A28 Chart Road

The A28 is the main route serving south and west Ashford.  The route runs north-south on the western side of the town and connects to the A20/A292 to the north. The project scope includes the dualling of the A28 Chart Road carriageway with two lanes being provided in both directions between Matalan (Brookfield Road) and Tank (Templer Way) roundabouts, separated by a central island. A new bridge over the railway line is proposed to take the southbound traffic, with the existing bridge carrying the northbound traffic. The Matalan and Tank junctions will both be enlarged to accommodate increased capacity stemming from the carriageway upgrade. The project is linked with the Chilmington Green development, with the highway works required in order to unlock the area for development.

Project update

A project update was considered by Accountability Board on 7th June 2019 in line with the requirement for all high risk projects to be considered by the Board before the end of June 2019. The project update indicated that whilst Kent County Council has undertaken substantial work towards the delivery of the project, there remained a significant risk in relation to the developer contributions towards the delivery of the project. The Chilmington Green developer contributed towards the development of the project and was due to fund the remaining construction costs of the project. It was agreed that Kent County Council would forward fund the developer contribution to the delivery of the project, with the developer repaying Kent County Council over a ten year period. A security bond was required from the developer in order to safeguard Kent County Council against any risk of non-repayment and to recover interest charges. Despite the security bond being requested in December 2017, Kent County Council have yet to receive the required bond. As a result, Kent County Council do not have the financial security required to proceed with the delivery of the project.

To date, a total of £2.756m of the £10.2m LGF funding allocation has been spent on the project. Kent County Council have confirmed that this will remain as capital expenditure as there remains a need for the delivery of the project to enable construction of the 5,750 homes planned at the Chilmington Green site. At the meeting on 7th June the Board agreed that the project should be put on hold and that there was compelling justification for SELEP not to recover the £2.756m LGF funding spent on the project to date.

The Board also agreed that unless Kent County Council were able to provide written confirmation that the local funding was in place by 27th June 2019, the remaining LGF allocation of £7.444m should be reallocated through the LGF project pipeline. It was confirmed by Kent County Council on 28th June 2019, that the local funding package was not in place. Therefore, the remaining LGF allocation has been reallocated.

As the project remains on hold it may be put forward as a priority for future funding streams, such as the Shared Prosperity Fund.  However, at this stage the timescales and criteria for expected future funding streams are unknown.

£579m of investment to East Sussex, Essex, Kent, Medway, Southend and Thurrock

In total the SELEP Growth Deal with Government has brought £579m of investment to East Sussex, Essex, Kent, Medway, Southend and Thurrock. Over the lifetime of the Growth Deal (2015-2021) we aim to deliver 78,000 jobs and 29,000 homes across the SELEP area, with the Deal set to attract a further £960m of investment into the South East over the six year period.

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