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An unfinished housing estate that has created a “horrendous chalk scar” on the landscape has now been abandoned - after a developer went bust.
Residents fear the chained-off site with 29 empty new-build homes in Folkestone Road, Dover, could become a “ghost town” and be targeted by vandals.
Drone pictures taken by KentOnline this week show the dramatic change along the Kent Downs after construction work left a large expanse of chalk exposed on the hillside.
Last year, Dover District Council (DDC) issued an enforcement notice to developer Enzo’s Homes, ordering the firm to reinstate the land to its previous levels and cover it with topsoil.
But now the Wales-based company has collapsed and liquidators have been appointed. A separate company called Enzo’s Developments Latep (White Cliff Court) Ltd remains active - but the future of the Dover site remains up in the air.
It is not known whether any of the homes have already been bought off-plan, as often happens with new estates.
The houses are still being marketed on Enzo’s Homes’ website for the development, called White Cliff Court, ranging from £300,000 for a three-bed to £550,000 for a five-bed.
Maxton ward councillor Michael Nee (Lab) is concerned about the current state of the sprawling plot of half-finished houses.
He told KentOnline: “I have huge fears for the immediate future and that it could be local people who are burnt.
“It could be a big hit to contractors or anyone who placed an offer on one of the houses, and they could have to pay the price.
“It all seems to be up in the air at the moment. It could become a ghost town if the site is left to fall to rack and ruin and become derelict.
“A new developer could come in and finish the project, but they could have to tear it all down and rebuild, which won’t be good for the residents who will have to put up with another two years of mess.”
Residents living in Maxton have also taken to social media to express their concerns.
Lance Payne said: “Great, now it will be even longer before it is finished.”
Millie Marshall added: “Whoever takes on the site now has to sort a massive pile of unstable chalk.
“The view from my house shows how deep the chalk is - it should never have been allowed.”
The development - described on its website as “a collection of 29 new-build homes on the White Cliffs of Dover” - has been fraught with problems.
In August, DDC imposed an immediate two-month halt on certain engineering work at the site – a designated National Landscape - amid concerns about harm to wildlife and the area’s “scenic beauty”.
The order was effective from August 25 until October 18. Work impacted included engineering works relating to terracing, compaction and regrading of spoil within the site.
DDC then issued an enforcement notice on the development in November.
At the time a spokesman said the depositing of chalk was an “unauthorised operation” resulting in an “unsympathetic alteration to the site and wider landscape”.
They added: “An enforcement notice has been served requiring the land to be reinstated to its previous levels. This is to remove all resultant material and to deposit a layer of topsoil over the land.”
The marked land was noticed by hillwalkers from miles away - including Dover’s Western Heights - at least from the summer of 2023.
Council leader Kevin Mills (Lab) described it as a “horrendous chalk scar” and remarked it was “probably the only site you can see from the moon”.
However, it has been confirmed an appeal process is currently underway on the enforcement notice, with the decision now in the hands of the planning inspectorate.
A spokesperson for DDC said: “As far as the council knows, the appeal is still going ahead - it will be for the planning inspectorate to make a decision in light of the status of Enzo’s Homes.”
Stephen Goderski and Oliver Collinge, of PFK Littlejohn Advisory, were appointed joint liquidators on February 27 for the sale of an Enzos Homes Industrial site in Wales; they are not involved in any other sites.
Mr Goderski said: “Enzo’s Homes traded for nearly 13 years prior to its liquidation. We will be engaging with all relevant stakeholders to maximise the return to creditors.”
Enzo’s Homes has not responded to multiple requests for comment from KentOnline.
According to Companies House, Enzo’s Developments Latep (White Cliff Court) remains active.
It says Fiorenzo Sauro, director of Enzo’s Homes, resigned from Enzo’s Developments Latep (White Cliff Court) on March 6. The latter’s new director is Ankith Hitesh Patel.
Enzo’s Homes website still shows a number of the 29 homes in Dover as being “available”.
It also features a testimony from a Welsh woman who “bought off-plan as soon as news came that an Enzo's development was arriving in her area”.
This is not the first new estate in the county to have been abandoned.
In 2021, KentOnline told how a luxury 16-home development in Chatham was left unfinished after the developer went into liquidation.
With broken fencing and no security, police had to be called following anti-social behaviour at the empty site, where signs warning people to keep out were clearly ignored.
Fortunately, a new developer did take over the scheme, and we returned last year to see progress had been made and the homes were almost finished.
