Medway Council cannot say what Rainham regeneration plan will deliver by March
Rainham gets a 52-page vision, Medway’s finances wobble again, and Pride returns to Rochester
Rainham has a 52-page regeneration plan, 39 possible interventions and a promise that “several improvements” will be completed by next March. What Medway Council cannot yet say is which ones. We dig into Rainham Reimagined, while elsewhere Medway faces another year of financial support, rubbish piles up in Rochester, the council lends out litter-picking equipment, and we look ahead to Medway Pride, next week’s council meetings and a Cliffe Woods house with some questionable herringbone flooring.
Medway Council cannot say what Rainham regeneration plan will deliver by March
Rainham now has a 52-page vision for a brighter town centre, complete with murals, illuminated trees and approximately seven painted bollards.
What it lacks is a confirmed list of improvements to be delivered.
Medway Council has told residents that “several improvements” will be completed by 31 March 2027, but says it is still assessing which projects can realistically meet that deadline.
The council published the claim on its Rainham Reimagined webpage after launching the delivery plan last week.
Asked by Local Authority which improvements would be completed, the council said it was “not yet in a position” to identify any.
“Medway Council is currently assessing which interventions can realistically be delivered before March 2027, alongside the associated costs, funding requirements and delivery timescales,” a council spokesperson said.
“Further details will be provided as proposals are developed and funding arrangements are confirmed.”
Rainham Reimagined is the latest stage of a regeneration project that began with a feasibility study published last year.
Its centrepiece is Orchard Square at Rainham Shopping Centre, described as a new “civic heart” for the town.
Proposals include removing fixed planters and street furniture, painting the square's surface, installing signs and lighting, illuminating existing trees, and adding electricity points for markets and pop-up traders.
A mural could be installed at the Station Road entrance, while part of the shopping centre car park could eventually be used for occasional markets and community events.
Along the High Street, the plan proposes painted crossings, improved pavements, signs, lighting or bunting and a better connection to the Cricketers car park and St Margaret’s Millennium Centre.
Three walking routes would link the town centre with Rainham station, the conservation area, the Oasthouse Theatre, Rainham Library and Cozenton Park.
A Heritage Trail could include plaques, signs, a digital history trail, trees and artistic lighting. Station Road could receive murals, painted bollards, planting and an illuminated Oast House. Vacant shopfronts could display temporary artwork along the route towards Cozenton Park.
In total, the document lists 39 possible interventions across Orchard Square, the High Street and the three trails.
Some are categorised as quick wins that the council could deliver directly. Others require agreements with landowners and businesses, while the longer-term projects depend on additional funding and partnerships.
The document describes itself as a “practical, costed programme of projects.”
However, the council told Local Authority that detailed costings were still being developed and the overall budget had not been finalised.
“As detailed costings for all elements of the Delivery Plan are not yet complete, we are unable to confirm how much of the overall programme is fully funded,” its spokesperson said.
The council expects to draw on its own resources, developer contributions, future grants, sponsorship and private investment.
A £75,000 Rainham Reimagined Enablement Fund was included in the council’s budget for 2026/27. An attempt to remove it and transfer the money to additional road repairs on the Hoo Peninsula was rejected by councillors in February.
The council did not confirm how much of that £75,000 remains available, has been committed or has already been spent.
Its public webpage also says the projects will be partly funded through Section 106 contributions paid by developers. The council has not stated how much is available from those contributions or which projects the money would support.
The simplified public version of the plan contains no project prices. It says indicative costs based on comparable schemes have been shared with the council, but are intended to assist funding bids rather than commit it to particular expenditure.
There is a further complication around Orchard Square.
The plan describes the square as being owned by Medway Council. It calls this “a rare opportunity for a council to directly shape its town centre’s civic core,” while a later section says its ownership puts most early work into the council-led quick wins category.
But the council sold the freehold of Rainham Shopping Centre for £1.5 million in December 2025. The sale was completed several months before work began on the new delivery plan.
Asked whether it had retained ownership of Orchard Square, the council said the square was designated public highway.
It did not expressly say who owns the square’s freehold.
The council did confirm that it retains ownership of the public toilets inside the shopping centre. The civic heart itself received a less direct answer.
“We are engaging with managers of the Shopping Centre regarding the proposed improvements in this area to help inform the development and delivery of the project proposals,” the spokesperson said.
“As work on the Delivery Plan progresses, the council will continue to engage collaboratively with relevant stakeholders and landowners to support the delivery of future improvements.”
