The proposals for up to 1,000 homes and a High Line-style park were shown as part of a public consultation before Christmas, with an outline planning application submission scheduled for April.

The housing comprises townhouses, dune houses, apartment buildings and beach huts.

“We are proposing a series of blocks of homes starting with four or five-storey townhouses opposite the existing buildings, that step down in scale towards the beach,” said John Letherland, partner at Farrells. “We’re trying to build in flexibility so the plan can respond to the market when it returns.”

The old railway line, once the start of the Orient Express, will be renovated to form a linear park similar to the High Line in New York and linking the town’s Cultural Quarter with the seafront.

The proposals, for philanthropist Roger de Haan, son of the founder of travel and insurance provider Saga, will see the derelict former Pleasure Beach and railway land regenerated.

De Haan, a long-time Folkestone resident, introduced the Folkestone Triennial art event to the town and has worked to regenerate its Cultural Quarter by attracting creative industries.Farrells has replicated this step-by-step approach in its masterplan.

“The next stage is to explore how we can make the landscape work,” said Letherland, who added that Farrells would be appointing more firms to work up detailed plans, including Guy Hollaway, designer of local restaurant Rocksalt.

The masterplan replaces a previous proposal drawn up by Foster & Partners, which was abandoned two years ago. “When the recession bit, it failed because it was front-loaded with infrastructure costs,” said Letherland.