A council has been accused of 'giving away' land at Princes Parade which is destined for 150 seafront homes.

A bid of £26.6 million has been made to Folkestone and Hythe District Council (FHDC) for the space earmarked for houses along the coastal road, as well as land in South Road, where the current swimming pool in Hythe sits.

The pool is due to be replaced and a new one built along Princes Parade as part of the overall development.

The land in South Road has allocation for housing, but does not currently have planning permission.

FHDC says the decision to 'dispose' of the sites was taken in 2019, and marketing took place over summer 2021.

The successful bid was agreed in January 2022 and includes the commercial space - for a hotel and shops - on Princes Parade, affordable housing on both sites, a café and toilet block on the South Road site, which also has the provision of beach huts.

Officers are currently working through the detailed contract with the successful bidder - the identity of which has not been revealed by the council.

While outline planning permission to build on Princes Parade was approved in 2019, a reserve matters application for the residential element is expected to be submitted by July this year.

A widened, traffic-free promenade is also proposed, and the road itself will be stopped up and moved closer to the Royal Military Canal.

FHDC is behind the plans for the leisure centre, promenade and coastal park, which will be delivered in advance of the residential development as per the agreed programme.

At the latest FHDC full council meeting, Cllr Jim Martin (Green) asked leader Cllr David Monk (Con) how the figure from the "mystery buyer" of £26.6m was "derived".

Cllr Monk said there is "commercial confidentiality" that needs to be observed until the contract is signed, and there is "no question of it being a mystery buyer".

Cllr Monk also explained that the sum was made up from £20m for the Princes Parade site, and £6.6m for the South Road site, and said the "offer represented the best value for the council".

But Cllr Martin came back and asked "why has the site been given away?"

Cllr Monk responded: "It hasn’t been given away we followed all correct procedures, we as a public body have procedures we have to follow including getting a surveyor to give us the land values that are applicable, you are in fact impugning their professional integrity".

The proposal to redevelop at Princes Parade has been long fought, with campaigners trying to halt the scheme for years and even launching Judicial Review. This was lost however, as was an appeal.

Work has now started on the land, a former waste site, with vegetation cleared and animals relocated, including moving badgers to a new artificial sett.

A question over a new badger sett being identified was also raised at the council meeting, with Cllr Monk revealing that ecologists "carry out regular checks of the site and identified the potential of what could be another badger sett".

He said "potential movement" was noted, and Natural England have been informed.

He added: "In the meantime, appropriate measures are being put in place to protect the areas around all the existing badger setts with exclusion zones and the development is being undertaken in a way so as to not disturb any potential new setts.

"At a later stage a further licence will be sought from Natural England to relocate any remaining badgers from the development site to a suitable location."

It was recently revealed that the overall cost of the project has risen from £29m to £45m - due to the 'near 18-month delay caused by legal action, improved knowledge of the site, and inflation and the supply chain issues which all major projects are currently subject to', the council said.