Princes Parade is Saved!

Following the elections on 4th May, the Green Party became the biggest group on Folkestone & Hythe District Council with 11 councillors. On 24th May, Green and Liberal Democrat councillors formed an administration and Cllr Jim Martin became the Leader of the district council.

“I’ll never forget the moment when, to loud cheers, I was able to stand up in the council chamber as the newly elected Leader of the district council and announce that Princes Parade is saved. Thank you to each and every one of you, from all over the district and across the political spectrum, who has campaigned to save this precious site from unwanted development and who made their feelings known in the local elections. Saving Princes Parade will be one of my proudest moments, and to be frank, I could not have done it without you. Naturally, my announcement on Wednesday has raised many questions about what happens next and I’ve attempted to answer them below.”

Cllr Jim Martin. Leader, Folkestone & Hythe District Council

Yes! There are various complex issues to untangle and work through, but all current development plans have been scrapped.

In short, yes, and I know many different figures have been quoted, in part because there is a difference between the amount spent to date and the cost of the ‘write-off’. The latter will depend on what happens to the land and what remediation is necessary, so we don’t know yet what the final figure will be.

We want to explore all options for the land, including rewilding and parks amongst others. With so much public money wasted so far, it’s sensible not to rush into a decision until we understand all the options.

We know that there is contamination on the site, which dates from the time when it was used as a rubbish dump. Arguably, this contamination should have been dealt with previously and it will almost certainly need to be now, even though the development is no longer going ahead, if the site is to be considered safe for public access. We in the Green Party would like Princes Parade to be rewilded, so that plants, animals and birds flourish here, just as they did in the past. Work to understand how the remediation may be done and how long it will take is getting under way. We will keep you informed of progress.

I understand the strength of feeling about the hoardings but they cannot be taken down immediately as much as I, like you, want that to happen. The public cannot be allowed access until the site is safe. The council will also want to recoup some of the money spent on the hoardings if it can. Rest assured though, the hoardings will be removed as soon as possible.

Obviously, with the development cancelled the road will no longer be moved. We’ve had some questions about improving the quality of the existing road and about cars driving too fast along here which we will pass on to Kent County Council.

We agree that Hythe Pool needs to be replaced and are already discussing other possible locations that offer greater accessibility, carry fewer costs and risks and which could even accommodate more extensive facilities. You’ll understand that money is an issue here, as it is for most things but the council will look at how much can be realised from the sale of the existing swimming pool site and at other sources of funding.

Yes, the council will consult on its plans for a new leisure centre and also on what happens to Princes Parade in the future, although we already know, and so do our fellow councillors in other parties, that you want this precious asset to be protected for future generations and that’s what we’re going to do.

We’ve been campaigning to save Princes Parade for a decade. You can read about our reasons for striving to protect Princes Parade from development below.

Shepway Green Party believes there should be no development on Princes Parade, with a need to preserve green, open spaces such as this between our local communities.

We have always believed that the unique open space at Princes Parade should remain undeveloped for the benefit of local people, visitors to the area and wildlife. The canal is a Scheduled Ancient Monument and development on Princes Parade will harm its setting as well as changing the character of the open seafront for ever.

We also had concerns about contamination, flooding, surface water drainage the engineering challenges deriving from its previous use as a land fill site and the financial viability of the project. The land has long since greened over and we think the safest option would have been to leave the waste undisturbed.

We recognise the need for new homes and a new Hythe pool but there were alternative sites for these and we think Princes Parade is such a special site that its loss would not be balanced by the gain of a new leisure centre.

The planning application was approved by the planning committee in the summer of 2018 by five votes for, four against and one abstention subject to the Environment Agency removing its objection relating to the surface water drainage. This objection was later removed and planning permission was granted in 2019. The Save Princes Parade campaign requested a Judicial Review of this planning decision but unfortunately that was unsuccessful.

