Ashford Council is backing a £75m project to regenerate the city, which will include the construction of a new 58-bedroom hotel.
After Stanhope PLC was given the green light for the scheme in 2015, councillors have now agreed to fund the construction of the Elwick Place development.
As well as the 58-room hotel, the new project will include a cinema, plus space for seven restaurants or bars. The council acquired the site at Elwick Place last year and will own the development once completed.
The project has been outlined as one of Ashford Council’s ‘Big 8‘ priority projects and will help create a more vibrant town centre as stated in the council’s Five Year Corporate Plan to 2020.
Leader of Ashford Council, councillor Gerry Clarkson, says: “This investment, and our continued commercial approach, has the potential to significantly contribute to our ability to be self-reliant despite reduced government funding. We firmly believe that enabling this regeneration project to be brought forward quickly is in the best interests of the borough. This investment will enable services to be maintained, and will also continue the revitalisation of Ashford town centre.
“Our number one priority is to deliver investment and jobs through an enterprising approach and this epitomises what Ashford and modern-day local government is about. Having a solid economic base enables us to continue to support our very important wider rural economy set in and around our delightful villages, and in our rural town of Tenterden.”
