New Ash Green

New Ash Green is a village in the Sevenoaks District of Kent, England. It is located 8 miles south west of Gravesend.

New Ash Green
The Row, New Ash Green's shopping area, in 2012
New Ash Green Location within Kent
Civil parish	Ash-cum-Ridley
District	Sevenoaks
Shire county	Kent
Region	South East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	LONGFIELD
Postcode district	DA3
Police	Kent
Fire	Kent
Ambulance	South East Coast
UK Parliament	Tonbridge[1]
Website	Ash-cum-Ridley Parish Council
List of places UK England Kent 51°22′N 0°18′E

The original Span-built properties in New Ash Green, with the earliest houses on the left and the original Span office and shop on the right

History

Building of the village began in 1967, with Span as the developer and Eric Lyons as the designer. The architectural design of New Ash Green was innovative for its time, and its original concept was intended as a prototype for a new way of living in the latter twentieth century. The first buildings were created to be airy, pleasant and modern. There was generous landscaping and cars were separated from pedestrians in the streets and in the shopping precinct.^[2] The village is arranged in twenty four neighbourhoods.^[3] Punch Croft and Over Minnis are some of the original Span-designed sections.

The development soon ran into difficulties. Originally, the Greater London Council was going to buy 450 of the properties for renting. This idea was dropped when the leadership of the GLC went into Conservative hands. This reduced the financial viability of the development and of the planned social mix of residents. Another problem in the early years was that some lenders were sceptical about the unconventional design of the properties and would not give mortgages.

Span, the original developer,^[4] sold the project to Bovis in 1971 for £2.65 million. Bovis increased the size of the development, increasing density and giving less attention to design or provision of public space.

Facilities

The village has rugby and football clubs, while Ash Green Sports Centre includes a gym and badminton, tennis and squash courts.^[5] There are also shops, parks, a primary school, a special needs school and a fire station.

In the 2000's, the shopping centre became run-down due to lack of maintenance from overseas absentee landlords. In spite of plans being put forward in 2008 to redesign the village's shops,^[6] the need for renovation continued, and in 2023 the centre was bought by new owners who promised a "much-needed enhancement" of the centre.^[7]

Transport

Rail

The nearest National Rail station to New Ash Green is Longfield,^[8] located 2.3 miles (3.7 km) away.

Buses

New Ash Green is served by Arriva Kent Thameside route 489. It connects it with Gravesend & Longfield.