FOLCA Folkestone: FOLCA 1 Saved for Retail-and-Flats, Sale Funds FOLCA 2 Medical Centre

Folkestone’s long-stalled FOLCA project has entered its most consequential phase yet: FOLCA 1 is being sold, FOLCA 2 is being refurbished, and councillors are now publicly pinning their reputations on a simple claim — that the whole package will be delivered with visible on-site works starting from March, and that the long-term plan will pay for itself and make money.

At Folkestone & Hythe District Council’s Cabinet meeting on 11 February, the tone was unusually direct. Cllr Tim Prater said councillors were “horrified” that a building bought in 2020 was still not open in 2026, and urged the NHS to sign up to terms he said had already been agreed, arguing local patients “have been patient enough”.

But the meeting also clarified two vital points that many residents have been worrying about: FOLCA 1 (pictured above) will not be bulldozed under the current preferred approach, and the receipt from its sale is being treated as a core part of the funding plan for FOLCA 2 (pictured below).

“Not looking to knock down the building”

One of the central fears around FOLCA 1 has been that a new owner might flatten it. Cabinet members tried to calm that.

Cllr Gary Fuller said it appeared the preferred route for FOLCA 1 was not demolition, which he described as one of the key concerns raised previously. This is politically significant: FOLCA 1 is the older, landmark element, and the difference between “retain and convert” and “demolish and rebuild” is not just aesthetic — it affects heritage impact, planning risk, and public acceptance.

There is an important caveat: what was said in the meeting reflects the council’s understanding of the offer and intentions. Any final outcome will still depend on legal completion and any planning consents the buyer needs. But for now, the direction of travel is clear: the council is selling FOLCA 1 on a basis that is being publicly represented as retention rather than clearance.

“Retail and flats” — and the receipt goes straight into FOLCA 2

Later in the debate, Cllr Prater put the financial strategy in starkly plain terms. He told Cabinet that the council had accepted an offer for FOLCA 1, and that it would be turned into retail with flats above. Crucially, he said the receipt will be invested into FOLCA 2.

This matters because, for residents, “capital receipt” can sound like abstract finance jargon. In everyday terms it means: sell one asset, use the money to rebuild another — and, in the council’s telling, reduce the long-term debt burden.

Prater framed it as part of the wider “£13 million investment” into FOLCA 2 — a medical centre plus commercial uses — and said the council intended to open it with a business plan that “pays for itself and makes money in the long term”.

Again, caveat: the public cannot fully test that promise while key financial tables remain redacted in draft papers and while the NHS element still has governance steps to complete. But the political line is now explicit: the council is betting on a project that covers its own costs over time.

Phase 1: a £2.42m contract and a start date in early March

Alongside the speeches, there is now a hard procurement fact: a Phase 1 construction contract has been awarded for the FOLCA 2 building. The published contract award records:

• £2,420,696 (excluding VAT)

• £2,904,835.20 (including VAT)

• Contract dates indicated as 2 March 2026 to 30 June 2026

• A scope including strip-out, damp treatment, roof replacement, first-floor window replacement, and — most symbolically — a new party wall to separate FOLCA 2 from FOLCA 1.

That wall is not just a technical detail. It is the physical expression of the council’s new strategy: the two buildings are being split, so that FOLCA 1 can be sold and FOLCA 2 can proceed independently.

Cllr Prater told Cabinet that works funded by the Levelling Up Fund and other grants would start by the end of March, including separating FOLCA 1 and 2, waterproofing, insulating, repairs and clearing. He wanted residents to see activity on site — a visible signal that, after years of delays, the project has finally moved.

The NHS medical centre: “support” — but still a formal business case to come

FOLCA 2 is intended to house a new medical centre, consolidating the existing Guildhall Street and Manor Road surgeries. The council has presented the case in human terms: a purpose-built facility that can attract staff, expand services and treat patients “with the dignity that they should have”.

But “support” is not the same as “signed and sealed”. The council’s position is that NHS Kent and Medway ICB is supportive and working with the council on the formal NHS business case. That distinction matters because the NHS business case process is where funding, governance approvals and final commitments are normally locked in.

Prater’s comments reflected the political tension: he described years of negotiation that began with the earlier FOLCA 1 plan, said the NHS “walked away” from that approach, and urged them now to sign up so the new model can proceed.

Not just a clinic: the council is courting commercial operators

FOLCA 2 is being sold as mixed use, not a single-purpose health facility. In Cabinet, Prater explicitly invited commercial and leisure operators — the sort of businesses that could bring life and spending into the town centre — to come forward. He argued that if someone has a viable idea, the council wants to talk.

This is the regeneration argument in plain English: a building full of people brings footfall, and footfall helps nearby shops and services survive. Cllr James Butcher leaned into this, describing the scheme as linking strongly with the council’s wider economic strategy and its ambition to improve “vitality” in the town centre.

Parking and access: “not perfect, but better”

Prater acknowledged concerns about parking but argued the FOLCA location is more accessible than the current surgeries, pointing to nearby car parks, on-street spaces, disabled bays and bus stops within a short walk. The claim was not that access would be flawless, but that it would be a step change from what patients have now.

The core question for residents

If you strip away the slogans, the project now rests on a handful of practical tests:

1. Does Phase 1 finish on time and to budget — proving the council can deliver the basics?

2. Does the FOLCA 1 sale complete on the terms implied, including retention rather than demolition, and a receipt large enough to support the FOLCA 2 funding strategy?

3. Does the NHS business case reach formal approval in time to meet the council’s target opening year of 2028?

4. Does the mixed-use commercial element let successfully, so that “pays for itself” becomes a measurable reality rather than a comforting phrase?

Cabinet members are now publicly committed: no more waiting for “the plan”. The plan is the works, the sale, the split, and the promise that Folkestone gets a revived landmark and a modern health hub — without leaving taxpayers holding an open-ended bill.

The Shepway Vox Team

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