Garden centre set for demolition to make way for houses
Plus new wetland habitat near Grain, big salaries at Medway Council, Medway April Fools, the Kent Current launches tomorrow, news in brief, and more.
A Medway garden centre is set to be demolished to make way for new homes, with Medway Council officers recommending the project for approval. We’ve got the full details below, along with news of a bird charity trying to create a new habitat for migrating birds on the Hoo Peninsula, some data that reveals some big salaries at Medway Council, a roundup of the best and worst (often at the same time) April Fools in Medway, news in brief, and more.
Garden centre set for demolition to make way for houses
Officers have recommended that Medway Council’s planning committee approve the demolition of Dillywood Garden Centre in Strood so 12 four-bedroom detached houses can be built on the site.
Developers applied for permission for the redevelopment last year, where they also helpfully explained that despite the very large and presumably very expensive houses planned for the site, they would be unable to make any Section 106 contributions toward local infrastructure and services as the scheme wouldn’t be viable if they did.
Despite that, Medway Council officers are happy with the plans and have seemingly negotiated around £100,000 in contributions, most of which would go toward school places in the area. They accept that while the location isn’t ideal, as Medway doesn’t have a valid Local Plan, there are few grounds to block the plans, and that while the site is technically within the Green Belt, the existing garden centre on the site means it is previously developed land, and thus acceptable for redevelopment.
When the plans first came to light, there was a furore on social media about the garden centre being replaced by houses. Still, only six residents objected to the plans, alongside Frindbsury Extra Parish Council, Higham Parish Council, and perennial objectors, the Dickens Country Protection Society.
In the meantime, Dillywood Garden Centre remains open and has been touting a 40% off everything closing down sale for a while, so it’s unclear exactly how much longer they’ll be there.
RSPB applies to create wetland habitat near Grain
The Hoo Peninsula could be getting a new wetland habitat after the RSPB applied to Medway Council for planning permission to transform a large area of land between Stoke and Grain.
The RSPB cites the ongoing destruction of natural wetland habitats and the threat of climate change as being the motivators for the project. As the Thames Estuary is a vital migration hub for hundreds of thousands of birds, the charity has been looking for sites in the area where it can work to improve habitats.
The 300-hectare site is currently owned by two different owners, one private and one the Church Commissioners of England, who, for some reason, own a big chunk of the Hoo Peninsula.
The intent is for the site to be economically viable for grazing livestock, which are already on the site, and to manage the marsh to improve biodiversity and conservation for the benefit of bird populations. This will, in turn, make the site more resilient to the effects of climate change.
Citing Elmley Marshes on the Isle of Sheppey as an example of what can be achieved here, the RSPB highlights that the project there has been in place since the 1980s and has created levels of wetland and fauna not seen in decades. Similar projects have also been carried out more recently at Northward Hill on the peninsula and at Shorne and Higham nearby.
The site is currently a marshland, it is inaccessible to the public with just the A228 running through the middle of it, and it won’t dramatically change the character of the area. As a project, it feels like a straightforward win. We’ll find out soon whether Medway Council feels the same way.
We launch the Kent Current tomorrow
We’re delighted to be launching our new Kent-wide title tomorrow. Local Authority has been writing about news, politics, culture, and the weird parts of Medway for four years, and now we’re going to do the same for Kent.
The Kent Current will feature the same kind of content mix that you find here on Local Authority, but looking across the entire county of Kent. We’ve got some great content coming up in the first couple of weeks, so please subscribe for free to ensure you receive those early editions.
In a world where KentOnline has focused on hard-hitting issues like some helicopters flying over Kent, a plane performing a u-turn over Ashford, and a seven-inch frozen chip, we believe local news doesn’t have to be like this. There is room for thoughtful, detailed journalism about the issues that matter, and we hope we can do that aspiration justice.
You can subscribe to the Kent Current for free here or use the big box below.
Big salaries at Medway Council
We’re loathe to give oxygen to the TaxPayers’ Alliance, the opaque rightwing pressure group that campaigns for a low-tax society and, in turn, the winding down of public services.
But as the adage goes, even a defunded clock is right twice a day, and their latest report on council employees receiving over £100,000 in remuneration provides some interesting numbers about Medway.
The data reveals that 11 Medway Council employees cross the threshold, all of whom are at, unsurprisingly, director or executive level.
