by Alan McGuinness

Nineteen people have written to Medway Council calling for a project which Gillingham FC claims could force it to move out of Medway to be scrapped.

Chairman Paul Scally urged Gills fans to pen letters of protest about plans to transform Chatham Docks.

Officers have recommended developer Peel Ports’ plan for homes, shops and businesses receives outline planning permission at a meeting on Wednesday. A raft of conditions have been attached, including referring the project to the Department for Communities and Local Government.

Mr Scally claimed if the plans went ahead it would "almost certainly be the end of Gillingham Football Club in Medway", because that is the only viable site in the Towns for a stadium.

According to Mr Scally, the only other potential site in the Towns suitable for a stadium is in Mill Hill in Gillingham but this would be a non-starter because of the presence of an Asda in Peel Ports’ plans.

He claimed a supermarket would also need to be built in connection with the stadium to make it financially viable, and two superstores within such a short distance of each other would not be workable. However, Medway Council does not think this is the case.

A report prepared for the meeting stated "significant work" had been undertaken to see if a stadium could be built on Chatham Docks, but the idea was not taken any further because of "viability reasons".

The report also argues the two supermarkets could be workable, given the fact that the Asda wouldn’t cause problems for other proposed supermarkets or sites across the Towns identified as being suitable for supermarkets.

Mr Scally told the Medway Messenger he doubted the 19 figure for letters of protest was correct. He called on the planning committee to delay making a decision until after hearings into the core strategy had taken place in June.

The document is part of the Local Development Framework, which aims to provide a guide for development in the Towns over the next 15 years.

To make a decision before this would be "quite astonishing", he said.

Peel said no one was available for comment.