Ashford Ring Road project receives RTPI Award for Town Centre Regeneration
(05/02/2010)

Following the Government’s Sustainable Communities Plan, 2003, Ashford was identified as one of the South East growth points, its population of 55,000 set to double over a 25 year period. The approach to planning this expansion has been to maximise the potential of existing sites before expanding elsewhere. The reconfiguration of Ashford’s inner ring road marks a major stage in this regeneration.

One of the key transformational projects to revitalise the town centre was to reconfigure this one-way ‘race track’ inner ring road. The scheme was designed by a team involving planners, engineers, urban designers, landscape architects and public artists and cost around £13.5m.

So far the whole inner-ring road has been converted from a one-way to a two-way road, and a third of its length has been transformed into a series of streets where the space is shared between vehicles and pedestrians. The safer and well designed environment has become a more attractive location for retail and business development and has opened up the possibility of redeveloping adjoining brownfield sites on the outside edge of the former ring road.

The Ashford Ring Road project has been chosen to receive the ‘Award for Town Centre Regeneration’ at the Royal Town Planning Institute’s 2009 Planning Awards.

At a ceremony attended by Bob Neill MP, Shadow Minister for Communities and Local Government and the President of the RTPI, Ann Skippers, Brighton City Council were presented with their award at the London Hilton, Park Lane on Thursday earlier this week.

Kay Powell, Chair of the Judging Panel for the RTPI 2009 Planning Awards said: “This project has transformed a town that was suffering from a ‘concrete collar’ that restricted pedestrian movement to and from the centre of Ashford. The council, working with a multi-disciplinary team involving planners, engineers, urban designers, landscape architects and public artists have transformed a series of streets where the space is now shared between vehicles and pedestrians.

This reworking of Ashford’s inner ring road has created a much more pleasant environment for people entering the town centre and the resultant neighbourhoods have become a more attractive location for retail and business development, marking a major stage in the regeneration of the town.

The scheme demonstrates a high level of innovation and originality in the planning and design of roadspace and streetscape which has resulted in a greatly enhanced and more civilised and sustainable urban environment: truly mediating space and making a better place. It provides a model that other UK towns and cities with similar traffic problems will surely follow.”