The High Street in Herne Bay will be given a dramatic makeover after eye-catching plans to redevelop a derelict bus station were given council approval.

Proposals to build 60 homes and as many as nine shops on the site were submitted by Herne-based company Coastal Developments in September 2017.

But the number of properties was reduced to 50 – comprising 21 three-bedroom cottages, two one-bed and 27 two-bed flats – during negotiations with the council.

The director of Coastal Developments, Anthony Leggatt, had hoped for a decision on the site to be reached in April, but this was stalled after the council conducted a review of the plans.

This was held because the developer had argued the site would have been made unviable if he provided affordable housing and Section 106 payments.

“I didn’t meet the council’s official criteria and we questioned it on viability, and the council accepted it on those grounds,” Mr Leggatt said.

“The council went to a specialist for the review and it came to that conclusion, and I had the privilege of paying the fees for it.

“But we’ve now got what I intended – something for the people of Herne Bay to benefit from. We’ve also agreed the Section 106 payments.”

The developer has not yet decided how much the properties will be on the market for, but stated “they will be affordable to rent or buy”.

Mr Leggatt had previously voiced his frustrations with the length of the process.

He has since added that he became so disillusioned with it that he was close to abandoning the bid on a couple of occasions.

“If it wasn’t for the professionalism of my planning agent, Karen Banks from Rebus Planning, I would have walked away,” he said.

“It’s taken a long time, but we’re there now.”

Preliminary works are set to start today and the developer is expecting the site to be ready in about 15 months.

Despite this, a decision on who will move into the 900 sq m of retail space has not been reached yet.

“Nothing at all about the shops has been decided,” Mr Leggatt said.

“It’s available to anybody, which is fair because it’ll be governed by the market.

“The space is designed so it can be reduced to up to nine shops, be it one big retailer, like a Marks & Spencer, or three large ones.”

In all, there will be 63 parking spaces and access routes off Richmond Street and Hanover Street.

In 2010, the council listed the station as one of three key sites for regeneration in Herne Bay.

Previously, Sainsbury’s had looked to build a store on the site but it withdrew its plans in March 2009 due to the high flood risks.

Buses ran from the station for 100 years before Stagecoach moved to a new base in Eddington Lane in the first half of 2017.