Folkestone’s £19.8m Gamble on Regeneration: Levelling Up or Covering Up?

Folkestone & Hythe District Council’s: A Brighter Future Levelling Up bid, submitted in August 2022, didn’t just seek investment—it issued a damning verdict on the town’s condition. It portrayed “a town of two halves” suffering from economic stagnation, entrenched deprivation, public safety issues, poor health outcomes, and worsening pollution. These were not vague claims. The bid itself outlined the town centre’s systemic challenges—and confirmed that few, if any, had been addressed in the years leading up to its submission.

The situation was stark: employment had declined by 2%—a net loss of 500 jobs. Despite housing 1,920 businesses offering 21,000 jobs, the town was “underperforming as a key economic driver for the district.” Life expectancy was shockingly low: men and women in Folkestone lived, on average, 7 and 4 years less than the national average, respectively. Over 69% of adults were overweight or obese. Crime was “persistently high,” placing Folkestone as the third most dangerous town in Kent, with shoplifting rates the worst in the county. Meanwhile, nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) emissions had increased for five consecutive years, contributing to worsening health outcomes, especially in Folkestone Central, one of the most deprived areas in the UK.

These multifaceted challenges fell under the portfolios of two key Cabinet Members. At the time, Cllr David Wimble was the Cabinet Member responsible for the District Economy between 2019 – 2023, while Cllr Lesley Whybrow was the Cabinet’s Green member in charge of environment/air quality issues between Feb 2020 and May 2023.

Under their tenure, the situation declined further. The 2022 bid reads like a statement of failure, detailing worsening outcomes in areas for which Wimble (Ind) and Whybrow (Green) had direct responsibility. It reveals a pattern of stagnation, neglect, and delay in tackling long-known problems.

Economic Decline: The Missed Mandate

The Levelling Up bid identified “weak economic growth” as a core issue, confirming that the number of jobs in Folkestone had dropped by 2%. New commercial development was limited—especially in flexible or affordable formats—and job creation had skewed toward low-paid sectors like hospitality and leisure. Indeed, 41% of jobs in the town centre were in traditionally low-paying industries, compared to 36% nationally. Median workplace earnings across the district were 15% below the England average.

This is the economic landscape over which Cllr David Wimble presided. Despite holding the economic development brief, the town saw job losses, a sluggish labour market, and no significant progress on business growth. The pandemic only sharpened the decline: by May 2022, vacancy in the primary shopping area stood at 12%, rising to 14% in the outer area, as in-person retail sales fell 7.2% since March 2020. The council’s own Place_Plan, which went before the Cabinet 22 Sept 2021, called for high-value employment and more commercial vibrancy. The opposite happened.

Crime, Poverty, and Social Breakdown

The Levelling Up bid highlighted severe deprivation concentrated around the town centre and northeast Folkestone. Four neighbourhoods ranked in the top 10% most deprived nationally. Social capital was lowest in Folkestone Central, with low civic participation, underused public spaces, and frayed community cohesion.

Crime only compounded the crisis. The bid acknowledged “persistently high” crime in the town centre, with all recorded crime categories above the national average. Shoplifting rates were the worst in Kent. These figures should have prompted urgent, cross-cutting interventions—especially since economic regeneration and community safety often sit side by side in council briefs. Instead, under Wimble’s watch, the town remained unsafe and underinvested. Heritage and tourism—also part of his brief—saw only modest initiatives, with little impact on deeper structural issues.

Pollution and Health Under Whybrow

The air quality and public health picture painted in the Levelling Up bid is deeply troubling. NO₂ emissions, linked to serious respiratory and cardiovascular problems, increased every year for five years 2018 -2022. Health deprivation in Folkestone Central placed it firmly in the bottom 10% nationally. Life expectancy lagged far behind, and obesity rates were alarmingly high.

This all occurred under the stewardship of Cllr Lesley Whybrow, who led the council’s green portfolio. Despite a 2019 climate and ecological emergency declaration, there’s no evidence that she took effective steps to reverse these trends. The council even failed to publish routine NO₂ figures—something repeatedly flagged by The Shepway Vox Team. The bid confirmed this failure in black and white.

Whybrow promised environmental leadership. What residents experienced instead was year-on-year environmental decline and some of the worst health inequalities in the country. These twin crises—pollution and public health—sat squarely in her remit, yet went largely unaddressed.

Three Years of Delay and Dubious Transparency

The Levelling Up Fund eventually awarded £19.8 million to Folkestone in January 2023. The funding aimed to tackle core challenges identified in the 2022 bid, with projects including:

• A Station Arrival improvement scheme

• New bus station and gyratory road system

• FOLCA redevelopment

• The Council will pass on some of the funding to Creative Folkestone in return for their advice on artistic inputs on the Public Infrastructure Works

Yet despite this success, the delivery timeline raised concerns. On 25 March 2025, Wimble’s successor, Cllr Richard Holgate (Green), announced Jackson Civil Engineering had secured the bus and road contract. But by 2 April, Cllr Nicola Keen (Lab) pointed out that no contract was publicly available. The award wasn’t formally logged until 30 April.

This mismatch between public announcements and official records highlighted persistent transparency problems. More troubling, it took nearly three years from the bid (August 2022) to the contract award—despite the urgent need. By then, town centre vacancy had risen to 14.7%, and footfall had dropped 16% since 2019. The town had kept declining while the council dragged its feet.

Regeneration Finally Begins — But the Damage Is Done

The regeneration now underway is both necessary and welcome. The £19.8m programme is finally targeting “severance,” economic inactivity, and degraded public infrastructure—just as the 2022 bid warned was needed. Plans include new cycle routes and green spaces, offering a chance to finally address air quality and promote healthier lifestyles.

But the timing matters. This regeneration comes after years of drift and damage. The issues were known, documented in the Levelling Up bid, and still not acted on until 2025. The transformation now happening only underscores how urgent—and how long ignored—these problems were.

A Brighter Future Must Include Accountability

By the time the council sought Levelling Up support, Folkestone had already entered a deep and dangerous decline. The bid itself admitted as much. Employment was falling, crime rising, air quality worsening, and public trust eroding. The councillors tasked with preventing this decline had clearly failed.

Only now, in 2025, are meaningful regeneration projects finally being delivered. For the people of Folkestone, the hope is that these investments will bring real change. But the legacy of delay, denial, and drift cannot be ignored.

Cllr David Wimble and former Cllr Lesley Whybrow owe residents an explanation. During their tenure, the very indicators they were responsible for all worsened — and they left behind a town more divided, polluted, and deprived than when they began.

The £19.8 million Levelling Up money may help rebuild the town—but whether it will truly reverse the deep-rooted decline detailed in the bid remains to be seen. Only time will tell if this long-overdue investment delivers the brighter future Folkestone was promised.

The Shepway Vox Team

Dissent is NOT a Crime