Otterpool Park Update: Otterpool Park LLP Signs Exclusive Deal With SNRG Before Legal Review, Raising Questions for Folkestone & Hythe District Council

On 27 August, the Shepway Vox Team published an update that has left more questions than answers about the governance of the Otterpool Park development. At the heart of the matter is an “exclusive agreement” between Otterpool Park LLP—the council’s wholly owned company—and energy developer SNRG Ltd, which appears to have been signed before the completion of key legal checks.

Back in February 2025, Report Number C/24/68 went before Folkestone & Hythe District Council’s Cabinet. Two of its recommendations were crystal clear:

• Recommendation 3: “To note that a full and thorough legal review of the Options Agreement and Heads of Terms will be undertaken.”

• Recommendation 4: “To provide delegated authority to the Director of Housing and Operations and the Council’s S151 Officer, following the legal review, to sign the Options Agreement and Heads of Terms with the preferred solar park provider, SNRG Ltd, to enable them to apply for planning consent.”

Yet events since then appear to tell a different story.

On 11 August at 10:00am, SNRG publicly announced that it had signed an “exclusive agreement” with Otterpool Park LLP. Just four days later, at 7:00pm on 15 August, the company quietly modified its original announcement, though it still confirmed an exclusivity arrangement.

However, a Freedom of Information response published on 27 August throws the timing into sharp relief. In answer to a public request about the Heads of Terms and Options Agreement cited in Report C/24/68, the Council stated:

“The Heads of Terms and Options Agreement are still being finalised between the commercial operator and the Council.”

This response raises a pressing contradiction. If the Options Agreement and Heads of Terms remain incomplete, and if the promised legal review has not yet been concluded, on what basis has Otterpool Park LLP and the Council, who own the company, proceeded to sign an “exclusive agreement” with SNRG?

The implications are significant. Cabinet only authorised the signing of agreements after the legal review and Section 151 Officer’s scrutiny of financial risk. If those checks have not been finalised, then Otterpool’s announcement risks putting the Council in the position of endorsing a commercial deal prematurely.

For a development as large and politically charged as Otterpool Park, the sequencing of decisions is not a mere technicality. The Council has presented itself as following due process; the appearance of a wholly owned company striking a binding agreement before that process has been completed is difficult to explain to residents, stakeholders, and indeed to its own auditors.

The public now awaits clarification from Folkestone & Hythe District Council:

• Was the “exclusive agreement” signed by Otterpool Park LLP legally and financially vetted in line with Cabinet’s resolution?

• If not, why was the announcement made—and why has SNRG been allowed to promote the partnership publicly?

• Most importantly, what safeguards are in place to ensure the Council is not exposed to unnecessary financial or legal risk?

Until those questions are answered, the Council faces a transparency gap at the very moment it needs public trust most.

The Shepway Vox Team

Not Owned By Hedgefunds or Barons