Landmark dockyard building to become digital creative hub
Plus Medway writer no longer on call for Doctors, Lyrici Arts masterclasses, we review Bird Box, our weekly events guide, news in brief, and more
Medway is set to get a new digital creative hub as a £15m project to renovate an old Police Section House in Chatham Dockyard gets underway. When it opens in 2026, the building will host cutting-edge digital production and motion capture facilities, offering new creative opportunities within our towns. Further down, we speak to Medway writer Sarah Hehir about the end of Doctors, with her final episode airing this week. We also have news of new masterclasses by Lyrici Arts, a review of Bird Box, our weekly events guide, news in brief, and more.
Landmark dockyard building to become digital creative hub
Near the entrance to Chatham Historic Dockyard, nestled behind Dock Road, is a large building you may not have noticed. The 1860s former Police Section House is a Grade II-listed Scheduled Ancient Monument, but given its position surrounded by trees and disused land, it is easily overlooked.
The Docking Station is an exciting proposition for those involved in the project to bring it back into use. The plan is to restore the building, develop it into a hub, and provide industry-standard digital production technologies. All being well, it will enable new skills to be developed in immersive technologies, accessible to local businesses, students, communities, and the local creative sector.
There is a long way to go before we reach that point, though.
The building has stood empty since Chatham Dockyard closed in 1984, and in its current form, it is a little bit worse for wear. Local Authority were given a tour of the site, a visit that required hard hats, high-vis, and heavy boots to negotiate the building, which has seen little to no upkeep in the intervening years.
The building was taken on by Homes England as part of their larger plan for Chatham Dockyard. Going forward, it will be brought back under the control of the dockyard, which in turn will sublease it to the University of Kent’s Institute of Cultural and Creative Industries (iCCi), who are leading on the project.
While the £15m funding for the works is coming from various sources, including the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government, Arts Council England, and the National Lottery Heritage Fund, the university is taking on the site's day-to-day operation.
It's a risk for the university at a time when budgets are increasingly tight, particularly in Medway, where several courses have recently been withdrawn.
The university’s iCCi is keen to point out that this is a sign that they are committed to Medway and will offer new courses at The Docking Station, including Games Design and Screen Skills. The former is designed to continue from games courses available at MidKent College.
It is that kind of partnership working that seems to be at the heart of the project. Chatham Dockyard, the University of Kent, and Medway Council are all involved, and even before the site opens, support is being given to outside events like Electric Medway and the Chatham Carnival.
Eventually, the plan is to have cutting-edge educational facilities that can also be used by businesses and creatives needing access to digital production technology. A motion capture and virtual production space is part of the plans, recognising the way in which creative technology is moving. While these aren't quite of the scale that Disney use to shoot The Mandalorian, they will offer an accessible route to this kind of technology for smaller productions.
This will take the site's footprint beyond the existing police house, with a large modern building added to the rear, contrasting with the historic front building. The plan includes a publicly accessible ground floor and cafe, creating a new creative space that will be open to anyone when the project opens its doors in 2026.
Caroline Dennis, the University of Kent’s Project Director for Docking Station, is enthusiastic about the future:
"We are now all set to start on site and deliver this transformative project by Summer 2026. Docking Station will be a unique hub, equipped with industry-standard production technologies, including virtual production and motion capture. This dynamic facility will enable local businesses, students, and the broader community to develop new skills in immersive technologies. It will also strengthen the thriving digital creative industries in Medway and the wider region as well as cementing the University of Kent’s commitment to Medway."
With work due to start on the site imminently, The Docking Station presents an exciting opportunity for Medway's future creative development.
In brief
🌳 Medway Council proposes replacing the former Cozenton Nursery with 23 new allotments, a tree nursery, and a community garden. Medway has an extensive allotment waiting list, so this is a small positive step.
⛲ The 125-year Driver Fountain has been returned to Luton after being moved to Chatham Cemetary in 1961. The monument now sits on New Road in a prominent location.
⛴️ Medway Council has approved their own planning application for a temporary new pier in Rochester. Work can now begin on the project, which will see a platform built on the River Medway within the new Rochester Riverside development.
🐬 Speaking of the river, dolphins were spotted in the River Medway this week.
No longer on call for Doctors
Doctors is a TV soap set around a GP surgery in Letherbridge, a fictional town in the Midlands. Why are we at Local Authority Towers interested in this? Because Medway’s own Sarah Hehir is a writer on the show. Or rather was, as her last episode went out today.
Sarah freely admits that she loved working on the show “because there was a combination of strict guidelines - we could only use three guest locations and three guest characters, but this was countered with a freedom for the stories we wanted to tell.” Sarah talks about her strong working relationship with her script editor, who “would go to some lengths to support me in getting a story accepted and shaping it in creative ways.” Somehow, the show's audience were open to quite experimental storytelling, far more than a traditional soap audience. The show has had weeks dedicated to a theme, including Shakespeare week and homelessness week, split screens, ghosts, and a man who walked out of a painting. This was mixed with hard-hitting storylines and a hugely diverse range of characters and issues.
