Hodson lost a long-running appeal<\/a> to back out of its section 106 obligations, originally agreed in 2017.<\/p>\nAn Ashford Borough Council spokesperson confirmed it is now assessing the impact.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlong with Kent County Council, we are taking legal advice on any impact this may have on the developers\u2019 obligations under the section 106 agreement with both councils, and on the ongoing legal action relating to those commitments,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn January, the planning inspector dismissed an appeal by Hodson which sought over 100 changes to its section 106 agreement, following a lengthy public inquiry last year.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe inspector supported the council\u2019s position on nearly all matters, including the important point that the developers\u2019 obligations to improve the A28 should not be lifted.<\/p>\n
![\"Hodson](\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg)
![\"Hodson](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/RMI8RFDQMNZBL9GHGQZY.jpg\")
Hodson was told to dual the stretch between Matalan and the \u201ctank\u201d roundabout in January<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will continue to do all we can, alongside Kent County Council, to ensure these obligations are delivered, subject to the effects of the administration.\u201d<\/p>\n
The council stressed the situation does not affect other developers involved in Chilmington Green – Hodson Developments (CG THREE) Ltd, BDW and Jarvis Homes.<\/p>\n
Hodson had attempted to discharge or delay 122 obligations covering education, affordable housing, social care and community facilities, with its case examined during a nine-day public inquiry between February and May last year.<\/p>\n
A decision issued on January 20 saw 106 of those requests dismissed, with a further 11 withdrawn.<\/p>\n
That ruling meant the A28 upgrade – to dual Chart Road between the Matalan and \u201cTank\u201d roundabouts – would have to proceed, with KCC previously describing it as an \u201cintegral part\u201d of the development.<\/p>\n
![\"Sojan](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/C9JFJF99RBOCZJT4WBYL.jpg\")
Sojan Joseph is the MP for Ashford<\/p>\n
Ashford MP Sojan Joseph told KentOnline the developer must still meet its commitments.<\/p>\n
\u201cI will continue to support residents and work with local authorities to ensure that developers fulfil their responsibilities and provide adequate infrastructure,\u201d the Labour representative said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese tactics, deployed by Hodson, in order to stall the necessary improvements, are completely unacceptable and I will, of course, be following this situation closely and assisting the community in any way I can.\u201d<\/p>\n
Weald Central\u2019s Cllr Jessamy Blanford said the uncertainty would be worrying for residents.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sad about it all as it\u2019s very hard on everyone who has bought properties,\u201d the Conservative said.<\/p>\n
![\"Cllr](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1XVOJIJHKOUYDFIBMYGB.jpg\")
Cllr Jessamy Blanford represents the Chilmington Green development<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ll not know what the future is and whether they\u2019ll get things like shops and medical facilities as they were promised. We don\u2019t know if they\u2019ll materialise now.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo why they have chosen this moment, I\u2019m not quite sure.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe next thing could be whether another developer takes over. They could put in an offer, I suppose.\u201d<\/p>\n
KentOnline has approached Hodson for comment on what the administration means for construction, infrastructure delivery and future residents.<\/p>\n
Previously, the company argued the scale of its section 106 commitments had affected the \u201cdelivery and viability\u201d of the project, citing planning delays, utility issues, changes to its development model, nutrient neutrality rules and the Covid-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n
![\"Hundreds](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/IHAG24COW1G8WCS7O20C.jpg\")
Hundreds of homes have been built at Chilmington Green, Ashford<\/p>\n
However, the planning inspector ruled financial viability was not a decisive factor in determining whether the obligations should be reduced.<\/p>\n
Under the legal agreement, Hodson was required to fund the A28 works once 400 homes were occupied \u2013 a threshold it was nearing when the inquiry began.<\/p>\n
The maximum contribution for the road scheme alone was set at \u00a332.7m, including construction, design and contingency costs.<\/p>\n
Overall, the developer had sought relief from obligations totalling around \u00a350m \u2013 including funding for schools, social care and community projects \u2013 and had even proposed scrapping a fourth primary school entirely.<\/p>\n
Following the dismissal of that appeal on January 20, a spokesperson for Hodson told KentOnline the company was \u201csurprised and disappointed\u201d by the outcome, adding: \u201cWe will now spend some time reviewing the decision with our planning advisors and consider our options.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chilmington Green was originally planned as a 20-year project, with 250 to 300 homes expected to be built annually.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A developer involved in one of Kent\u2019s biggest housing projects has gone into administration – casting doubt over…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2523,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[1671,633,528,529,309,14,1118,1672,285,5,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-2522","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uk","8":"tag-ashford","9":"tag-business","10":"tag-environment","11":"tag-human-interest","12":"tag-kent","13":"tag-politics","14":"tag-syndicate","15":"tag-tenterden","16":"tag-transport","17":"tag-uk","18":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2522","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2522"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2522\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2523"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2522"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2522"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2522"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Chilmington](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/LTSOY3KSUWTMKH3Q6PTC.jpg\")
Chilmington Green was planned to be Ashford\u2019s largest estate. Picture: Barry Goodwin<\/p>\n![\"Plans](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/UU4F718B2636TR15RZE6.jpg\")
Plans to widen the A28 Chart Road between the \u2018tank\u2019 roundabout and Matalan roundabout are once again up in the air. Picture: Gary Browne<\/p>\n