a move that is seeing Matches Sports Bar effectively kicked out of its current unit<\/a>.<\/p>\n\u201cMost actors are invited to have an opinion on national and international politics at some stage, whereas I wanted to engage in something locally,\u201d Burke told KentOnline in the town centre this week.<\/p>\n
![\"Burke,](\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg)
Burke, right, with former Park Mall traders Matthew Abercrombie, of Vapeology, and founder of Baby Art Studios, David Hebditch. The trio were behind the Park Mall campaign last year. Picture: The Bridger Network\/Matthew J. Bridger<\/p>\n
\u201cI suppose the Park Mall situation started it, but I didn\u2019t know how I\u2019d launch it without just saying what I think until traders started reaching out about their experiences, which in a way was a relief.<\/p>\n
\u201cI get that a section of Park Mall had to go, but they could have kept the vast amount of shops.\u201d<\/p>\n
Burke feels the Park Mall and Elwick Place projects could lead to the high street becoming \u201cisolated\u201d and independent businesses ceasing trading altogether.<\/p>\n
ABC is planning a \u201cresidential-led, mixed-use development\u201d on the former shopping centre, but an interim 200-space car park will open on the site later this year while those longer-term plans are developed.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, at Elwick Place, ABC has signed a deal with operator The Big Picture to offer a \u201cfamily-oriented\u201d attraction including a new bowling alley, simulators, arcade games, bar and diner and indoor mini-golf.<\/p>\n
Demolition of Park Mall shopping centre and neighbouring Edinburgh Road car park is due to begin next month<\/p>\n
The authority will have to pay \u00a3900,000 to Matches in order to buy back the bar\u2019s lease – a move that has sparked anger in the town in recent weeks.<\/p>\n
Matches – which ABC describes as \u201cout of step\u201d with its plans – will close next Sunday after bosses refused the council\u2019s offer to move from their current home under The Ashford Cinema to another unit beneath Travelodge.<\/p>\n
Burke – who has also starred in The Musketeers, War and Peace and Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga – feels Ashford \u201ccould be like Canterbury\u201d but questions the thinking behind the Elwick Place move.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s like ABC is trying to build a big show home, which, although may help the cinema, is not for local people,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom my experience, Matches was one of the most commercially and ethnically diverse places you go to and it\u2019s like ABC is not used to a success story.<\/p>\n
\u201cAshford has been thrust into an identity crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n
Matches has been at Elwick Place since 2021, but will leave the complex next week<\/p>\n
The son of two actors, Burke says he would regularly visit Ashford cattle market growing up – on the site where the \u00a375m Elwick Place complex opened in 2018.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would go to the cattle market every Sunday and buy a bacon pastry and these weird hybrid toy figures,\u201d he remembers.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt had such an energy about it and that\u2019s why I think it\u2019s worth fighting for the town centre as I don\u2019t believe it\u2019s finished.\u201d<\/p>\n
Burke, a two-time British Independent Film Awards nominee who scooped an Ian Charleson Award for his theatre work in 2008, regularly shops in the town centre and says he \u201cgets a lot of adrenaline\u201d from his campaigning work.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt actually makes me more nervous than a first night [on stage],\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course I would like nothing more than to be proved wrong and that\u2019s why I worry it could all be for nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Burke plays private detective Cormoran Strike in hit BBC crime drama Strike. Picture: BBC<\/p>\n
Burke – whose godfather is the late Alan Rickman – is currently shooting an as-yet-untitled film in Ireland headed up by Oscar-nominated director Lenny Abrahamson.<\/p>\n
He has played detective Cormoran Strike in the hit BBC of the same name since 2017, and a new series is due to be released later this year.<\/p>\n
But he says he will continue his work in Ashford as he feels the council is \u201cisolating its own town centre\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt really began with the [opening of] the Designer Outlet which is quite removed from the town centre,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a fascinating tented-design, but it\u2019s self-contained and doesn\u2019t show any of Ashford\u2019s history.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of money has gone into it, but it\u2019s more a monument to Home Counties middle-class aspiration than anything else.\u201d<\/p>\n
Burke says ABC’s decision to shut Park Mall shopping centre was what sparked his ongoing campaigning<\/p>\n
Burke thinks the new activities planned for Elwick Place – including shuffleboard and an arcade – could \u201call be dotted along the high street instead\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cElwick Place has been sold on its all-day experience as its chief characteristic positive,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut again these are reasons for people not to see the high street and the real Ashford.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo I hope there\u2019s a certain amount we can do without the council\u2019s help, but of course it would be great to have them on our side.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s quite a complex issue and I don\u2019t think they realise how complex it is.\u201d<\/p>\n
Elwick Place first opened in Ashford in 2018, but has been hit by a number of closures<\/p>\n
The documents leaked earlier this month show how ABC thinks Matches would be \u201cout of step\u201d with its shift towards a \u201cfamily-orientated leisure offer\u201d at Elwick Place as the bar \u201ccan become quite lively\u201d.<\/p>\n
But Burke has taken a dim view of that wording.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo many people of every generation have commented on what a safe place Matches was for families,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo me, these are euphemisms for a working-class culture that sets them [ABC] on edge for whatever reason.<\/p>\n
