Millions originally slated for fishing upgrades have been redirected to a plan to reopen a Kent port.

Thanet District Council (TDC) insists they had no choice but to reallocate the money due to government rules, but local fishermen say they feel “pushed to one side, forgotten about and ignored.”

The move has brought the total budget for the Port of Ramsgate project to £7.2 million.

In 2021, TDC was granted almost £20 million from the government for local regeneration projects, of which £9 million was slated for the harbour.

The money came from the Levelling-Up Fund (LUF), which required local councils to develop plans for investment and regeneration projects, and present them to the national government as bids for a portion of the £4.8 billion levelling-up budget.

Two of the major levelling-up projects in Ramsgate are the port works and upgrades to fishing facilities in the town.

The Port of Ramsgate in its current form was built from 1979, and ran passenger services from 1981 - 2013, though no ferries have departed from there since 2013.

The ambitious scheme is intended to improve the infrastructure surrounding the berths, where the vessels are moored, to allow it to come back into use for passenger services to Europe.

At a meeting of TDC’s cabinet last Thursday, members met to decide on rearranging the budget from the project, by using money intended for the fishing facilities plan.

Council leader Cllr Rick Everitt (Lab) told the room that a contract to operate two of the berths will “be tendered on the open market next month, and will offer a concession agreement and lease with the objective of reestablishing scheduled cross-channel services.”

Some £3.55m from the fishing facilities upgrade programme was proposed to instead be redirected to the port, funding works to improve the infrastructure, and for a £4.5m grant to be given to any prospective operator of the port to contribute to necessary works.

Originally the plan was to create a site where the local fishing fleet could unload, freeze, store and process their catch at the harbour.

However it was announced in January that under the rules of the LUF, the project would no longer be deliverable.

“It is not the case that this project [fishing] has been downgraded in order to transfer the money elsewhere,” Cllr Everitt stressed.

“The project as originally set out is not deliverable because it would not deliver the LUF outputs that we are accountable to the government for.

“We could not take on ongoing costs on behalf of the fishermen which the council has no ability to meet.

“That doesn’t mean to say we are not sympathetic, supportive and wish to help the fishing fleet, we do.”

A council finance officer added that under rules for LUF projects, it would have had to provide new jobs, and that the Thanet Fishermens’ Association (TFA) couldn’t commit to the project directly creating new jobs.

Former TFA chairman of 30 years and current committee member John Nichols described the loss of funding as “extremely disappointing”, following the meeting.

“They’ve told us we’re going to get £100,000, which won’t even scratch the surface of the basic facilities,” the fisherman continued.

“We need a new electricity supply, new water supply, refrigeration, ice making facilities, security etc and that comes in at about £500,000 - £600,000.”

“That’s only 20% of the original allocation, I don’t think we’re asking for too much.”

He explained that a decade ago there were about 30 vessels in the local fishing fleet, but now there are only 13.

“We’re at an all time low at the moment there’s no two ways about that.

“We need these very basic facilities, we don’t need to be pushed to one side, forgotten about and ignored,” he said.

Mr Nichols is also sceptical of Ramsgate’s chances of being a passenger terminal, due to the size of newer boats.

He said the port’s heyday was during the bygone era of the booze cruise.

District councillor John Davis (Con), was also critical of the port plans, describing them as “ludicrous”, adding: “It’s not fit for modern vessels.”

The Cliffsend and Pegwell representative fears that a mere £100,000 “will get swallowed up in reports and planning, and nothing will ever happen.”

He added: “The community want to see the fishing fleet here, we want to see the fishing fleet here, there has to be a way.”

He also stressed that the original project could have created jobs, as it included a fish and chip shop.