It is intended that the Harbour arm should become available for leisure and public use. There will be both engineering and planning constraints but an architectural competition is being considered. Initial ideas include capturing the heritage of the harbour and discussions are ongoing with Step Short and capturing the story of Folkestone in the First World War.
Folkestone’s transport link with France finally ceased operations in 2000. The Folkestone – Boulogne Ferry could not compete with the introduction of Eurotunnel and high capacity ferry crossings from Dover. The termination of Duty Free shopping in June 1999 dealt a further blow to the rail/ferry service. Since then, several attempts to re-instate a ferry service have proven to be uneconomic and unworkable. After many years of inaction it is now time to move on to alternative uses.
However, we plan to incorporate Folkestone Harbour’s transport heritage into the new approach and we are keen to explore ways in which a green corridor can be cultivated to link the seafront with the rest of the town.
No. The drying harbour is not suitable as a marina and the costs of creating one would be prohibitive. Lock gates would not increase sailing times significantly because the tide goes out well beyond the harbour entrance. English Heritage gave the East Head listed status in 2006 which is a further limitation and it will remain permeable.