Last ditch bid to save shopping centre fails

The demolition of a council-owned town centre shopping centre will go ahead despite a last ditch effort to save it.

Amid passionate and sometimes angry scenes on Thursday, councillors in Ashford decided overwhelmingly to flatten Park Mall and replace it with a car park.

Reform UK Ashford Borough Council (ABC) member Bill Barrett was denied the chance to put forward a motion to retain part of the complex.

This sparked fury among the 70 protesters in the public gallery whose businesses face having to leave the shopping centre.

One shouted: “How can you sleep at night?”

Others complained that denying Cllr Barrett the right to table his motion was “undemocratic”.

Earlier councillors rejected a 3,500 signature petition submitted by the Save Park Mall campaign team by 30 votes to five. There were four abstentions.

The council rejected Cllr Barrett’s attempt to lodge a new motion because the original one, for the petition, had already been passed and debated.

Conservative member Cllr Neil Bell warned that ABC was in danger of being judicially reviewed.

Cllr Barrett said afterwards: “What happened this evening was a complete and utter joke, a failure of democracy at every level.

“That’s not the right way for the meeting to be conducted…and I think the people of Ashford have been failed.”

Russell Geen who runs the The Little Teapot cafe at Park Mall but did not attend the meeting last night, said: “The result was what we expected…they basically did what they wanted to do.”

David Hebditch, who sold his Baby Art business to staff last September only to find months later the open air mall would be knocked down, said he feels “emotional”.

Mr Hebditch, who presented the petition to the council and delivered a passionate ten minute speech, said: “The loss of Park Mall is going to be absolutely devastating for the people of Ashford. I feel very emotional about it. The council is treating us like rubbish.”

An ABC spokesman said that social media speculation police were called “doesn’t appear to be true”.

The businessman said that the £10,000 relocation grant being offered by the council was insufficient to find the right premises in the town centre and carry out a refit.

It was announced February that ABC was intending to demolish Park Mall to make way for a temporary car park while a partner would be found to develop the site, probably for housing.

Council papers Documents show ABC maintains “the Park Mall site is not financially sustainable”.

ABC said site has annual losses of £700,000 and “significant” maintenance costs projected of £980,000 by 2026/27 and £9.3 million from 2028 onwards.

The report states that of the 32 units at the mall, half have made secured alternative arrangements, including nine re-locations, three closures and four vacant lots.

The council has offered assistance to the remaining tenants including a rent-free period.

A £10,000 empty premises grant applies only to finding an empty premises in the town centre.

The papers state that a partial demolition is not viable.

They state: “Park Mall’s interconnected structure presents significant challenges, as the shared walls, foundations and services complicated the separation of retained units.

“Partial demolition is not a financially viable option, given the substantial maintenance cost associated with retained units and ancillary expenditure, which is not expected to outweigh potential rental income.”

In June, Ashford Borough Council Leader Cllr Noel Ovenden said:  “Despite our best efforts, Park Mall is failing. Dwindling footfall and structural decline have forced our hand and hard decisions are necessary to halt the drain on our limited resources.

“With the burden to local taxpayers reaching the colossal sum of over half a million pounds a year, the people of Ashford can no longer afford to continue propping up a shopping centre which has sadly reached the end of its useful life.

“Continuing to support this venture could endanger vital public services and we have a responsibility to spend your money wisely. As I said in November last year, plans for the full regeneration of the area are still some way off but a short-term solution had to be found to reduce costs and ease the strain on the public purse.

“Having identified that the largest costs were to be found in business rates and essential day to day maintenance of the crumbling buildings our options were limited.

“By knocking down the centre and replacing it with an interim car park, it means the residents of Ashford no longer have this financial burden.”