What the Chatham Docks development could look like

by Alan McGuinness

A massive development for Chatham Docks has been approved.

Developer Peel claims the £650million Chatham Waters project, which was given outline planning permission by Medway Council last night, will create 3,500 jobs.

The huge plan will include up to 475 student apartments, a hotel with 200 bedrooms and 950 flats and houses.

Also planned is an Asda supermarket, multi-storey car park, office space, shops and university facilities.

A conference centre similar to Media City in Salford, Greater Manchester, is also envisaged to host media events, trade shows and conferences.

Medway planners were asked to consider two documents at a meeting. The first was which type of buildings and facilities would be in the four "zones" that the 26-acre site has been split into. The second was the maximum height of the buildings.

Cllr Adrian Gulvin (Con) said it was "the sort of thing Medway has needed for a long time", but planning committee chairman Cllr Diane Chambers (Con) said it was a "leap of faith" she was not prepared to take.

Although the project has been given outline planning permission, it will be a long time before the first sod is turned on the site.

The decision has been referred to the Department for Communities and Local Government, because it goes against local development policy.

Gillingham FC claim approval of this plan will force the club to move out of Medway in search of a new stadium, because it is the only suitable site for the club.

Chairman Paul Scally said a decision should be delayed until the consultation into the Core Strategy, the document which guides development in the Towns, this month.

Officers will take the outcome of this into account and wait to see what effect it will have on the proposal. Peel has 10 years to come forward with further details of the scheme.

A Gillingham FC spokesman said: "We are naturally disappointed with the committee’s decision, but the issues are not as clear cut as some may think."