The reason that Sarah’s time on the show is coming to an end is not of her choosing. The BBC, in its wisdom, has cancelled it. “Doctors was a brilliant training ground for writers, directors and actors. It was brave in its approach. It could be funny and it could be heartbreaking.” Posting on social media, Sarah celebrated that the show “punched way, way above its budget and time slot.”
Sarah’s final episode of Doctors can be seen on BBC iPlayer.
Lyrici Arts deliver online masterclasses
Lyrici Arts is a black-led organisation creating theatre and arts programmes in Medway. They aim to change how diversity and inclusion are perceived in the arts. They have delivered over 150 events, reaching 10,000 people in Medway and beyond, collaborating with local and national theatre, arts, and charitable organisations.
Their current programme is dedicated to encouraging audiences to engage in meaningful experiences, providing opportunities for them to take part in music and theatre, inspiring new skills and a love of the arts. Commissioned by Royal Opera House Bridge and Arts Council England.
The series includes classes on how to freestyle, beatbox, and how to build tracks in Logic Pro X. They say that their Lyrical Masterclasses ‘celebrate the transformative power of music, beatboxing, and hip-hop, genres deeply rooted in Black culture and history.’
The Lyrical Masterclasses are available online and on demand until 31 December and are completely free to access.
Out to Lunch: Bird Box
In which Steven Keevil assesses the lunch options available in our towns. This week, he’s ordered lunch from Bird Box…
Sharing a location with Frankie and Benny’s at Hempstead Valley with a number of other ‘dark kitchens’, Bird Box is only available for delivery via one of the myriad ordering apps.
I initially had Bird Box for a non-review-based lunch and enjoyed it. So it was enthusiasm that I ordered once again. That order consisted of the boneless chicken box, which includes a portion of chicken bites, chicken tenders with mustard mayo and Korean BBQ sauces, and beef brisket dirty fries.
Sadly, it was not as good the second time. It’s hard to say why. To be fair, the chicken was perfectly fine the second time. The dirty fries were not. The portion of beef brisket was less and less enjoyable. The fries were less fried and more dirty.
If you can get the order I had the first time, then Bird Box is well worth considering, but I will unlikely order a third time.
Events this week
📚 1 - 30 Nov - Medway River Lit // Month-long series of weekend events across Medway featuring writing masterclasses, panels, poetry, drama and more. Various locations. Highlights:
Fri 1 Nov - Medway River Lit 2024 Launch // Festival launch event, outlining what’s scheduled and fun writing activities. Chatham Library. Pay what you can.
Fri 1 Nov - Poetry Republic: The Four Poets // Performances from Kent poets Maggie Harris, Bill Lewis, Sarah Hehir, and Barry Fentiman Hall. Coffee Republic, Chatham. Pay what you can.
Sun 3 Nov - Local Author Book Fair // Meet self-published authors and those published with independent publishers. Rochester Library. Pay what you can.
🎸 Fri 1 Nov - Pizza Weasel + Smile Wide + Larry 73 // Three Kent pop-punk bands making music like it’s 1996. Poco Loco, Chatham. Tickets £5.
🎤 Fri 1 Nov - Medway On The Map // New music open mic night highlighting Medway artists. Sun Pier House, Chatham. Free.
🎻 Sat 2 Nov - City of Rochester Symphony Orchestra // First concert of the season features operatic favourites by Puccini, Bizet, Mascagni and Verdi. Central Theatre, Chatham. Tickets from £15.
🗾 Sun 3 Nov - Godzilla Minus Color // Rerelease of the excellent monster film, now presented beautifully in black and white. Odeon, Chatham. Tickets £5.
🦸♂️ Tue 5 Nov - Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story // Documentary about the actor who found fame in his portrayal of Superman before an accident left him a quadriplegic. Chatham, Odeon. Tickets £5.
Don’t forget to check out our new events page. We’ll continue to include the events for the current week in these Friday briefings, but we’re aware that it’s often last minute, or things might be sold out by the time you read about them here. Our events page aims to solve that by offering a view of everything interesting happening over the next few months across Medway.
The page is still a work in progress, and there’s a good chance we’ve missed something interesting. If you are holding or know of an event that will likely interest us, let us know via events AT localauthority DOT news - thanks!
More Authority
Yesterday, we published an article on the formation of a new LGBT+ advocacy organisation, Rainbows Over Medway. Shea and Sarah Coffey have moved from their work on Medway to Pride to this new project, having conversations in Westminster and with businesses about inclusivity. They talk about that transition, the abuse they have faced, and what comes next.
Forming rainbows over Medway
Remember that our Medwayish shop contains a wide range of Medway-related gifts and products designed by local creatives. We have books, mugs, t-shirts, prints, and other fun bits and pieces. Check it out!
Footnotes
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Thanks for highlighting so many great events happening locally. Where else would we get such an eclectic mix of great creatives producing wonderful work?