Ashford, Kent
Demolition and Groundworks in Ashford
Demolition, groundworks and muck away in Ashford, Kent. Own plant and fleet, every stage managed in-house. Call The Blackford Group on 01424 830613.
Working in Ashford
Demolition & Groundworks in Ashford
Ashford has been growing outwards for years, and the road network is a big part of the reason. The M20 runs along the north and east side of the town with junctions 9, 10 and 10a, the A28 comes in from Tenterden one way and Canterbury the other, the A20 runs through from Maidstone towards Folkestone, and the A2070 drops south towards Brenzett and Romney Marsh. Ashford International station sits in the middle of it with the high speed line to St Pancras. That level of access is why so much housing, industrial and logistics work lands here, and it is why demolition and groundworks in Ashford has to be planned around traffic and access as much as around the building itself.
The building stock changes street by street. The old core is a railway town: Victorian terraces and the railway workers' housing at Newtown, brick and slate, shallow foundations and shared party walls. Around that sit the interwar and post-war estates at Stanhope, Beaver, Bockhanger and Willesborough, then the larger modern estates at Park Farm, Repton Park and Singleton, and the newest housing at Finberry, Cheeseman's Green and Chilmington Green. On the commercial side there are the industrial estates at Cobbs Wood and Henwood, the newer units at Orbital Park, Waterbrook and Sevington out by the motorway, and a good deal of tired 1960s and 1970s stock in and around the town centre that is now worth more as a cleared site than as a building.
Most of the work here falls into three types. There is town centre redevelopment and change of use, where older offices, retail units and yards near the station and the ring road come down or get stripped back. There is industrial and logistics work close to junctions 9, 10 and 10a, where units are extended, replaced or built on cleared ground. And there is housing, both the large planned sites on the edge of town and the steady run of infill plots, garden land, extensions and knock downs in the older suburbs. Ashford Borough Council deals with planning and building control, with Kent County Council as the highways authority, so notices, licences and access agreements need lining up before anything moves on site.
The Blackford Group works nationwide and runs its own plant and fleet from the yard at Upper Wilting Farm, St Leonards-on-Sea. Ashford is a straightforward run up the A28 through Tenterden, so machines, tippers and low loaders come from us rather than from a hire desk. That matters on a tight programme, because the excavator, the breaker attachment, the tippers and the crew all answer to the same people, and a hold up on one part of the job does not leave the rest of the site standing still.
Our services
What We Deliver in Ashford
The Blackford Group runs eight divisions: Demolition, Strip Out, Groundworks, Site Enabling and Remediation, Haulage and Muck Away, Sea Defence, Piling, and Underpinning. On an Ashford job that means one contractor takes the site from a standing building to a level, clean platform ready for the next trade. The building comes down, the waste goes off site on our own lorries, contaminated or made ground is dealt with, piles or underpinning go in where the clay or the neighbouring wall calls for it, and the drainage and foundations follow. There are no gaps between contracts, no argument over who was meant to do the muck away, and one number to ring when something changes on site.
On the ground
What Ashford Sites Actually Need.
Clay, Gravel and Chalk in One Town
Ashford sits where three sorts of ground meet. South and west it is Weald Clay, which shrinks and swells with the weather and holds water at the surface. Through the middle, along the Stour valley, there are river gravels and softer alluvial deposits. North and east the land rises towards the North Downs, where chalk comes close to the surface around Wye and Charing. Two plots a mile apart can want completely different foundations, so we dig trial holes and work to the site investigation rather than assuming what is under the topsoil. Where the bearing is poor or a neighbouring structure needs support, piling and underpinning are our own divisions rather than something we sub out.
The Stour, Drainage and Flood Risk
The Great Stour and the East Stour both run through Ashford and meet near the town centre, and the low ground either side of them carries a real flood risk. Add clay that sheds water instead of soaking it away and surface water becomes part of the design rather than an afterthought. On sites near the river, through Victoria Park and the older industrial land along the water, levels, attenuation and outfalls need agreeing early, and work close to a watercourse can need consent as well as planning permission. We plan dig levels, temporary drainage and haul routes so a wet week does not turn the site into a bog.
Old Railway Land, Heritage and Tight Lanes
Ashford grew as a railway town, and the legacy shows up in the ground: former works land, old sidings, fuel and oil, brickfields and worked out gravel pits around Conningbrook. Made ground and buried obstructions are common, so we allow for testing, segregation and proper disposal instead of finding out halfway through. Above ground there are conservation areas in the town centre and in villages such as Great Chart, Wye and Charing, along with listed buildings that rule out a machine-only approach. The town centre road layout and the village lanes also decide what size of plant can realistically get in.
Where we work
Areas We Cover Around Ashford
Kennington
North of the town centre, with older cottages along the Faversham Road and post-war estates behind them. Conningbrook Lakes, the old gravel workings, sit on its edge, so ground can change quickly from firm gravel to made ground.
Willesborough
East of the centre near junction 10, mixing Victorian terraces, post-war housing and the William Harvey Hospital. Plenty of rear demolition, extensions, drainage and driveway work on tight residential plots.
South Ashford and Beaver
Terraced streets and older units either side of Beaver Road, close to the station and the railway line. Suits strip out, small demolition and drainage work where access is off narrow residential streets.
Kingsnorth and Park Farm
Large modern estates south of the town, with the older village of Kingsnorth beyond them. Work here tends to be groundworks for extensions and new plots on clay, plus clearance of infill land.
