Chatham Waters
| Chatham Waters | |
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| Neighbourhood | |
| File:Chatham Waters Logo.png Chatham Waters logo | |
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  Chatham Waters Location within Kent | |
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| Ceremonial county |
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| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Chatham |
| Postcode district | ME |
| Police | Kent |
| Fire | Kent |
| Ambulance | South East Coast |
| EU Parliament | South East England |
Chatham Waters is an urban regeneration area on the north Gillingham shoreline of the River Medway in Kent, England. The site occupies a portion of the commercial Chatham Docks, located between Pier Road and the river, and is separate from the Chatham Historic Dockyard. The land was acquired by Peel Land & Property in 2006.[1] The project is being developed in phases under the Medway Council planning framework for the Chatham Dockyard area.
History
Historic Royal Dockyard
The former Royal Navy dockyard at Chatham covered about 400 acres along the River Medway and operated from the sixteenth century until closure on 31 March 1984.[2] Following closure, the site was divided into three main areas: 80 acres of land transferred to the Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust as a heritage attraction; a substantial area redeveloped as Chatham Maritime with housing, university buildings and a marina; and the easternmost basin and associated land retained as a commercial port now known as Chatham Docks.[3]
Chatham Maritime, including St Mary’s Island, became a regeneration project led by English Partnerships and later the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA), with around 140 hectares redeveloped.[4]
Planning
Medway Council’s 2004 Medway Waterfront Renaissance Strategy set out a strategic framework for regenerating more than 900 hectares of brownfield land across 14 waterfront sites along 11 kilometres of the River Medway, identifying the Chatham centre and waterfront as the focus of regeneration.[5] A later planning policy document on Chatham Dockyard and its defences provided design guidance and opportunity‑site advice for the conservation area around the former dockyard and adjacent brownfield areas.
Outline planning permission for the Chatham Waters scheme was granted by Medway Council in May 2012.[6]
Development
The first phase of retail development included an Asda superstore and a petrol filling station on the southern part of the site near Pier Road.[7] Waterfront UTC was constructed on adjacent land between Pier Road and South Side Three Road and was opened in September 2015 by Prince Andrew, Duke of York.[8]
Highway works at the Gillingham Gate junction on Pier Road were carried out through section 106 and section 278 processes. The current signalised junction layout, which includes pedestrian and cycle crossing facilities, was introduced as part of the Chatham Waters redevelopment.[9]
A pub, the Mast & Rigging, was built at the junction of Gillingham Gate Road in September 2017.[10]
The Kell
The Kell, the second major residential building at Chatham Waters, was completed in 2021.[11] A Londis convenience store opened on the ground floor on 6 February 2024 and was opened by the Mayor of Medway, Cllr Nina Gurung.[12]
Cavalier Court
Phase 3 of Chatham Waters includes an affordable housing development, Cavalier Court. The development consists of two blocks, Minerva Place and Victory Place.[13]
Care Home
Planning permission was obtained for a four‑storey residential care home on land at Gillingham Gate Road as part of the Chatham Waters redevelopment.[14]
Basin 3
In 2021, Peel Waters published an early-stage masterplan for the wider 90-acre Chatham Docks Industrial Estate, proposing approximately 3,600 new homes,[15] a one-million-square-foot employment zone,[16] and around 35 acres of green space on the Medway waterfront.[17] By that time, the Chatham Waters development had delivered around 400 homes and 750 jobs, with further plans for additional housing, a care home, and green and community space.
In January 2024 a plan submitted a plan proposing demolition and redevelopment of part of the existing industrial estate (Basin 3) as a business campus. The development parameters plan covers around 7.6 hectares of land north of Pier Road between the universities at Medway and the remaining docks, with the re‑aligned South Side Three Road providing access and maintaining a route to the northern section of the industrial estate.[18]
Outline approval was granted in May 2024 for the development of employment space. The plans include opening part of the waterfront to public access.[19]
Save Chatham Docks campaign
The decision has been subject to political and legal scrutiny. The campaign group Save Chatham Docks, supported by local businesses including ArcelorMittal Kent Wire, argued that the port should remain a working industrial dock and proposed an alternative masterplan for industrial use.[20] Following Medway Council’s approval, a call-in request was made to the Secretary of State, resulting in a temporary holding direction. A judicial review brought by ArcelorMittal against the Basin 3 decision was dismissed by the High Court.[21]
In January 2024, coverage of the Basin 3 planning application noted that the Save Chatham Docks campaign was supported by the Medway Council leader, Cllr Vince Maple, and local MP Kelly Tolhurst, among others, who raised concerns about the potential loss of skilled industrial jobs if the docks were redeveloped.[22] In May 2024, the planning committee granted outline permission for the Basin 3 campus by a narrow margin, a decision later subject to call-in and legal challenge procedures.[23] The decision was followed by significant legal and procedural challenges that were ultimately resolved in early 2026.[24]
References
- ↑ "Dock's closure would end 450-year history". Kent Online. 2006-05-18. Archived from the original on 2026-03-26. Retrieved 2026-03-26. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Marking the 40th Anniversary". The Historic Dockyard Chatham. Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust. 2024-03-28. Retrieved 2026-03-25.
