Ashford EDG January 2026 Minutes
Ashford Economic Development Group – January 2026 minutes
Nettie Buss (AB) – Chair
Maria Callow (MC)
Lee Collette (LC)
Steve Garnett SG)
Katie Hodson (KH)
Andrew Osborne (AO)
Tudor Price (TP)
Tom Shaw-Dunn (TS-D)
Dan Sherlock (DS)
Richard Stafford (RS)
Tim Sheppard (TS)
2026 AGENDA
TP outlined national topics of interest that could be talking points for the year ahead, he was keen to gauge what is of interest and what should be on the agenda for 2026. He suggested:
- Employment Rights Act
- Visitor Levy – new Mayoral power
- Business rates
- Digital contract, online safety
BUSINESS RATES
AB mentioned that business rates is a key topic of concern for JR. RS shared he was meeting Sojan Joseph MP soon to discuss business rates and small business rate relief thresholds. AO said he would talk to ABC to identify which businesses had small business rate relief in Ashford.
WATER AND UTILTIES
RS felt rural businesses especially suffer when there are road closures to repair water damage. AO has interaction with the Kent Resilience Forum and mentioned there are many challenges around water resilience on the network across Kent.
TP is keen to hear from utilities leaders around accountability, he will invite them to future AEDG meetings. Overall he felt we need closer representation and engagement in Kent.
SKILLS
KH is keen to review the latest LSIP results, TP said they are due in March 2026. KH shared Azets took on a T level student from Ashford College and since recruited them – a good news skills story.
LC shared AI is becoming essential to retail, but the brands have less people on the payroll. For example when stock taking can be done with a live scanning wand, it’s faster and more efficient. The Ashford Designer Outlet is a flagship for Ashford growth; they would like to see a loosening of restrictions on them from ABC. LC extended an invite to host a future AEDG meeting.
TP said there is a planned KICC AI conference on 24th June 2026 and he is keen to explore pressing business themes.
ANY OTHER BUSINESS
TP said Eurostar and bring back international rail remains an important theme to the Kent business community. Oliver Betts (a corporate lawyer) plans to bring a class action against Eurostar and TP appealed for business leaders to support him. RS said he would share his contacts to support the class action.
BUSINESS OF THE MEETING
AB welcomed Luke Mullaney (LM) from GSE. Luke presented the proposal for ‘A20 Court Wood Interchange’ a potential new truck stop in Dover. LM set the context that Ashford International Truck Stop is the largest of its type in Europe, it has 660 spaces. Yet currently it is operating at 100% capacity and turns away from 40 to 100 trucks each night. There is a national shortfall of Truck Stops.
Kent has 60% of outbound HGVs (2m trucks) a year. LM shared that research shows there is a necessity to hold 1,000 more HGV spaces in Kent. The proposal is to have a new lorry park and holding area in Dover. Dover TAP is a visible demonstration of this demand need.
LM proposed that the new Truck Stop would support a solution to offer 600 lorry spaces with secure parking, a build based on the award-winning Ashford Truck Stop offer. The Truck Stop would occupy 25-27 acres of the 77 acres of AONB, Natural England. The remainder 50 acres would be used for drainage and biodiversity initiatives.
LM stated that this would be a world class facility on the doorstep of the world’s busiest roll on roll off port. The challenges are that it would be on an AONB, Natural England; it would have a local visual impact and there could be potential traffic management issues.
The next steps will continue with stakeholder engagement. The application will be submitted in Q1 2026 with the aim to be onsite by the end of 2026 with a 12 month build. The new Truck Stop is anticipated to create 100 jobs and will be part of the solution to alleviate Brock.
2026 AGENDA
AB suggested potential key areas of discussion looking ahead to 2026. Topics include:
- Eurostar
- Inviting Katie Lam MP to attend a meeting
- Ashford College Phase 3
- Nutrient Neutrality
- Town Centre business rates
These are to be agreed early in 2026.
ANY OTHER BUSINESS
RS had submitted concerns over public walk way access in the town centre where the new Edinburgh Road car park will be built. KH will contact Keli Nolan-Lyons at ABC to capture any town centre feedback about this. SG will contact Perry Court Farm to see of they might be a potential agricultural contact to join the AEDG.
LAC asked for AEDG to use their networks to encourage business engagement and support with Ashford College. There is a planned business event in February 2026.