As soon as our Green Councillors were elected to the council they worked with their Lib Dem colleagues to submit a motion that the planning application be withdrawn. That motion was carried but it was held that the cabinet would not be bound by that decision.

Save Princes Parade

Our councillors have also consistently voted to amend the capital budget to remove the Princes Parade element (unfortunately unsuccessfully) and also against the Corporate Plan and Corporate Action Plan which included a commitment for a new Leisure Centre on Princes Parade.

Some of our councillors – both town and district – gave evidence, alongside campaigners and residents, against stopping up the road at the Public Inquiry in 2021 but the council was given permission to stop up the road in January 2022.

During 2021 the council started to carry out various ecological and investigatory works. This included some very controversial work on the north bank of the canal to create new habitat for the displaced reptiles involving tree cutting  and the use of herbicides. A new badger sett was created and the badgers excluded from their old setts.
A number of additional planning applications have been submitted including one for a storm drainage system which will drain the surface water into the sea instead of into the canal. This was passed in Jan 2022 despite a lot of concern about contamination on the site.

In January 2022 it was revealed that the costs of the project had increased from £29m to over £45m leaving a funding gap of £6.625m. Despite this the council’s cabinet gave their approval for the project to continue. Our Green cabinet member voted against this. More details here: https://shepwaygreenparty.com/princes-parade-latest-from-our-cabinet-member/

In February 2022 Green councillors again joined their Lib Dem and Labour colleagues in voting against the capital budget for the project but once again the budget was approved, with considerable expenditure then incurred despite clear warnings about the risk of the project.

Planning applications have been submitted regarding the discharge of some of the conditions that were applied to the original planning permission. A detailed application for the housing was also submitted.

In November 2022 there then came the announcement that spending on the project has been “paused” while the project is re-evaluated; the contractors, BAM, subsequently removed all of their property from the site.

With spending paused, cabinet discussed 3 options in December 2022:

Option A - Continue with the project with a changed financial package

This would see the project continue as planned with the delivery of the new road, new leisure centre, housing, and the public space improvements. This option would need the scheme to become affordable for the council by reducing the overall cost of the project either by reducing the build costs, increasing land sales receipts, or reducing borrowing requirements (or a combination of these factors).

Option B - Do just the necessary work to implement the planning permission

This would require all outstanding pre-commencement planning conditions to be satisfied and the permission implemented. This option considers what in practice would need to be done to affect this, and the potential added value arising

Option C - Stop the project while future land uses are considered

This would immediately stop the project while more detailed work is undertaken. This option considers the extent of the immediate financial impact on the council of terminating the project and an assessment of any legal requirement to remediate the known land contamination

Green Party Councillor Lesley Whybrow, along with her cabinet colleague Tim Prater, asked Cabinet to approve Option C. Conservatives voted down this proposal, deciding instead to adopt option B. The council will now spend approximately £250,000 implementing the planning application, which would expire if works didn’t proceed.

Conservative Councillors John Collier, Jennifer Hollingsbee, Stuart Peall, David Godfrey, David Monk and independents David Wimble and Ray Field voted in favour of Option B.

On 14 February 2023, as a result of a motion proposed by Cllr Lesley Whybrow at the November council meeting,  the Overview & Scrutiny Committee considered the lessons learned from the Princes Parade project. The Green Ward councillors Jim Martin, Georgina Treloar and Lesley Whybrow were all invited to speak and made suggestions about how future projects could be better managed.
It was announced on the same day that the Leader of the council had received an offer from an unnamed party to deliver both the housing and the leisure centre. Cabinet will be considering at the cabinet meeting on 22 February whether to ask officers to consider the offer.

Our councillors continue to monitor the status of the project and press for much-needed transparency. The council publishes information about the project here:

Princes Parade – Folkestone & Hythe District Council (folkestone-hythe.gov.uk)

Lots more information on saveprincesparade.org.

Carla Denyer and Adrian Ramsay

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