A historic building will be demolished to make way for 34 new flats in Ashford after the council gave a controversial scheme the green light.

Swanton House in Elwick Road, has been derelict for more than 17 years but soon it will be replaced with two new apartment blocks up to four storeys high, with 27 parking spaces.

Ashford Borough Council’s property wing A Better Choice for Property Ltd purchased the building next to Ashford College from Kent County Council in 2019 and is the developer behind the new scheme.

It was granted permission last night by councillors on the planning committee following a major redesign.

Previous plans were sent back to the drawing board in July after they were likened to a “dangerous eye-sore” and a “carbuncular grey egg box”.

Now the site has been upgraded to be more ‘in keeping with’ the character of the area with the flat roofs replaced with pitched roofs to make them less ‘grid like’.

Metal-clad gabled features have been introduced to represent the surrounding 19th century architecture as well as the features currently on Swanton House itself.

Full height screens to the homes facing towards the Memorial Gardens have been added to improve privacy.

At last night's meeting, many supported the design changes and the scheme was voted through with 11 votes in favour and two against, but there were still some concerns raised about its impact on the environment.

Cllr Brendan Chilton (Lab) who voted against said: "Last time this application came to committee I opposed it quite strongly however I would like to say I think this is an improvement.

"However I would like to turn my comments mainly to the carbon neutrality.

"How can it be right that we have adopted a carbon neutrality policy as a council, and it’s not applied to an organisation we own?"

Some 25 of the parking bays will be fitted with electric vehicle charging points but there is no requirement for the building to be carbon neutral.

He also raised concerns around the lack of affordable homes despite the growing need in the borough.

Cllr Charles Suddards (Lab), ward councillor for the area, said while he agrees improvements have been made, he would have liked the decision to once again be deferred as he felt further improvements were still needed.

Cllr William Howard (Con) and Cllr Neil Shorter (Con) both agreed they would have liked rainwater harvesting facilities to be included to improve its efficiency.

The late-19th century Swanton House served as an auxiliary military hospital in the First World War, later housing Kent Social Service facilities.

The history will be marked in the new building in the form of a plaque.