Reopen the Regent and The Deal Society have shared initial thoughts on the latest proposals presented to Dover District Council (DDC) for redevelopment of the Regent Cinema site.
In addition to issues regarding the Cinema itself, the proposal has far more complex and far-reaching implications for the whole locality, including to local residents and neighbouring businesses which need careful consideration in any decision DDC might be minded taking. These include:
• That the proposal no longer delivers a cinema facility of the scale originally expected, and which was previously agreed in the original planning permission that has now time-lapsed.
• It proposes building townhouses on part of the site, though it has been a location solely used for leisure and entertainment in the Town for 150 years or so.
• It is of some reassurance that the proposal will replicate the iconic façade of the Cinema building which, with the neighbouring Timeball Tower are key symbols of the town, but is it adequate, or viable, or meet needs of local audiences for access to cinema facilities?
• The site is sensibly located alongside the Town’s Bus and Taxi transport hub for its purpose as a cinema, but is that also appropriate for large, and relatively high-value townhouses?
• The prospective loss or re-siting of amenities such as car parking, public toilets and passenger shelter, is a cause for concern including over public safety.
• This all takes place within a Conservation Area, and that doesn’t just place requirements about the building structures themselves, but also the nature and context of the site within its locality and the associated historical layout.
• The loss of car parking spaces adds to the Town’s growing parking problems: these proposed townhouses wouldn’t have parking spaces either, which whilst it is a consistent line taken by DDC in all recent redevelopments in the Town Centre, just multiplies the problem.
• The Government’s new National Planning Guidelines anticipate more housing being created in the DDC area, with an emphasis on social and affordable housing to better meet local as well as national needs: are townhouses even appropriate given those priorities and that local young people and families are currently priced out of staying in the area?
The major over-riding concern is that all recent Town Centre redevelopments, and most of the larger developments around Deal, Walmer, Sholden and other surrounding areas, are not included in The Local Plan, which is intended to be the approved framework against which all developments are evaluated up to 2040.
That means that Deal Town Centre changes are taking place in the absence of any vision that residents and businesses have contributed to that shapes the future of their Town.
More detailed information on the above and the matters they raise, can be found on this this document document link. Everyone who has a stake in the future of the site, and the Town Centre more widely, are encouraged to consider that detailed information and respond to DDC with your views about on the planning application. The application can be found on the DDC Planning Portal at or by clicking on this link….24/00817 | Erection of 2 screen cinema with restaurant, cafe and multi-function space. Erection of 9 no. dwellings with associated landscaping (existing public toilet block, indoor bus shelter and existing cinema building to be demolished) | The Regent Beach Street Deal CT14 7BP (dover.gov.uk). The Portal indicates comments must be made by 9 September.
Ian Redding
Deal Society Executive
15 August 2024