Funding plan for £10m Thanet Parkway railway station

Chancellor George Osborne visited the construction site for Ebbsfleet Garden City in April

A new railway station for Thanet is among projects that could go ahead after the government announced millions of pounds of investment for Kent.

The £10m Thanet Parkway station would serve Margate, Broadstairs, Ramsgate and Sandwich, according to Conservative MP for Thanet North, Sir Roger Gale.

Other projects include a major road junction to serve the new garden city to be built at Ebbsfleet.

Over six years, the South East will receive £442m in "Growth Deal" funding.

The local enterprise partnership, which covers East Sussex and Essex, is set to get £84m get for 2015/2016.

Other funding promised for Kent includes £10.2m for improvements to the A28 Chart Road in Ashford, £8.9m for an transport scheme for Maidstone and £5.9m for the Sturry Road link in Canterbury.

Gravesend, Tunbridge Wells and Tonbridge will also get road improvements intended to stimulate economic regeneration.

Medway Council said it had been promised £29m to continue to improve the roads in Chatham and Strood and fund flood defences at Strood Riverside.

Line upgrade

Mr Gale said Thanet Parkway station was still needed even though Manston airport closed in May.

"It means that the transport links from Thanet into London will be brought into the 21st Century," he said.

"The completion of the High Speed One railway line through to Thanet, necessitates the upgrading of the line itself and station, to serve the people of east Kent."

But he said there was still hope the airport would be reopened.

"Thanet District Council and Thanet's MPs are all agreed that the airport is only temporarily closed," he said.

"I hope and expect that Thanet council will go for a compulsory purchase order to be funded by Riveroak, the company that wants to buy the airfield to turn it into a European freight hub."