Medway is the economic powerhouse for Kent. To sustain this, it needs more space for industrial employment land, largely but exclusively, for logistics.

1.6bn tonnes of goods are moved around Britain each year. Kent is at the heart of this activity with 80% of its motorway traffic freight being moved from a port. The Port of Dover alone annually handles £119 billion of UK trade from over 2.5 million lorry movements.

Most pertinently for Medway, logistics has delivered 25% increase of jobs in the sector since 2010. The sheer size of modern logistics facilities and more automation means more managerial, office and highly-skilled roles in warehouses.

Both demand for space and vacancy rates in the first half of 2023 were back close to pre-Covid levels according Savills. With demand outstripping supply in North Kent, JLL research show industrial rents are rising at around 6% annually. If these increases are sustained, it won’t be long before small and medium sized business will be priced out of the Medway area.

A simple search on Locate in Kent’s Property Portal shows the limited industrial space available. CBRE data shows 80% of demand for two new developments in the area, Loc8 and Click Aylesford came from local firms. Our own conversations with foreign owned manufacturing firms at Gillingham Business Park indicate foreign investment is being stymied by limited expansion space and increasing rents.

Demand will continue to increase. Online retail, as well as supply chain reengineering because of Brexit and Covid, requires more and different space. Despite having double France’s ecommerce sales per head, the UK has a similar amount of industrial space per capita.

According to the British Property Federation 69 Sq. Ft. of warehouse space is required for every new home that is built. Multiply that by the 345,000 new homes some studies say are needed in the UK each year and you get to a whopping 23.81m Sq. Ft. of warehouse space needed per year. That is ten times Amazon’s largest European facility based at Dartford.

A study by Newlands Developments found that nearly 60% of the largest units since 2018 had been built on sites not originally allocated for employment use. These are largely the former industrial sites along the River Medway that will make sought after riverside living communities. These will deliver higher land values and while great for creating sustainable communities and providing placemaking opportunities, it will inevitably create pressure undeveloped land on the Hoo Peninsula.

As well as large sheds, there is not enough “last-mile” space for rapid deliveries to cater for the ecommerce growth. These are also the scale of industrial buildings that are essential for a sustainable small business economy. South East of England doesn’t have enough logistics space, or have it in the right places. Medway can resolve this.

A joined-up approach will become increasingly important as the UK decarbonises long distance freight movements and ports that carry unaccompanied freight, like Thamesport play a more important role. With ample skills and power available on the Hoo Peninsula, with leadership from Medway Council, the final blocker will remain the strategic road network. It cannot be allowed to limit Medway’s ambitions for job growth.