Councillors say a consultation on a multi-million pound infrastructure upgrade for the Hoo Peninsula should not go ahead until Medway Council shows how it will find a missing £75 million to pay for it.

Eight members of the authority’s ruling Conservative Group have called in a decision on the development of the authority’s Housing Infrastructure Fund (HIF) project.

Last month cabinet members voted to open a seven week-long consultation on how £170 million from the government could be spent on road, rail, and environmental changes on the Peninsula.

They aim to support the construction of 10,600 homes over the next 30 years.

But representatives including Cllr Elizabeth Turpin (Con) were concerned about the way some of the new roads, parks, and the planned railway station at Sharnal Street had been costed.

The 91-page plan says there is £75,350,000 which needs to be found if the council is to deliver on everything it wants to.

Having combed through the document, she contacted council leader Alan Jarrett (Con) ahead of the meeting as a result, a key document called the Medway Infrastructure Delivery Plan – which was one of several papers cabinet members were being asked to consider – had to be amended at the eleventh hour.

The cabinet meeting was adjourned for over half an hour as officers scrambled to amend the figures.

Having reviewed the changes to the document, cabinet members voted to start the consultation on Monday, August 15.

Cllr Turpin said she was concerned about the number of details relating to the new rail station – such as platform lengthening and signalling – which were included in the original document but were then dropped.

Some of these items said they would be funded from developer’s contributions. When the document was reviewed, some items had been removed altogether, while others remained saying the estimated cost was yet to be determined.

The council set aside £63 million from the HIF to spend on developing a new passenger service which it has since decided will connect the Peninsula to Gravesend via a battery-powered train with a 14-minute journey time.

Officers originally estimated the cost of maintaining four new community parks would be £10 million funded by the council itself, but in the updated document the cost was “to be determined” through developer’s contributions, known as Section 106.

Additionally, a new sports centre for Hoo St Werburgh was originally estimated to cost £25 million but was “to be determined” once the document was updated.

A note at the end of the report states: “Whilst it is acknowledged that a funding gap currently exists, the council’s initial viability assessment work identifies that necessary contributions will be able to be secured through Section 106 obligations to meet this gap.

“These contributions, alongside the council’s work with national partners agencies, will ensure that this funding gap is met.”

Cllr Turpin, who represents Strood Rural, said whilst she could understand why some of the costs needed to be decided on at a later date, it made her feel uncertain about the affordability of the project and its delivery.

'The whole point of getting this £170 million was to put in the infrastructure before putting in the housing'

She was also concerned about the amount of money which stands to come from developer’s contributions.

She explained: “There’s all these items that are ‘to be determined’ so if we knew what they cost, the funding that needs to be found is going to be much higher.

“There’s certain things that have been promised like this sports centre which is now looking a bit more uncertain.

“The whole point of getting this £170 million was to put in the infrastructure before putting in the housing.

“Section 106 shouldn’t be used to prop up the HIF. We have gone to the government and said this is the project we want to do, this is how much it’s going to cost, and we have been awarded that money.

“We need to spend that money on that work; we shouldn’t have to bring in additional funds to complete the project.

“I don’t think we should be going out for consultation on that Hoo development if we haven’t got HIF sorted out.

“If HIF is not on budget or on target, we need to do work to ensure we can get that delivered before we go out to consultation.

“I don’t know whether it is affordable, I don’t know whether what we have put forward we can deliver for £170 million.”

The council’s deadline for the proposed interventions is March 2025. Applications for the £86 million road and £63 million rail changes are expected to come forward next spring.

The call-in discussion will take place on Thursday.

Members of the regeneration, culture and environment committee will decide whether they will accept the cabinet’s decision, whether they want cabinet to reconsider, or if they should refer the matter to all council members.

Call-ins allow councillors to intervene when they feel a decision being made by the executive needs to be revisited or changed.

A spokesperson for Medway Council said: “The call-in is going through the democratic process and will be the subject of a discussion by the overview & scrutiny committee.

“A further paper has been submitted and it would be inappropriate to comment in advance of the committee.”