Plans for new council homes at Tomlin Drive and former Dane Valley Arms

Thanet council wants to build 12 of the 49 new homes on land at Tomlin Drive (Image Hazle McCormack Young LLP (HMY))

Thanet council is asking for residents’ views on two proposals for council housing development in Dane Valley.

The first site is in Tomlin Drive where Thanet council wants to build 12 family homes.

The aim is to reconfigure the existing hardstanding, parking area, former garages area, bin stores and drying areas.

Image Hazle McCormack Young
LLP (HMY)

Thanet council says there will also be improved landscaping and the creation of a communal garden areas for the new build and existing Thanet District Council blocks at the site.

The  eight 3-bed and four 4-bed homes are expected to be built to  net zero or nearly net zero standard.

Image Hazle McCormack Young LLP (HMY)

The site is not identified or allocated in the Local Plan 2020 for housing but being within the urban confines it is likely to be acceptable in principle.

The land between Arlington Gardens, Broadley Road, and Dane Valley Road remained as farmland up until the 1970s when it was developed by the council to provide social housing.

Image Hazle McCormack Young LLP (HMY)

During the past year the garages within the site area have been demolished, further to a planning application and asbestos survey. The existing concrete slabs remain, and further surveys are likely needed to ensure there is no asbestos in the ground.

Documents for the development say the preferred plan option: “attempts to balance the provision of parking, green amenity space and quantity of units expected within the site area.

“The main factor is the re-provision of existing parking spaces, we have taken a balanced approach and provided the existing quantity and the expected proposed quantity.

Green 3-bed, blue 4-bed Image Hazle McCormack Young LLP (HMY)

“However given the planners desire for a greater amount of green space, we may be able to reduce parking further to a parking beat survey of the surrounding area. The surrounding areas were not heavily parked or occupied, so the parking numbers could be reduced to increase greenery.

“The second major factor was overlooking, the proposed blocks have been positioned to avoid direct overlooking of existing windows

“The layouts form several small courtyards enclosed by the development.

Image Hazle McCormack Young LLP (HMY)

“The proposed developments and demolition of the garage units result in odd spaces between new and old, we have attempted to address this with site wide improvements to the amenity space, proposing that unused grassed spaces are turned into private ‘gardens’ for existing tenants alongside the blocks – the access is not yet resolved.

“Other proposals include forming a new hard boundary with the farmland, stopping unwanted access. This would be planted up either side to reduce the impact of masonry walling.”

Dane Valley Arms plot

Image Hazle McCormack Young LLP (HMY)

The former Dane Valley Arms site is earmarked for four family houses and a block of 13 apartments with a mixture of one and two bed units plus associated landscaping and parking.

The pub was demolished  in December 2016 after Thanet council served notice due to its unsafe condition.

Fires and vandalism at the eyesore property had been a constant problem since its closure in 2012.

Before demolition

Thanet District Council served the demolition order in September 2016. Owners, Dane Valley Arms Limited, were given a period of eight weeks to carry out the work. They failed to carry that out so TDC stepped in and recharged the company for the work.

The site is currently accessed by secure gates and site hoarding has been erected to the boundaries. The footprint of the pub is littered with overgrown buddleia plants.

Image Hazle McCormack Young LLP (HMY)

The forecourt and former garage access remain as hard standing, littered with rubbish and rubble. Some boundary walls of the demolished garage remain, along with the retaining structure/masonry wall along the boundary of the pub garden.

The pub garden has been left to nature, garden plants have continued to grow and the brambles and buddleia are overgrown.

The site is identified in the Local Plan 2020 as a housing site for development and provides an indicative capacity of 13.

Image Hazle McCormack Young LLP (HMY)

In 2017 KSD Group Ltd & Coldunell Ltd asked for permission to create 10 flats, seven houses, ground floor micropub and associated parking at the site but this did not take place.

Documents for the current development say previous housing plans were under-sized and so it has been impossible to retain the quantity of units as before.

Image Hazle McCormack Young LLP (HMY)

Documents add: “The second factor was a big under provision of parking, we have taken a balanced approach, given the sustainable public  transport location, and provided just over 1 to 1 parking spaces to dwelling units.

