Kentish Express Ashford & District
Council opposes proposal for ‘inner city’ apartments
The design of retirement flats planned at the London Beach Hotel is “more inner city than Tenterden”.
That’s one of the conclusions reached by Tenterden Town Council’s planning committee in opposing a scheme to build 60 retirement properties at the Ashford Road resort.
Councillors met on Monday night to weigh up plans submitted to Ashford Borough Council (ABC) in the form of a hybrid application seeking full permission for one three-storey block containing 12 two-bedroom flats and outline planning permission for four blocks containing 48 two-bedroom flats.
The hotel owner Pierre Edmonds described the proposals as “a little like a substantial annex of the hotel”, which are designed to encourage active retirement by offering high-end rental accommodation linked to use of the hotel, spa and golf club.
But councillors did not agree and were particularly critical of the architecture of the blocks.
John Crawford, chairman of the TTC planning committee, told the Kentish Express: “The type of design proposed for the flats is very modern and the low rise buildings are more suitable for the inner city where they would blend in, rather than Tenterden.”
He added that other developments in the town including Tent 1a homes and soonto-be-built Tilden Gill, took their cues from architectural styles that were vernacular to Tenterden, featuring traditional roofs and using materials such as Kent peg tiles.
The homes would also be too far from the shops and the centre of St Michaels, to be sustainable, councillors said.
They were not swayed by economic arguments put forward to advance the scheme and Mr Edmonds’ belief that it would underpin the success of London Beach in years to come, helping to future-proof it from recession.