Securing jobs and developing skills for a competitive economy

Chatham Docks must be left as Chatham Docks!! There is much reference to Medway's heritage, river and waterfront potential in the proposed plan. It should not be the case that all waterfront land be turned over to residential use. You contemplate improving river usage for transport then do away with Chatham Docks?
To improve outcomes for employment, the plan must include provision for youth groups. Little support is shown for the sterling work of Scouts, Sea Cadets, Chatham Royal Marine Cadets, Girl Guides etc... These groups nurture our future and more encouragement and support should be forthcoming.

There are numerous opportunities for Medway to develop green technologies and innovations working closely with the Universities. The developments in Medway must reflect the ambition to achieve ever greener technologies that will make the dwellings of Medway residents more comfortable and affordable.

ArcelorMittal strongly supports the Council’s Strategic Objectives to secure jobs and develop skills for a competitive economy – these objectives must be carried forward in continuing to protect Chatham Docks in the new Local Plan.

Chatham Docks is a vibrant, working dock operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The docks employ over 800 people – many of whom are local. There are also existing jobs in the supply chains. Overall, there are over 2000 jobs dependent on the docks.

The current Local Plan protects existing employment uses for Chatham Docks and states in Policy ED1: Existing Employment Areas that ‘proposals for development resulting in the loss of existing industrial, business or storage and distribution development to other uses will not be permitted.’

In addition, Policy ED9: Chatham Docks states, ‘port-related development and an expansion of the commercial port, as defined on the Proposals Map will be permitted.’

If the Council is truly seeking to ‘boost the performance of the local economy by supporting local businesses to grow and innovate…’ and ‘build on existing strengths and expertise, such as engineering…and raise the profile of key sectors…’ then these protective policies specific to Chatham Docks must be carried forward into the new Local Plan.

Chatham Docks employs local people who rely on its operation for their livelihoods. It must not be lost and redeveloped for housing.

There are approximately 180 ship movements a year taking advantage of the non-tidal docks – it is a very sustainable operation taking full advantage of the dockside access. The dock use cannot be re-located, there is no other suitable site in Medway for its operation.

ArcelorMittal has submitted a series of technical reports to Medway Borough Council to demonstrate that Chatham Docks is viable and has a future in particular the submitted economic and financial assessment of Chatham Docks by Independent Port Consultants concludes that ‘in view of the cost estimate, financial viability and impact on jobs and revenue if the operation is made to close, ending the operation to render the land available for alternative uses does not make economic sense.’

A copy of the economic and financial assessment of Chatham Docks (and others) has been re-submitted to the Council as part of these representations. The reports and representations have been emailed to: futuremedway@medway.gov.uk

Consider expanding on the sentence “Build on existing strengths and expertise, such as engineering, energy and creative industries, and raise the profile of key sectors, to attract and develop the skills and jobs of the future required to enable the vision for example, skills to enable low carbon resilient developments£.
We welcome the inclusion of green tourism as a consideration. Noting, however, that tourism itself is likely to be adversely affected by the impacts of climate change. For example, shifting of wildlife habitats.

An obvious Medway advantage is to use the River and Maritime opportunities, including supporting marine renewable energy opportunities. This can be linked to our local further and higher education facilities. The council must under no circumstances allow residential development on land which has obvious marine potential, such as Chatham Docks.

The proposed development at the site, at High Halstow, will provide up to 760 new homes, a local centre, delivery of a new 2FE primary school, new open spaces and associated infrastructure and services. As a result, the new neighbourhood will generate a range of economic benefits, including new employment opportunities, both during the construction and operational phases.

The provision of a new local centre within walking distance that will create jobs and boost economic output across the Hoo Peninsula. The non-residential floorspace will provide a number of workplace-based jobs to contribute to the local economy of High Halstow.

Local spending will also increase in the local area, and the skillset of new residents will contribute towards the local workforce.

Sound decisions need to be made and these need to be seen through. It is obvious that shopping methods have significantly changed. This has left high streets (particularly Chatham & Gillingham) a complete eyesore and not fit for purpose. It will need compulsory purchases and bold decision making to get this right, but it is obvious we do not need the full lengths of these 2 town centres. People joke about visiting them and most don't bother. Areas, such as the stretch opposite Gillingham Library need revamping (several of the buildings here have been derelict for decades)

We endorse the above objective and in particular its penultimate sub-section in relation to the infrastructure needed to provide accessible employment locations.

I agree with these objectives.

There are some positive ideas here however there needs to be jobs for all levels, as well s graduates. so those less academically able.

State specific importance of construction industry including by raising standards, recognise importance of good quality housing especially

Nice words, but no proof. The highsteets are dieing, the majority of shopping is online and the influx of these oppourtunities mentioned have no proof they will happen

Building new unaffordable homes doesn’t develop skills for a competitive economy. More needs to be done to improve the quality of life and surrounding of the already existing deprived areas in the Medway Towns and getting unemployment rates down.

