Clumsy council finally removes eyesore 'crime scene' from our coast – it's like Belfast during the Troubles
RESIDENTS forced to live near an eyesore say the bungling council is finally removing the “crime scene”.
Homeowners in Hythe, Knowshave had no choice but to stare at a site they said looked like this Belfast during the Troublesthe past two years while visiting the beach.
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A huge, bright wall, which later became covered in graffiti, was erected by local leaders during construction plans to build up the site with luxury developments.
However, the plans for 150 houses and a leisure center were discontinued by Folkestone and Hythe District Council (FHDC) in May 2023.
Although the developments fell through, the giant boarders on Princes Parade have remained ever since.
The locals can now breathe a sigh of relief after the authorities decided to demolish the barricades in a year's time.
Work to take them down will begin next month, FHDC bosses say.
The fencing originally cost more than £300,000 to install and it could cost £100,000 to remove the fencing.
It comes after Cllr Ed Curran previously said the walls were a “monstrosity”.
He said: “My wife and I moved here from Belfast two years ago and I was just comparing the monstrosity of the billboards on such a beautiful coastline to the peace walls you will see when you visit Belfast or the Old City. jail where many terrorist suspects were held.
“It was just to try and emphasize what a horrible monstrosity it is on such a beautiful coastline.
“It can be extreme for people here because they may not have seen the walls in Belfast.
'But it looks like a made-up prison wall to me and I cannot possibly understand how a council could have built it over such a long stretch of road, right on the coast, before they had even built a wall. single stone.”
Peace walls are a series of separation barriers Northern Ireland that separate predominantly Catholic neighborhoods from predominantly Protestant neighborhoods.
A decision on what to do with the land now that no houses will be built will be decided at a public consultation later this year.