecology. This will give the council assurance that recognised review criteria and methodology have been used in the ES and that the predicted outcomes are correct.

The amount of retail floorspace put forward in the application is supported by a retail evidence base produced by specialist retail consultants. This will in turn be assessed by an independent retail consultant appointed by the council to ensure that the proposed convenience shopping floorspace will not lead to any adverse impacts in terms of the vitality and viability of Ashford town centre or preclude any planned investment in and around the town centre.

Vacancy rates have increased in the last three years, but this is fundamentally linked to the demise of a number of high street chains and the difficult economic conditions. Indeed, it could be argued that the additional spending potential in the Ashford retail catchment arising from the Chilmington Green development may have a beneficial impact on trading conditions in the town centre in the future.

The current Brisley Farm housing estate presents a visually harsh and unstructured urban edge to the countryside to the south and the proposed extension to the estate represents an opportunity to improve the urban edge in this location. This is considered to be important as it will be an edge to Discovery Park and the facilities that will be located there with much greater public footfall than is currently the case. If outline planning permission is granted, the detailed proposals will have regard to the amenities of the existing properties.

The development is planned to take place in phases over a period of 20-25 years, during which time the economic climate will change. The AAP provides a clear indication of the ongoing and cumulative infrastructure requirements needed to support the development over its entire construction period and it is equally clear that this infrastructure will need to be provided in advance or alongside development as necessary. If planning permission is granted, the detailed phasing will be included within the S106 Planning Agreement.