Building more houses means there will be more people needing jobs and education etc putting a strain on local funding which is already grossly overspent . When the building stops they will just be unemployed unless the council will just continue to build until they no longer need to work. There is no guarantee that those building will be from the local area many come from over parts of the uk and Europe . No guarantee they will all be Medway residents

It is important to protect the jobs and industries that already exist in Medway. Chatham Docks is under threat by Peel Ports wanting to convert that areas into mixed development. Peel Ports have already built flats on part of their land and the rest of Chatham Docks should be protected and allows to remain as a working dock. Business cannot just move to any piece of land when they are reliant on the river. I strongly oppose this area having the land designation changed.

The latest house price to workplace-based earnings ratios were published in March 2023 by the Office for National Statistics. Affordability ratios are calculated by dividing house prices by gross annual workplace-based earnings. The results show that the median house price to median gross annual workplace based earnings in Medway is 8.65, meaning on average, working people in Medway could expect to pay over 8 times their annual earnings on purchasing a home in the District. While this is below the average in the South East (10.75), it is above the national average of 8.28. Given this, significant housing development is needed to address the demands of the unitary authority and deliver the homes the people of Medway need.

It is clear that the impacts of not delivering the amount of affordable houses needed in the authority will exasperate the current deprivation levels and affordability issues Medway faces. Evidence suggests that low-cost, decent quality housing, in a healthy job market could make a substantial contribution to increasing disposable income, preventing material deprivation and maintaining work incentives. It is therefore imperative that the Council allocate a significant quantum of sites in the emerging Local Plan, so that affordable housing need can be met.

In addition to the above objectives I would add taking the opportunity to develop green technologies and close working with our universities.

We recommend adding a reference to the green economy alongside green tourism, in particular silviculture, once an important part of Kent's economy. We need a new generation of tree nurseries supplying UK sourced and grown tree stock for new planting, to support biodiversity and resilience.

To enable that competitive economy, we need to innovate and build the essential supporting infrastructure at local level as well as across the town, creating an environment of opportunities that can deliver that economic powerhouse that will fund this plan as part of a business plan for Medway.

This means letting go of our current silo thinking, connecting, and joining today's strands and enabling new strands of opportunity to flourish inside a farmwork that welcome and promotes delivering creative new enterprises (human scale).

Creativity and heritage are vital elements of our shared future and enable our diverse cultural landscape.

Overall, CCE support the vision and strategic objectives set out in the consultation document. In particular ‘to provide for high quality energy efficient homes that meet the housing needs of Medway’s communities reflecting the range of sizes, types and affordability the area needs’ alongside ‘the provision of a portfolio of good quality employment land’. The objectives also, importantly, recognise development should be of high quality, resilient and supported by the timely provision of infrastructure to facilitate a sustainable and green future. CCE support the intention to deliver sustainable development, meeting the needs of Medway’s communities whilst respecting the natural and historic environment and directing growth to the most suitable locations.

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.

‘Securing jobs and developing skills for a competitive economy’
13. Catesby Estates agrees that a pillar of the LP2040 will centre on boosting the local economy and attracting inward investment through a choice of quality employment land that meets the needs of businesses. It is also considered however that a choice of homes that meets the needs of current and future residents will support the desired increase in the local economy and assist in Medway becoming an attractive place to live and work. Development in Allhallows will allow a rural choice of homes within an existing settlement that is well positioned to sustain future growth, given it lies within close proximity to the Isle of Grain and Kingsnorth; two of the largest existing employment opportunity areas in Medway. The expansion of Allhallows will not only enable the services and facilities within that settlement to thrive and improve, but also provide increased choice to local people to remain in the area and encourage the live-work model that the LP2040 is striving to achieve.

The tourism aspect must show how it will benefit the local economy, as in the recent winery application for a winery and visitors centre at Cuxton was initially approved but then turned down. There was no evidence supplied to show that visitors would spend money outside the winery so tourism would only benefit the winery. The sites of these is Important if tourism is to support the local economy,

The priority must be a huge improvement in skills training. Companies will move to any area with a highly trained workforce.

The plans to develop the Chatham docks will lead to a loss of many jobs- whatever the land owners say, and this is being done for profit
And against the skill set of Medway and its people. The innovation centre has cost millions and not produced a single job and is years behind the times. It has been a waste of public funds however the Kingsnorth site is a good idea and is industry led. The message seems to be to listen to those companies that are producing jobs and know what the market is avoid siren calls of developers

With so many FE and HE establishments in the area, explore opportunities to retain these future innovators amd leaders in the area, with a view to encouraging them to develop sustainable work-based projects for local communities.