Parks, Green Space and Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Park

Green space at the heart of the plan

One of the strongest features of the Chilmington Green plan is the amount of green space. The aim is to make sure residents always have somewhere to walk, run, cycle or simply enjoy the outdoors close to home.

For families, that means usable doorstep nature: a quick walk to a play area, an easy loop with a buggy, somewhere to kick a ball without driving anywhere. For everyone else, it means the kind of green network that helps a new development feel settled rather than concrete-heavy.

Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Park

Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Park, also known as Discovery Park, is a major planned green space linked to the wider growth of Ashford. It has been planned to provide walking and cycling routes, recreation areas and wildlife habitats.

At around 142 hectares, the park is one of the largest planned new green spaces in the South East. The vision is for a connected landscape - meadows, woodland, paths and play - rather than a single formal park, with links into the surrounding streets and into Chilmington Green itself.

Why the park matters

Large parks and green corridors give a community more than just a place to relax. They help with air quality, surface water, wildlife and mental wellbeing - all of which become more important as more homes are built.

For a development the size of Chilmington Green, that environmental role is significant. Green corridors absorb rainfall, soften the climate of the streets they sit alongside, and give wildlife a fighting chance in a built-up landscape.

Play areas and local open spaces

As well as larger parkland, Chilmington Green is planned with smaller play areas and local open spaces inside the residential phases, so families do not have to travel far to find somewhere safe to play.

You will see a range of provision: smaller doorstep play areas for younger children, larger equipped spaces for older children, and informal grassed areas for everyone. Many sit within a short walk of the primary school, which makes after-school routines simpler.

Walking and cycling

Walking and cycling routes are a key part of the design. Better paths help children walk to school, support healthier travel and reduce car use for short trips.

Internal estate streets are generally calm and walkable. Onward connections towards Ashford town centre and existing villages are improving over time, although some longer routes still feel car-dominated until further phases of highway and active travel work come forward.

Green space and wildlife

The mix of parks, hedgerows, trees and wildlife corridors is intended to support local biodiversity. Residents value these features both for nature and for the way they shape the look of the area.

Hedgerows along older field boundaries are particularly valuable for wildlife, and many have been retained in the masterplan. Over time, new tree planting should fill out the streetscape and link into the wider park network.

How green space is looked after

Day-to-day stewardship of much of the public realm sits with the Chilmington Management Organisation (CMO), funded through estate charges. That model is one of the more distinctive features of community life here, and it is part of why parks and shared spaces are intended to keep their quality long after the builders have left.

Making the most of green space as a resident

• Use the doorstep play areas regularly - they thrive on use
• Try a different walking loop from your usual route once a week
• Cycle short trips that you would normally drive
• Report damaged play equipment or paths to the CMO
• Get involved in any community planting or volunteer days

What residents should watch

• Updates on the delivery of larger park areas
• Maintenance arrangements through the CMO
• New walking and cycling links
• Improvements to existing play areas
• Tree planting, landscaping and biodiversity work
• Future stages of A28 active travel improvements

Official links

• Ashford Borough Council - Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Park
• QPJP Landscape Masterplan Framework
• Chilmington Management Organisation