The future of Ashford's County Square shopping centre is anything but clear.

Hit by the loss of both M&S and Debenhams not long before the pandemic began, KentOnline revealed earlier this month how the whole site is now on the market for £13.5 million, sparking much speculation across the town.

Ashford MP Damian Green thinks a number of restaurants could work well alongside the shops, while others claim Primark is missing a huge opportunity by not moving in.

At this stage, though, how the centre will look when its 50th anniversary comes around in 2025 is anyone's guess.

Built on a large residential area comprising Hempsted Street, Tufton Street, Middle Street and Apsley Street, plans for the development were first drawn up in the mid-1960s.

Once the site had been cleared, which included the demolition of two pubs, numerous homes and businesses as well as the Elwick Club, work started on the complex in late 1972.

Upon its completion three years later, the site was named the Tufton Centre, with Tesco and department store Lewis & Hyland taking the two central spots off the main square, which was then uncovered.

Comprising two enclosed malls and two open, planted squares, the development also featured the Zodiac pub – a unit that effectively replaced the Coach and Horses and Wellington Hotel which were both lost during construction.

By the latter part of the decade, a second phase had been completed, with M&S joining the centre in 1978.

But other traders came and went and in 1987 both Tesco and its fellow supermarket chain Presto left the centre in favour of out-of-town sites.

Two years later, the then owners CIN Properties invested more than £2m in the centre, replacing the dark flat roofs with light and airy pitched glass.

Even before the upgrade was completed in the summer of 1990, the centre had been renamed County Square, with bosses looking to improve the image of what had become a somewhat dated site.

During this time, they put forward plans to build behind the centre on the original Ashford Market site in Elwick Road.

Part of the design was to link both sites by building a bridge over the ring road and blocking the bottom of Bank Street, forming a new entrance.

The project, named Market Plaza, never came to fruition.

But in March 2004, County Square chiefs did gain permission to extend the centre, using land that housed the Stanhay and Godinton Road car parks behind the site.

Work started more than a year later, with Debenhams lined up to take the largest, three-storey unit at the bottom of Bank Street.

When the extension finally opened in March 2008, Next, River Island, H&M, New Look and Jane Norman all joined Debenhams in the £60m development.

In its first three days, almost 55,000 people paid a visit, with shuttle buses laid on to ferry shoppers from Dover Place to Tufton Street.

"There will no longer be a need for shoppers to travel to Canterbury and it will bring more people into Ashford," County Square spokesman Adrienne Robins said at the time.

Thirteen years on, some of the 21 new units added to the centre have never been filled, including those facing Apsley Street.

And now, with the abandoned Debenhams store left empty for almost two years, calls for Primark to fill the former department store are only growing louder.

But while the clothing giant says it "continually reviews opportunities for expansion of the Primark business", it will not, rather inevitably, "comment on speculation about where or when we might open our next stores".

Such a statement won't stop the gossip though – something Mr Green has heard for many years now.

"There is obviously a lot of talk about trying to get Primark to set up in Debenhams but unfortunately it doesn't work like that, people will only set up businesses themselves, the council can’t force any businesses to set up there," he said.

"I think County Square could do with a couple of restaurants as well as shops but in the end a space like that has to be mostly retail.

"As we emerge from the pandemic, the big chains will be wondering how much retail will be coming back and how much will be going online.

"I hope to see growth in the future."

Last year, bosses behind the Ashford International Model Railway Excellence Centre (AIMREC) revealed they were in discussions with the owners of County Square about taking over one of the ex-Debenhams floors, but the plans have not progressed.

The team is currently setting up a studio and workshop in Bethersden, but director Fred Garner says its bid for a large visitor centre in Ashford "remains as relevant as ever with the current news about County Square and the challenges of creating footfall in town centres".

Away from the ghostly Debenhams store, one deal that has been confirmed is the arrival of HomePlus Furniture, which will fill the former M&S unit that has been empty since May 2019.

It comes not long after a Jobcentre filled the ex-River Island site and YMCA took up the former BrightHouse unit next to Poundland – the first charity shop to open in County Square.

HomePlus owner Martin Rose says he is not disappointed about the centre, which has been owned by international investment firm Kennedy Wilson since 2013, going up for sale.

"If someone has got the right vision, they can do a lot with it," he said.

"We all want the major retail players to be in the town centre, but there's such a lot of uncertainty at the moment.

"I can't predict what the vagaries of retail will be, but give it another 12 to 18 months and I am sure a major player – or players – will come and set themselves up in County Square.

"Ashford is getting bigger and bigger – there's going to be a need for retail in Ashford and it will be in the town centre. I don't think it will all go online."

Mr Rose has signed a 15-year lease for his unit and hopes to open the store by the end of November.

"In the end, I am sure somewhere like Ashford will start to see shoppers return," he said.

"We are happy to be moving into the centre and are pleased to have the opportunity.

"I think there is a future here and I am committed to it – it's got my vote."

Do you have any memories or old photos of the centre you'd like to share with us? Email dwright@thekmgroup.co.uk

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