> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.localauthority.news/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Medway Council discovers the problem with Medway Council's rules - URL: https://www.localauthority.news/medway-council-discovers-the-problem-with-medway-councils-rules/ - Published: 2026-10-23T19:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-23T19:00:00.000Z - Description: Plus an opening date for Chatham’s new Aldi, a major Rochester development site goes up for sale, and more elaborate estate agent prose - Author: Ed Jennings - Tags: News **After years of questionable licensing decisions, rejected supermarket applications and at least one successful court appeal, Medway Council is considering whether its alcohol licensing rules need changing. We examine why officers are now acknowledging problems we've been highlighting for years, and what might replace the current system. Elsewhere, Chatham's new Aldi gets an opening date, Rochester offers another exercise in ambitious estate-agent prose, and a big development site is on the market.* ### After years of licensing absurdities, Medway Council considers changing the rules We've spent a fair amount of time over the past couple of years questioning Medway Council's approach to alcohol licensing. From supermarkets being refused permission to sell alcohol to the peculiar geographical boundaries that mean one business can secure a licence while another just down the road cannot, we've documented a system that frequently seems at odds with common sense. Now, in a development that might suggest somebody at Gun Wharf has been paying attention, council officers are now acknowledging many of the same problems. Better still, they're suggesting it might be time to change the rules. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c9/db/c9dbc66c-6648-4e37-8eff-948c5ef63bc6/content/images/2026/10/AdobeStock_2183398860_Editorial_Use_Only-1.jpeg) Rochester High Street is one of Medway's Cumulative Impact Areas. A [report](https://democracy.medway.gov.uk/mgconvert2pdf.aspx?id=92063&ref=localauthority.news) going before Medway Council's Licensing and Safety Committee on Wednesday raises concerns about the authority's existing alcohol licensing restrictions, acknowledging that they can prevent businesses that would benefit their communities from operating while allowing potentially less desirable premises to open just metres away. Officers are now proposing a consultation that could substantially change the current system. Regular readers will probably be familiar with the saga of Tesco's attempts to open an Express store on Corporation Street in Rochester. The company first applied for a licence to sell alcohol in November 2024, hoping to operate a fairly ordinary convenience store next to one of Medway's busiest railway stations. This being Medway, things quickly became considerably more complicated. Rochester High Street and the surrounding area fall within one of Medway's Cumulative Impact Areas, where the council has identified problems associated with concentrations of premises selling alcohol. The policy creates a presumption against granting additional licences, although applications are still supposed to be considered individually. Tesco withdrew its original application after objections, then returned with reduced hours and extensive operating safeguards. As [we reported at the time](https://www.localauthority.news/licensing-hearing-demonstrates-why/), Medway's public health team remained unconvinced, raising concerns about crime, antisocial behaviour and what customers might do after leaving the premises. Perhaps the most ridiculous part was that a nearby Co-op, little more than 100 metres away, could already sell alcohol because it sat outside the restricted area. Apparently, the distance between a serious public health concern and a perfectly acceptable retail activity can be measured in the length of a short walk under a railway line. Medway's licensing panel [refused Tesco's application](https://www.localauthority.news/what-medways-licensing-decisions-say-about-its-priorities/) anyway. Tesco appealed, and as [we revealed last month](https://www.localauthority.news/court-overturns-rochester-tesco-refusal/), magistrates eventually granted it a licence with exactly the same permitted hours the council had rejected. Tesco was not an isolated example. We've also reported on the difficulties Budgens faced at Chatham Waterfront, another supermarket in a regeneration development whose initial application was refused despite offers of safeguards. It eventually secured permission following a revised application. We contrasted those decisions with the council's more accommodating approach to La Kod Lounge in Strood, where a late night bar and restaurant was granted a licence following negotiations over operating conditions. Different licensing rules applied in Strood, but that was rather the point. The council could find workable compromises under one regime while struggling to do so elsewhere. Which brings us back to this week's report. Officers acknowledge that the current Cumulative Impact Assessment has helped limit licensed premises in some areas, but it has also highlighted the problems created by its geographical boundaries and the legal disputes arising from its application. More remarkably, the report explicitly acknowledges that well-known retailers have been refused licences while other businesses have obtained them metres outside restricted areas. It goes further, warning that businesses which might contribute positively to their communities can be prevented from operating, while others that might be less desirable are allowed to open nearby. The report