Carlton Business Park is the first site at Ashford, Kent to be acquired and developed by Gallagher Properties. We worked closely with Ashford Borough Council on the scheme, in line with its ambitious plans for inward investment and long-term growth in the area.
The project covered two sites totalling almost seven acres. The larger plot was the former Rimmel factory on the Cobbs Wood Industrial Estate, not far from J9 of the M20, which had lain derelict for nearly a decade. A planning application was submitted in April 2016 with permission granted in July;
enabling work was carried out in between times.
This first site was developed in three phases. The first, completed in September 2016, comprised a new grounds maintenance depot for Aspire Landscape Management, which looks after council-owned green spaces across the Borough. In 2017, we completed Phase 2 – a new concrete plant for Gallagher Aggregates, which now supplies ready-mix concrete, flowing screed and bagged aggregates for our construction projects; it’s also a transfer station for demolition material being sent to Gallagher’s site
in Maidstone for recycling.
Phase 3 comprised 28 light industrial units providing around 45,000 sq ft of commercial space. Ashford Borough Council acquired this development in November 2018, adding to its existing industrial portfolio which includes the nearby Ellingham Road. The final Phase 4, on the smaller second site, provides car parking area adjacent to the HS1 railway line between London and the Channel Tunnel.