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timeless seaside charm. The only Royal Harbour in Britain, Ramsgate is a busy destination containing 700 leisure berths. It caters for visiting vessels, as well as those based there year-round and is home to a large fishing fleet. Ramsgate is also recognised as one of only ten national Heritage Action Zones by Historic England and one of two in the South East, acknowledging Ramsgate’s rich historic environment in supporting economic growth.
Manston Business Park which is owned by East Kent Opportunities, a partnership between Kent County Council and Thanet District Council has seen significant business investment with the completion of light industrial units for sale or rent, creating jobs in the area. Wahl UK has expanded operations to a 9,011m2 (97,000ft2) site at Manston as a result of the company’s growth, with the workforce expanding and the new building supporting continued expansion plans. Manston is well connected by dual carriageway to the motorway network.
For logistics companies and multinationals, the Port of Ramsgate is the second closest UK port to mainland Europe. A dedicated £30m tunnel and approach road bypasses the town and provides unimpeded access for customers and freight. The demand for road goods vehicles crossing the English Channel is expected to increase from 3.17 million
in 2015 to 4.6 million by 2035. The excellent road links and short sea crossing times mean Ramsgate is ideally located to meet this rising demand for freight traffic and provide much needed resilience for the cross-channel freight network.
A proposed new dual carriageway to Thanet, the A28 Birchington, Acol and Westgate-on-Sea Relief Road is in
the ‘top ten’ list of high-priority road improvement schemes which has been submitted to government. It is part of a £3.5bn, five-year investment programme which aims to
cut congestion, speed up journeys and support economic growth across the South East. It was agreed and submitted by Transport for the South East (TfSE), a new regional body which brings together local authorities, business groups and the transport industry to speak with one voice on the region’s transport needs.
The owners of the land at Manston Airport have submitted a Development Consent Order application which is under examination by the Examining Authority. A decision by the
Secretary of State is expected in early 2020. The Thanet District Council Local Plan to 2031 is currently being reviewed by the Planning Inspectorate. The Plan is expected to be adopted in Spring of 2020.
For more information:
www.thanet.gov.uk
East Kent Opportunities (EKO)
EKO is a highly successful property partnership between Kent County Council and Thanet District Council. It facilitates and encourages economic growth through
its landownerships and has seen significant business investment with the completion of light industrial units for sale or rent, creating significant numbers of jobs in the area. EKO LLP promotes and owns the remaining undeveloped areas at Manston Business Park and the remaining residual land at Eurokent, Ramsgate.
Manston Business Park
The park enjoys excellent access to The Thanet Way and onto the motorway network. With the success of EKO’s calibrated land disposal programme, which includes a partnering approach to facilitate economic development and a measured phased approach to development delivery, Manston Business Park has seen significant progress in
the past five years. This includes the continued expansion of The Maples Business Park, a successful concept by Manyweathers Properties and extended across from the original scheme, The Oaks.
The phased expansion of Maple Leaf by Manyweathers Properties has generally exceeded expectations and the company are continuing to progress with the development. Over 200 individual units have been delivered/completed on site and are selling/letting rapidly in what is otherwise a difficult economic climate. The scheme’s success reflects the substantial personal investment in the sites bought so far.
EKO LLP has currently agreed terms on nine separate plot sales at Manston Business Park. These include a variety
of new headquarter developments for SME’s. The park welcomed Robbie Toys Ltd and Groundwork Solutions Ltd , both having acquired land for expansion of respective operations in August 2019. Plots 1a, 1b and 1c, which form
the main scheme’s frontage overlooking the western end of Manston Airport’s runway, are envisaged to produce a major phased office development. Following the pre-application process a detailed planning submission is expected shortly. This will present an impressive development across the business park site’s entrance, with frontage buildings along Columbus Avenue and Spitfire Way. Plot 2 is the only significant remaining parcel yet to be sold and is not being marketed on the basis of it offering further office campus expansion in the future. Wahl UK has expanded operations at its 9,011m2 (97,000ft2) building on Invicta Way as a result of the company’s growth and workforce expansion.
EKO’s ownership of Manston Business Park is not the
entire employment land allocation in the Local Plan.
China Gateway International (CGI) own adjacent land that approximately doubles the current Manston Business Park land area, and provides potential for a further 1 million ft2
of business space. This is likely to be smaller space for the SME market rather than large-scale manufacturing. This land area is not being openly marketed/promoted, although there has been developer interest in its acquisition. The CGI land requires service provision and/or highway and access arrangements and additional investment would be needed to bring this forward for future development.
Eurokent
EKO has exchanged contracts with Kentish Projects on
Plot 2, also known as the Trapezium at Ozengell Place.
The transaction is subject to detailed planning and is for
38 modular homes, as an exemplar affordable modular housing scheme. Consent is expected from the District Council by autumn 2019. Plot 3 has also been exchanged and a mix of commercial uses are proposed with planning discussions ongoing. The remaining parts of Eurokent have outline planning permission and a master plan identifies primarily residential development which will front on to New Haine Road. Homes England acquired the 13.35ha
(33 acres) of the residential component of the site from East Kent Opportunities and Rosefarm Estates in March 2017 and is now looking to dispose of their interest to a residential developer. Further information is expected from Homes England in the autumn.
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