doesn't name Tesco or Budgens, so we cannot say officers are specifically referring to those cases. But the similarities with the problems we've repeatedly highlighted are difficult to miss. Medway's current assessment, [adopted in 2024](https://www.gravesham.gov.uk/downloads/file/644/cumulative-impact-assessment-2024-27?ref=localauthority.news), covers four areas: Chatham High Street, Gillingham High Street, Rochester High Street, and Luton Road and Chatham Central. The restrictions exist for legitimate reasons. Concentrations of premises selling alcohol can contribute to crime, antisocial behaviour and public nuisance, and nobody familiar with some of Medway's town centres would seriously suggest those problems are imaginary. No one is arguing that the council should simply hand out licences to anybody who asks nicely. The issue is whether the current approach produces sensible decisions, or merely gives the council an elaborate mechanism for saying no. One alternative now being considered is a licensing matrix, incorporated into the council's wider Statement of Licensing Policy. Rather than applying a broad presumption against new licences within designated areas, this would establish different expectations depending on the type of premises, its location and proposed operating hours. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c9/db/c9dbc66c-6648-4e37-8eff-948c5ef63bc6/content/images/2026/10/Screenshot-2026-10-23-at-19.18.30.png) The Brighton and Hove Matrix System shown in the upcoming report. The report points to Brighton and Hove as an example, where different rules apply to restaurants, cafés, pubs, nightclubs and off-licences. A restaurant might be considered appropriate somewhere that another late night off-licence would not. This would not remove the council's ability to refuse applications, and officers acknowledge that changing the system could be perceived as weakening protections. Any replacement would still need to address the consequences of increasing alcohol availability in areas already experiencing problems. There are also legal considerations. Officers warn that retaining the current assessment without sufficiently up-to-date evidence could expose Medway to challenges, including overturned decisions and costs awarded against the authority. The report provides no figures for previous appeals or evidence quantifying how effective the existing restrictions have been. None of the proposed changes is guaranteed. Councillors are being asked to approve a consultation, expected to begin in early January, with results due in March. A final decision is scheduled for April 2027, and the council could retain the current policy, amend it or adopt a different approach. Regardless, there is something rather striking about Medway now formally questioning a system whose consequences it has spent years defending. We've followed the hearings, highlighted the inconsistencies and documented the tortuous process of trying to open ordinary supermarkets in regeneration areas. The council's own officers are now acknowledging that its rules can produce precisely those sorts of problems. Tesco had to go to court to secure the licence it wanted. Medway Council, meanwhile, might finally be discovering that changing the rules could be more productive than repeatedly defending their consequences. ***Local Authority** **is on WhatsApp.** We’ve launched a [WhatsApp channel for **Local Authority*](https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vb8BTeEDzgTKTFi4Qv3H?ref=localauthority.news), where we’ll share new stories and the occasional major Medway development directly to your phone. Council chaos, planning rows, disappearing pubs, strange licensing hearings, and the rest of life around the towns can now be available in yet another app you already check too much. [Follow Local Authority on WhatsApp ](https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vb8BTeEDzgTKTFi4Qv3H?ref=localauthority.news) ### Catch Up This week took in art, football and one particularly stubborn derelict building. Phil Gomm came to Medway in the 1990s to study model-making at KIAD, then returned to teach there. [Steven spoke to him](https://www.localauthority.news/i-had-no-idea-that-it-had-its-heart-ripped-out/) about art education, monsters, model-making, the strange route that took him from Rochester to Amnesty International, and what was lost when Rochester’s art college disappeared. [“I had no idea that it had its heart ripped out”What Steven asked Phil Gomm, former lecturer at Kent Institute of Art & Design![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c9/db/c9dbc66c-6648-4e37-8eff-948c5ef63bc6/content/images/icon/e0427958-7c7a-4313-89a6-4e4dee805f2a_256x256--2--742293e3-d85e-4617-83c0-d6a4f3e89eea.png)Local AuthoritySteven Keevil![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c9/db/c9dbc66c-6648-4e37-8eff-948c5ef63bc6/content/images/thumbnail/Phil_Gomm_01-2-1-3a5ed15a-1635-488e-8540-a9dfb3908c86.png)](https://www.localauthority.news/i-had-no-idea-that-it-had-its-heart-ripped-out/) Over at Priestfield, [Ben Hopkins’ latest Gills column](https://www.localauthority.news/promising-yet-flawed/) finds a side that can look genuinely encouraging one week and worryingly ordinary the next. They are in the play-offs after wins over Bristol Rovers, Tranmere and Rotherham, but they still have enough flaws to stop anyone getting carried away just yet. [Promising, yet flawedThis month, Ben Hopkins concludes that Gills are promising yet flawed. This is at least a step up from last season’s status of being underwhelming and flawed.