Plans to develop Chatham Docks get green light

The plans for Chatham Docks have been controversial, leading to a request for a call-in

An application for a business hub at Chatham Docks has been officially approved despite a fight to stop the controversial plans.

Medway Council's planning committee had approved the application by Peel Waters for the Basin3 plans in May, but a call-in was requested by then-MP for Rochester and Strood Kelly Tolhurst.

Following the government's decision not to call-in the decision, the council confirmed its approval of the application, despite a campaign to keep the site as a working dockyard.

Owner Peel Waters now has permission to move ahead with its redevelopment of the 18-acre site - the last working docks in Medway.

The application has been controversial as many of the existing businesses, including ArcelorMittal Kent Wire, have said they would be forced out of the location.

Many believe it is the first stage of redeveloping much of the wider Chatham Docks site for housing, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

But Peel Waters said the application in question widens the parameters of what sorts of businesses can operate in the area, not re-designating it to housing.

It added the Basin3 project, which would demolish the existing warehouses and replace them with workspaces and units of various sizes, would triple the amount of jobs on the site.

James Whittaker, managing director of Peel Waters, said the campus would "complement the surrounding business, educational and residential communities".

But Phil Taylor, former chief executive at ArcelorMittal Kent Wire, said: “It’s a sad day for Kent Wire and a sad day for Medway.

“I’m disappointed, I’m saddened, and I’m shocked," he said.

“It’s illogical to destroy Chatham Docks, a high value employer. It’s illogical and has been from the start.”