Approval has been given for plans to build a block of 13 council flats and four houses on the site of a Margate pub which was destroyed in a blaze.
The council will build a block with seven 1-bed and six 2-bed flats plus four 3-bed semi detached homes and 18 parking spaces across the former Dane Valley Arms site in Dane Valley Road.
Soft landscaping is proposed to the front of the flat block onto Dane Valley Road and tree and hedge planting will take place along the frontage, along with a low black metal railings.
Gardens are provided to each home, along with a shared community space to serve the flats. Cycle parking has been provided with one space per flat, within a communal cycle parking area, and one space per bedroom for houses within their garden area. Electric vehicle charging has been provided to each parking space.
The housing sizes are in response to affordable housing need in Millmead, which, at the time of the report, consisted of:
1 bed – 12 (all for medical reasons – Band A – Critical need of housing)
2 bed – 7 (2 are lacking bedrooms and 5 have a medical need to move)
3 bed – 43 (34 are lacking bedrooms and 9 have a medical need)
Council housing build scheme
It is one of four 100% affordable council housing developments within the district. Across all four schemes the council plans to deliver 49 homes in response to housing need for the area.
The four developments at Dane Valley Arms, Tomlin Drive, Staner Court and Clements Road, constitute Phase 4 of the council’s affordable housing project and are the first to be targeting ‘net zero’ to keep down the costs of heating and hot water.
All the affordable rent new build units will be let to households on Thanet Council’s Housing Register and retained as council stock. The units will be let at a rent which does not exceed Local Housing Allowance rates.
The scheme is funded via a mix of right to buy receipts, Thanet District Council’s Housing Revenue Account – new properties reserves, DLUHC Brownfield Land Release Find grant, and Public Works and Loan Board borrowing.
Thanet council’s housing programme also includes agreement to buy homes at Tothill Street in Minster and at sites including Reading Street, Westwood and Spitfire Green. The authority has acquired 123 homes since May.
Fire and demolition
Fires and vandalism at the Dane Valley Arms had been a constant problem since its closure in 2012.
In August 2012, some 30 firefighters battled the flames at the property in Dane Valley Road when a blaze took hold in the early hours.
The pub, which had been a fixture for more than a century, was then demolished in December 2016 after Thanet council served notice due to its unsafe condition.
A year prior to the blaze planning permission had been granted for nine houses, four flats and a micropub at ground floor, following demolition of existing building.
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.
