Over-development of a landmark spot

One would have hoped by now that, after all the controversy surrounding the development of the town over the years, planners would alter their regime when it came to granting permission for certain developments.

In the case of the two parcels of land either side of The Panorama building, which is better known to generations of us as Charter House, the construction of 110 two-bedroom flats there could be better described as ‘over-development’.

From the early plans of Charter House in the early 1970s, there was always an idea to perhaps extend along the perimeter of Somerset Road, but there were no plans to ‘shoehorn’ any such development at the corner of Somerset Road and Wellesley Road.

The development, which could be likened to ‘the house that Jack built’, has effectively blighted this corner of the site, and in turn caused no amount of misery for those who had taken up one of the apartments with ‘stunning panoramic views’.

The development by Investin Plc has seemingly taken forever and, at its current stage, is impossible to envisage what it would look like once completed, or whether it would be any benefit to those stepping into the residential market in the town.

Charter House was always known for its stunning views of the townscape and the countryside beyond, and as far as the site is concerned, the unimaginable has happened.

None of us ever deemed this piece of land suitable for such purpose.

Until the whole site was acquired for former mining giant Charter Consolidated’s headquarters in 1970 and the new ring road which opened in stages from 1971, many readers will remember the terraced houses which once stood at this corner and that were much more pleasing on the eye than what locals are calling ‘an eyesore’.

This week’s trio of images, taken in July 1963 by Bryan Sales who worked for the old Ashford Urban District Council in the surveyors department, illustrate the old terraces that once stood at the junction of Somerset Road and Wellesley Road, and before development took over.

■ Do you have any photographs or slides of old Ashford you would be willing to loan me to enable them to be scanned for possible feature in the Kentish Express?

Please don’t delay, feel free to get in touch.

Write to me: Steve Salter, Kentish Express Remember When, Unit 4, Park Mall Shopping Centre, Ashford, Kent, TN24 8RY.

Email me: rememberwhen_ kmash@hotmail.co.uk

Follow me on Twitter: @SteveKMAshford.

Or you can also leave a telephone message for me with brief details by calling the Kentish Express on 01233 623232.

The rear gardens of the terraces were divided by an alleyway which once ran diagonally across the site from Wellesley Road to Somerset Road – exiting at the latter alongside Keens Stores

This view, taken in July 1963, shows the rear of the one-time terraces when viewed from Wellesley Road

Some of the terraced houses which once stood at the junction of Somerset Road and Wellesley Road, prior to the advent of the ring road and the construction of Charter House