Singleton and Chilmington
A planned neighbourhood west of town around Singleton Lake, now sitting next to the Chilmington Green growth area. Site enabling, bulk muck away and estate roads are the usual jobs on this side.
Great Chart
A conservation village just west of Ashford, with listed and timber framed buildings around the church and the main street. Careful demolition, hand strip out and underpinning suit the older property here.
Sevington and Finberry
Around junction 10a, where large commercial ground and the new housing at Finberry and Cheeseman's Green sit side by side. Heavy plant gets in and out easily, which suits bulk excavation and muck away.
Wye
Under the North Downs to the north east, with chalk close to the surface, a conservation area and plenty of listed property. Sensitive demolition and hand dig work near old foundations are the norm.
Charing
On the A20 below the Downs, with a historic high street and the ruins of the Archbishop's Palace. Village lanes are tight, so machine size and delivery timing matter as much as the work itself.
Bethersden
A Wealden village on the A28 south west of Ashford, surrounded by farmland and heavy clay. Farm building demolition, hardstandings, access tracks and land drainage come up regularly here.
Who we work for
Clients We Look After in Ashford
Commercial and Town Centre
Shops, offices, pubs and older units in and around Ashford town centre and the ring road. We take buildings down in full, strip out to shell and core for refurbishment, cut away rear extensions and outbuildings, and clear yards and car parks ready for a new build. Party walls, live neighbours, pedestrian routes and service disconnections all get sorted before the first machine arrives, and we can crush and re-use suitable material on site where there is room to do it.
Industrial, Logistics and Agricultural
The estates at Cobbs Wood, Henwood, Orbital Park, Waterbrook and Sevington, plus farm buildings across the Weald and the villages. We demolish steel frames, concrete portals and older brick units, break out slabs and hardstandings, remediate contaminated ground on former industrial land, and dig and level for new units, yards and access roads. Our haulage division moves the arisings out and brings stone back in, so the site is not held up waiting on a third party.
Residential and Housing
From a single knock down and rebuild in Willesborough or Kennington to enabling works and plot groundworks on the larger sites at the edge of Ashford. That covers site clearance, demolition of houses, garages and outbuildings, foundations and footings, drainage, driveways and retaining structures. On the terraced streets of South Ashford and Newtown we work with propping, temporary support and party wall requirements so the neighbouring property is protected throughout.
FAQs
Ashford Questions
The things people in Ashford ask us most. If your question is not here, call 01424 830613 and we will answer it straight.
Do you cover Ashford and the surrounding villages?+
Yes. We work nationwide from our yard at Upper Wilting Farm in St Leonards-on-Sea, and Ashford is a straightforward run north through Tenterden. We cover the town itself and the villages around it, from Wye and Charing down to Bethersden, Woodchurch and Mersham. Ring 01424 830613 and we will come and look at the site.
What permits or notices do I need before a demolition in Ashford?+
Most demolition needs a notice to Ashford Borough Council under Section 80 of the Building Act 1984 before work starts, and the council can set conditions on how the site is cleared and made safe. Planning consent is a separate matter and matters more in a conservation area or with a listed building. Skips, hoardings, scaffold licences and any road closure go through Kent County Council as the highways authority. Services have to be formally disconnected by the utility companies first. We handle the notices and the coordination as part of the job.
My house is in a terrace. How do you deal with the party wall and the neighbours?+
On the Victorian terraces around Newtown and South Ashford this comes up constantly. If you are cutting into a shared wall, taking a structure off it or excavating close to next door's foundations, the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 applies and notice has to be served on the neighbour before work starts. We work alongside your party wall surveyor, agree the propping and temporary support in advance, and keep the shared wall protected and weathertight while the work is going on.
What happens if there is asbestos in the building?+
Anything built or refurbished before 2000 gets a refurbishment and demolition survey before we touch it, because asbestos turns up in roof sheets, soffits, flues, floor tiles, insulation board and old boiler runs. Licensed asbestos work is carried out by a licensed contractor and cleared, with the paperwork in place, before demolition starts. Nothing comes down until that side is signed off, and the cost is set out up front rather than appearing halfway through the job.
Where does the rubble and spoil go, and who moves it?+
We move it ourselves. Haulage and muck away is one of our own divisions, so the same firm that breaks the slab out loads it and carts it away, with the waste transfer paperwork to match. Where the site has room, we can crush concrete and brick on site and re-use it as piling mat, hardcore or a haul road, which cuts both the disposal cost and the number of lorry movements through the town centre and the M20 junctions.
Can you get plant onto a tight street or a village lane?+
Usually, but it decides how we do the job. We look at the access before quoting and pick the machine to suit, whether that is a small tracked excavator down a side alley in Beaver or full size plant on a clear industrial site at Sevington. Village lanes around Wye, Charing and Great Chart have weight and width limits, so deliveries get timed and a banksman goes out with the lorries. We board out and protect surfaces we track over, and keep the road swept.
Recent Work
If you have a project in Ashford, whether that is a house coming down in Willesborough, a strip out near the station, an industrial unit at Cobbs Wood or groundworks on a new plot at Kingsnorth, we are happy to come and walk the site with you. You will get a straight answer on what the ground is likely to do, what notices are needed and what it will take to get the site cleared and level. Call The Blackford Group on 01424 830613 and we will get a visit booked in.
Planning Work in Ashford?
Tell us what you need moving, clearing or building and we will come back with a straight answer and a fair price.