Nine months on, lorry park seeks permission

Illegal parking ‘major problem’

Planning permission is being sought for a temporary lorry park in Ashford ... nine months after it opened.

The retrospective application has been submitted to Ashford Borough Council from agents BDB Design LLP, based in Canterbury, on behalf of business ETS Forwarding Ltd.

It is for the Brett site, off Beaver Lane, South Ashford, near the Matalan store.

Lorries started parking on the land in April last year, although at the time it wasn’t known who had established the HGV yard and whether drivers were being charged to use it.

However, the park does house a small building “which provides shower facilities for lorry drivers”.

The application, registered with the council last month, seeks temporary planning consent for the use of the site as a transit point for the exchange of foreign and UK trailers and as a trailer park.

The report states: “The site is being used as a temporary basis by a local business, which requires such a site whilst more permanent premises are sought.

“The use is an essential part of the distribution and trans- port of goods between the UK and the Continent and as such it is a key contributor to the wider economy.”

It adds: “The proposal makes effective use of a parcel of previously developed land, which is visually and physically contained and separate from the housing areas to the south.”

Matalan in Brookfield Road, the Gate House in Leacon Road and landowners Robert Brett and Sons have all been consulted on the plans.

However the application states that as the operating hours are between 8am-8pm, it is not considered that the “use seriously impacts on the residential amenities of existing residents”.

Nonetheless, residents can have their say on the proposals until February 19.

Go to planning.ashford.gov. uk/ and search 16/00080/AS.

A decision is due in March. Illegal lorry parking is a major problem across Ashford.

HGV drivers often park overnight on Orbital Park, Ashford Business Park at Sevington, and at the Henwood, Ellingham and Cobbs Wood industrial estates, as well as in laybys across the town.

Drivers often leave behind litter and human waste and frequently park on – and therefore block – pavements and create a noise nuisance.

Last year, Ashford Borough Council launched a clamping campaign to deter lorries from parking in these areas.

Initially a six-month pilot, the scheme has been extended.

An update is expected on the scheme’s impact at the next council joint transportation board meeting, scheduled for March.

Land off Beaver Lane, South Ashford, has been used as a lorry park since last April