There was fierce local opposition to the original planning application for New Ash Green. The application was turned down by Dartford Rural District Council and a subsequent appeal to the Secretary of State was dismissed. However, in 1963, the then Minister of Housing Richard Crossman overruled his appeals inspector on the grounds of the excellent quality of the design and granted planning consent.

The overall master plan for the village was by Eric Lyons who was an architect with an international reputation for the quality of his design work. He eventually became President of The Royal Institution of British Architects and was subsequently knighted.

Phase 1 of the Centre was designed by Eric Lyons' architectural practice and was completed in 1969. It consists of the buildillgs on both sides of The Row from the bus stop in North Square to, but not including, Pandora's box and Wards, and the buildings each side of The Link, The Studios over the Link entrance and the central car park.

In 1970 SPAN, the developers for Phase 1 ran into financial difficulties and both they and Eric Lyons ceased to have any further involvement with the Centre.

Phase 2 was completed in 1983 to the detail design of Barton Willmore and Partners and completed The Row from Pandora' s box and Wards to, but not including, The Badger and the Village Hall. Phase 2 follows broadly the Eric Lyons master plan for the Centre and whilst the architectural detailing is not as good as that in Phase 1 the two phases work well together as a coherent whole.

Phase 2 has remained largely unaltered to the present day.

Many modifications were subsequently made to the original Phase 1 buildings. The first of these was in 1978 when a stair was added to the end of Upper Street North from North Square. This was an open stair which connected to Upper Street North through a large oriel window which had been a major feature of that approach to the centre. The structure of the oriel window is still in place at the junction of the stair with Upper Street North.

The management of the Centre was originally controlled by the shop tenants through The New Ash Green Centre Society Limited. However, in 1983, the society went into voluntary liquidation as it had insufficient funds to carry out maintenance work. Thereafter, total control of Centre management and maintenance passed to the Centre landlords and their managing agents.

Many more alterations to Phase 1 followed in 1985/86 when additional commercial and retail units were added to the first floor streets, Upper Street South and Upper Street North, the pedestrian ramp was built, the shop front canopies were added and the North Square open stair covered in with a glazed extension to Upper Street North.

The additional units in Upper Street North filled spaces and covered features which Eric Lyons had deliberately placed there as what he called "incidents" to add interest to the covered shopping mall either as open spaces or views out. The loss of these incidents, whilst they provide additional rental income for the owners made Upper St. North more of a closed corridor and contributed to its decline.

This was particularly the case where full height full bay width glazing was blocked off by an additional shop unit on the main concourse outside the first floor restaurant. This removed the main view out and at the same time blocked off the natural daylight needed to illuminate and give life to the concourse area. This made the concourse dark and uninviting adversely affecting the entrance to the whole of the first floor. The full height, full bay width glazing is still in place at the rear of the added shop unit.

The central area contained an elegant stair giving access to the first floor concourse. This was covered in by a ramp which was built around the stair with the intention of providing improved access to the first floor. This ramp also blocked off the daylight to the shop units beyond creating a dark and uninviting area outside the shops and at the entrance to Upper Street North. The ramp is frequently referred to as a disabled access ramp. It was however built long before there was any requirement for disabled access and is far too steep to function as such. The original stair is still in place inside the ramp.

Land Registry information available to the public on their web site gives the following information concerning current ownership:

Phase 1 - Since 1992 - Piperton Finance Ltd
Phase 2 - Since 2001 - Gableholt Ltd

The next major modification were carried out in 2002. White plastic cladding now dominating every view of the central area was added completely covering the large glazed walls to the first floor restaurant. These windows were a major feature of the central area and their loss destroyed the quality of the building facade and made the central area appear bleak and unsightly. The glazing is still in place behind the plastic cladding.

The same white plastic cladding was also added to completely enclose the glazing to the North Square stair creating a blank end to Upper Street North causing further loss of views out and increasing the sense of enclosure in he covered mall. The structure of the glazed extension to Upper Street North above the stair is still in place behind the plastic cladding.

The Land Registry confirms that in 2003 Gableholt sold part of Phase 2, the Budgens side of The Row to The Co-operative Society Ltd.

We believe the Centre could be restored to its original appearance within an economically viable budget and that it could once again become a unique and easily identifiable centre to the village and an asset to both residents and retailers.