Kentish Express Ashford & District
High hopes for High Street despite string of closures
‘Huge amount of work’ being done to improve town centre
Business leaders and council chiefs remain bullish about the prospects for Ashford’s historic High Street despite the departure of major retailers.
The Kent Invicta Chamber of Commerce held a conference last week discussing the growth of Ashford and opportunities for businesses to get on.
Despite the range of developments being proposed, such as the Designer Outlet expansion and the Commercial Quarter scheme, there were fears raised that Ashford’s High Street is slowly dying.
It follows the withdrawal of shops including Poundland, BHS, Burton and now Evans, and fears that the town’s M&S store could also be set to close after the new Foodhall store opened in June.
At the conference, Linda Garcia from Alluxi Consulting asked a panel including Ashford Borough Council chief executive Tracey Kerly about what is happening to the town centre.
But Ms Kerly said schemes such as Love Ashford and the council’s purchase of Park Mall had been successful.
She said there is a “huge amount of work” being done to boost the town centre, and said activity in the town centre is increasing. She said: “We are trying not to conflict different offers in the town centre and other developments. Shopping is changing and consumers shop differently these days.
“We are keen to ensure the heritage High Street offer is protected, and our town centre action team and litter enforcement team are working to improve the feel of the town and keep it clean and tidy. Hopefully the college in the town centre will start to make a difference.”
She was supported by Gary Bourne from Stanhope PLC, which is the company building the six-screen cinema, hotel and restaurants complex.
He said a similar scheme in Hereford had helped the small city centre thrive, and added: “You have to get footfall back in.”
Work has started at the former Burton Menswear store, and this week Kaspa’s desserts parlour is set to open in the former Pizza Hut shop, which closed in 2013.