A development once heralded as changing “the face of the town centre” may finally get underway after years of delays, as a new owner looks to buy the land.

The former Scruffy Ducks pub site in William Street, Herne Bay, is currently used as a Canterbury City Council (CCC) car park and has lingered on the market since 2019.

Plans to convert the tavern into 20 flats and shops were approved that same year, but suffered several false starts and landowner Mike Thompson subsequently struggled to sell the plot.

However, KentOnline now understands London based Vision Develop is set to take over the site.

Mr Thompson was unable to comment due to the sensitive nature of the sale, but planning applications show the firm is looking to obtain a lawful development certificate after the permission given in March 2019 expired in 2022.

Once a certificate has been granted following an application under section 192, it means that any proposed use or development must be presumed as lawful, unless there is a material change before the use or development has begun.

Mr Thompson dug a trench on site to demonstrate a meaningful start on the construction had been made prior to the expiration but no other works have taken place.

CCC believes work commenced on site prior to the expiration and as such the development can be constructed in accordance with the approved planning consent.

When it was first listed, the Scruffy Ducks site had an asking price of £4.5 million.

However, the most recent sum offered by estate agents was £1 million and it even failed to sell at a Clive Emson auction in 2021.

Herne Bay has seen similarly underused plots transformed in the past couple of years.

In a £20 million project, a derelict bus garage in the town centre was recently turned into a 50-home estate equipped with several commercial units.

Mr Thompson previously told KentOnline a similar scheme on the William Street plot would “change the face of the area”.

He said: “We’ve had three of four options on it over the years, but through bad decision all round, selling it has been very hard - especially in this financial climate we’re in now.”

“The demand is there for good flats. If a chain came in, they could have it [the retail space] as a complete coffee shop, beer shop, bar or whatever, or they could have it as four little retailers.

“It can only make the town get better and better. Whatever happens, it’d totally change the face of the town.”

Mr Thompson bought the freehold to the pub in 1991, changing its name to Scruffy Ducks.

It closed in June 2004 and was blighted by squatters and vandals soon afterwards.

The pub was demolished in February 2008 following a fire that destroyed its roof.

That year, Mr Thompson won planning permission to build a new pub, basement wine bar and 14 flats on the site, but this idea never came to fruition.

Eleven years later, Mr Thompson partnered with developer Bhajan Singh to convert the space into 20 flats and shops, but their deal fell apart. Shortly afterwards, Thompson decided to put the property up for sale.