A government minister paid a visit to see levelling up "in action".

Dehenna Davison was given a tour of Chatham, which is due to benefit from £14.4 million Levelling Up funding.

The authority is due to work with the University of Kent and Chatham Historic Dockyard to transform two former dockyard buildings into a creative workspace and studios.

The first of the dockyard projects is called The Docking Station which will see a partnership between the council, University of Kent and Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust convert the Grade-II listed scheduled monument and former police house into a creative facility and community cafe.

It will be home to the university's Institute of Cultural and Creative Industries and comprise of 780sq m of working space for graduates, shared workspace for academic and non-academic staff, artists and technology experts as well as teaching space and training, studio and performance spaces with an interactive gallery area.

The second is the refurbishment of the southern part of the The Fitted Rigging House.

This would see a 1,939sq m of commercial space for creative businesses which is said to build on the success of the transformation of the northern rigging house and the Joiners' Shop at the dockyard.

Some of the money is also due to be spent on the Grade-II listed Brook Theatre which is where the council welcomed Ms Davison, who is MP for Bishop Auckland, today.

The theatre - which has previously been the town hall - is also due to benefit from Future High Street Funding, bringing the total spend to £6.8 million.

Earlier this month, councillors approved plans to spend the money upgrading the theatre to provide office and co-working facilities, as well as enhanced rehearsal and performance spaces.

Work is under way to upgrade the lights, boilers and controls, and install new lighting.

The council spent some of the £9.5 million from the Future High Street Fund purchasing Chatham's former Debenhams department store for £2.2 million earlier this year.

Some of this pot will also be spent on other projects including making improvements to The Paddock, creating a co-working space at St John’s Church, and creating a healthy living centre in The Pentagon.

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Ms Davison said: "Levelling up is about so many things, but at its core it's really about making sure that people growing up in any part of the country have access to brilliant opportunities and that means having great houses to grow up in, having access to great job opportunities, and a really good town centre as well so that they don't have to leave to go and do their shopping or whatever else.

"Here in Chatham, we are seeing that in action. The council is working with partners, but also some of the funding it has been provided with through the Future High Streets Fund and the Levelling Up fund is really allowing it to revolutionise what the city centre looks like."

She praised how the town had invested in providing clearer routes from the station to the shopping district and how the redevelopment of Chatham's old fire station, now occupied by The Fire Station Brasserie, had brought some nightlife with it.

She added: "High streets are changing. People are shopping a lot more online but attracting independent retailers will be important and getting people living in our high streets.

The MP was also given a talk about the council’s second application for Levelling Up funding.

It is yet to hear if it will be successful in its bid, which includes £20 million for a series of new walking and cycling routes in Gillingham, and another £20 million towards the ongoing development of office and commercial space Innovation Park Medway, next to Rochester Airport.