- ↑ "Historic Dockyard Chatham, Kent | National Historic Ships". National Historic Ships. Archived from the original on 2026-03-25. Retrieved 2026-03-25.
- ↑ SQW Consulting (2008-03-06). Chatham Maritime University Buildings Evaluation (Drill Hall and Canteen). Search this book on
- ↑ "Medway Waterfront Renaissance Strategy 2004" (PDF). Medway Council. 2004. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 April 2025. Retrieved 25 March 2026. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Planning Committee Report: Mixed-Use Redevelopment of Chatham Docks". Medway Council. Archived from the original on 2026-03-25. Retrieved 25 March 2026.
- ↑ Robinson, Simon. "Archipelagos of Interstitial Ground: A Filmic Investigation of the Thames Gateway's Edgelands. How Can a Multimodal (Auto)ethnographic Methodology Be Deployed to Shape Geographic Imaginations of The Thames Gateway?" (PDF). UAL Research Online. University of the Arts London. p. 26. Retrieved 25 March 2026.
- ↑ Jordan, Nicola. "Duke officially opens college". KentOnline. KM Media Group. Archived from the original on 2026-03-26. Retrieved 25 March 2026. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Gillingham Gate Junction Improvements – a Freedom of Information request to Medway Council". WhatDoTheyKnow. mysociety. Retrieved 25 March 2026.
- ↑ Nickalls, Amy. "Inside the new mast". KentOnline. KM Media Group. Archived from the original on 2026-03-26. Retrieved 25 March 2026. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Horn, Jenni (13 August 2021). "Topping out ceremony at Chatham Waters development near Gillingham Pier". KentOnline. KM Media Group. Retrieved 25 March 2026.
- ↑ Joy (2024-02-06). "Open for business! Londis opens brand new waterside store at Chatham Waters". Peel Waters. Retrieved 2026-03-26.
- ↑ Boddy, Robert. "Hundreds of new affordable apartments open at Cavalier Court as part of Chatham Waters regeneration project". KentOnline. KM Media Group. Retrieved 25 March 2026.
- ↑ "Construction of 75‑bed care home at Peel Waters' Chatham Waters development nears completion". KentOnline. KM Media Group. Retrieved 25 March 2026.
- ↑ Tolhurst, Kelly. "Chatham Docks Basin 3 Redevelopment - Hansard - UK Parliament". Hansard. Archived from the original on 2025-05-05. Retrieved 2026-03-25. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Nelson, Katie May. "Chatham Docks redevelopment masterplan unveiled by Salford Quay and MediaCity developers Peel L&P". Kent Online. Archived from the original on 2026-03-25. Retrieved 2026-03-25.
.... the scheme could accommodate "in the order of a million square feet of commercial space".
Unknown parameter|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Peel plans Chatham Waters expansion". www.theconstructionindex.co.uk. Retrieved 2026-03-26.
- ↑ "MC/24/0154: Recommendation of Officers to the Planning Committee – Land at Chatham Docks Industrial Estate, South Side, Three Road, Chatham, Medway". Medway Council democracy portal. Medway Council. Archived from the original on 2025-04-24. Retrieved 25 March 2026.
- ↑ Jennings, Ed (2026-01-16). "High Court clears the way for Chatham Docks redevelopment". Local Authority. Archived from the original on 2026-03-26. Retrieved 2026-03-26. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Morby, Aaron. "Rebar giant loses high court fight to save Chatham Docks base". Construction Enquirer. Retrieved 2026-03-26.
- ↑ Smulian, Mark. "Council defends High Court challenge to Chatham Docks planning permission". www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk. Retrieved 2026-03-26.
Steel firm ArcelorMittal Kent Wire has failed in a High Court case to prevent a grant of planning permission by Medway Council which it said posed a threat to the viability of its business.
Unknown parameter|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Boddy, Robert. "Chatham Docks regeneration plans submitted to council". BBC News. Archived from the original on 2025-12-16. Retrieved 2026-03-26.
She added: "Their plans would see the displacement of successful businesses, local people losing their jobs, with over 800 high-skilled jobs being lost at the site along with other jobs in the local supply chain."
Unknown parameter|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Boddy, Robert (2024-11-06). "Chatham Docks business campus approved by Medway Council". BBC News. Retrieved 2026-03-26.
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.
- ↑ Chamberlain, Martin. "Judgment on the Judicial Review Challenge to Chatham Docks Redevelopment (Basin 3)". Find Case Law. High Court of Justice. The National Archives. Archived from the original on 2026-03-26. Retrieved 2026-03-26. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help)
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