The new Whitstable? Folkestone is present process a dramatic transformation

Every 12 months round this time we hear of plans to regenerate run-down seaside cities and dreary resorts, from Margate to Morecambe. 

Yet none might match the dramatic transformation of Folkestone on Kent’s south coast.

Just ten years in the past, Folkestone was on the slide. ‘I moved right here in 2015 from Gran Canaria to work in a lodge and elements of the city, notably the harbour space, had been scary — so I moved on to Canterbury,’ says Alex Rodriguez, 31, now a freelancer working in company communications.

Turning the tide: The Kent seaside city’s as soon as off-limits harbour is now an attractive location

‘Then I heard in regards to the modifications happening, so in 2020 I moved again right here with my husband and picked up a three-bedroom Victorian end-terrace home for £240,000. 

I’ve by no means regretted it — Folkestone these days has a very cool vibe and exquisite surroundings.’

It is troublesome to think about the Folkestone that Alex discovered again in 2015. Much of the harbour and seafront was occupied by railway sidings, a squalid fairground and a flea market. The Old Town space was, to place it bluntly, a slum.

It took the ambition of Sir Roger De Haan to create the Folkestone of at the moment. He purchased the city’s harbour in 2004 with a view to regenerating it.

‘My mother and father began [travel company] Saga and once I bought the corporate in 2004 [for £1.35 billion] I used to be nonetheless solely in my late 50s and I wanted to hold on working,’ Sir Roger instructed me. ‘I made a decision on 4 strands of regeneration: training, buildings, the humanities and sport.’

These areas had been in determined want of consideration. Folkestone had one of many 5 least academically profitable secondary colleges in England. 

With an funding of £34 million, Sir Roger had architect Norman Foster design a substitute and it’s now judged ‘good’ by Ofsted. 

Sir Roger additionally helped arrange efficiency venues and ploughed cash into a wide range of sports activities services.

But the flagship of the new-look Folkestone is a improvement of 84 residences on the sea-front. Set on shingle on the prime of the seaside, it’s constructed of glistening white, glazed bricks. 

Broad balconies give the outside a Gaudi-esque look, whereas contained in the curvature of the tall home windows means rooms are bathed in gentle. Materials of wooden and pebble echo the seaside theme.

Prices vary from £430,000 for a one-bedroom flat to £2.2 million for a penthouse. Six extra blocks are deliberate, totalling 1,000 models (shorelinefolkestone.co.uk).

Nearby is the restored Harbour Arm, with its champagne bar, meals stalls. Stroll south alongside the seafront and also you move brightly painted seaside huts and a landscaped coastal path.

The revamped Old High Street is now bursting with impartial retailers and studios — not not like in style and chi-chi Whitstable on the north Kent coast.

‘It has a very cosmopolitan environment,’ says Alex. ‘There are a lot of freelancers and we meet in a espresso store twice every week, which supplies an actual sense of group.’

There’s so much to draw newcomers, with London’s St Pancras simply an hour away. So, with so many seaside cities trying to re-invent themselves, what is the secret of a profitable regeneration?

‘In areas the place the economic system is damaged, it’s not sufficient to only repair the buildings,’ stated Sir Roger. ‘You have to present the city an entire new financial goal … there have to be one over-arching grand ambition.’