Y18/1529/FH – Shepway Close, Folkestone

When it comes to planning in Folkestone & Hythe District, you have to know your history.

It begins with Y05/1331/SH – yellow and orange polygons below & Y05/1333/SH the blue polygon below.

The Land was purchased by Bridgenorth Ltd, who had three directors They took out a charge/mortgage on all the land in the map below on or around the 5th Dec 2002 according to companies which is still outstanding.

On the  26th Sept 2005 an outline planning application Y05/1331/SH was submitted to the then Shepway District Council planning Department by Bridgenorth Limited. After many objections by local residents and rejection by the planning committee it went to appeal.  On the 17th August 2006, the appeal by brought by Bridgenorth, after the refusal to grant permission by the planning committee was rejected by the Planning Inspectorate.

Former Dawson Rd Youth Club Site & Old Gasworks – Google My Maps

Three Sites Y18/1529/SH – For Development Y07/1570/SH – Peto Close Y09/1089/SH – Walter Tull Way

On the yellow and orange polygons Bridgnorth wished to build 80 dwellings. The yellow polygon, where Walter Tull Way now stands was not in the local plan and previously had the Dawson Road Youth Club standing on it. And so no objection by the Planning Inspector was put forward allowing the land to be developed; which happened in 2009. The Yellow Polygon made up 19% of the land, the Orange making up 81%. The Planning Inspector made clear in his appeal notice the orange land should remain as open recreational space, as per the Shepway local plan of 2006. However, he did stress the land was NOT in public ownership

The Blue Polygon, what is now Peto Close was dismissed to, however, that was on the different grounds. A year on from the appeal in Nov 2007 Bridgenorth Limited had come together with Town & Country Housing Group &  local building company Jenners to build 11 houses and 30 Flats on the site. Y07/1570/SH received approval with conditions on the 21st Feb 2008. The site now provides social housing.

On the 16th Nov 2009 the Yellow Polygon -Y09/1089/SH; which was not rejected by the planning inspector in the appeal, due to the fact that it was NOT in the 2006 plan and had previously had the Dawson Rd Youth Centre building on it had planning application  Y09/1089/SH for the erection of nine houses and three flats with associated infrastructure and landscaping submitted by Bridgenorth Ltd, was approved. This site is now known locally as Walter Tull Way.

Now on the 28th August 2014, according to companies house, Walter Tull Way Management Company Ltd came into being. The company had 10 Directors and two secretaries.

One of the company secretaries was a Mr Robert Hunter, the same Robert Hunter who was a director in Bridgenorth Ltd, who owned the land where social housing now stand on Peto Close and Walter Tull Way. Two of the directors of Walter Tull Way Management Company Ltd were Richard Anthony Pascoe, more commonly known as Cllr Dick Pascoe and Francis Xavier Dwyer.

On the 31.10.2017, the Orange Polygon formerly owned by Bridgenorth Limited was sold to Shepway Two Limited for the sum of £487,500 according to the land registry. Now the person with significant control of Shepway Two Ltd is Francis Xavier Dwyer, the same Mr Dwyer who sat on the Walter Tull Way Management Company Ltd with Cllr Dick Pascoe until it was dissolved on the 7th March 2017.

So Cllr Dick Pascoe, sat in a company with Mr Dwyer, the present owner of the land and Mr Robert Hunter, one of the previous owners of the land. None of those named have done anything wrong, far from it. But with connections like this and Cllr Pascoe sitting on the Planning Committee we hope he will recuse himself totally from any decision when application Y18/1529/FH  to build 22 semi-detached and terraced houses and two apartment blocks containing 18 flats, comes before the planning committee.

The Shepwayvox Team

Journalism for the People NOT the Powerful.