The former bus station in Herne Bay is due for a transformation and the plans have now been revealed. The prime spot is located at the town-centre and Coast Developments Ltd, a company based in Herne, is planning to put 60 flats and houses at the location. The development is expected to be a mix between residential and retail premises and the company behind it are asking the residents which shops they want to see on the side of the development that faces the High Street.
According to Anthony Leggatt, the company director, at the moment, they are still in the process of laying out the drawings of the proposal while getting ideas from the people around. The retail area could be split into several shops or could be just a single large national chain such as WHSmith. He added that the site was of great importance and it needed to be what the people of Herne Bay wanted it to be and they were now in the process of finding out what it was that the people wanted.
Before Stagecoach switched to its new base in Eddington Lane in early 2017, buses had been running from the high street for a century. According to Leggatt, they started talks with Stage Coach before Christmas and they are planning to make the site accessible via Hanover Street. The proposal the developers are making is still in the draft stages and haven’t yet been submitted to the local council for approval and the plans are still subject to more discussion. The plans also feature parking for 80 cars and eight vans in the central courtyard and an internal one-way system. Mr Leggatt stated that the end of the town for which the plans were being prepared needed something special and that is what they were planning to get them.
Leggatt stated that their plans were to provide young people in Herne Bay with a place to live because he believed that keeping the young couples in town was a good idea. The station was listed by the council in 2010 in a list of three sites in the town that needed regeneration. Sainsbury’s, the food giant, had considered putting up a store there in 2009 but withdrew the plans due to the risk of floods. There will be a two-week consultation process during which residents will give their views.