Campaigners have locked horns with the council leader again over controversial plans to change Hythe’s seafront forever.

Moving a stretch of Princes Parade road adjacent to the Royal Military Canal will “provide a safe beachfront space” and boost the old landfill site’s value, said Cllr David Monk (Con).

But whatever action the council takes on its own 150 homes and leisure centre project will fail to generate profit, according to Dr Geoff Burrell, of Save Princes Parade.

The war of words comes after Folkestone and Hythe District Council (FHDC) planning chiefs recently gave the nod to its own bid to develop the land.

Cllr Monk said: “What we are trying to do is provide a quality and safe beachfront space in Hythe and provide a decent quality swimming pool.

“With no road between the land and the seafront of course it will help generate us more money.

“We are not going to get that money from the Government. We are providing a beautiful swimming pool that costs millions to build, we have to manoeuvre.

“This is 150 houses it’s not 500 homes, if it were 500 then I would understand why people would be jumping up and down.”

Yet the authority has failed to calculate the project’s “huge costs”, and the swimming pool will be “rubbish” according to Dr Burrell.

His comments come after the authority revealed plans to slash the leisure centre size from almost 4,000 to 2,961 sq m in a cost-saving exercise.

“There is so much the council hasn’t considered in the costs, I’ve worked on projects like this for years, they always cost more than you expect.

“The size of the swimming pool has already been downgraded, the road is going to be more expensive to move and the issue of drainage still hasn’t been sorted.”

"As it stands the swimming pool will be rubbish," he said.

Meanwhile the Environment Agency has called out FHDC on its plans to discharge surface water into the canal, a Scheduled Ancient Monument.

However in response on Tuesday a council spokesman said: “We are continuing our discussions with the Environment Agency regarding their concerns about surface water drainage at the site.

"At this stage we do not have a firm date for the work – including site remediation and work to move the road – to start but it is expected to be towards the end of next year.

“Before any work begins, the Council’s Cabinet will receive a full business case and financial appraisal for the scheme, as agreed in July 2017.”

Meanwhile campaigners hope James Brokenshire MP, Secretary of State for Housing and Communites, will ‘call-in’ the planning bid.

Call-in decisions normally occur when a planning application conflicts with national policy or holds countrywide significance.

Some 200 protestors descended on the council’s Civic Centre before planning chiefs’ crunch decision meeting last month.

Protestors typically argue against the loss of green space, destruction of wildlife and habitats, and insufficient existing infrastructure.

Resistance also centres on claims the project will haemorrhage taxpayers’ money.

The council has promised to deliver 150 homes, of which 30% will be affordable, as well as a 25m replacement pool with a gym and up to 1,270sqm of commercial space.