Council leader Cllr David Monk opens up land in FolkestonePhoto: FHDC –

Work has begun on a new road opening up 10 acres of land in Folkestone for new housing.

Seventy-seven homes are planned for the southern area of the Biggins Wood site. When they are built 14 will be offered at affordable rent to those on the housing waiting list and nine will be for shared ownership.

Commercial area

A commercial area will also be developed on the site offering up to 5,600 square metres of space for new and existing businesses.

A £1.15m grant from the government’s Brownfield Land Release Fund has helped to fund preparation work on the former brickworks site.

The road and associated utilities works are the second phase of the work and will mean that the land is prepared for developers to move onto the site to begin building the new housing and commercial units.

Wildlife

This first phase of the work included ecological surveys to identify wildlife living on the site and resulted in slow worms, common lizards and smooth newts being safely relocated to newly created habitats nearby.

Other work involved removing fly-tipped rubbish and clearing the site of invasive plants and weeds.

Council leader Cllr David Monk said: “I am delighted to see the site cleared and made ready for the exciting prospect of new homes for our district.

“The beginning of work on the new access road marks real progress and I look forward to seeing it completed later this year enabling the developers to move in and begin building.”


The council has stated that no tenancy applications for the new homes are being taken at this time.

By Ed

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