Folkestone Harbour would have been transformed into a large-scale housing development (Image: Getty)
The biggest-ever revamp of Folkestone Harbour in Kent planned by multi-millionaire Sir Roger De Haan has been rejected by the local council.
Sir Roger bought the harbour for £11 million in 2004 and had proposed to build 410 homes and 54 leisure, hospitality and retail units on the .
Folkestone and Hythe District Council voted narrowly against the plans this week, with five councillors opposing the project, four in favour and one abstaining from the vote, .
The ambitious plans devised by the son of Sidney De Haan, founder of the Saga holiday group, proved divisive among locals who questioned whether the development met housing needs – with only 8% of homes classifying as – and said they would be visually obtrusive to the area.
:
Sir Roger has already built a handful of impressive – and high-priced – houses on the seafront (Image: Google)
The revamp, which would have been the largest-scale overhaul in the harbour’s history, also included a new seafront park, a public viewing terrace, shingle garden and new pedestrian and cyclist routes.
It could also have injected up to £12 million into the town’s economy and created 476 full-time jobs.
Residents didn’t get behind the proposal in the way the multi-millionaire may have hoped however – with over 90% of the 800-odd comments on the council’s planning portal objecting to the scheme.
“The plans put forward are excessive,” one person wrote. “The harbour will become a ghost town – nowhere to park, natural views obscured by high-rise blocks and minimal places to eat and drink.”
The refusal came after the plans were altered and downsized following initial criticism that they looked like “something out of the Flintstones”.
Sir Roger has invested millions of pounds into Folkestone in the last two decades, including through a luxury housing scheme already stretched across the Kent town’s seafront, some of which are currently on the market for up to £2.1 million.
Don’t miss… [REPORT] [COMMENT] [REVEALED]
Rent in Folkstone has risen by 36% since 2019 (Image: Getty)
The wealthy philanthropist faced sharp criticism for the project, which seemed aimed at an elitist housing market in a town with little affordable housing where the average rent has risen by 36% since 2019, according to the Office of National Statistics – more than anywhere else in Kent. The resulting backlash led The Independent to dub the block “Shoreditch-on-Sea”.
A spokesperson for his Folkestone Harbour & Seafront Development Company told the : “We are considering our position following decisions made at the council’s recent planning committee meeting and will provide an update in due course.”
Folkestone was named one of the best places to live in southeast England last year, with the Times praising the port town’s “dazzling makeover” – owing in part to its burgeoning art scene but also the tireless improvements detailed in Sir Roger’s “masterplan”.
In this latest large-scale expansion, however, he may have pushed the locals too far.