Travellers win right to remain on Wigmore site
Plus Local Plan might finally get published, big development on Gillingham gasholder site moves forward, news in brief, and more
A group of travellers have won the right to stay on a former coach park and ride site in Wigmore following a court case that saw Medway Council try to evict them from the land. We’ve got the full details of the judgement and responses below. Further down, in perhaps a surprising move for long-time readers of Local Authority, Medway Council is finally preparing to publish a new Local Plan. Elsewhere, we have news about a big new development near the Strand in Gillingham, news in brief, and more.
Travellers win right to remain on Wigmore site
Fifteen Romani Gypsy adults and 14 children will be allowed to remain on a disused commuter car park in Wigmore after Medway Council’s bid to evict them was thrown out by Canterbury County Court.
In its judgement, the court ruled that forcing the families off the former park-and-ride site on Maidstone Road would amount to a disproportionate interference with their rights under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The decision is a blow to Medway Council, which had sought to reclaim the land after a temporary permission that allowed the travellers to use the land expired more than 18 months ago.
The families moved onto the site in July 2023 under a three-month agreement issued at the time due to urgent welfare concerns, including pregnancies and long-term health issues within the group. When the licence expired that October, the families remained in place, prompting the council to issue a notice to quit and initiate legal proceedings.
But the judge found that the council’s case was based more on vague intention than real necessity. Medway Council claimed that the site may be sold in the near future, but the court noted that it was not on any formal disposal list and that no active steps had been taken to prepare it for sale. Crucially, the court found the council had not demonstrated any urgent need for the land, nor had it provided a viable alternative for the residents.
In a statement following the ruling, Cllr Louwella Prenter, Medway Council’s Portfolio Holder for Housing and Homelessness, said:
“We are disappointed with the County Court judgement not to grant possession of the former Wigmore commuter car park in Maidstone Road, back to Medway Council. This is a lengthy and detailed decision and we will give it due consideration before deciding how best to move forward. Granting use of the site was only ever intended as a temporary three-month measure, and the car park is not deemed to be suitable as a long-term site for permanent occupation.”
That assessment was not shared by the court, which heard evidence that the site had sat unused for years and that the travellers’ presence had actually curtailed prior antisocial behaviour. According to the court judgement, some local residents even submitted letters and a petition supporting those on the site.
One of the council’s main arguments - that the site lacks running water and sanitation - also came under fire. The judge noted that Medway Council had not fully explored cost-effective solutions, such as installing a standpipe or providing temporary facilities. The site currently has no mains water, but the families have been collecting water from nearby allotments with permission and purchasing bottled water for drinking.
Children living at the site have been enrolled at local schools for the first time, with staff at Hempstead Infant and Junior Schools offering support for the travellers being allowed to stay with their children enrolled at the school. In a letter seen by the court, the headteacher described the children as engaged, well-supported by parents, and making progress despite initial challenges due to lack of prior education.
Medical evidence presented to the court documented serious physical and mental health issues among several residents, including schizophrenia, cancer, and spinal injuries. Testimony offered during the case warned that eviction would risk significant deterioration in health and well-being.
Hempstead and Wigmore ward councillors Andrew Lawrence and Jim Gilbourne criticised both the decision and the original three-month licence, which he said was granted without consulting them: “We are both very disappointed in the Court's ruling that effectively blocks the Council's attempt to gain possession of the Wigmore Coach Park. It is worth noting that the original decision to give a three-month licence in July 2023 was taken by then councillors Naushabah Khan and Tris Osborne and officers without any discussion with us as ward councillors.”
They also raised concerns about the cost of the legal proceedings and their impact on future housing plans in the area: “We have noted that a Labour Councillor, Cllr Shokar, supported the Travellers in their action against the Council, which would have been at a substantial cost to Council Taxpayers. The development of much-needed new housing at Blower's Wood, directly opposite to Wigmore Coach Park, could be affected.”
The Council will now have to decide its next steps, including whether it will appeal the ruling. A planning appeal relating to a separate application for retrospective permission to use the land as a permanent traveller site is scheduled for tomorrow (Wed 28 May).
No, seriously, Medway Council might actually publish a Local Plan
Medway Council is finally set to publish its first Local Plan in over two decades, with a final document scheduled to be presented to a special full council meeting on 26 June. If approved, the plan will go out for a six-week public consultation, paving the way, finally, for a new development framework that could influence the future of Medway until 2041.
The milestone follows years of missed deadlines, stalled consultations, and, most notably, the collapse of previous efforts under the former Conservative administration. At the heart of that failure was a bitter internal row over the future of Chatham Docks that split the Tory group between those keen to redevelop it for housing and those determined to preserve it for employment use. The political stalemate ultimately contributed to the plan being shelved, leaving Medway without an up-to-date development strategy and increasingly vulnerable to speculative planning applications.
