Blue Bell Hill might get an upgrade at some point
Plus Tesco withdraw application for Rochester store, 800 home development in Wainscott, full council this Thursday, news in brief, and more
Kent County Council is proposing a £250m upgrade to Blue Bell Hill to mitigate against future problems. But there's just one problem: They don’t have the money to pay for it. So, what are the chances of the road ever seeing the upgrade? Further down, we have news on Tesco withdrawing its licence application for a store in Rochester after multiple residents and groups objected, plans are submitted for an 800-home development in Wainscott, there’s a big Medway Council meeting this week, and lots more.
Blue Bell Hill might get an upgrade at some point
The A229 between Chatham and Maidstone, more commonly known as Blue Bell Hill, is one of the key links in and out of Medway. It can become congested very quickly, particularly at peak times.
With the Lower Thames Crossing (LTC) possibly on the way (though who can honestly know?), more traffic will likely use the route as it heads to the coast from the new tunnel.
Now, as the government dithers about whether to build the LTC, Kent County Council has finally come up with a plan on what should be done to make Blue Bell Hill suitable. At some point in the future. As long as they can get the funds.
The authority conducted a survey into proposals to upgrade the route back in 2020, and now, just a mere five years later, they are putting forward a preferred option.
As always with this sort of thing, the plans do their job of improving the interchange between the M2 and Blue Bell Hill, but they do so at the inconvenience of everyone else.
The headline addition here is a free flow connection between the M2 eastbound to Blue Bell Hill southbound and Blue Bell Hill northbound and the M2 westbound. Compared to the current connection, this is a significant improvement for traffic making these movements and avoids two large, messy traffic light-controlled roundabouts. The plans also include adding a third lane on the southbound Blue Bell Hill route to Maidstone.
Otherwise, it all gets a bit messy. The free flow between Maidstone Road, Chatham and Blue Bell Hill would be removed, forcing all traffic through the Lord Lees roundabout if not using the M2. Perhaps worse is the lengthy diversion for traffic heading from Maidstone to Maidstone Road, Rochester, which will now have to go via the Taddington roundabout in Walderslade as the sliproads on the Bridgewood roundabout would be removed to make room for the new M2 slips.
The plans also feature some changes at the Maidstone end of the hill, but nothing as dramatic as the changes at our end.
Realistically, if the LTC is to be built, these changes are likely needed, even if they will make journeys between the centre of Medway and Maidstone slightly more annoying.
Whether or not any of this is actually feasible is another matter entirely.
Kent County Council is aiming to complete the works by 2031, highlighting that the scheme will cost £250m, which is roughly £250m than they can afford to spend on it.
The authority intends to bid for funding via the Department for Transport’s Large Local Major Programme, which, if successful, would cover roughly 85% of the cost. The remaining 15% would have to come from other government pots or developer contributions.
As a result, both the Lower Thames Crossing and Blue Bell Hill’s upgrades are at the mercy of the government. The two schemes are intrinsically linked to each other. A Lower Thames Crossing without a Blue Bell Hill upgrade will cause significant local traffic challenges, and there isn’t a big case for Blue Bell Hill without the LTC.
A decision on the Lower Thames Crossing is set to be made in May (file under ‘believe it when you see it’), and if approved, is set to cost around £9bn by completion. If you’re spending that sort of money on a tunnel, what’s another £250m between friends?
You can read the full documents on the plans and respond to Kent County Council’s consultation here.
Tesco withdraws licence application for Rochester store
The centre of Rochester has always had limited options for buying basic groceries. While a Co-op on the Delce and an off-licence on the High Street offered limited choice, there never used to be much else. A few years ago, another small Co-op opened behind Rochester station as part of the new Riverside development.
With large developments around the Corporation Street area, it seemed inevitable that another chain might try to move into the town. So it was when Tesco submitted a planning application for a store next to Rochester station and a premises licence to sell alcohol.
On paper, this should have been straightforward. A new small grocery store in a prime town centre location with heavy footfall in an area that lacks much else.
As ever, the reality is more complicated.
Medway Council’s own Public Health team objected to the application, citing Rochester High Street’s substantial issues with alcohol-related crime:
Rochester High Street and the surrounding area has unacceptable levels of alcohol related issues, including crime and public nuisance associated with the density of off licences.
Kent Police filed a similar objection on the same grounds. While alcohol-related crime in Rochester is a problem for anyone who has spent time in the town on a Friday night, it seems slightly odd to blame shops selling alcohol rather than the litany of bars and Casino Rooms.
Elsewhere, members of the public filed objections, but not quite as stringently. Most of these objections, using similar complaints and wording, objected but suggested that letting Tesco sell alcohol between noon and 8pm would be fine.
This was most pointed in an objection by Sarah Tranter, the former Chair of the Rochester City Centre Forum, who responded on behalf of the organisation with the same limited hours request. She was eager to point out that she’d like to be able to buy her wine in the store before 8pm as long as someone arriving off the train after that isn’t able to.
Medway Council’s Licensing Committee were set to decide on Tesco’s application today, but the item was pulled from the agenda at the very last minute.
Medway Council told Local Authority that Tesco withdrew their application yesterday (Mon 20 Jan), leaving the state of their proposed Rochester store in limbo.
