Citadel sale is 'disappointing', says council leader

The decision to sell a historic fort in Dover despite owners promising to turn it into a five-star hotel and innovation park is "disappointing", says a council leader.

Dover Citadel Ltd bought the 33-acre site from the Ministry of Defence for £1.8m in 2020. It included 54 buildings on the Western Heights, with some of them listed.

However, it is now back on the market for £11m with very little of the ambitious redevelopment work completed. The plans also included leisure, cultural, hospitality and residential uses that were to be completed in phases.

District council leader Kevin Mills called the decision "disappointing".

When asked if he believed the plans for the site could work under new owners, he told the BBC: "No, I don't think it can ever work in the way the current owners think it could."

"It needs a holistic approach to get this site to work, and it hasn't happened because of the money it would take to invest."

But he added: "My door is open to whoever wants to buy this site; the council wants to work with you to make this happen for Dover."

Dover Citadel company director David De Min said it had been "soul-destroying having to sell this project: there is such a big vision for the site".

"This site has been here for 250 years, and I hope whatever happens with the sale, the plan to make this site what it can be happens, and I can be part of it," he added.

When asked why so little regeneration had taken place, he said: "I've invested friends, family and my money into this site. It's such a complex site; we've had to take time to get things right."

The redevelopment scheme had been awarded several grants in recent years.

In 2022, a £1.85 million grant was awarded from the government's Getting Building Fund.

And this year, a £149,000 grant was awarded from Historic England for the conservation of the general Western Heights area.

The Citadel was built in the 18th century and strengthened as a fort to guard against French invasion during the Napoleonic Wars.

It was then used as a defence site in both world wars, and in 1950 the War Office gave the centre to the Prison Service.

From the early 2000s, it became the Dover Immigration Removals Centre in Kent until it closed in 2015.

In recent years, the site has been used as a film set for productions such as Marvel's Kraven the Hunter.

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