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Redrow Homes relocated its Southern
Area office to Chatham Maritime in
2015. Redrow’s development portfolio
is expanding rapidly in the South East,
with sites underway at Halling, Marden
and Maidstone and due to be developed
at Temple Waterfront, Strood.
The Homes & Communities Agency sold
the beautiful and majestic Victorian
building, Pump House No.5 at Chatham
Maritime to Russell Distillers Ltd. The
building will be transformed into the
RIVIT distillery, taking its name from the
heritage of the former Royal Dockyard
and paying tribute to those who worked
in the dockyard over generations.
Russell Distillers was awarded match
funding of £243,954 by the Tiger Loan
Fund to purchase specialised, bespoke
equipment for its new distillery. Many fit
out contracts at the distillery, including
the 10 metre high copper still, were
awarded to Medway businesses.
Swale
Major regeneration has delivered
over 198,000m
2
(2,131,254ft
2
) of new
commercial space in Swale since 2008
and attracted £144m investment in
roads in recent years. The Sittingbourne
Northern Relief Road provides access via
the A249 and M2 to one of the largest
concentrations of businesses in Kent
at the Kemsley Fields and Eurolink
Business Parks. A new phase, Eurolink
East Five, has outline permission with
potential for a further 42,735m
2
(460,000ft
2
) and up to 1,000 jobs.
Kemsley is also home to some of
demand for flexible, quality space from
start-up and small growth businesses.
Watermill Wharf will be serviced with
the best broadband speed in Kent via
a link to Innovation Centre Medway’s
unrivalled bandwidth. The £650,000
scheme is funded by Coastal Commu-
nities Fund, Medway Council and
developer contributions.
Rochester’s new train station opened
at the end of 2015 as part of a £145m
investment by Network Rail. The station
overlooks Rochester Castle and Cathedral
and provides a long-awaited catalyst for
regeneration of Rochester Riverside.
Two additional peak hour trains and an
additional 350 seats per peak hour will
improve passenger experience.
In 2015, Medway University Technical
College welcomed its first cohort of
students from 14 years of age who will
learn construction and engineering
related disciplines. The college provides
clear routes into future employment
through strong associations with
leading business partners such as Delphi
Diesel Systems, BAM Construction,
BAE Systems and the Royal School of
Military Engineering.
GillinghamWaterfront is a regeneration
success story. Victory Pier has been
progressing for three years now, offering
luxury apartments with four phases
completed. The latest phase, Peninsula
Quay, was launched in September 2015.
All phases have been stylishly designed
and benefit from excellent views and
leisure space.
Chatham will see a number of public
realm improvements in 2016/17, having
secured £4m from the Local Growth
Fund. The master plan is nearing
consultation phase with works to start
in autumn 2016. ChathamWaterfront
Development Site is also progressing
well, with acquisitions in progress.
Medway Council owns the most
significant part of the site with the
whole scheme marketed for mixed-use
development once all land has been
acquired.
Rochester Airport’s planning application
to improve the airport’s operational
infrastructure, approved in February
2015, includes a hard surface runway.
This will lead to the release of land for
future commercial development. The
site was granted Enterprise Zone status
as part of the North Kent Innovation
Zone which also includes Ebbsfleet
Garden City and Kent Medical
Campus. Benefits include business
rate discounts for up to five years for
commercial tenants.
Medway has successfully secured
£28.6m of funding through the
Government’s Growth Deals towards
five transport schemes to improve
connectivity. The schemes include
Chatham Town Centre and public realm;
Medway Cycling Action Plan; Medway
City Estate Connectivity Improvement
Measures; Strood Town Centre Journey
Time and Accessibility Enhancements;
and A289 Four Elms Roundabout to
Medway Tunnel Journey Time and
Network Improvements.
Victory Pier, Gillingham