Vision for Medway in 2041

Better planning of works on transport links required to reduce the number of times areas become gridlocked or cut off by lengthy roadworks that are repeated only a week or so later. New roads should have provision for services tunnels to make access to services easier and less costly.

I can not see how this can be achieved by adding to the population. Main roads are clogged already as there is little alternative routes. Cars on pavements, reduce flow through side roads. Not sure how that achieves net zero. By contemplating building on greenfield or reducing farmland will drastically reduce wildlife and the space people have to relax and destress. Antisocial behaviour, littering etc will increase. Attractions need excellent public transport and/or parking facilities. Good quality of life also includes decent housing, not rabbit hutches, feeling safe to walk out after dark, a functioning hospital, GPs and dentists etc.

The perception in Medway is that the picture isn’t as rosy as the plan would have us believe. There have been some positive change such as the school streets and Red routes and the improvements in the Luton Road area with its own local plan and now we need to improve on that for the whole of Medway. Looking for better transport links including use of the river to alleviate car use. Much, much more social housing people aren’t all able to afford to buy or private rent.

You failed to build in Hoo so now pick on the smaller villages !! They are villages not towns we don't need more homes . The infrastructure is not here , and never will be as you're only interested in homes . Our countryside is disappearing leave it alone . Along the Thames we do not need to be joined with Dartfood . Soon there will be nowhere to let your dog run free , see wildlife or find solitude without being in the middle of a horrendous housing estate that has no class !!

The Priority for Medway must be to regenerate the area and encourage investment. This will done via improvements in infrastructure to attract businesses, tourism and residents. The key to this is integration of the networks and making Medway business friendly. Additional road access is critical to the Medway City Estate. It is a bottle neck at present and this will discourage businesses from locating in the vicinity.

There is no mention in the plans on vehicle network improvement, only walking and cycling

Medway is defined by its river and estuaries the very vast majority of which are protected under the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017 and forms part of the greater Thames and Medway Estuary Special Protection Area and Ramsar site. This area marks the southern most tip of the Wetlands along the East coast of England, from the Humber to the Thames that have successfully been added to the UK’s Tentative List of World Heritage sites. Many parts of the Medway basin to the south of the Hoo Peninsula and north of Rainham and Gillingham are in poor condition. Vision must include provision to further protect these sites from disturbance and provision to improve and enhance their overall condition.

Medway's plan must be primarily for the benefit of Medway resident's, rather than those external to Medway i.e. homes for looked after children should be for Medway children, not children being rehoused from London boroughs

Proposed developments impact on emissions by increasing traffic where public transport isn’t a viable option and no provision for new roads are included. Bottlenecks such as 4 Elms Hill continue to impact on air quality and improvements are not addressed in this plan

Should reference inward investment.

As Medway has one of the highest anti social areas in the South East can some consideration be given to the use of unused shop premises. These could be made into pop in centres for both young people and retired residents. This could provide contact with youth services to guide the younger generation in the right direction. Perhaps some pensioners could be there to impart their wisdom to youngsters and this is twofold as it would give pensioners a sense of purpose and cut down in their need for social help ?

Could not out of use department stores be used for affordable housing ?

How can you possibly provide a ‘good quality of life’ with continual Residential development in the area. We already have areas desperate for new business and regeneration, ie, Chatham Town Centre and Gillingham, and these needs are not currently fulfilled. You should looking to attending the ‘now’ before addressing future needs.

Medway is not a healthy place to live or work and won’t be unless current Health/Social needs are attended to.

Medway's vision has to be the vision of the people that live in Medway so you have to listen to the our views. The building of all these houses without the infrastructure in place, it's not sustainable. With Maidstone on our doorstep, planning to build so many houses that will be using our resources, it will have a huge impact on Medway's road network, schools, hospitals, doctors and finances. You talk about our heritage, green spaces, riverside, farmland being there for everyone but there won't be much left when everything is being built on.

Having visited Hempstead Valley Shopping Centre on Thursday 29th August to look at the exhibits and to speak to various council officials, including Vince Cable, I do not agree with any of the options. Absolutely every member of the public in attendance whilst there at the same time as me voiced the same concerns regarding the Local Plan, the major issue being infrastructure. Without a new hospital (I was informed whilst there that it is not in the Councils remit to ask the NHS to build another hospital in the Medway Towns but feel there is more that could be done by the Council on this subject), improved drainage/sewerage, additional schools, GP surgeries & GP's, Dentists and improved roads I strongly object to any of the plans.
Medway Hospital has one of the largest catchment areas in the country (I worked there for 12 years so know first hand about the problems) and is really struggling to cope with the number of residents as it is without new residents. People are sometimes having to wait many hours to be seen. Children living locally struggle to find a place at our local schools (because of coach and train loads of youngsters from London attending our schools, particularly grammar schools, leaving no places for local children), we are all struggling to get a face to face consultation with our local GP's and even a telephone consultation can take 2-3 weeks to be available. Many people are unable to register with a local NHS dentist which will, again, be worse by the influx of new residents from these developments. The sewage system in the Medway Towns is not up to scratch for the amount of residents.
If there is an accident on the M2 the whole of the Medway Towns are gridlocked for hours which will be made worse by the influx of additional residents living in these new housing estates.