Still, at least no one can now buy a bottle of wine in Tesco, saving the town's streets from turning into a lawless hellscape. Trebles all round! Or not, as the case may be.
Application submitted for 800 homes and more near Wainscott
Following an informal consultation, developer Richborough has submitted the full planning application to build 800 homes, a primary school, a local centre, housing for older people, and green spaces north of Wainscott.
As ever, the imagery submitted by the developer makes it all look rather nice:
This is a significant development for Medway, on a large expanse of land that was previously entirely rural. It marks the first large-scale new development built north of the A289 Hasted Road that serves as a by-pass for Strood.
In a world where all developments are contentious, this one is likely to be especially so. It’s a big development on agricultural land and offers little traffic mitigation in an area that already struggles with congestion. While the developer is proposing a new roundabout to access the site on the B2000 Lower Rochester Road and an upgrade at Four Elms Hill, there is nothing in the plan that won’t result in already busy local roads facing additional pressure. This is especially potent at the one-direction slip roads between the B2000 and the A289.
It is then perhaps unsurprising that local residents have started objecting to the planning application. One person has sent in an entire thread of Facebook group posts about traffic in the area, which is a new way of lodging objections. Others have gone rather more hyperbolic.
“The development will ruin my views from my property and will affect my mental state of mind”, claims a neighbouring resident who lives in a modern, gated development.
Another objector claims that “by adding more dwellings, you are killing the residents already settled.” While some may not like new housing and have many good reasons against it, the idea that it directly kills existing residents feels a tad dramatic.
Medway Council aims to decide on the application by May. You can read the entire planning application and send in your own response here.
First full council meeting of the year
Medway Council will gather for the first full council of the year this Thursday, featuring a packed agenda. We’ll have the details of what goes down in next Tuesday’s edition, but here’s what will be discussed:
Devolution and local government reorganisation. The former is pointless as the decision has been made, and every council group in Medway agrees, but the latter will likely be more spicy.
Adoption of the Hoo St Werburgh and Chattenden Neighbourhood Plan following its thumping referendum win in November.
Changes to the council constitution, which will see most public and councillor questions diverted to Cabinet instead of full council, as well as making limits to who can speak on motions permanent.
Confirming the administration will allow the Conservatives to have the mayoralty for 2025/6, as a little treat.
Introducing a Public Space Protection Order relating to dog control, even though there will be no real resources to enforce it.
Motions including one from the Conservatives moaning about tax, one from Labour thanking staff for helping during the Strood water leak over Christmas, one from the Independent Group on Chatham Docks, one from Cllr Shokar on Gaza and BAE’s relationship with Israel, and one from Cllr Spalding on farmers having to pay tax.
Public questions on travellers in Wigmore and lots of by-election candidates doing some grandstanding.
It’s likely to be a long meeting. If you want to subject yourself to it, you can view the papers and watch the live stream on Thursday here.
In brief
🎙️ Medway Council Chief Executive Richard Hicks appeared on the Kent Politics Podcast last week. He discussed what the coming devolution might mean for local governance in Kent.
🖊️ No one seems to know what the Kent local government map might look like post-reorganisation. Election Maps UK, an excellent data source, has been tracking the rumours and reports and now believes Medway will merge with Gravesend and Dartford. The overall result would split Kent into four areas, at least one more than the government would like.
🎛️ Kent Police went public to discourage an ‘unlicenced music event’ in Medway on Saturday. The force threatened to seize equipment if they found the event, but we are unaware if anything did indeed happen in the end.
🌿 Police found a vast cannabis farm on Medway City Estate. Officers raided an industrial unit and found 500 plants with an estimated value of £200,000.
More Authority
Steven chatted with Medway Council’s Portfolio Holder for Education, Tracy Coombs, for our weekend interview. Tracy was first elected as a Medway councillor for Watling ward in May 2023 and was immediately given the Cabinet role. They discussed what brought her to Medway, the challenge of class sizes, the most trouble she got into at school, and lots more.
Coming up later this week:
Thursday (paid supporters only): We examine what’s been happening with the latest round of Shared Prosperity Funding in Medway.
Friday: Our weekly arts and culture briefing.
Sunday (paid supporters only): Our weekend interview is with Sean Cameron, a Medway author who now resides in Los Angeles.
Footnotes
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Music that soundtracked the creation of this edition: Try To Be Hopeful by The Spook School, If You’re Feeling Sinister by Belle and Sebastian, and More Break-Up Songs by New Starts.
No Reform areas in the Electoral Map? Or is that covered by Independent?
I've been wondering why this 'devolution' plan seems to result in both 'dilution' of local representation (by creating bigger authorities) and 'centralisation' through FPTP mayors (guess which parties will get those posts). Maybe it's just about stretching budgets but less obviously.
I've concluded I'm (a) too thick to understand offhand and (b) too lazy to make my brain bleed looking at the White Paper, etc.
The Wainscott site looks as if it is either in or butts up against the London Green Belt - though here the landscape value is probably less than chunks of the Peninsula or than the Capstone/Darland/Hempstead area. Getting the London Green Belt off our backs so we can decide these things for ourselves might be useful.