Plans have been published to build a new TV and film studio in Ashford, Kent. The project also includes a new 120-bedroom hotel, 68 serviced apartments, a conference centre targeting the creative industries plus a gym, restaurant and leisure space.
The proposed site is the derelict Newtown railway works, a locomotive manufacturing site from 1847 until it was shut in the early 1980s.
The £250million planned investment will restore five at-risk Grade II-listed-buildings and convert them into an 80,000 sq-ft TV and film studio plus ancillary production units and a media village.
The project is the brainchild of The Creative District Improvement Company (TCDI Co.) which is teaming up with developer Quinn Estates. The developers are hoping to get final planning permission at a meeting of Ashford borough council this week. The project is scheduled for completion in 2021.