An update on the next stage of the Local Plan: Summer 2024 consultation starts on Monday, 15 July
Following this week’s decision at Medway Council’s Cabinet meeting, I wanted to update you to confirm the next steps on progress regarding our new Local Plan.
Cabinet has approved the latest consultation (Regulation 18) on our emerging Local Plan which will take place between Monday, 15 July to Sunday, 8 September. This eight-week period gives Medway residents the opportunity to comment on options for development and proposed policies. This consultation feeds into finalising our draft Local Plan that will be published next year with the aim of adoption in 2026.
Our summer consultation
The last consultation on our new Local Plan took place last autumn (September to October 2023) and outlined the vision and priorities for Medway’s future growth. During this latest consultation, residents will now be able to view options for growth across Medway, and detailed proposals on our current thinking on preferred site locations for future development, and policies to manage sustainable development.
The council has responded to comments made in the last consultation, when people asked for the opportunity to review more detailed work on the local plan, before the preferred policies and sites are published in the draft plan. This upcoming consultation provides for this wider engagement in preparing our new plan for Medway. Providing an additional stage of consultation at Regulation 18 also helps to address potential legal challenges to the Local Plan.
Development options proposals
This consultation outlines three options for how we could plan for growth across Medway:
- Urban regeneration focus
- Dispersed growth
- A blended strategy looking at urban regeneration and greenfield sites
Option 1 seeks to maximise development on brownfield sites in urban centres and waterfront sites, and accessible areas that benefit from good transport links.
Option 2 considers more limited land being provided through regeneration. This option involves a much higher release of land on greenfield and Green Belt sites, including the Hoo Peninsula, Capstone Valley, East and North of Rainham, Medway Valley.
Option 3 blends regeneration and greenfield development. This preferred option follows a ‘brownfield first’ focus (around 50% of new development would be on brownfield sites) with regeneration in urban centres and waterfront locations, complemented by a range of sites in suburban and rural areas.
Option 3 is the council’s current preferred approach at this stage. We have set out indicative preferred development sites and policy designations (such as environmental features for protection) in detailed policies maps. Although the council has not yet finalised the selection of sites, we are providing detailed maps, to help people in making comments in this consultation.
We will be taking account of the comments raised in this consultation in carrying out further work to finalise the proposed development sites at the next stage of the Draft Plan in 2025.
The need for sustainable development
We need 1,658 new homes a year to keep up with Medway’s predicted population growth – a total of nearly 28,000 homes between now and 2041 – and our Local Plan will provide a strategy for how we can do this sustainably.
Medway is growing. With the current challenging financial climate, it’s now more important than ever to provide more homes to improve life chances for everyone. We want more young people to see a future in Medway – providing more affordable homes will help, more housing choices for older people and ensuring the homes available in Medway are high quality, and energy efficient, while respecting local heritage. Our Local Plan will provide a strategy for how we can do this sustainably, helping to provide a wide range of homes, from first time-buyers and growing families, to downsizers, retirement homes and accessible homes for people with disabilities.
Housing is so important, but the Local Plan is about much more than finding land for new housing developments. The new plan will help us to grow businesses in Medway, providing the right conditions to boost jobs. The Local Plan helps us in protecting the best of Medway’s nature and heritage. It will help us to address climate change, being more resilient to threats such as flooding and over-heating. The plan will help us improve our High Streets and local centres, and it will look at what services will be needed to support Medway’s growing population, such as transport, health care, schools, community centres. It will also look at where these facilities and services should be best located for residents.
There is a high level of housing needed in Medway, and this will mean change across our local areas. However, the plan needs to find a balance between development and protecting what makes Medway special, such as our areas for wildlife, beautiful landscapes, and historic buildings. We need to plan for growth sustainably, so that services and infrastructure keep pace with development. We recognise that some services are already under pressure and we need to look carefully at options for where development could help support new and improved services.
These are complex challenges to address, and there are different views on the best approach. Comments from a range of people, businesses and organisations are important in defining how Medway responds to these challenges and opportunities in shaping Medway’s future.
Public events
As part of our latest consultation, we will be running 10 events in locations across Medway during the consultation period, giving residents the chance to ask questions on the proposals for Medway’s future growth to members of our Planning Team.
The events timetable is as follows:
- Tuesday, 16 July at Medway Park from 5.30pm – 8.30pm
- Thursday, 18 July at Pentagon Shopping Centre (at the old Wilko unit) from 11am – 2pm
- Monday, 22 July at Halling Community Centre from 11am – 2pm
- Tuesday, 23 July at Hundred of Hoo School (Main Hall) from 5:30pm – 8:30pm
- Tuesday, 6 August at Rochester Corn Exchange from 4:00pm – 7:00pm
- Thursday, 8 August at St Margarets Church (Rainham) from 5pm – 8pm
- Tuesday, 13 August at St Nicholas Church (Strood) from 3pm – 6pm
- Thursday, 29 August at Hempstead Valley Shopping Centre (outside M&S) from 11am – 2pm
- Tuesday, 3 September at Allhallows Village Hall from 11am – 2pm
- Wednesday, 4 September at Innovation Centre Medway (Darwin Room) from 4pm – 7pm
Timetable to deliver a new Local Plan
The new consultation provides a clear timetable for delivery, demonstrating our commitment on producing a new plan. The proposed timetable is set out below:
-
- Regulation 19 – Publication of Draft Plan – early 2025
- Submission of plan for independent examination – summer 2025
- Adoption (post examination) – late 2026
We will continue to gather evidence to enable us to develop a draft Local Plan for publication early next year.
The results from the autumn 2023 consultation will also be provided as part of the consultation materials which will be published on Monday.
Communications toolkit
We will be providing a communication toolkit next week, helping you to promote the consultation to your community over the summer period.
The consultation will go live on Monday morning.
For more details visit Medway.gov.uk/FutureMedway
Many thanks for your support and interest in our new Local Plan for Medway.
