Council bosses aim to introduce park and ride to Ashford under plans to increase jobs and homes in the town.

Richard Alderton, the head of planning and development at the council, said the measure would be inevitable given the pressure future expansion would put on the town’s roads.

His comments came at a the Ashford Economic Development Seminar at Eastwell Manor on Friday, where more than 100 business people gathered to hear about plans for the future of the district.

Mr Alderton spoke about various job creating measures like growing the Designer Outlet, building a new Aldi supermarket and opening a Chapel Down brewery.

He also highlighted the planned growth in population from housing schemes like Chilmington Green and Finberry, which will create nearly 7,000 new homes.

He said: “Park and ride is bound to come back to Ashford at some stage.

"At what stage is difficult to say but given that many jobs will be created, there is only so much road and parking space.”

Discussions of a multi-million pound park and ride scheme in Ashford started more than 10 years ago but never materialised after the government funding fell through.

A report by Ashford Borough Council in 2005 highlighted three possible sites for park and ride facilities.

These were at Junction 9 of the M20 at The Warren, Junction 10 at Sevington and on the A28 Chart Road near the future Chilmington Green development.

In November 2009, a display in County Square revealed the plans for the £30 million park and ride scheme to residents.

The sparkling Smartlink service aimed to offer improved links to the town’s main residential and employment areas, including the town centre, Ashford International Station, the Designer Outlet Centre, William Harvey Hospital.

It also included three proposed Park and Ride sites at the Drovers roundabout, Waterbrook and Chilmington Green.

The development was due to open in 2012, but delays to funding pushed the date back further and further.

By 2011, it was announced government funding would hold up the scheme until at least 2015, and no plans or funding have surfaced since.

“Park and ride is bound to come back to Ashford at some stage..." - Richard Alderton, Ashford Borough Council

The Ashford Economic Development Seminar also heard from Mark Quinn, director of Quinn Estates, which is part of a joint venture to build new offices in the Commercial Quarter near the international station.

He revealed his company, which will build the offices with fellow developer George Wilson, is in talks with three major banks about locating their staff to the first phase of their development in Ashford.

The six-storey 65,000 sq ft office will have 220 car parking spaces and be capable of employing 426 people, with another 55 employed in retail space in the building.

Mr Quinn said: “We have only just launched the Commercial Quarter and the interest is massive from companies outside Ashford.

“This will make an incredible difference to the town because it will provide quality office space where people want it.

“The idea of the whole Commercial Quarter is to make the buildings face each other and create a cafe culture. The first phase is going to be a really good looking building.”