Quadrant, the independent UK real estate asset management and development company, has received outline planning consent for 375 new homes and 35,000 sqm of Grade A commercial space on land surrounding its Eureka Business Park scheme in Ashford, Kent.

Ashford Borough Council’s planning committee voted unanimously in favour of the proposals which represent a major consent for the area.

The newly granted planning consent allows for 52 hectares of land to the north of the M20 and Ashford Golf Course to be transformed into 375 much needed energy efficient new homes for the local community and high-quality commercial space that will meet the needs of modern occupiers from the corporate, life sciences and R&D sectors.

The land had been earmarked by Ashford Borough Council’s Local Plan which maps out where 13,000 homes will be built across the district up to 2030. 30% of the new homes will be affordable, sitting within attractive grasslands with two large lakes at the centre of the site, alongside pedestrian and cycle routes for residents, commercial occupiers and the public to enjoy.

Quadrant successfully unlocked the land’s development potential with an innovative approach to achieving nutrient neutrality, ensuring water in lakes and streams on the site would not be impacted by development. This included creating new wetlands that will enhance biodiversity and installing a water treatment plant on site.

Quadrant has worked on  Eureka Park in partnership with Trinity College Cambridge since 2002 and since such time has overseen the development of over 150,000 sq ft of new commercial space.  Major tenants on the park include Brakes, Coty Rimmel, Smiths Medical and the NHS.

Tristram Gethin, Founding Partner, Quadrant, said:

“Securing consent for so many new homes is highly positive for the local area, which like many parts of the South East is suffering from an acute undersupply of high quality energy efficient housing. We look forward to working with Ashford Borough Council to achieve Section 106 and discussing plans for the site with housebuilders and commercial developers who we expect to see a high level of enquiries from. Many sites in this area are restricted by nutrient neutrality issues, and we are proud of our team who have developed solutions that will not only ensure there are no issues but bring more biodiversity to the location.”

The site lies to the north of Ashford adjacent to J9 of the M20 motorway, close to the town centre, with Ashford International Railway Station just 3.8km away and reachable in 18 minutes by bicycle or nine minutes by car. From this station, access to Canterbury West, Eastbourne, London Victoria, London Charing Cross and London St Pancras International are all reachable with frequent services.