The river offers massive opportunities for trainers and teachers in water sports including paddle boarding and kayaks

The area I live in, Allhallows, suffers from a severe lack of job opportunities. The presence of the Haven holiday park exacerbates the problem; the influx of visitors leads to increased traffic, making the roads dangerously congested and causing frequent accidents. Furthermore, the park's reliance on zero-hour contracts exploits workers, providing unstable employment and minimal benefits. With limited local job prospects and the negative impact of the holiday park, residents face significant economic and safety challenges. Allhallows desperately needs better job opportunities and improved local infrastructure to support its community.

Retain Docks. Send signal to Peel and they will give up and sell out to the docks companies who have plans

Relying on words of Peel is trampolining on tissue paper. They'll leave site derelict years while they say it's unviable, ask for central government funding to make "viable" creaming off the profits. If it isn't viable for housing let it be used for what it does now!!


Get council leadership out of the IPM, They have been disastrous and companies will not want to have the landlord being the local council. How many millions have been wasted on this?

Building on green land rather than in town hubs with transport links does not create employment, especially if there is no improvement in transport links rurally. As a commuter I can testify that current roads are not up to the weight of traffic that building on transport deprived areas will create and no amount of road building will create space for in excess of 12000 extra cars in the Lordswood area. There is simply no where for business to thrive or exist in residential areas to reduce the number of extra cars this would create.

Providing employment is obviously an important element in improving the lives of residents, especially our young people. Promoting tourism and hospitality is not necessarily the route to attracting businesses that offer the ‘high quality’ employment needed. Attracting industries that might be best served by apprenticeships is probably long passed but the technology sector may be one more suited to increasing employment in Medway.

Encourage inward investment to create jobs so students will stay.
Provide incentives for NHS staff to live in Medway

2.5.1 ArcelorMittal Kent Wire 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 draft Local Plan.
2.5.2 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.’
2.5.3 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.’
2.5.4 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 protections for Chatham Docks must be carried forward into the draft Local Plan.
2.5.5 Chatham Docks employs local people who rely on its operation for their livelihoods. It must not be lost and redeveloped for housing.
2.5.6 Approximately 180 ship movements a year take advantage of the non-tidal Docks when they are fully operational– 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.
2.5.7 ArcelorMittal Kent Wire has submitted a series of technical reports to Medway Borough Council to demonstrate that Chatham Docks is viable and has a future, and that forcing the current operation to close does not make economic sense.

Medway has a broad skills and industrial base and and this is the lifeblood of the towns. The Chatham Docks should not be turned into flats, we need good employment and opportunities to train the young in skills and trades. We do not need more flats for those on London salaries. Engineering and the creative industries are well known in this area and I support their support and growth. Wages in Medway are low which is why so many commute to London, this would be well addressed if better career options can be found here.