We are writing on behalf of our client, Kitesfield Estates Limited, in respect of the Medway Local Plan (Regulation 18, 2024) consultation and its supporting background documents.

Our client continues to promote a 1.05ha brownfield site on the southern side of Ratcliffe Highway, Hoo St Werburgh, Rochester, ME3 8QB, known as ‘The Depot’ Ratcliffe Highway and herein referred to as site ‘HHH41’ for inclusion in the future Medway Local Plan (MLP).

The Depot site has not previously been included or identified in the Land Allocations Assessment (LAA) for Medway; it was submitted as an omission site during the ‘Regulation 18 consultation – Setting the direction for Medway 2040’ consultation held in September 2023. This was the first Regulation 18 consultation stage of the Local Plan creation and requested feedback on the vision and priorities for Medway's future growth.

Following the submission of The Depot site, it has been given the reference number HHH41 (See Figure 1) and has now been included in the LAA for Medway and assessed in the Interim Sustainability Appraisal, which forms an appendix for the current Regulation 18 Consultation.

Figure 1: Extract from Policies Map Northwest identifying The Depot Site (sent separately)

In the current consultation documentation, the site has been identified as suitable for a residential led scheme, with an indicative capacity of 25 units. The site is included in the grouping of sites identified as ‘reasonable alternative non-strategic sites’.

This consultation response provides feedback on both the main Regulation 18 documents and its background documents, specifically the Sustainability Appraisal and the Viability Assessment. A Development Framework plan is also provided to support this representation. This provides an indicative layout for the site and considers the relationship of the site with the neighbouring sites, including those being considered at planning application stage and those which have been submitted for consideration in the Local Plan.

In summary, full support of the inclusion of the Depot Site, HHH41 in the future Medway Local Plan is provided by this representation.