In the sort of twist that no one could have possibly seen coming, the current Labour administration, elected in 2023, initially promised to save the docks but very rapidly reversed course once they took control of Medway. There was a certain inevitably to this, as the docks can provide a substantial amount of our towns’ future housing need.
Once the public consultation closes, the council will submit the plan and all representations received to the Planning Inspectorate later this year. If the plan survives the examination process, which is never a given, especially in light of Medway’s previous track record, the council expects it could be formally adopted by the end of 2026. Excitingly, this will be just in time for Medway Council to be abolished, possibly rendering the entire process pointless.
But for now, for the first time in several years, we might actually be getting near to getting a Local Plan approved. Given the recent past, this is an achievement to be commended, even if it all turns out to be a giant waste of time.
Big blue gasholder to be replaced by flats and an Aldi unknown supermarket
Medway’s next major development moved a step closer this week, with Blueberry Homes submitting a planning application for up to 500 homes on the former gasworks site next to the Strand in Gillingham.
The plans also include proposals for a mystery supermarket that isn’t a mystery, a care home, commercial units, and the relocation of a sailing club that currently sits on the site.
The former gasworks is a substantial brownfield piece of land on the waterfront in Gillingham, and development akin to the nearby Victory Pier appears on the cards. The area’s recognisable giant blue gasholder will be demolished as part of the plans.
The development’s headline figure is up to 500 flats being created across eight blocks, with some waterfront buildings reaching up to 17 storeys in height.
Elsewhere, the area will gain another supermarket to add to the nearby Asda, Lidl, and Tesco Express, adding a new, unnamed supermarket that is definitely an Aldi. While the company is not named in any of the planning documents, the plans show a store of a size that only Aldi and Lidl operate with an interior layout identical to what Aldi uses, and with Lidl just along the road, we can safely assume that Aldi has eyes on the site. It is unclear whether this will impact their existing, slightly dated store in Duncan Road in Gillingham, and perhaps unsurprisingly, Aldi’s press office didn’t respond to our detective work.
A previously contentious part of the development that appears to have been resolved is what will become of the Segas Sailing Club that currently occupies part of the site. Previous versions of the plans left the organisation homeless or offered unsuitable locations like the ground floor of a tower block.
The new plans propose moving the club next door to Medway Council land, with the developer facilitating a larger, expanded watersports centre that will allow Segas to share the site with the existing Medway Watersports Centre. While this planning application does not explicitly cover this, spokesperson for the club, John Molloy, seems happy with the offer:
“Blueberry Homes have given firm undertakings to the club and local authority that they can and will deliver on these proposals and as such they can only be seen as welcome shot in the arm that will better guarantee the continued life of this much-loved iconic club and charity.”
There will perhaps still be some elements of the application that raise some eyebrows, most notably the plans to include pedestrian and cycling access to the adjacent Gillingham Marina, which has previously been resistant to creating any form of riverside walk that runs through their land for security reasons.
The planning application can be commented on until 19 June, and Medway Council rather optimistically expect to have a decision on it by 19 August.
In brief
🏗️ Planning officers at Medway Council are recommending two big schemes for approval at next week’s planning committee. First up, the redevelopment of the Go Outdoors site in Chatham into 319 flats and commercial space, and secondly, the former UCA building overlooking New Road into 102 homes and additional commercial units.
🎓 The University of Greenwich is looking to cut 319 jobs, a quarter of its workforce, with many jobs set to go at Medway's Faculty of Engineering and Science. The University and College Union responded by calling the institution a ‘rogue employer.’
🔥 The incredibly combustible former St John Fisher School site in Chatham again caught fire last week. This is at least the fourth fire on the derelict site in the past 18 months, which is believed to have been started deliberately.
🚧 A section of North Dane Way in Chatham will be closed for ten weeks to allow works to commence connecting the new Capstone Oaks development off the road to the highway network. Some rather optimistic diversion routes are in place.
More Authority
Dr Carol Stewart is a well-known figure across Medway, sitting at the head of a number of organisations, including the Medway African Caribbean Association and Creative Medway. We sat down with her to discuss the work of those organisations, what brought her to Medway, and the importance of diversity to communities.
“If I'm meant to do something, I can feel it in my bones”
Dr Carol Stewart has been a strong guiding influence in Medway through her involvement with several significant Medway community organisations, including the Medway African Caribbean Association, Creative Medway, and the Medway Place Board. Steven met with her at Chatham Dockyard, and they discussed those organisations, what brought Carol to Medway and the importance of diversity to communities.
Footnotes
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Music that soundtracked the creation of this edition: Sick Scenes by Los Campesinos!, Gentrified Chicken by The Muslims, and Therapy Island by Cheekface.