Bungling council finally removing ‘crime scene’ eyesore from our seafront – it’s been like Belfast during the Troubles

RESIDENTS forced to live near an eyesore seafront say the bungling council are finally removing the “crime scene”.

Homeowners in Hythe, Kent, have had no choice but to stare at a site, which they said looks like Belfast during the Troubles, for the last two years when visiting the beach.

Folkestone and Hythe District Council

Locals had their lovely seaside view ruined by huge white walls[/caption]

A huge bright wall, which later became covered in graffiti, was erected by local chiefs when they made plans to build up the site with luxury developments.

However, the plans for 150 homes and a leisure centre were axed by Folkestone and Hythe District Council (FHDC) in May 2023.

Despite developments falling through, the ginormous boarders on Princes Parade have remained ever since.

Locals can now breathe a sigh of relief after execs have decided a year-on, to tear down the barricades.

Work to bring them down will begin next month, say FHDC bosses.

Installing the hoarding originally cost more than £300,000 – and it could be £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 two years ago from Belfast and I was just comparing the monstrosity of the hoardings on such a beautiful coastline as similar to the peace walls that you’ll see if you visit Belfast or the old prison where a lot of terrorist suspects were held.

“It was just to simply try and underline what a terrible monstrosity it is on such a beautiful coastline.

“It might be extreme to people here because they may not have seen the walls in Belfast.

“But it looks to me like a fabricated prison wall and I can’t for the life of me understand how a council could have put that up over such a long stretch of road, right on the seafront, before they’d even laid a single brick.”

Peace walls are a series of separation barriers in Northern Ireland that separate predominantly Catholic neighbourhoods from predominantly Protestant neighbourhoods.

A decision over what to do with the land, now houses aren’t set to be built there, will be decided at a public consultation later in the year.