Dover District Council has been given the go-ahead for a £50m makeover of the St James area in Dover’s town centre.

Plans for the Dover Town Investment Zone were submitted by developer Bond City. The development includes an 85,000 sq ft food store with 35,000 sq ft of additional shop and restaurant space, a 100-bedroom hotel, 53 ‘affordable’ homes and a new 600 space car park.

Tim Ingleton, Dover District Council’s transport and project manager, told PIN: “It is the start of a very interesting time for us here in Dover. It provides opportunities for further development in and around the area, and will kick-start a fully fledged regeneration programme in Dover.”

The South East England Development Agency has agreed a grant of £7.5m to assist in the development. Dover District Council itself will contribute in excess of £750,000 to the project. Kent County Council is contributing £500,000 and English Partnerships have also expressed intentions to invest in the redevelopment of the area.

Ingleton said: “This will create a boom of investors. Traditionally Dover has been at the lower end of the market scale, but we are already seeing unprecedented levels of enquiries that otherwise would not have happened. This development will rocket Dover into the market.”

Subject to final agreements and approval from the Government Office of the South East, construction work could begin on site in mid 2008, and will finish in 2010.