The cost of appointing consultants to redesign Strood town centre will be £400,000.

Medway Council's Cabinet is being asked to approve the appointment on Tuesday.

The plan is to improve pedestrian use in the centre of the town by encouraging greater use of public transport.

The design work comes as councillors agreed to reconsider the whole of Strood, where so many development sites are about to become available, covering an area from Whitewalls Road to the Medway Valley Leisure Park.

The project will be referred to a newly-established Strood Board.

It will have similar powers to the Rochester Riverside Board and the Chatham Maritime Trust which own the land but lease it to developers.

A report to the meeting says the improvements are another important step in Medway's regeneration.

The name of the consultants will not be made public immediately in common with council policy