Plans to build new business campus at Kent docks move forward
Plans from waterside developers Peel Waters to build a new business campus at Chatham Docks in Kent have been recommended for approval by officers at Medway Council.
Submitted in January, the application has seen significant opposition by local residents – including steel supplier ArcelorMittal Kent Wire, which is backing efforts to keep the site as a working port.
Peel L&P acquired the former naval docks in 2006, and in 2013 secured outline planning permission for the ongoing Chatham Waters regeneration project.
The company has invested £100 million in phase one with a further £500 million in the pipeline, and says that 750 full-time jobs have been created to date at the development.
Among the assets delivered so far are a university technical college, ASDA superstore, Marston’s family restaurant and pub, and 391 homes.
Now the focus is on Basin3, a business and enterprise campus planned to replace the working docks at Chatham.
Peel Waters says the development will ‘drive critical further investment in employment space to help meet future needs’ – but locals argue that hundreds of existing jobs at the docks would be lost, along with the cultural significance of the historic site.
A decision is expected from councillors on 8 May following a meeting of the planning committee.
Read more - Potential future for Chatham docks revealed in early plan
