Just four businesses remain at a town centre leisure complex that cost £75 million to build - despite council bosses being “supremely confident” it would take off.

Six years on, KentOnline reporter Chantal Weller looks at why Ashford’s Elwick Place is struggling and what its future holds...

“I'm sure Elwick Place will be buzzing in six months’ time.”

Those were the words of Cllr Gerry Clarkson, the former leader of Ashford Borough Council (ABC), as he opened the authority’s shiny new development in December 2018.

The project saw a cinema, then run by Picturehouse, and a Travelodge hotel built alongside eight restaurant and cafe units which, at the time of opening, all sat empty.

“I'm supremely confident that, now the hoardings are down and people can look around the building, there'll be no problem filling them up at all,” Cllr Clarkson (Con) said at the time.

However, six years of comings and goings have left just two of those units occupied.

There has been much change around the cinema itself, too, with the Cineworld-owned Picturehouse brand pulling out earlier this year, and ABC choosing to step in to run the six-screen site itself, renaming it ‘The Ashford Cinema’.

But why have so many businesses failed to make it work at the site which was previously home to Ashford's market?

Only Matches Sports Bar and Snap Fitness are currently occupying spots beneath the cinema and hotel, while some, many under the Travelodge, have never been filled.

Cllr Noel Ovenden, who has led ABC since last May under an Ashford Independents/Green Party coalition, believes the Covid pandemic “was predominately the reason” for the demise of the town’s Picturehouse.

“It takes about three years for a cinema to find its feet in the marketplace and I don’t think it had enough time between opening and Covid striking to start to really drive the footfall that it needed to survive,” the Wye representative said.

“We have seen some people come, some people go, and there have been many changes of hands through the units over a period of time.

“I think Elwick still has a place, because what’s the alternative? That we give up and knock it down and let someone else build on it?

“I don’t think that is the right thing to do and I will fight as hard as I can to make sure that we don’t get to that point.”

The most recent departure came earlier this month when VRec - a virtual reality gaming room - left the centre after just 10 months.

It was the latest in a long line of short-lived tenants at the site, with arguably the best-known being Faversham-based Macknade which left the complex in February 2022.

Others have included Italian restaurant Unita 4, award-winning cafe Leo and Sage, and The Gastronomist Club fine-dining restaurant, which only lasted four months.

Leo and Sage bosses took aim at ABC over a “lack of support” when their site closed in December 2023 after just 16 months of trading.

But the authority said it had offered a “significant rent-free period” and provided marketing and promotional support.

Picturehouse, meanwhile, had signed a 25-year lease at Elwick Place and Cllr Ovenden, who represents the Ashford Independents, says there was no indication it would be leaving so soon.

Twenty-six staff employed by the cinema chain have been taken on by ABC, which started running the facility in April.

“Part of the reason we put The Ashford Cinema in place to keep it a going concern was to keep that anchor in Elwick Place,” Cllr Ovenden said.

“As the economy improves, we hope that will bring other businesses along with it and that in the next three or however many years it will take, we will start to see the vibe pick up there.

“Nothing lasts forever in this world, but there will be some light at the end of the tunnel.

“It’s easy to moan about something, but don’t just moan about it, get out there and do something about it.”

Despite Cllr Ovenden’s optimism, shoppers KentOnline spoke to at the site this week say Ashford has become a “ghost town”.

Resident Vicky Branchett thinks people can’t afford the units at Elwick Place as they are “very, very big”.

“There's nothing here so I don’t know what people would come to Ashford for,” she said.

“There's hardly any clothes shops to go to anymore, and the parking at Elwick Place is also so expensive.”

Sandgate resident Sandra Martin, 65, agrees and says “something is lacking” at the site, which is free to park at after 3pm.

“I used to live in Ashford, there’s been a lot of changes here,” she said.

“You had smaller shops and places like M&S and Debenhams which would pull people in.

“Ashford isn’t hitting the right generation, there isn’t something for everyone like there is in Folkestone.

“People don’t go to Ashford, they go to places like Canterbury or Maidstone instead.”

Economic forecaster Richard Scase, an emeritus professor at the University of Kent, thinks Elwick Place has nothing to “pull people in”.

“It's away from the centre of Ashford and it's away from where people think the action is,” he said.

“The consumers at these kind of venues tend to be young people who are looking for a nice, congenial and sociable environment where there's lots of hospitality offered and where they have the opportunity to meet other people.

“Elwick Place doesn't do that in the same way as, for example, Canterbury does in terms of on Saturday nights and weekends.”

Although Matches Sports Bar is proving popular at the site, Prof Scase thinks the complex needs to attract a national chain.

“You need something to draw you in, like The Ivy, which is now coming to Canterbury,” he said.

“Elwick Place doesn't have the attraction, it doesn't have the draw of national brands which clearly have stronger, deeper financial resources to sustain any kind of fluctuation in trading opportunities.

“And there are strong alternatives for young people for hospitality and for leisure pursuits.

“Westfield at Stratford is only 30 minutes away on the high-speed train, Canterbury is only 20 minutes away by train and they both have a bigger pull than Elwick Place.”

But despite Prof Scase’s concerns, Jon Shephard, owner of Matches Sports Bar, says the complex offers an “ideal location” for his business, which opened in June 2021.

“It's not often a large entertainment and leisure complex like Elwick Place is created so close to a town centre,” he said.

“This, combined with The Ashford Cinema and other venues, made it an ideal location.”

Mr Shephard opened a sister site in Canterbury last year following the success of his Ashford venture.

“Elwick Place still holds immense potential, and the key to its continued success will be attracting a diverse mix of businesses that meet the needs and desires of the local population,” he said.

“The current trading environment is undeniably challenging, and it's a tough time for many businesses, particularly new ventures.

“The costs associated with setting up and running a business are significant, and many factors, such as rents, increased competition, and changing consumer habits, can impact a business's ability to survive and thrive.

“At Matches, we've been fortunate to have a strong concept and a loyal customer base that has helped us navigate these challenges.”

When asked about the future of Elwick Place, an ABC spokesman said the authority sees the complex as a “leisure and entertainment destination for the town centre, alongside Coachworks at Dover Place and other places in the high street”.

They said plans for the second phase of Elwick Place - a residential scheme featuring 200 flats - are delayed by pollution issues with the Stodmarsh Nature Reserve near Canterbury.

The protected beauty spot has been affected by wastewater run-off from developments across east Kent causing high levels of harmful nitrate and phosphate nutrients.

It means work on the multimillion-pound second phase, which was approved by ABC in 2022, is yet to begin.

Sunningdale House Developments and Stanhope PLC, which built the first phase, are behind the project that is set to be built on an empty plot next to the Travelodge hotel.

But ABC says while flats are set to be built next door, the authority has no plans to convert the existing complex into residential.

It would not say how much the site costs to run each month as “this is commercially sensitive information”.

“We’re sad to see tenants or any business close, but as we know, times are tough on the high street,” the spokesman said.

“As we have seen, not just in Ashford but nationally, many businesses are finding it tough economically, especially in the retail and hospitality sectors.

“We need everyone in the town - residents, visitors, local media - to support our local businesses as much as they can, otherwise they will struggle.

“The council supports our Elwick Place tenants, by providing marketing and promotional support via the Elwick Place and Love Ashford channels, and by holding town centre events to draw in crowds to the area, such as the recent Food and Drink Festival.

“We continue to have a number of enquiries in several of the Elwick Place units by interested parties, so we hope to have more positive news on this front in the near future.”