The site of the derelict Western Undercliff café in Ramsgate has gone on the sale market for £1.2million after gaining new planning permission last December.
Approval was given to an application by Custom Build Developments Ltd to demolish the existing café building and build a new ground floor cafe; public toilets; sub station; and 13 flats over five floors.
The cafe shut in 2014 when a burst water pipe forced its closure.
A fundraiser was launched in 2018 as part of a bid by The Hideaway – made up of members from the Western Undercliff Regeneration group – to buy the site from Thanet council as a community asset.But the authority made a decision to dispose of the site.
The site was sold by Thanet council at auction for £100,000 in 2018.
Plans submitted by then-owner Western Undercliff Ltd for a café, restaurant and flats in a “ship” shaped build were approved at the end of 2020 but ditched in January 2021 by the developer in a row with Thanet council over further financial contributions.
The site went back to auction in November 2021 with the planning consent still valid and sold for £600,000.
Amended plans were lodged with the council last April, using the same footprint but including a reconfiguration of the residential units and axing the previously planned top floor restaurant. Instead this will be replaced by one large feature apartment and the addition of an extra floor of residential accommodation – creating a six storey build.
The flats will be a mix on one and two-bed.
The public toilets will be managed by the operator of the café. Amended plans have resulted in refuse storage being internally located, within a specified area for the residential units, and within the commercial unit itself for the use of the cafe.
An emergency evacuation plan shows that in the event of a flood warning alarm, occupants should make their way to the third floor where there is an external rear exit walkway to the top of the cliffs. An emergency refuge area in the case of auxiliary rescue is provided at fifth floor level, to be accessed from the internal stairwell.
Thanet Local Plan requires that for developments exceeding 10 dwellings, 30% affordable housing be provided on site. The project would have required four affordable units but the applicant raised viability concerns.
A viability assessment included a valuation report that indicated the development would provide a surplus of £400,000.
The benchmark land value provided by the applicant was based upon the purchase price of the site at £600,000. However, it was argued that the existing use value for the derelict cafe and public toilet could be argued as being nil, and consultants Dixon Searle advised that a lower benchmark land value would have been expected, such as £480,000.
The applicant’s appraisal included allowances for abnormal costs, such as sea defences, a pumped waste system, an electricity substation, which have been evidenced through submitted costings. Other abnormal costs have included oversail rights, easements and licenses from the council and harbour.
A planning officer report said: “The site is previously developed land within the urban confines, and the proposal is for residential units, for which there is a need, and the replacement of the existing beach cafe and WC, which will provide a community and tourism benefit for the area.
“Whilst affordable housing has not been achieved, a visibility assessment has been submitted and independently reviews, and concludes that a contribution towards affordable housing would not be reasonable to request in this instance.”
Planning permission was approved last December and the site is now being marketed for £1.2m. Details are shown on Kallars property site here
Ward councillor Becky Wing says rejecting the initial community bid in 2018 was a missed opportunity.
She said: “With hindsight a better option for Thanet District Council, and even more so the large beach and sea going community at the Western Undercliff, as well as visitors, would have been to have accepted the community offer of £70k to refurbish the original cafe and toilets.
“Instead the council has missed out on an ongoing income from what was a successful asset and the Western Undercliff community left without even basic toilet facilities and cafe.
“To make things worse the footpath own by Thanet District Council remains impassable and the derelict cafe building blights the whole area.
“As a regular user of the beach and member of the large group of sea swimmers: Mermads it is extremely frustrating that the Western Undercliff beach, one of the safest places to swim and looked after by many volunteers, continues to have no facilities.”
County Councillor Karen Constantine added: “The owners – or Thanet District Council – need to take urgent steps to secure this site. There are unfettered entry points to the interior and open access to the flat roof – which has no barriers.
“Not only this, the whole area has become littered with graffiti, including swastikas, and debris and is an absolute eyesore.
“The building is a magnet for young people to ‘hang out’ and I fear someone is going to be injured.
“What a terrible advert for Ramsgate’s fine coastline. Surely the council issued a contract on maintenance and upkeep?”