Just a thought on the river pollution that I see regularly eg shopping trolleys, bottles, plastic bags thrown into the river to name a few.
The river Medway being used as a rubbish bin is very sad to see.
The plan is ambitious and I hope comes to fruition.

The recent developments in Hoo St Werburgh have bene addressing the housing issue for south east London and not local medway residents. On the development that have been built over the last 15 years, 70% of the new hosing has been taken up by people move from London to Hoo St Werburgh, in that time the public transport has been reduced and has lead to high motor vehicle usage on the A228. As well as address future needs, the local plan needs to address the lack of infrastructure that there currently is on the Hoo Peninsula. Any reference to meeting climate goals should also include how to improve the current housing goals to meet the reduction in CO2 emissions otherwise you will leave the exit residents behind and loss their support and engagement.

How are we cutting carbon emissions if we are concreting over green spaces and putting at least 2 cars on the road per new household?

Vision for Medway is fine but you must ensure that local resources are available to local people, no good just building houses that only people in London or overseas investors purchase as part of their portfolio. Also the infrastructure needs to be there to support the ever aging population. therefore it must be policed to ensure the contractors do what they say they will do not just let them get on with it!

This procedure for commenting is not at all clear. I have got all the way to part 6 before I discovered that i should have been clicking the small button to open the comments section. The 100 word limit does not feel enough. Some clear questions would have also been preferable. I wonder how many people have got through this document without feeling like they could comment as well?

Railfuture London & South East regional branch endorses this.

Better infrastructure and planning of public services in line with population growth: building homes is good but those homes will need GP surgeries, schools (with at least one non-private option), etc.
Young people have generally nowhere to go and neither do the elderly for the most part.

Having lived in Allhallows for some 50+ years, the proposed expansion of our village is unacceptable. First few years here, perfect, no new development until Haven holiday site expanded to a possible population on this site of some 5000 residents at peak holiday period. This has created a massive lack of amenities, doctors, schools, road access, emergency services ability to cope. Entry to my property in Avery Way on a summers day is unacceptable. To create another “town” without sufficient access ( new roads), schools, doctors, all public services. We have one access road to the peninsula, the A228.

Good and positive summary of the challenges

Objections to the extensive building of housing and properties on greenfield sites, particularly Capstone Park and North Dane Way and the urban creep in these areas.

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.

HHH41: The 1.05ha brownfield site, on the southern side of Ratcliffe Highway, is a roughly triangular-shaped site accessed from its own permanent access off Ratcliffe Highway which would be suitable for a highways compliant access to serve the residential scheme proposed on this site. The site comprises hard standing and several buildings which serve the current business uses. A further review of Google Earth’s historic mapping, identifies that the site has a history of commercial vehicle use as far back as the 1960s.

The site is located adjoining the Ratcliffe Highway to the north and on this boundary, it is screened by a band of hedging and vegetation. It is surrounded by agricultural fields to the south and west and there is a further narrow hedgerow which screens the site on these boundaries. These agricultural fields are subject to a planning application for outline consent (MC/23/1934) for 240 dwellings which is currently under consideration .

The eastern boundary extends to the access drive with the properties known as River View and Mill View Cottages located on opposing sides. The site access is located between the Mill View Cottages and the eastern boundary of the site, with the shared access extending southwards to the neighbouring property River View.

The site had a planning application approved with conditions under reference (22/1498) for retrospective provision of additional hard standing and enclosure between the depot and the highway for light industrial use including car sales. This extended the area of the site northwards towards Ratcliffe Highway, increasing the brownfield area of the site significantly.

Response to the Regulation 18 consultation 2024

The current Regulation 18 consultation 2024 provides the opportunity to comment on the emerging Local Plan, it sets out the proposed vision and strategic objectives for the plan, a range of policy areas, including the environment, economy, transport, housing, services and retail. It also sets out a proposed Policies Map that reflects the indicative preferred development strategy. However, it does not contain detailed site policies at this stage.

The results of this consultation will inform the final draft plan, due for publication in early 2025, which will include the detailed site policies.

