450 homes proposed on former Chattenden Barracks site
Brownfield vs a sensitive habitat, plus Reform’s imaginary communists, the week ahead, news in brief, and lots more
Medway has a major new housing application on the table, with Homes England seeking permission for up to 450 homes on the former Chattenden Barracks site on the Hoo Peninsula. We break down what is being proposed and why the site has become so contentious. Also in this edition, Reform doubles down on their communists-in-Chatham messaging, next week’s cabinet and planning agendas, news in brief, a fascinating property, events, and lots more.
450 homes proposed on former Chattenden Barracks site
Homes England has submitted plans for up to 450 homes on the former Chattenden Barracks site, bringing one of the Hoo Peninsula’s more awkward brownfield sites back into planning discussions.
In basic terms, it is an application that one can look at and instinctively think should be happening somewhere in Medway. The site is previously developed land, it has been sitting empty for years, and it lies in a part of Medway where substantial growth is already planned. The outline scheme includes up to 450 homes, open space, play provision, allotments, green corridors and the option of a small commercial unit that could become a shop or other local service.
Chattenden Barracks appeared in earlier stages of the emerging Local Plan and was judged suitable for housing in Medway’s housing land assessments. It then fell out of the Regulation 19 draft plan published last June. Homes England’s own paperwork says the reason given in the Sustainability Appraisal was 'uncertainty surrounding the potential ecological impact.'
That leaves this application sitting in a more interesting place than a simple yes-no argument. Medway is already planning very substantial growth around Hoo and Chattenden, with thousands of homes, new services, and transport upgrades. As such, the argument is not over whether this part of Medway should grow. It is over whether this particular site, next to one of the area’s most sensitive ecological areas, belongs in that growth story.
Homes England says it does. Its case is fairly easy to follow. The land is brownfield, it adjoins an existing settlement, and Medway is short of homes. Further ecological work, mitigation, and compensation, it says, have addressed the issue that led to the site being dropped from the draft plan.
The housing shortfall point is doing a lot of the heavy lifting. Homes England highlights that Medway has only a 3.1-year housing land supply and a Housing Delivery Test score of 72%. Or to put it less elegantly, the council needs homes, and applicants know that.
There is a fair case for bringing forward a site like this. A vacant former military site is far easier to defend than another bite out of open countryside, especially in an authority that talks a lot about brownfield regeneration. Homes England is also offering up to 25% of the homes as affordable housing, subject to viability, with infrastructure contributions and long-term management of open space and ecology to be secured through a Section 106 agreement.
The difficulty, as ever on this site, is the ecology.
Chattenden Barracks sits next to the Chattenden Woods and Lodge Hill SSSI, which is why development here has been so fraught for so long. The reports in the application record reflect the RSPB’s long-standing view that the strongest protection for the SSSI and its breeding nightingales would be a 400m buffer with a presumption against new residential development, backed by wider strategic measures to address visitor pressure.
Homes England does not accept the idea of a blanket 400m exclusion zone and points instead to work with Natural England, a compensation strategy and a broader mitigation package.
That is where the application will be judged. Not on the sales language about placemaking, and not on whether the drawings have enough green bits on them, but on whether planners are satisfied that the ecological case has moved on far enough from where it was when the site was left out of the draft plan.
Then there is the familiar Hoo Peninsula question of how much of the rest of the pitch survives contact with everyday life.
The application talks up sustainable travel, better walking and cycling links and reduced car dependency, as planning applications now always do. People living on the peninsula may want to reserve judgment until they see how that matches the roads, buses and daily reality. The same healthy scepticism applies to some of the softer promises elsewhere in the scheme. The application allows for a small commercial unit if market demand and a viable occupier emerge. If not, that part of the site can be used for housing instead.
None of that kills the application. It just places it where it belongs, in the category of potentially sensible brownfield schemes that still need proper scrutiny.
Medway’s strategy already points toward major growth around Hoo and Chattenden. Homes England is now asking the council to go a step further and approve a site it was not prepared to allocate in the draft Local Plan, arguing that the need for homes and the case for brownfield redevelopment now outweigh the ecological concerns that derailed it last time.
There is nothing especially radical about the broader case for development. Medway needs homes. Empty brownfield land should not sit around indefinitely. But if Chattenden Barracks is going to get over the line, the scheme will need to stand up on the details. Ecology is the big one, but infrastructure, traffic and the solidity of what is actually being promised sit close behind.
The argument now is not whether the Hoo Peninsula changes, because that much is already baked in. It is whether this is one of the changes Medway is ready to approve.
Reform doubles down on Chatham communists
A few weeks ago, we reported on Reform’s Chatham & Aylesford branch turning up in the rain to campaign while declaring that “British patriots will be out defeating Communism, come rain or shine,” which raised what felt like a fairly basic follow-up question: What communists? Where are they?
