Flats and underground car park in Cliff Promenade, Broadstairs, 'won't make cliff unstable', say Thanet District Council planners
11:30, 16 November 2021
updated: 11:34, 16 November 2021
Plans to build a three-storey block of flats on a cliff-top are going before councillors again this week - after concerns were raised over stability.
The applicant, Leon Piper, intends to demolish a property called Seagulls, in Cliff Promenade, North Foreland, Broadstairs, and build eight two-bed flats on the cliff face, including a basement car park.
But residents on the exclusive estate, where properties can fetch upwards of £1 million, previously warned the “eyesore” would be an over-development and cause more traffic on the typically quiet roads.
In September, members of Thanet District Council’s planning committee raised concerns the cliff face could deteriorate through erosion and digging for the car park, so asked planning officers to consider if the cliff was stable enough.
They have concluded that the cliff erosion in North Foreland is slow, losing 100mm of cliff face every year.
The applicant has also submitted a construction plan for the basement car park, with excavation to take place away from the cliff face.
In a planning report, officers said the proposed flats “would have a significantly long built life without the risk of being lost due to coastal erosion or the excavation resulting in stability problems for the cliff given the build measures proposed”.
The benefits from the application were thought to “demonstrably outweigh any harm created by the development”.
Objections to the proposals have been strong, including from Broadstairs Town Council, which raised concerns over the impact of the development on cliff stablity and added: “[It is] out of keeping with the street scene and any potential underground parking may cause considerable harm to the development and the neighbouring properties due to destabilising of the cliff face.”
Meanwhile, Robert Holden, from The Broadstairs Society, also objected on behalf of his group - calling it a “development of street scene contempt”.
Planning officers have recommended the proposals, due to be discussed on Wednesday, be deferred and delegated for approval.
