More than £600,000 in European funding has been awarded to Medway Council to manage a social regeneration project.

Medway Council is the lead partner in Project Repair, which brings together 10 European partners to look at sustainable urban community regeneration.

Medway has more than 900 hectares of brownfield land of which a significant amount was previously operated by the military and is now abandoned.

The aim of Project Repair is to realise the potential of these sites for future regeneration.

Partners include Rostock, Germany; Kaunas City, Lithuania and Karlskrona Kommun, Sweden.

The funding will help the council exchange experience and good practice through formations of local action groups and interaction with these partners.

With help from members of the public and interested parties, the council’s Social Regeneration Team will produce guidance so that former military sites are developed into communities in an energy efficient and environmentally favourable way with sustainable transport and local employment plans also in place.

Each partner city will establish a local support group and will meet regularly to set out the aims and pursue the production of a mini local action plan aimed at securing mainstream funding.

Medway residents are welcome to the first local support group meeting for Repair on Tuesday, March 3, which will take place at the council's headquarters Gun Wharf, Dock Road, Chatham at 2pm.

Medway Council’s Portfolio Holder for Strategic Development and Economic Growth Cllr Jane Chitty said: “This is an exciting opportunity for Medway to lead the way in a European project which aims to create sustainable communities for the future.

“The aim of Project Repair is to make sure that any future developments are carried out in a responsible manner.

"By working with local support groups the council will develop an action plan to ensure four themes – preservation, energy and waste, transport and local jobs – lead to the development of sustainable urban community regeneration.”

The funding for Project Repair comes from the URBACT II Programme, which aims to give policy and decision makers in European cities the opportunity to exchange knowledge and ideas with each other on all issues related to urban development.