The second highest paid officer in Medway Council is leaving to head up Kent’s first garden city – but has urged people to cherish the Towns.

Robin Cooper, the director of regeneration, community and culture, has been with the council for 10 years. In mid-June he will be leaving to head up the new Ebbsfleet Garden City Urban Development Corporation.

He said: “I will be sad to leave. Medway is a truly great place, but I felt it was time to move on. This will be a great challenge.

“Nowhere in this world is perfect, but employment here is up and things are looking good.

“I think sometimes people don’t realise what the Towns have to offer and what has been achieved over the years, but it is an impressive story.”

He is giving up his £154,299 per year job, second only to chief executive Neil Davies’s £183,816, for a role with a base salary of £140,000.

Mr Cooper said the one thing he would liked to have seen achieved in his time with the council was for Medway to have gained city status.

He said: “We’re the biggest urban area in the South East after London and it is deserved. It would make the most of our position, with close links to London and to Europe, and would increase the level of investment.”

But he added there were many things he has been proud of over the decade, including getting the fastest train service in the county, and the promise of more growth: “We have a lot of exciting projects now with huge improvements to the stations, Chatham Waters, Rochester Riverside and our first university technical college. It is a time of great change and investment.

“People are taking notice of Medway, and so they should. I’m most proud that we now have 3,000 young people in apprenticeships, which is more than ever.

“The big challenge facing Medway now is housing, with the population increasing and most people who buy their first home in the Towns being around 38 years old. We need affordable homes and we need them to go to Medway people.”