Abandoned GP surgery set to be turned into a home

An abandoned GP surgery is set to be turned into a five-bed council home in a much-delayed £400,000 project.

Stanhope Surgery in Kilndown Road, Ashford, closed in 2018 after inspectors found it "fell significantly short" of building standards, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).

Ashford Borough Council is tendering a contract for a private firm to convert the property, which it said would be used by a "large family" currently on its housing waiting list.

Councillor Brendan Chilton, who represents Stanhope, said: "I hope it gives a family a good home, and let's hope the council increases its on-street purchasing and reduces our housing register."

The authority bought the property through its "on-street purchasing programme", a £15m scheme set up in 2019 to buy properties to meet affordable housing needs.

Plans to transform the site were approved by the council in 2022.

However, the authority said the project could not proceed due to pollution issues with the Stodmarsh National Nature Reserve near Canterbury.

The reserve has been affected by wastewater run-off from developments across east Kent causing high levels of harmful nitrate and phosphate nutrients.

Subsequently, Natural England requires developers to ensure all schemes in the River Stour catchment area are "nutrient neutral", as reported by LDRS.

The council said this scheme now had planning consent as "issues surrounding nutrient neutrality are starting to be resolved".

A council spokesperson said they had more than 1,800 families on its housing waiting list and about 240 families needed temporary accommodation.

The property was first built as a family home before it was converted into a GP surgery in 1983.

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