Kentish Express Ashford & District
Otterpool’s first phase includes 1,600 homes
The first phase of the divisive Otterpool Park development will include the creation of 1,600 homes and a new town centre, it can be revealed.
Pending planning permission, the 10,000-home ‘garden town’ will be built on and around the former Folkestone Racecourse and close to the villages of Westenhanger and Newingreen.
As well as thousands of new homes - a fifth of which are proposed to be affordable - the scheme will include new schools, green spaces, health centres and retail and leisure facilities.
It is to be built in several phases over a 30-year period, with about 50% green space promised.
Now, details of what will be built in phase one have been unveiled - and includes the first 1,600 homes, a new town centre, a commercial area, a park and work on Westenhanger Station.
Architects and urban designers from London-based Tibbalds are behind the plans.
The information was released in the May newsletter for the Otterpool Park project.
It reads: “We are pleased to have appointed Tibbalds, a planning and urban design consultancy, to prepare detailed plans for phase one.
“This important first phase - the location for the first 1,600 homes - incorporates the town centre, commercial area and Westenhanger station.
“It also includes the town park and Westenhanger Castle, the jewel in Otterpool Park’s crown, and how this initial part of the development integrates with the wider masterplan for Otterpool Park.”
It goes on to say that details on the housing type, density and mix are also being worked on by Tibbalds.
The letter adds: “Tibbalds has also been commissioned to prepare a design code for the whole of the Otterpool Park site.
“The code will set design principles that all future housing, commercial and public buildings must adhere to, putting high quality design at the forefront of all future development proposals.”
Folkestone and Hythe District Council (FHDC) is solely behind the huge development after breaking ties with former partner Cozumel Estates earlier this year.
The authority has spent millions of pounds acquiring land for the scheme, including a £25m deal which included the purchase of the currently vacant Folkestone Racecourse and another £5m buying 357 acres of farmland south east of the racecourse in 2015.
The council also paid £2.9m plus further costs for legal bills and tax for historical Westenhanger Castle in 2019, which it plans to make the centrepiece of the scheme.
In March, the authority commissioned a survey asking people living in nearby villages on their views for the local housing need, with the answers destined to help shape the Otterpool scheme.
The survey was completed just before lockdown measures came into force.
But Otterpool Park has received much opposition since it was first announced in 2016, including scores of objections, two protests and an official objection from Hythe Town Council.
A planning application for the first 8,500 homes was submitted in 2019 to FHDC but has yet to be put before the planning committee.
For now, a planning performance agreement (PPA) has been drawn up to work on the next stages of the scheme.
The agreement is between the local planning authority (FHDC), Kent County Council and the applicant (also FHDC) and will be used to agree timescales and actions for the project.
A ‘project team’ has also been established, with representatives from all parties, who will be the main points of contact dedicated to the progress of the development.
According to the proposed time scale set out in the PPA, a decision on the outline planning application will be made in the autumn/winter of 2020.
What do you think about the plans for Otterpool Park? Email kentishexpress@thekmgroup.co.uk