The event, entitled ‘Ashford’s Shared Space, the Road to Recovery?’ included presentations from Whitelaw Turkington on the design process, Kent County Council on the vision for Ashford and urban design expert Ben Hamilton-Baillie on the concept of shared space in practice followed by a tour of the scheme and a question and answer session.

The group included influencers and practitioners in the fields of regeneration, transport, engineering, traffic and highways as well as heads of planning and regeneration from around the country.  The overwhelming feedback from the group was that Ashford had created a unique and distinctive public realm that has created a more pleasant environment and improved the link between the town centre and the station.

Robert Huxford, Director, Urban Design Group, said he feels Ashford’s new public realm has “broken the mould of traditional street scenes. There is no reason why Ashford in ten years time should not be regarded in the same way as Rye: a place where people go because of the beauty and attractiveness of the town, a fusion of tradition and progress”

Lindsey Whitelaw of Whitelaw Turkington said she was thrilled that the scheme has put Ashford on the map, something they aimed for when the scheme was first proposed “Ashford’s new public realm offers a unique opportunity to see a shared space scheme in action in the UK - in the past we have had to travel to the continent, specifically the Netherlands, to see such projects.

Now on home soil we have set an example of how to revolutionise urban design.  By moving away from the segregation of pedestrians, cyclists and cars and through collaboration with artists we have created a unique and distinctive sense of place which, I hope, is an inspiration for town centres everywhere.”

Judith Armitt, managing director of Ashford’s Future, the agency overseeing Ashford’s growth programme, said she was delighted that the town had created a blueprint for other towns to follow.
“The scheme has made our town centre more attractive to residents and visitors and it’s playing a vital role in unlocking the commercial development potential of Ashford.”

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Notes for editors

Shared space
The shared space philosophy has been developed through pioneering schemes in many European countries, in particular the work of Dutch traffic engineer Hans Monderman.

It works on the principle that when all conventional traffic control and segregation measures are removed, the driver is no longer psychologically distanced from the place around him. The result is that speeds reduce and human interaction improves.

The Ashford scheme
In November, Ashford completed the first phase of its award-winning shared space project to transform its 1970s ring road into quality, two-way streets in which drivers, cyclists and pedestrians have equal priority.

The scheme has opened up the town centre to make it more attractive to residents, businesses and visitors. The £15.6m scheme has been implemented by Kent County Council and forms part of a £2.5bn public and private sector investment programme for Ashford.

Unnecessary street furniture, road markings and traffic lights have been removed and the speed limit cut to 20mph. Road surfaces have been replaced with high-quality materials, wider footpaths and low kerbs, to create a distinctive streetscape, while artists are transforming the public space along the road into an attractive tree-lined environment.

Ashford’s Future
Ashford has been identified by the Government as one of the key growth areas in the South East and is now the fastest growing town between London and the Continent. It is set to double in size by 2031, creating 28,000 extra jobs and 31,000 new homes.

Ashford’s Future is a delivery company supporting the partnership of government and private sector bodies working to deliver the regeneration and growth of Ashford.

Ashford’s Future partners comprise Ashford Borough Council, Kent County Council, SEEDA (South East England Development Agency), the Homes and Communities Agency, Environment Agency, Learning and Skills Council, South East England Regional Assembly and the Highways Agency.

For further information visit www.ashfordbestplaced.co.uk

Ashford's key facts
Key aspects of Ashford’s €2.7 billion investment programme include:

• 2 million sq ft of commercial development available

• Introduction of high-speed rail services to London in 2009, reducing travel time to 37 minutes

• A €70m extension of existing County Square Shopping Centre, opened April 2008

• Some of the best leisure and sports facilities in the South East, including a multi-million-pound redeveloped leisure centre and international standard athletics stadium

• Development of large-scale residential neighbourhoods

• €30m investment in transport schemes, including transformation of the Ashford ring road,

• M20 / J10 widening improvements, a new J10a and Park and Ride scheme

• €26m investment to improve water supplies