Concerned residents say building homes on a car park as part of plans to redevelop a historic cinema would be a “huge loss” for the town.

Owners of The Regent in Deal have put forward the idea of constructing nine townhouses on the 18-space South Street car park, behind the abandoned seafront building.

Their proposal also involves knocking down the public toilets and a former bus shelter next to the car park, but the amenities are owned by Dover District Council (DDC), and are not currently for sale.

While official plans are yet to be submitted, the proposals were shared by site owners James Wallace and Mark Digweed when they opened a pre-planning public consultation in June.

Their scheme includes knocking down The Regent and replacing it with a 49-seat cinema, but The Deal Society fears the loss of the amenities behind the site would be a huge blow to the town.

Robin Green, chairman of planning at The Deal Society, said: “Our position is that they are all important public local amenities and we think they shouldn't be sold off by DDC as a public asset without some consultation or debate.

“The developers of The Regent don't own it, yet they are publishing plans to build on it without any discussion about whether it is a proper use of the space.

“I also took the issue to Deal Town Council (DTC) planning committee and it was unanimous that they believe there should be a public debate about this.”

Following a meeting last month, DTC has agreed to write to Dover District Council (DDC) asking for a public consultation if it does decide to sell.

Town council spokeswoman Nadine Miller explained: “Our planning committee chairperson, Cllr Mike Eddy, has written to DDC and the local MP to express concerns about the sale of the South Street car park, public toilets and former bus waiting room.

“The motion, which was unanimously supported by the committee, was brought by The Deal Society with support of the Friends of North Deal.

“The letter calls for a full and transparent public consultation to be undertaken and proper consideration given for the provision of public toilets, especially for those who use the South Street bus station."

The Regent started out as a music hall in 1928 and became a cinema in 1933, with 911 seats. It closed 30 years later.

It then became a bingo hall for 45 years until it shut in 2008 due to the deterioration of the building.

Planning permission was obtained in 2019 to provide a three-screen cinema but that expired exactly three years later before any work could be done.

In June, updated plans were revealed to build a 49-seat picturehouse and cafe on the seafront site which is sat empty.

The iconic art-deco frontage is considered beyond repair so the current idea is to knock it down and rebuild it as it appears today.

‘Our position is that they are all important public local amenities...’

The plan would mean the site would be reused as a cinema for the first time since 1963.

At present Deal has no movie theatres at all.

As well as the townhouses, three two-bedroom flats would be above the cinema and insulated from its sound.

The houses, with their own gardens, would be behind the cinema on the current car park, bus station and public loos - something Fay Franklin, chairman of Reopen the Regent feels would be problematic.

“People get off buses needing the loo and if the toilets go, it will be a five-minute walk up to those in King Street which will be difficult with shopping,” she said.

“As far as Reopen The Regent is concerned, our main focus is getting work started on building the cinema after 12 years of inaction. But we share the concerns of DTC and The Deal Society in terms of that land.

“They're saying we need that land to build the homes in order to fund the cinema but we don't think that is fair.

“Parking in Deal is at a premium anyway so to lose more spaces would be a shame.

“And it's not just about the car park, losing the toilets and the bus shelter would be a huge loss. They need to deliver the cinema they committed to when they bought The Regent.

“We also hope new plans, when they are revealed, will reflect the strong feeling that a 49-seat cinema is in no way suitable for a town the size of Deal. We hope we will see a more viable cinema in the next set of plans.”

In response to the concerns, developer Mr Wallace says a number of comments brought forward from the consultation have been taken into consideration when designing official plans which are on track to be revealed this autumn.

“The public consultation process was really constructive and positive and we got a lot out of it,” he explained.

“We have spent time since then processing those comments and working on the designs with our consultants and architects.

“The concept drawings have been reviewed, to take some of the comments on board.

“Since the consultation, it has been positive and we appreciate the community support.”

A DDC spokesman said any planning application would be subject to public consultation, and “all feedback will be taken fully into consideration”.

He said: “The previous proposals for The Regent, which were granted planning consent in 2019, included the use of a small area of the South Street car park to support the development.

“As the owners review their plans for the building, the council has indicated that it is prepared to consider to what extent the car park could be used within the development, provided that this has a positive impact on the wider redevelopment plans.

“No decision has been taken on this.”