This representation supports the inclusion of The Depot, Ratcliffe Highway site, HHH41, for inclusion in the future Local Plan for Medway and provides detailed feedback on individual paragraph numbers and policies as follows:
• Paragraph 1.2.2:- We support the vision for the plan which seeks to identify sites that will enable people to live healthier and longer lives. We consider that site HHH41, and its neighbouring sites, will provide a safe, connected and sustainable place to live and work in this part of the Hoo Peninsula.
• Paragraph 1.2.8:- We support the statement that ‘Housing-led growth can support wider investment in services and businesses and contribute to shaping the character of new and existing communities’.
• Paragraph 1.2.9:- The Plan will consider how Medway's infrastructure, such as schools, transport networks, health facilities, parks and community facilities, need to be upgraded in line with a growing and changing population. Site HHH41 is considered to be a well-located site, that will provide its future occupiers with access to facilities required for each stage of their lives. Furthermore, its location adjoining other sites provides the opportunity for economies of scale for infrastructure investment for an increasing population.

3.2 Overall, BDW is supportive of the Vision for Medway 2041. However, there are questions as to whether chosen spatial strategy will assist deliver this vision.
3.3 Firstly, the Council’s Local Development Scheme states that the Council anticipates that the Plan will be adopted towards the Autumn of 2026. Paragraph 22 of the NPPF requires local plans to look forward a minimum of 15 years from the point of adoption. Given the potential for slippage in the examination of the emerging Local Plan and that the Council does not consider that it would be likely that the Plan is adopted until late 2026, the Plan period is slightly less than 15 years and should be extended to 2042 in order to be consistent with national policy and be considered positively prepared.
3.4 Secondly. the Vision makes reference to the desire to strengthen Medway’s position economically within the wider region. This is line with the emphasis on economic growth within the emerging NPPF and the significant contribution of housebuilding to the economy. It is important that the emerging Local Plan recognises the contribution of housebuilding to the economy, through the jobs created during the construction period, directly and indirectly, the jobs created through associated infrastructure and ensuring that Medway is attractive to the workforce by delivering appropriate and affordable housing.
3.5 The emerging Local Plan should firstly plan for aspirational growth in terms of overall housing delivery and secondly through delivering a range of typologies and tenures through a portfolio of sites which will maintain the delivery of a five-year housing land supply upon adoption. The Site can assist in delivering this aspirational growth through early delivery of a substantial number any range of homes. The spatial strategy should, therefore, take a growth-led approach to help realise this element of the Vision.
3.6 Thirdly, the Vision sets out that all sectors and ages of the community will, by 2041, be able to find decent places to live. In order to deliver this aspiration, the Council will need to ensure that a range of sites are allocated within the emerging Local Plan, with a sufficient number of homes to help delivery the choice required. Key to this will be the delivery of family homes.
3.7 Land North of Rede Court, Strood, will assist the Council in delivering its Vision. The Site has the ability to provide a range of home sizes, tenures and types early on in the Plan period, which will help ensure Medway is attractive to those looking for jobs in the District, strengthening the economy. The Site also has the ability to deliver new energy efficient homes, contributing to the aspiration for reducing carbon emissions. Development on the Site will not cause harm to any local or cultural assets and will contribute towards successful place-making. The Site is in a sustainable location, contributing to the vision for improved travel choices, encouraging the use of active travel and public transport.

Please refer to our full submission documents for further detail.

Friends of Rede Common are concerned that the existing plans regarding the reduction of carbon emissions are too slow and too conservative to make any meaningful difference.

This vision will not provide the necessary infrastructure that is needed for the present population or present traffic even before you build any development certainly not Thousands of dwellings
Your Vision will cause harm to our populations Health , Lack of GPs, primary care, Hospital beds,Mental Health provision, We need to provide more child care and schooling. We will need more police ambulances all of which needs to be provided . Building and the associated traffic will cause more air pollution and more flooding. This Vision will just add to problems.
We need a sustainable Vision and plan to comment

We need to retain as much open space and farm land as possible and not develop on marshland. Transport infrastructure is not planned well enough in Medway to link with Kent. Your main roads are completely inadequate. No strong evidence on carbon neutral.

By developing farmland in Binney Allhallows you will be building on land that floods (both sides of the road)You will almost double the houses thus adding 1000+ cars to the road. Wildlife and country pursuits will end (horse riding walking bird watching and cycling.) This will be detrimental to the mental/physical health of many. Roads/access to the village cannot cope. 9 houses were built on Binney over a year later 2 are still empty. The developer also planted the ditches which require clearing as these overflow onto the single track lane clearly showing these companies have no local knowledge.