Promises, Delays and Silence: Inside the Greatstone Beach Huts Controversy

A regeneration project conceived in 2021 as a flagship investment in Romney Marsh has descended into controversy, delays, and community backlash, as Folkestone & Hythe District Council pushes forward with the construction of a 100+ beach huts, a café and visitor centre on the Coast Drive car park in Greatstone—years behind schedule, hundreds of thousands of pounds over budget, and with devastating consequences for a nearby community hub.

Promised for summer 2022, the project will now begin construction on 5 May 2025—almost three years late—and not open until 2026. The last-minute timing of this announcement has stunned local residents, businesses and volunteers, who were given just six weeks’ notice of a complete summer-long closure of the only nearby car park. The Council’s decision leaves a well-used charity-run community centre cut off, underfunded and fearing job losses.

This is not transformation. This is dysfunction.

A Timeline of Delays and Diminished Expectations

The Romney Marsh Coastal Destination Project was first approved on 23 June 2021 under Cabinet report C/21/13. Costed at £893,000, the scheme would develop 108 beach huts, a kiosk café, upgraded toilets (including a Changing Places facility), and formalised parking on the underused Coast Drive car park, which then earned the Council just £10,000 annually​.

A clean, profitable vision was set out: beach huts at 95% occupancy, rising rents, a self-sustaining café, and a cumulative surplus of £1.9 million over 25 years​. Officers stressed the urgency of delivery, stating “implementation by April 2022” was vital to catch the summer season and secure projected returns​.

But within months, the Council discovered the beach-facing boardwalk and hut locations were not on its land. Despite early design input by council architects, the beach was Crown Estate property, not part of the council’s title. An attempt to claim adverse possession by the Council failed​.

By December 2023, a redesigned scheme—now scaled down to 93 huts—was presented in Cabinet report C/23/70. The total cost had nearly doubled to £1.593 million, funded by £893,000 of council capital and £700,000 in external grants (Magnox, CIL and UKSPF). Completion was now targeted for March 2025, with tender award due 20 February 2024.

But that didn’t happen either.

By November 2024, Cabinet report C/24/46 confirmed the project still lacked planning consent and had hit another problem: UK Power Networks had declared the existing site supply inadequate, demanding a new substation—an extra £102,000 not budgeted. The shortfall was hastily plugged by stripping funds from unrelated projects like EV charging and a paused hut scheme in Hythe.

The council now had just weeks to secure the contractor before losing the £300,000 Magnox grant, which required award before 31 December 2024. No public tender was advertised in advance. Only after a Freedom of Information request in March 2025 did officers quietly point to a Contract Award notice published after the fact, claiming exemption from competitive tender via a framework. No evidence of a 10-day cooling-off period was provided​.

The final construction plan now sees the project begin on 5 May 2025, with practical completion scheduled for 14 September 2025​—more than four years after its original intended opening.

Six Weeks’ Notice: Community Hub Left Exposed

For local charity Romney Marsh Community Hub, the abrupt closure announcement felt like betrayal. Since July 2024, the charity has operated the Hub on the Beach in the refurbished former Mulberry pub, directly adjacent to the car park. It has rapidly become a vital seven-day-a-week community space, hosting classes, events, RNLI fundraisers, and providing café services to residents and visitors alike.

On 19 March 2025, the Hub learned of the car park’s summer-long closure—not from the Council, but from three contractors casually mentioning it over tea in the café.

A Community Hub Trustee immediately wrote to district councillors:

“We had no formal notice… We will be forced to close Hub on the Beach. The financial effect of this would be an existential threat to the viability of the charity.”​

Despite the Council having finalised the construction timeline weeks earlier, there had been no letters, no public notice, no local consultation.

Local councillors confirmed this was not an oversight—it was a failure.

“The lack of communication is unacceptable. It’s not what would usually happen when a car park is going to be closed,” admitted Cllr Mike Blakemore​.

A Preventable Crisis, A Predictable Consequence

At an Especial Meeting of New Romney Town Council on 7 April 2025, it emerged that the Town Council, Sea Cadets, private residents with rights of way, and hut tenants had all been kept in the dark​. The Council’s failure to maintain legal access for residents prompted concern, as did the impact on the Community Hub:

“It is the opinion of the Trustees that this may well result in job losses and, potentially, even closure.”

The Hub forecasts a £50,000 shortfall in earned revenue due to the car park closure. Combined with a £60,000 spike in costs from minimum wage and NIC rises, and the loss of a local authority contract, the charity is now teetering on the edge.

Despite these risks, the Council has refused to reconsider its blanket closure of the entire car park. In emails from officers seen by this paper, it is stated that no part of the car park can remain open due to construction health and safety rules—even though the heaviest surfacing work only occurs in the final two weeks​.

The Community Hub argues a phased closure would have preserved access through most of the season.

“The car park is more than wide enough to allow this. In October—the off-peak period—you can close the whole thing. But no one thought to do this.”

No Parking, No Plan B

In response to criticism, the Council offered five free permits—for a car park a 10-minute walk away. They also suggested creating eight new gravel spaces behind the boat club. But even that small gesture may require planning and Natural England’s approval.

Another option—temporarily using part of The Greens for parking—is mired in red tape. New Romney Town Council outlined six conditions before it could proceed: fencing, security, legal agreements, Natural England sign-off, and full reinstatement at the Council’s cost. None have been fulfilled.

“Not a Life-Affirming Process”

The Community Hub had once considered working with the Council on integrating a base into the development—but pulled out.

“We concluded that dealing with the Council was unlikely to be a life-affirming process.”

Instead, they repurposed an existing empty building, opened in less than a year, and delivered a functional, well-loved space. All of this is now at risk—not because of the idea of regeneration, but because of how it was implemented.

What began as a community-boosting project is now seen by many locals as a bureaucratic blunder that prioritised spreadsheets over people, and deadlines over dialogue.

The Council’s own reports state that revenue from the scheme will begin at £36,932 in year one—barely enough to offset the community harm it has already caused​.

A Regeneration Project That Regenerated Bureaucracy

This project was supposed to regenerate Romney Marsh. But four years on, the only thing it’s regenerated is resentment.

Delayed three times, redrawn twice, over budget by 78%, and now devastating a thriving community facility, the Greatstone Beach Hut Project has become a case study in how good ideas can be undone by poor execution and worse communication.

Romney Marsh deserved better.

The Shepway Vox Team

Not owned by Hedgefunds or Barons

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