The plan was developed between March and July this year. It says two community workshops, 47 responses to a digital survey, youth engagement and discussions with Southeastern and Network Rail produced more than 170 project ideas.
These followed the wider consultation behind last year’s feasibility study, which received more than 1,000 responses.
The resulting plan offers a clear picture of the sort of town centre Rainham might eventually have. It is less clear about the town centre residents will see next March.
None of that makes the individual proposals bad ideas. Rainham residents have repeatedly asked for better public spaces, greenery, safer walking routes and more reasons to spend time in the town centre.
But the council has launched a delivery plan before completing the delivery work behind it. No final programme has been published, no overall budget has been set, and no specific improvement has been confirmed for completion by the date being advertised to residents.
By next March, the council says Rainham will have seen several improvements. For now, it cannot say what any of them will be.
Catch Up
This week has involved a fair amount of looking forwards, backwards and occasionally sideways at what Medway might become.
William Burvill has only been a councillor for a few weeks, but he has already become deputy leader of Reform’s group on Medway Council. In our latest interview, he talks about why the party keeps winning in Rochester and Strood, his long career working with disabled children and adults, the decidedly local issues filling his inbox, and why he does not think the usual image of a Reform politician particularly fits him.
Steven Keevil
He will not have long to get used to Medway Council in its current form. The authority disappears in April 2028, and this week we asked the leaders of Labour, the Conservatives, Reform and the Independent Group what they make of the decision to merge Medway with Dartford and Gravesham. There is some agreement that the argument over the map is now over. There is rather less agreement about what happens next, who is to blame for getting here and whether residents are about to get a better deal or simply a much bigger council.
Local Authority
And if all that talk of Medway’s future sounds ambitious, it is worth remembering that we have been here before. A speculative tram map posted online sent us digging through the 2003 Local Plan, where we found plans for light rail, a dockside railway loop, river buses, park and ride sites and something called the 'Medway Metro.' Most of it never happened, obviously. But the scale of what was once envisaged makes today’s transport network look rather less inevitable.
In brief
💷 Medway faces a fourth year of Exceptional Financial Support, after plans to balance the budget this year crashed into reality.
🗑️ Medway Council are offering free litter-picking equipment from libraries if you'd like to do their job for them.
🚛 Rubbish built up for 12 weeks at a block of flats in Rochester due to a dispute over who was responsible between Medway Council and Orbit.
It’s here! The latest print edition of Local Authority is out now, with copies arriving at stockists across Medway and more landing over the next few days.
You can also pick up a copy from us at Medway Pride this Saturday. Come and say hello!
Council matters
Meetings next week:
- Tuesday: Cabinet will discuss school places, fostering, temporary accommodation, building a new SEN school, and more.
- Wednesday: Planning Committee will meet, where officers recommend rejecting 100 new homes in Cliffe but approving five new HMOs.
New planning applications:
- Extension of DT block at Holcombe Grammar School.
- Demolition of Brook car park.
- HMO on Kingswood Road in Gillingham.
Property of the week
This three-bedroom detached house in Cliffe Woods is on the market at a guide price of £425,000 to £475,000 and offers a fairly polished version of modern family living. There is a large kitchen/diner opening onto the garden, a separate lounge, three double bedrooms, an en suite, a downstairs loo, and parking, with shutters fitted to seemingly every available window. Most of it is smart and straightforward, although the ground floor appears to have been laid by someone who understood that herringbone involves diagonals but stopped reading the instructions shortly afterwards. Beyond that, there is a decent-sized garden, plenty of space and relatively little demanding explanation. A practical family house, provided you can resist the urge to start rearranging the floorboards.
Events this week
🏳️🌈 Sat 22 Aug - Medway Pride // Parade, live entertainment, stalls and more in Kent's largest LGBT+ event. Rochester Castle Gardens. Tickets £10.
🌿 Sat 22 Aug - Sticks ’N’ Stones Festival // Free festival exploring wellbeing, creativity, healthy living, and mindfulness. University of Greenwich Medway Campus, Chatham. Free.
📷 From 28 Aug - National Historic Ships Photography Exhibition // Winning and shortlisted photographs celebrating Britain’s historic vessels. Chatham Historic Dockyard. Tickets £26 (includes Dockyard entry).
🪐 28 - 29 Aug - Professor Brian Cox: Emergence // The space Brian Cox, not the acting one, tours an elaborate new show. Central Theatre, Chatham. Tickets from £37.50.
Footnotes
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