Curiously, Medway Council Chief Executive Richard Hicks isn’t the highest paid, only ranking fourth on the list. He received a salary of £123,000, and with expenses and pension contributions, that number rises to £145,000. This may be explained by Hicks not being in role for the full financial year that the TPA data is covering.
According to the TPA’s data, the best-paid employee of Medway Council is Director of People (Children and Adults), Dr Lee-Anne Farach, who received £139,000 in salary, which rises to £164,000 with expenses and pension contributions.
Interestingly, Medway Council has a page on their website where they publish this data themselves, but they haven’t bothered updating it since 2021. That said, the data from then reveals that former Chief Executive Neil Davies was receiving a salary of £180,000 at that time, so if anything, salary costs have decreased a little.
Within the broader context, salaries at Medway Council appear to be roughly in line with similar councils around the country, so one could argue that this is just what the market dictates if you want to attract the best people to the roles.
Fools of April
It’s been a long (and arguably annoying) tradition on the internet that companies and organisations post elaborate April Fools posts on 1 April. This is clearly distinct from the regular misinformation that floats around the internet every other day of the year.
This year proved no exception, with a number of pranks from Medway businesses and attractions being posted throughout the day. Some of the ones we’ve spotted:
Chatham Historic Dockyard claimed their Lego Brickwrecks exhibition would expand with a life-sized Lego ship being added to one of their dry docks, which would be pretty cool.
Rochester Cathedral ‘discovered’ a manuscript in their library revealing that monks at the cathedral invented table tennis in medieval times.
Diggerland announced an upcoming world record attempt where they will attempt to stack 50 diggers on top of each other.
The Medway Lib Dems declared that recent election candidate Onyx Rist had left the party to move to another, which fails the April Fools test as they need to not be believable to work.
The Pentagon showed off the new Doritos shower gels they had in stock.
The Dead Pigeon announced the trifle burger, one of the worst things we’ve ever seen.
We’ll let you decide which of these are any good. Let us know about any others you’ve spotted in the comments.
In brief
🎙️ Former Medway Council Leader Alan Jarrett appeared on the Kent Politics Podcast this week, where he largely blamed members of the Rochester and Strood Conservative Association for Labour winning control of the council. It’s a fascinating listen from a man who isn’t shy about speaking his mind a year after leaving office.
🏗️ A planning application for 39 homes off Otterham Quay Lane in Rainham, next to Leigh Academy, has been submitted.
🏡 Planning permission has been granted for phases 4 and 5 of the Rochester Riverside development. These phases will add 353 new homes to the site, with construction set to begin later this year.
More Authority
Jim Riley has been a staple of the Medway music scene since the 1970s. For the past two decades, he recorded hundreds of bands from his Ranscombe Studios based within the Royal Function Rooms until the owners evicted everyone. He’s now up and running with a new studio in a converted warehouse in Intra, so we caught up with him to discuss his past as a musician, digital versus analogue sound recording, and if there is a future for the Medway Sound.
"Digital hasn't surpassed analogue"
Jim Riley’s Ranscombe Studios has been integral to the Medway music scene this century. Having been forced out of his studio within the Royal Function Rooms, Steven caught up with him in his new base within a converted warehouse in Intra. We asked him about his own past as a musician, digital versus analogue sound recording, and if there is a future for the Medway Sound.
Two weeks until Medway Question Time
Our first Medway Question Time event of the year is coming up in two weeks, and you’ve already sent us some excellent questions for our panel to answer. We’re still looking for more, so please book your free ticket and submit a question on Medway's current issues.
Our panel for this event features:
Cllr Vince Maple, Labour Leader of Medway Council
Cllr George Perfect, Conservative Leader of the Opposition
Dalia Halpern, Chair of Trustees at Chatham Memorial Synagogue
Richard Morsley, Chief Executive of Chatham Historic Dockyard
As always, tickets are free, but booking is essential.
Footnotes
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Music that soundtracked the creation of this edition: Pessimistic Pizza by My Best Unbeaten Brother, Tallahassee by the Mountain Goats, and Probably Nothing, Possibly Everything by Pat the Bunny.
Great issue as always. Positive news about the proposed wetland habitat creation at Grain. The Dillywood Lane housing plan is interesting - if you consider that alongside the outline application recently submitted for up to 800 dwellings on land off Lower Rochester Road, Wainscott (maybe half a mile away), I think you can see where 'development' is going in this part of Medway.