Page 40 - KPRM 2019

Kent County Council, Medway Council & Kent’s District Council Commentary
Infrastructure and Regeneration
Continued
Ravensbourne Investments as the 131-bedroom luxury hotel brand coming to the former Silver Spring site.
The residential market also remains lively with major developers including Taylor Wimpey, Pentland Homes and Barratts active in the area. The council is progressing plans for the development of 10,000 homes at Otterpool Park Garden Town and a planning application was submitted in February this year. In March the project received a £1.25m funding boost from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government as part of a cash injection into 21 new garden towns and villages across the country.
Plans to develop 150 seafront homes and a leisure centre on a brownfield site at Princes Parade in Hythe were approved in August. The development will comprise 30% affordable homes, 1,270m2 (13, 670ft2) commercial space, five hectares of public open space and a leisure centre with a 25m swimming pool and gym.
The District Council has partnered with Magnox Industries
to bring forward the undeveloped employment land at Mountfield Road Industrial Estate in New Romney. A new business hub and servicing infrastructure for a further five acres for grow-on space and inward investment has received planning permission. Considerable progress is being made and it is expected to open in spring 2021. Local businesses have been positive suggesting significant demand for the space.
The attributes of the district are increasingly becoming recognised – creative, connected and coastal.
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Thanet
The economy has continued to grow over recent years
with the district seeing further inward investment, growing numbers of visitors and more people relocating to the area. House prices have increased, with anecdotal evidence suggesting some of this is driven by the London housing market with people relocating and working closer to home. Thanet’s improved connectivity is also driving entrepreneurs to set up businesses in the district, not only for the local market but nationally and internationally.
New build housing has continued on some of the key sites
in the district, adding to the variety of housing on offer in the area. To bring London closer, Thanet District and Kent County Council and partners are investing in a Parkway Station which will bring the City of London within an hour of Thanet.
The Economic Growth Strategy for Thanet is being reviewed to ensure that the strategic priorities for the district will improve its growth prospects. Working with partners in
both the public and private sectors will be vital in its delivery. The strategy will help to see that Thanet’s requirements are understood at a national level.
The council is developing a vision for its main high streets in order to put proposals forward to government and to work with the private sector to leverage capital funding. Tourism and the creative industries are important sectors for the district and will form part of the solution for regenerating town centres. In the face of significant changes in the national retail picture, Thanet’s high streets are beginning to buck the trend with growth in the independent retail and food and beverage sectors.
The appeal of Thanet’s seaside resorts is being rediscovered and far beyond the bygone perception of the traditional British seaside holiday. It is now much broader, attracting businesses and individuals looking to achieve the all- important, work-life balance, whilst remaining a great
place to holiday. Those relocating to Thanet realise that
they can benefit from a coastal location, within easy reach of, and travel time to, London, supported by the excellent High Speed One service. Margate is often referred to as ‘Shoreditch-on-Sea‘, thanks primarily to the 84% increase in creative businesses in Thanet (2012-16). Business confidence levels are high with 80% of creatives surveyed saying they
feel confident about the future of their business (Source: Thanet’s New Wave).
Margate and Ramsgate have a huge variety of businesses, freelancers and creative practitioners living and working in the towns. Thanet’s strong appeal to the creative industries, coupled with its attractive, coastal environment are helping to drive the district’s reputation as a location for filming and photoshoots. The combination of visual appeal, proximity, affordability and creative flair make it an excellent choice for creative agencies and principal broadcasters when contracting for shoots and programme making. There is an opportunity to attract a small cluster of such creative production companies to Thanet. In the last 12 months, household names and high-end brands have used Thanet’s beaches, bays and towns as a backdrop for their photoshoots, including Burberry, House of Fraser, Phase Eight, Primark and Ted Baker.
The tourism and leisure sectors are an integral part of Thanet’s growing economy. Trips to the popular and award-winning seaside resorts of Margate, Broadstairs and Ramsgate rose 8.6% in 2017 (from 2015). With investment
in a number of large hotels planned in the seaside towns,
this trend is set to continue. Thanet’s 19 miles of spectacular coastline and its cultural offer attracted 4.2 million trips to the area in 2017 which resulted in a 9.2% increase in value of the sector to the district (2015-2017). The sector accounts for 19% of the total employment across the district. Margate’s cultural resurgence has helped regenerate the Old Town with an array of independent shops, galleries and eateries as well as the renowned Turner Contemporary. The gallery is hosting the Turner Prize from September 2019 with an arts and cultural festival to complement the awards taking place at venues across Margate.
Regeneration continues apace in Margate. Dreamland, the historic amusement park, received significant private sector investment and re-opened in May 2017 as a major attraction. As well as being a theme park, Dreamland is also a major music venue, and events space. Planning permission has been granted for a 120-bedroom hotel adjacent to the site.
The Dickensian town of Broadstairs, steeped in stories, continues to draw crowds with its famous ‘retro’ ice cream parlours and attractive cottages adding to its unique and
38 Kent Property Market Report 2019