“This provides a better balance of units, parking and amenity green space. However given the planners desire for a greater amount of green space, we may be able to reduce parking further to a parking beat survey of the surrounding area.

Image Hazle McCormack Young LLP (HMY)

“The remaining factor going forward will be to review the massing to ensure that the apartment block does not create a too dominant presence on the street scene.”

Have your say

Residents have been invited to a public consultation on the proposals this evening (May 24) at Millmead Hall on Millmead Road. The consultation is from 5.30pm to 7.30pm.

You can read the proposals for the Dane Valley Arms Site and Tomlin Drive site at the links below:

http://yourvoice.thanet.gov.uk/…/dane-valley-arms-margate

http://yourvoice.thanet.gov.uk/…/tomlin-drive-margate

Timeline

Both proposals are set out in seven phases. The first is concept design and pre-planning which started on 28 April and runs to 29 May.

During this phase the project design team prepare architectural concepts and designs will be reviewed and improved with input from Thanet council and wider stakeholders including residents.

This phase is currently running and views can be lodged on the Your Voice website at the links above.

During this phase, the council will also instruct ‘ground investigation’ meaning some resident parking areas may be impacted and parking may be restricted to allow access for machinery.

The next stage is a review of designs/plans and phase 3 is further design development.

Phase 4 is the submission of a planning application. During the application stage there will be a formal consultation period, normally lasting for 21 days. The application will be considered by the planning committee.

Assuming the plans are approved the council will then put the project out to tender for a main contractor.

Phase 6 will be for residents to meet the contractor and put any questions to them in January 2024.

The last phase is construction running between January 2024 and June 2025.

Similar proposals were announced for Ramsgate earlier this month with Thanet council planning to build 11 social housing homes on land to the rear of Staner Court.

The proposal is to reconfigure the existing hardstanding, amenity space, garages and parking areas to provide the two and three-bed family homes.

Council plans for 11 new homes on land at Staner Court

Thanet council’s affordable housing programme

Phase 3 homes in King Street

The proposals are part of the council’s phase 4 Affordable Housing Programme. The phase 4 build, buy and refurbish programme to provide social homes in the district has an £8.8million projected spend for up to 36 homes.

The programme is paid for through the council’s housing revenue account, right-to-buy proceeds and funding from the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA). Phase 3 provided new build council homes in King Street and Sussex Street, Ramsgate.

Thanet council plans to increase the number of new build council homes in the latest phase from 36 to 61 and will fund it by transferring £8.1 million earmarked for phase 5 to the current build as well as increasing the budget for 2024/25 by £0.2m.

Phase 4 of the affordable housing development programme covers the 2020-24 financial years. It includes the purchase of 14 properties which has already been completed at a cost of £3.4million.

Twenty-two new homes were due to be started on site in March 2023 and this will now be increased to 47 homes. The council plans for some of the units to be infill sites on existing estates including the site at Staner Court and one at Clements Road.

5 Comments

  1. on a similar note, anyone know why nothing has been built on the fairly sizable ex Butlins site on the Cliftonville front–its been derelict for years–could easily put 100 or so 1-2 bed flats on that I would guess.

    • There are quite a few land banking sites in Thanet that TDC just will not act on, that being one of them. Northdown Road has another derelict ex-hotel site. These are dotted about throughout Thanet.
      Compulsory purchase would be useful so the land can be used to build council homes on or sold off for housing development. Why hasn’t TDC acted in the preceding decades or now?

  2. When TDC demolished the Dane Valley Arms, they tweeted that it was “progress”: I pointed out that demolishing a much-loved former pub was hardly progress, and was told that they could now build a newer and better pub. LIARS!

  3. Parking only a problem here with sure start. Staff told not to park in sure start so they part on the road and stop residents parking at the own property. Surely staff should park on site as there here nearly all day. This needs addressing some days it’s bloody stupid and some staff are just rude, no considerations for disabled,the older folk or parents trying to get home.
    As for the building project wouldn’t hold my breath they can’t even clean the roads.

  4. As a five year old I used to get the bus from the pub along the road to the KE walk through the allotments to Drapers Mills infant school, on my own.

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