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Plans for a huge warehouse linked to distribution giant Amazon are set to be rejected tonight.
GSE Commercial Estates has submitted plans to Ashford Borough Council (ABC) for a giant building on Waterbrook Park off the A2070 Bad Munstereifel Road.
If approved, the two-storey structure would go on an 18.5-acre spot close to the estate’s entrance, opposite the new Barretts car dealership.
But planning officers have recommended the scheme is refused, citing concerns over the size of the proposed warehouse, the idea that more jobs could be created if the site was used differently and the impact on two public footpaths.
Although bosses are yet to reveal the name of the operator, Amazon has been rumoured and has long been linked with Ashford after a leaked ABC document in 2014 seemed to confirm it was coming to the town.
It was thought to be going on the Stour Park estate next to Junction 10a, which was rebranded as MOJO last year and is now becoming a 66-acre post-Brexit lorry park.
When asked about the Waterbrook application in the summer, Amazon told KentOnline it did not comment on rumour or speculation, while an ABC spokesman said “there’s nothing to say at this stage”.
Bosses are proposing 148 parking spaces on the site, as well as room for 12 HGVs to enter, turn and park on the land.
There will also be overnight van storage areas in the development, which was given outline permission by ABC last year.
Following the officer's recommendation for refusal ahead of tonight's planning committee meeting, Darrell Healey, chairman of the GSE Group, said the £34m scheme would create 400 jobs, adding the development “fits well with the surrounding area”.
He said: “At a time of rapidly rising unemployment and the economy taking a battering from Covid-19, it seems completely nonsensical to be turning down an opportunity to bring much needed investment and jobs to the town.
“The location is perfectly suited for a distribution centre and we have a household name ready to move in as soon as construction is complete.
“These are real jobs that would be available within months in a sector of the economy that is growing and well-placed to emerge from the current storm.
“If this application is rejected, we risk seeing this much-needed opportunity disappearing to another part of the county.
“The outline planning consent allows the area to be used for warehousing and distribution and the proposed building is within the height that was agreed."
