Officers recommended that Ashford Borough Council’s cabinet reject a motion and public petition seeking an additional pedestrian exit from the new temporary Park Mall car park, warning that any of the three alternative routes would cost up to £60,000, require further planning approvals and delay the car park’s opening before Christmas 2026.
Ashford Borough Council’s cabinet considered on 10 September 2026 whether to create a shorter pedestrian route from the temporary car park being built on the former Park Mall site to the High Street — and officers recommended taking no further action.
Background to the dispute
The council purchased the Park Mall freehold in January 2025 and obtained planning permission in December 2025 (PA/2025/1749) for the demolition of the shopping centre and multi-storey car parks and the creation of a temporary surface-level car park with 200 spaces for up to five years. A contract for demolition and construction was signed with O Connell on 16 March 2026, with completion due on 28 October 2026. By 26 August 2026, approximately 70% of the contract value had been spent.
The approved design provides pedestrian access via St George’s Square. At Full Council on 16 July 2026, Councillor Bartlett submitted a motion requiring plans for a short-route exit to the High Street to be created before the car park opened ahead of Christmas trading. A petition with 48 signatories, submitted by Councillor Bartlett on behalf of the Central Ashford Community Forum, supported the motion. The 48 signatories represented 38 town centre businesses including McDonald’s, B&M, Iceland, HomePlus Furniture, Ladbrokes, Coral and Vision Express.
Officers noted that a minimum of 50 signatures is required for a valid petition under the council’s Petitions Scheme, meaning the petition did not qualify for any formal steps under that scheme. Officers said they would nonetheless respond to it once the cabinet had considered the report.
The three alternative routes assessed
Officers assessed three potential additional routes, referred to as Options 1, 2 and 3. Option 1 was estimated to cost approximately £60,000, Option 2 approximately £45,000 and Option 3 approximately £40,000, including estimated Section 278 highway works where applicable. Officers cautioned that these were high-level estimates without detailed investigations or surveys, and that an additional below-ground concrete slab — up to a metre deep in places in the area of the former Wilko store and multi-storey car park — could affect costs further.
All three options would require further statutory approvals and, in some cases, raised community safety concerns. The report said a route through the restricted access area would require a corridor of approximately 30 metres enclosed by 2.4-metre-high hoardings, creating an environment described as potentially feeling unsafe, particularly after dark. The equalities impact assessment noted that if Options 1 or 2 were pursued, a revised assessment would be required to consider safety implications for women and girls.
Officers concluded that implementing any of the additional routes before the car park opened would delay the planned pre-Christmas opening, which they described as critically important for the town centre economy.
Officers’ recommendation
Officers recommended that the cabinet note the points made in support of the motion, thank those who signed the petition, take no action on the motion and petition at that time, and continue to monitor the car park’s operation and accessibility via the St George’s Square route following opening.
The council had not published the minutes of the meeting at the time of writing, so the committee’s decision is not yet on the public record.
Top image: St George’s Square, Ashford, photographed in July 2025. The square is the pedestrian access route to the Park Mall site approved under the planning permission. Photo: JThomas / Geograph, CC BY-SA 2.0.