Ramsgate Place Plan
Ramsgate is a historic seaside town where residents have struggled to find economic opportunity. When Thanet District Council finally secured a generational round of public funding, a new plan was needed to ensure effective impact in a rapidly changing context.
In January 2023, Ramsgate was awarded £19.8m funding through the Levelling Up Fund. While addressing the physical decline of its historic townscape and the Royal Harbour, the Council’s outline proposals sought to break down engrained barriers to employment, alleviate the resulting income deprivation and improve health and well-being through a range of ambitious refurbishment, retrofit and new development schemes.
As design work started on projects across the town, it quickly became clear that things had changed. Heritage assets had further deteriorated, inflation had caused costs to increase and community needs had evolved, making some measures outlined in their initial funding bid unfeasible.
How would the Council be able to meet its core funding objectives without losing precious time re-scoping the project?
While the Council moved forward with the measures from their initial funding bid that were still viable, JKA and transport consultant Phil Jones Associates (PJA) were commissioned to prepare the Ramsgate Place Plan. The plan takes measured stock of the Levelling Up Fund projects alongside other public investments, identifies opportunities to achieve impact by re-allocating funding from discontinued projects and puts forward a movement framework to connect the individual projects through improved walking and cycling networks.
The funding delivery timetable was tight and the Place Plan needed to provide quick and pragmatic solutions. It also had to establish a compelling narrative to justify any changes of plan.
We started by reviewing on-going projects, public consultation reports and previous strategies, alongside a thorough study of the condition of the townscape and movement network. We discovered a host of underplayed heritage treasures, a historic town centre rich in spatial opportunity and innovative businesses, and major severance issues limiting access to the town centre and seafront. As well as defining eight character areas for the town, we highlighted five key themes for improvement:
– movement and public realm
– civic infrastructure
– economic development
– leisure and culture
A workshop with local community groups, elected members and other stakeholders established focus groups to define an approach to each theme. Together, the works groups asserted the urgency of connecting Ramsgate’s young people and outlying communities with its maritime industries and heritage.
The Place Plan was completed in March 2024. It identifies 15 actions across the eight character areas responding to the five pillars of enquiry. A movement framework for the town identified strategic deficiencies and connectivity issues. The Plan culminates in a strategy for each character area which is brought to life in a coloured axonometric map.
The Plan gives coherence and clarity to a series of disparate regeneration projects. It has identified gaps in the original programme and established a long-term strategy for the regeneration of the town which is endorsed by the public, giving the Council an immediate strategy for creating lasting positive change through the Levelling Up Fund and a roadmap for future investment.
On completion of the Place Plan, Ramsgate was awarded a further £20m through the Future Towns Fund. Proposals for a key public realm scheme connecting the town centre to the Royal Harbour are now in detailed design. A new workspace and training hub for maritime industries in planning. A new teaching kitchen for the Newington Community Centre is on site, with works due to start imminently on a third sector resource hub in a historic town centre property.
The Place Plan establishes a coherent narrative underpinning an ecosystem of economic opportunity alongside welcoming community infrastructure in the heart of Ramsgate.
