Tontine Street has been given the green light to go two-way.

Transport councillors on Monday voted six to two to allow the Folkestone town centre street to have two-way traffic for buses, taxis and bicycles.

Shepway Joint Transportation Board (JTB) councillors agreed that the change was needed to help in the regeneration of the town and harbour.

Cllr Malcolm Dearden (Con) formally proposed the officers’ recommendation for the change.

He said: “I think this is the best we are going to get. In my view it will benefit the entire district.”

The issue has dragged on over four years with the plans brought back and forth for change following feedback from public consultation.

Cllr Dearden said: “The gestation for this has been longer than an elephant’s. This has been going on for a long time and it needs to be resolved.

“Our competitors in Ashford and Dover are beginning to get a march on us.”

The proposal was seconded by Cllr Carole Waters (Con) who said: “I don’t know about the gestation of an elephant but there could have been a whole zoo full of them with the amount of time this has taken.

“In my opinion questions have been answered very fully. Officers from both sides (Shepway District and Kent County Councils) support this. We need to take heed. They are the professionals.

“The time for talking has got to come to an end. We can’t keep bringing this back to JTB.”

Cllr Stuart Peall (Con) said he also supported the scheme but suggested it should be reviewed after a period. Officers suggested 18 months to give the change time to settle in.

Cllr Rory Love (Con) said: “I would agree with a review. It is important we give ourselves the option of a fallback position.

“I agree there should be some fine tuning but I’m in favour in principle of a two-way Tontine Street. All this has to been seen in the context of the regeneration of the harbour. There are compromises. We are never going to get a perfect scheme.”

Folkestone Harbour Company, which is redeveloping the harbour, supported the change, saying better access was needed to the area, particularly for people without a car.

FHC spokesman Trevor Minter said: “Tram Road and Tontine Street were one-way when we had a port. We don’t have a port any more.

“This proposal is very important for the future development of the town and I commend it to you.”

The Tram Road was changed from one-way to two-way in May 2014.

But the meeting heard that both roads had originally been two-way before they were changed to allow for lorries using ferries to come in and out of the harbour.

"I think this is the best we are going to get. The gestation for this has been longer than an elephant’s. This has been going on for a long time and it needs to be resolved." Cllr Malcolm Dearden

They came in via The Tram Road and left via Tontine Street. Monday night’s vote also had two abstentions.

More than 200 objections were raised to making Tontine Street two-way during public consultation.

Traders in particular were worried about loss of parking spaces for customers, plus congestion because of the frequency of buses planned.

Accidents and traffic congestion were the main worries for some councillors.

Shepway Harbour ward councillor Susan Wallace (Con) said that the area could be clogged up, particularly when there were events in the harbour.

She added that there had been accidents and near-accidents involving drivers entering The Tram Road from side streets such as Martello Road, Ryland Place and London Street.

She said: “I know one councillor who nearly had the front of his car taken off.”

Cllr Wallace said that local schools already had 700 children and 210 more were coming with another opening next year.

She said: “Nobody is interested in the community around this area.”

Cllr Peter Gane (Con) said: “If a bus comes down one way and a lorry comes down the other that is when you are going to get bottlenecks.”

Amendments to the scheme were made such as reducing the length of the bus stop proposed outside the Curry Garden restaurant, so creating an extra 18 metres of space.

Plans were also changed so that only six parking spaces would be lost rather than 11.

A report to the JTB said that a total 186 spaces would be available around Tontine Street, which includes spaces in nearby car parks, on-street parking and 43 new spaces from the new skate park proposals.

Another 360 spaces are planned for the harbour arm, making a total 546 spaces and 11 disabled bays in Tontine Street and the harbour area.

Tontine Street goes one way from the harbour towards the town centre. This scheme allows public transport and bicycles to go in the other direction but not cars.