Optimism is high at the Kent ports, where convoys of cruise ships and freight vessels have boosted development, writes Ian Evans.
Cruising is big business. During the past five years, the number of cruise ships stopping and starting at Dover has mushroomed from four in 1994 to an expected total of 152 this year. As the freight and passenger business grows, it will inevitably affect the port and town, says Bill Fawcus, property general manager at the Port of Dover.
Two years ago, the port opened a dedicated £10m cruise terminal to cope with the increase in traffic. It now plans a second terminal in the west dock. And, if planning permission is granted next month, this second terminal is earmarked to open in 2000.
“We’re in a nice position here in Dover because ships can go east or west,” says Fawcus. “Some are going to the Scandinavian countries while others are off to the Caribbean.”
He says that the cruise liner industry’s passengers are different from the usual port customers, who see Dover as a through route rather than as a stop-off point before or after a luxury cruise trip. The cruise passengers demand better service and facilities, says Fawcus. To meet that demand, the Port is also planning to build two new hotels.
Both will be 100-bed properties on 0.4ha (1 acre) of land at separate sites along Marine Parade, one four-star and the other a two- or three-star. A planning application is due to be submitted for the latter scheme within the coming weeks while plans for the four-star hotel are due to be put forward later this year.
Meanwhile, the port has been spending £200,000 on revamping the harbour front in the Churchill Hotel area of the port, painting buildings and improving the roads and pathways.
“A lot of the customers are American. They want to spend a day or two here and see a bit of England once they arrive from Heathrow or Gatwick or, in the future, from Thanet airport. There is a shortage of quality hotels in Dover, particularly for those cruise travellers, who are a type of ‘just-in-time’ market.”
To accommodate that interest, the port is drawing up plans for the third phase of the De Bradelei Wharf factory shopping development in Wellington Dock.
Fawcus says that the £2m-£3m, 2,787m2 (30,000 sq ft) scheme will mirror the first two phases, selling quality fashion items. If planning permission is granted when the proposals are submitted within the coming weeks, Fawcus hopes that the development will be completed by September 1999, with rents at about £172 per m2 (£16 per sq ft) – slightly higher than prime town-centre rates.
Martin Barrow at Conrad Ritblat says that development land is still comparatively cheap around Dover at £308,870-£370,645 per ha (£125,000-£150,000 per acre), compared with £555,967-£617,742 per ha (£225,000-£250,000 per acre) in Ashford and £741,289-£803,063 per ha (£300,000-£325,000 per acre) in Maidstone.
He says that land availability in Folkestone is “extremely limited” for sites of 2ha (5 acres) or more.
“It is a popular area because it is near the ports and the Channel Tunnel. There are sites such as Biggin Wood, but the area is under 25 to 30 different ownerships. Putting that together would take a long time, so it would probably take someone like English Partnerships to come along and organise it.”
The regeneration agency is spending £2.5m on a 62,707m2 (675,000 sq ft) expansion by Pfizer at its 137.6ha (340 acre) site in Sandwich. The pharmaceutical firm says that the scheme, due for completion in summer 2000, will create 1,000 jobs, and that its £109m investment will be split roughly into two-thirds laboratory space and one-third administration. EP will carry out drainage and infrastructure work at the development.
In Dover, the new owner of the MOD’s Old Park Barracks site, adjoining the A2 at Whitfield Roundabout and covering 34.4ha (85 acres), is expected to be named soon.
Along the coast in the Isle of Thanet, optimism for economic development is high. Improvements to the area’s road network is the key, says David Ralls, the chief executive of Thanet district council.
The £140m dualling of the A299 is due to be completed by October, linking the horn-shaped region of Kent to the m2 and on to the M25, the A253 and the A256. The A road links will be an important element in the future development of Kent International Airport and neighbouring business parks.
Airfield purchase mooted
Wiggins Group is among those looking to buy the former MOD airfield, which covers some 289ha (715 acres), and link it to the firm’s adjoining 70.8ha (175 acre) Kent International Business Park, soon to be renamed the Manston Business Park, after the old RAF base. Wiggins already holds the lease on the airfield, and runs freight and passenger services from it.
Ralls says that four buyers have made bids for the site, and the winner is expected to be named in the summer.
Further in to the headland, between Margate and Ramsgate, Terrace Hill and the council have gained permission to build two 1,394m2 (15,000 sq ft) units on the company-owned Thanet Reach Business Park.
Nearby in Westwood, Chesterhouse Properties is about to start work on a 9,755m2 (105,000 sq ft) retail park on nearly 6.1ha (15 acres). The park will deal predominantly in bulky goods.
The developer is buying the site for an undisclosed price from joint owners Sericol and Southern Water. Managing director Martin Ashford says that Scottish Power and Allied Carpets are among those taking units on the site, which will also include a restaurant. Two of the eight units remain to be filled.
In Ramsgate, work on thelong-planned Harbour Approach Road is about to begin. The £30m link, which is two-thirds of a mile in length, is due to be completed in March 2000, when it will divert large volumes of road freight away from the town centre.
With rumours that theRamsgate-to-Ostend passenger route is to be transferred to Dover, the reliance on freight business could become vital for Ramsgate’s local economy. The port’s main freight customer, Sally Freight – part of Sally UK Holdings – has already reported an increase in freight business over the past two years.
While conceding that the area suffers from poor rail links, Ralls adds: “Once the roads are finished, Thanet will be well served by the road network. For a long time, all the pieces have been there but now they’re all being put into place.”
