New 600-space truck stop in Ashford gets green light

A new 600-space truck stop is to be built in Ashford in Kent after Ashford Borough Council’s planning committee approved the plans for it.

The new truck stop will be a replacement for the current 300-space Ashford International Truck Stop off Bad Munstereifel Road near J10 of the M20.

Darren Smith, senior business manager at Ashford International Truck Stop said work will begin on the new development on 14 August, and it could be open by July next year. The current Ashford Truckstop will operate as normal during this period.

Parking for trucks has been an issue in the area for some time, but was brought into focus last year when Kent County Council and Ashford Borough Council joined forces to clamp down on illegally parked HGVs.

The scheme allows the authorities to clamp and fine drivers parking in certain areas, including: the A20 between Charing and Ashford; Wotton Road; Ellingham Industrial Estate; The Orbital Park, Sevington and Ashford Business Park, Sevington.

“It [the new truck stop] is so much needed,” Smith said. “Since October last year and the clamping started in the Ashford area then we haven’t fallen below 98.9% capacity overnight. We have been turning away anything between 300-500 trucks in a normal week and at Christmas we turned away over 1000. As you can imagine there is a lot of frustration among drivers who get turned away.”

Smith added that construction company GSE Group, which operates Ashford International Truckstop, is looking at other potential sites for truckstops in the Kent area.

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