A council has been unable to find a business partner to deliver a 10,000-home ‘garden town’ more than a year after cash flow fears were raised.

Folkestone and Hythe District Council (FHDC) revealed last year how the £119 million originally earmarked to build Otterpool Park and its associated infrastructure is insufficient.

The first 8,500 homes were approved by the authority’s planning committee in April 2023 to build on and around the former Folkestone Racecourse site near Sellindge.

Up to seven primary and two secondary schools are proposed to be built under the plans, alongside a town centre, shops, health centres and places of worship.

In the works for more than 10 years, the plans have attracted stiff opposition, and outline planning permission was only granted by seven votes to five.

The council was forced to call on private developers to help deliver the scheme amid concerns about cash flow.

In September last year, council leader Jim Martin reassured members the strategic partner it considers will be at the “highest level” and is “not going to be Joe Schmo and his brother”.

Now, FHDC says work is still ongoing in the background to secure a joint venture partner.

“Resolution to grant planning permission is in place for Otterpool Park, a major new 8,500-home garden town near Folkestone,” a council spokeswoman said.

“Rooted firmly in garden town principles, it will support sustainable and healthy living, a vibrant economy and infrastructure provision through its design.

“Enabling the best quality of life for existing and future residents and responding to local landscape character are further elements embedded in the vision for this transformative garden community.

“The project is led by master developer Otterpool Park LLP on behalf of FHDC and the process for securing a joint venture partner for the delivery of the large-scale strategic project is underway.”

The approved outline bid is for up to 8,500 homes, but the whole development will include “up to 10,000 homes and associated facilities”, according to documents submitted to the council, which owns the company behind the scheme.

FHDC refused to provide a timeline of when work would take place at the site.

Early work was expected to start last winter, according to the Otterpool Park website.

Meanwhile, Kent County Council and WW Martin Ltd has submitted a planning application to build a new waste transfer site adjacent to Ashford Road and Junction 11 of the M20 in Westenhanger.

The proposal is for a new building containing bays for district kerbside collected residential waste.

Find out about planning applications that affect you by visiting the Public Notice Portal.

Outside will be two skips for food waste, an area for street sweepings and clinical waste, and a quarantine area – only to be used in a fire emergency for any burning waste to be put in.

Waste will be transferred to the site by the district council’s collection fleet and will be bulked up for onward transportation to licenced waste management facilities for recycling, energy generation, processing and where necessary, disposal.

Activity on site would be limited to basic sorting, with the waste held and managed within the proposed buildings together with containers and bays.

Food waste collections would be stored in specially designed sealed containers.

“The facility is urgently required to provide the additional capacity necessary to support district-wide household growth to 2041 and to provide a location for transfer that assists in reducing the overall environmental impacts of the waste recovery process,” the application states.