\u201cI suspect it\u2019s because they are somewhat cocooned in their various lives.\u201d<\/p>\n
In response, ABC, which is run by an Ashford Independents\/Green Party coalition, says it \u201crecognises\u201d there is \u201cstrong interest\u201d in the future of Elwick Place and Park Mall.<\/p>\n
Burke outside Ashford Borough Council’s former Civic Centre base last summer as he fought to save part of Park Mall shopping centre<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are separate sites with different challenges and histories,\u201d a spokesman said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the case of Park Mall, the council has been clear that the site is not financially sustainable in its current form, with significant ongoing losses and rising maintenance costs.<\/p>\n
\u201cAspirations have been in place for many years for the redevelopment of the shopping centre as part of the plans to regenerate the town centre.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe decision to proceed with redevelopment was taken after detailed assessment, public debate and consideration of alternatives, and is aimed at supporting long-term town centre regeneration rather than leaving the site to continue to decline.\u201d<\/p>\n
The spokesman added how the authority\u2019s approach to Elwick Place \u201chas been consistent for many years in making this the leisure and entertainment centre for the town centre\u201d.<\/p>\n
All traders had to leave Park Mall shopping centre by January 9<\/p>\n
The council has run the six-screen cinema at the site since the Cineworld-owned Picturehouse chain pulled out of the complex in 2024.<\/p>\n
But The Big Picture is now preparing to take over the running of the cinema as part of the new plans.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe took over the cinema with the intention always being that this would be operated in the short-term with the intention of building up patronage and seeking a longer-term operator to take on this operation,\u201d the ABC spokesman said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe recently announced plans for Elwick Place with The Big Picture looks to deliver these aspirations that the council have been clear about over a number of years and responds to public responses to bring in commercial activity to this key destination in driving town centre regeneration.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs plans progress, we will continue to share updates openly and through the usual public and council channels.\u201d<\/p>\n
The spokesman says Burke\u2019s claim that Elwick Place will be a \u201cshow home\u201d is \u201cbaseless\u201d.<\/p>\n
ABC\u2019s plan for the Park Mall and Edinburgh Road sites includes a temporary 200-space car park on the former Park Mall car park site<\/p>\n
\u201cElwick Place is for everyone and is used every day by local residents and visitors, and the intention is to continue offering a mix of activities and venues that appeal to a broad range of people,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Ashford Cinema is for the community, used by people of all walks of life.<\/p>\n
\u201cMany local community groups have made use of the spacious foyer to hold events and activities.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe do not recognise the suggestion that Elwick Place is only for a narrow audience, and we will continue to work with partners to ensure it remains welcoming and relevant to the local community.<\/p>\n
\u201cElwick Place and the traditional high street serve different but complementary roles within the town centre.<\/p>\n
\u201cElwick Place was designed as an entertainment-led destination, bringing leisure, food and evening activity into the town centre, while the high street continues to be focused on retail, services and independent businesses.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe council\u2019s approach is not about isolating Elwick Place, but about strengthening the overall offer across the town centre.\u201d<\/p>\n
Burke is worried about the future of Ashford high streetMany businesses have moved in and out of Elwick Place since 2018<\/p>\n
Earlier this month, ABC revealed plans to turn part of the former Mecca Bingo hall in the Lower High Street into a 200-capacity theatre.<\/p>\n
The idea has gained support from former Skins actor Alexander Arnold<\/a>, but Burke feels the authority is \u201cmore likely to succeed with a bigger one\u201d.<\/p>\nThe existing main auditorium is not included in the current scheme, but \u201csignificant asbestos removal\u201d is due to take place to allow that section to be used in the future, potentially upping capacity.<\/p>\n
The move has been welcomed by many in the town, but Burke says he would \u201cask what it is people want to talk about\u201d if he was in charge of ABC.<\/p>\n
ABC is planning to open a 200-capacity theatre in the former Mecca Bingo building in the Lower High Street. Picture: Haworth TompkinsBurke first shared his opposition to ABC\u2019s plans for Park Mall last summer<\/p>\n
\u201cI still love parts of Ashford, but feel like it\u2019s got so much worse – it\u2019s now almost like the canary in the coal mine in the austerity period,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople have said they feel heard because of me but it shouldn\u2019t be me.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel a great sense of honour to act and play roles that I do, but I\u2019m not trying to be a hero here.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am enjoying almost going to battle.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tom Burke is best known for playing a troubled private detective haunted by his past in hit crime…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":489586,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[3859,84,1319,96,59,192,21818,191,229,194,3868,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-489585","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-ashford","tag-business","tag-consumer","tag-entertainment","tag-gb","tag-human-interest","tag-in-depth","tag-kent","tag-politics","tag-syndicate","tag-tenterden","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/489585","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=489585"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/489585\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/489586"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=489585"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=489585"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=489585"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}