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c9/db/c9dbc66c-6648-4e37-8eff-948c5ef63bc6/content/images/icon/e0427958-7c7a-4313-89a6-4e4dee805f2a_256x256--2--556c19c0-ee34-4fec-8741-77d18b5d2d18.png)Local AuthorityBen Hopkins![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c9/db/c9dbc66c-6648-4e37-8eff-948c5ef63bc6/content/images/thumbnail/Action-at-home-to-Tranmere-1-7e86e53f-f801-4454-9d8e-b34722646f90.jpg)](https://www.localauthority.news/promising-yet-flawed/) And in Chatham Intra, [Medway Council is making another attempt to compulsorily purchase the former Mak’s Curry Nest](https://www.localauthority.news/medway-makes-another-attempt-to-seize-abandoned-rochester-property/). The authority tried something similar five years ago, only for the owner to make enough improvements for the process to stop. The building then deteriorated again, so everyone is now back for round two. ### In brief 🏗️ A Rochester town centre development site with planning permission for nearly 300 homes is [up for sale](https://www.lsh.co.uk/find/properties/kent/rochester/2128618?ref=localauthority.news). 🛒 Aldi's new store on Maidstone Road in Chatham [will open on 10 December](https://futuremedway.co.uk/aldi-confirms-opening-date-for-second-chatham-store/?ref=localauthority.news). 🛍️ MenKind [has opened at Hempstead Valley](https://hempsteadvalley.com/menkind?ref=localauthority.news), if you care about that sort of thing. ### Council matters **Meetings next week:** - **Tuesday:** [Licensing Hearing Panel](https://democracy.medway.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=141&MId=6605&ref=localauthority.news) will decide whether to grant a premises licence for the new Aldi on Maidstone Road in Chatham. - **Wednesday:** [Licensing and Safety Committee](https://democracy.medway.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=139&MId=6735&ref=localauthority.news) will examine Medway's Cumulative Impact Assessment. - **Thursday:** [Audit Committee](https://democracy.medway.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=121&MId=6673&ref=localauthority.news) will do audit things. **New planning applications:** - Conversion of former day centre in Gillingham into [offices](https://publicaccess1.medway.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=summary&keyVal=TNB7GCKNMRM00&ref=localauthority.news). - HMOs on [Edinburgh Road](https://publicaccess1.medway.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?keyVal=TMYH52KNMR800&activeTab=summary&ref=localauthority.news), Chatham and [High Street](https://publicaccess1.medway.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?keyVal=TML1S9KNMAA00&activeTab=summary&ref=localauthority.news), Rochester. ### Property of the week Last week, we featured a Rochester flat whose estate agent appeared to be auditioning for a literary career. This week, a four-bedroom house on Maidstone Road is described as a 'captivating abode' offering the 'epitome of contemporary urban lifestyle'. Beneath the enthusiastic prose is a genuinely appealing terraced house spread across four floors, with a good size kitchen, exposed beams, a log burner, two bathrooms, a roof terrace and a small rear garden. The layout is slightly unusual, with the kitchen on the lower ground floor, the main living room at entrance level and the principal bedroom occupying the entire top floor. There's also a room that could be a fourth bedroom, snug or office, depending on how many people you need to accommodate. The garden features artificial grass, which is unfortunate, but at least the roof terrace offers somewhere to contemplate the 'timeless elegance with a modern allure' you've apparently just purchased. [Check out this 4 bedroom terraced house for sale on Rightmove4 bedroom terraced house for sale in Maidstone Road, Rochester, Kent. ME1 for £450,000\. Marketed by Moxy Property Consultants, Rochester![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c9/db/c9dbc66c-6648-4e37-8eff-948c5ef63bc6/content/images/icon/favicon-89007cd6-bfb3-44a1-bc56-28735531a8b7.ico)Rightmove.co.uk![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c9/db/c9dbc66c-6648-4e37-8eff-948c5ef63bc6/content/images/thumbnail/b911f37420b868c061c1a5ae19db97dd-98007b19-4ce9-46c1-b210-ea129f3fb1c5.png)](https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/94583460?ref=localauthority.news#/) ### Events this week 🎬 Sat 24 Oct - [**The Day the Earth Blew Up**](https://luma.com/k1zdwjvs?ref=localauthority.news) // Looney Tunes feature-length animated movie, with a short film. Sun Pier House, Chatham. Tickets £5. 🎬 Mon 26 Oct - [**Scream**](https://www.odeon.co.uk/ticketing/seat-picker/?showtimeId=050-79965&ref=localauthority.news) // 30th Anniversary laser screening of Wes Craven and Kevin Williamson's comedy horror classic. Odeon, Chatham. Tickets £5. 🎬 Thu 29 Oct - [**Obsession**](https://luma.com/kn6c2fh8?ref=localauthority.news) // Electric Medway presents hit independent horror film. Sun Pier House, Chatham. Tickets £5. 🎾 Wed 28 Oct - [**Hip Hop Tennis Medway**](https://www.theblackarthub.co.uk/events/hip-hop-tennis-medway?ref=localauthority.news) // A free afternoon combining tennis, music, movement, and youth culture. Maidstone Road Sports Ground, Chatham. Free. 📚 30 Oct - 28 Nov - [**Medway River Lit**](https://www.medwayriverlit.co.uk/?ref=localauthority.news) // Medway’s annual literary festival returns with authors, poets, workshops, open mics and new writing across the area. Various venues. Pay what you can. ## ****Local journalism that takes Medway seriously**. Free, independent reporting on the stories that matter to our towns. Subscribe for free Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. ### **Footnotes** ✉️ Have a Medway story you think we might be interested in? 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