Reform, helpfully, has now responded by taking a genuinely impressive leap and suggesting this means I was “rushing to the defence” of these “imaginary foes.” This is the political equivalent of someone announcing they’re fighting Bigfoot, you asking where Bigfoot is, and them concluding you’re on Bigfoot’s payroll.
From there, the statement does not so much answer the question as attempt to leave the atmosphere entirely, pivoting to alleged spying for China, the Chinese Communist Party, Nigel Farage’s concerns about Labour, and claims that the government is following an “authoritarian playbook” including “attempting to cancel elections and now jury trials.” Which is a lot to squeeze into a reply to a Medway story about a wet campaign photo.
Anyway, we remain none the wiser about who was being defeated. We can confirm the rain was real. The communists, so far, remain unlocated.
Council matters
Meetings next week:
- Tuesday: Cabinet meets to discuss a new adult social care strategy, crisis and resilience funding, a local heritage list, developer contributions, and, most excitingly, bus information screens.
- Wednesday: Planning Committee looks set to approve 500 homes and a supermarket next to the Strand in Gillingham, 270 homes in High Halstow, and a HMO in Upnor.
- Thursday: Health and Adult Social Care Overview and Scrutiny Committee discuss the transfer of mental health services, the merger of MCH and Kent Community Health, and the stalled group between Medway NHS and Dartford and Gravesham NHS trusts.
New planning applications:
- Two padel courts are proposed at Elm Court Garden Centre.
- In this week's HMO news, an application has been submitted to convert a 63 bedroom student block on Jeffrey Street in Gillingham into a HMO, alongside a more conventional conversion in Burns Road.
In brief
📰 Journalism training will return to Medway two years after the closure of the Centre for Journalism at the University of Kent. KMTV will now offer a one year accredited course from September that is focused on on-the-job training.
⛪ Gillingham councillor Dan McDonald is not impressed by the Church of England's treatment of LGBT+ people.
🥙 Beybaba Turkish restaurant in Strood won the best fine dining award at the British Kebab Awards.
🎸 Rochester Castle Live will be headlined by the Libertines and McFly in July.
⚽ Three Football Foundation Playzones will be installed in Medway, following funding from the Premier League, the FA, and the government. The outdoor pitches for football and other sports will be installed at Deangate Ridge in Hoo, the Strand in Gillingham, and Maidstone Road in Chatham.
😈 After a period of hibernation that only increased his bloodlust, Child Friendly Medway's utterly terrifying mascot, Mojo, was spotted in the wild again at last week's Chatham Chinese Festival. Nothing says 'family friendly' like a giant blue creature with the energy of a sleep paralysis demon who looks like he's being escorted away after trying to steal the lifeforce of a child.
Property of the week
This two-bedroom flat in the former Woodhams Brewery in Rochester is on the market for £650,000, and it is selling the pleasure of living somewhere with an actual past. It feels like a proper conversion, with big spaces, sturdy materials, and historic detail that does not need to be manufactured for a brochure. There is a private courtyard garden that makes it feel tucked away despite being central, plus gated parking in the cobbled courtyard, which is a genuine perk in the centre of Rochester. This one is for someone who likes character and weight to a place, and who would rather live in something with a backstory than something that still smells of fresh plaster.
Events this week
🖼️ 6 - 8 Mar - Rochester Art Fair // Huge sale of work from artists across a range of disciplines. Corn Exchange, Rochester. Tickets £7.
🎸 Sat 7 Mar - The Cords + Patients + The Dutch Embassy // New Scottish janglepop band taking the indie music world by storm. Oast Community Centre, Rainham. Tickets £10.
🧑🎨 7 - 29 Mar - River Medway Journeys // Exhibition of creative work by local people inspired by the river. Chatham Historic Dockyard. Free.
🎤 Wed 11 Mar - Big Trouble // Poetry night featuring open mic and headline performances by Laurie Eaves and Jack Nathan. Rams Micropub 12 Degrees, Rochester. Tickets £7.
Sport this weekend
⚽ Gillingham FC vs Fleetwood Town // Sat 7 Mar, League Two, Priestfield Stadium. Fellow mid-tablers Fleetwood visit the Gills.
⚽ Chatham Town vs Hashtag United // Sat 7 Mar, Isthmian League Premier Division, Bauvill Stadium. The Chats host struggling Hashtag United, which is definitely a real team name.
🏒 Invicta Mustangs vs Slough Spitfires // Sat 7 Mar, NIHL Division 2 South, Planet Ice. Saturday night hockey in Gillingham.
Playing away: Chatham Town Women visit Fulham Women (Division One South East), Medway Rugby Club visit Amersham & Chiltern (Sat 7 Mar)
Footnotes
Follow us on social media! We’re on Facebook, BlueSky, and Instagram for now.
