Medway City Estate and Chatham Docks are set to be prioritised for homes in an authority’s Local Plan.

The public will be asked to comment on the details of Medway Council’s Local Plan after it was published today, which includes changes to the status of Chatham Docks, Capstone Valley, and areas of green belt around the Towns.

Medway City Estate will also see major changes as it is to become the Frindsbury Peninsula Opportunity Area (FPOA), meaning approximately 690 homes could be built.

The draft Local Plan says the estate is plagued by high congestion and a lack of public realm spaces, and believes the high occupancy by businesses is only because there is a lack of alternative locations.

While the council recognises the challenges of relocating all the businesses on the estate, completely changing the infrastructure and the adaptation of the brownfield site, it believes the resulting new investment would be worth the trouble.

It would mean an almost total change to the site since it began in the 1980s, when it was created as an enterprise zone.

Medway Council will produce a Frindsbury Peninsula Planning Framework by 2030/31 to manage the medium to long-term redevelopment of MCE, including a riverside strategy, an economic strategy and the delivery of strategic flood risk infrastructure.

Similarly, the area of Chatham Docks has been allocated for residential-led development, rather than employment use, meaning applications for homes are more likely to be approved should this version of the plan be implemented.

Chatham Docks is owned by Peel Waters, who have intentions for regeneration of the site through redevelopment, but this has faced major opposition from the Save Chatham Docks campaign, supported by former Rochester and Strood MP Kelly Tolhurst.

The draft version of the Local Plan, which will be available for public consultation next week, says the decision will see an opening up of the riverfront, meaning residents can walk from St Mary’s Island to The Strand without interruption.

The plan says the Chatham Waters site will be allocated 2,200 homes alongside the Basin3 business campus redevelopment, which was approved in November.

The Local Plan is not just about housing; it also makes decisions about transport and infrastructure, such as health provisions.

In the draft version, Medway Council says it will try to improve health by ensuring new developments must retain or provide health and leisure facilities, and it will have the power to prevent the high concentration of takeaways, off-licences, betting shops, and locations which encourage smoking.

Additionally, the planning department will require all applications to prove there is sufficient infrastructure capacity to deal with the new development.

Health, education and transport services were raised by residents as of particular concern when new homes are built, and the council has updated its Infrastructure Delivery Plan, which sets out how developers are to deliver infrastructure improvements.

A transport interchange is planned for Strood town centre, which will enable a rapid bus route to Hoo St Werburgh, which is also to see an allocation of up to 5,000 homes.

These developments will also include primary and secondary schools, community centres and retail space, including a Deangate retail park which will include a supermarket and other shops.

This is in addition to the creation of three community centres, which will have units for shopping, meaning residents will not need to travel off the Peninsula in order to get essential items.

Also, just outside of Hoo St Werburgh, a 157,000 sqm area called the Kingsnorth Expansion Area has been allocated for employment use.

The Capstone Valley is another location allocated for residential-led development across four sites, totalling up to 3,938 homes.

Up to 2,000 homes have been allocated for Mill Fields, which has been designated for residential development, a primary school, and a local centre, and Sharstead Farm is earmarked for 670 homes.

East Hill has been allocated for up to 698 homes in a residential development with a primary school and GP practice, and Gibraltar Farm has been designated for up to 450 homes.

Strood will also see changes to the green belt boundary, as the government’s new ‘grey belt’ designation comes into effect.

This includes land north of Brompton Farm Road, which was previously designated green belt, and attempts for development on the edge of the town have been controversial in the past.

Up to 1,280 would be allowed across three sites on the edge of Strood on what was previously green belt land, should this version of the Local Plan be approved.

One of these sites, on land to the north of Beaufort Road and west of Gravesend Road, has been scoped out by developers previously, with a vision document for a 350-home development called Chapter Views.

The Local Plan also makes decisions about Traveller sites, and while the council acknowledges it does not provide enough, it says there is a shortage of possible new sites and so will seek to “intensify” existing ones.

The protection of natural assets is also included, and the council has set out protected ancient woodlands and nature reserves, and says it will work with organisations like Natural England and others to create a protective programme.

The draft version, which will be published for public consultation on June 26, decides what areas will be allocated for residential or employment use, what areas are protected, as well as an assessment of the infrastructure needs up until 2041.

The plan is required to allocate available land for up to 24,540 homes over the next 15 years, but where those homes are to go is a point of contention.

Medway Council last adopted a Local Plan in 2003 and has been overdue a new one since 2018, but has been unsuccessful at two previous attempts.

The lack of a Local Plan has been blamed as the reason for speculative development, as the authority says it does not have sound legal grounds to deny many planning applications.

As part of national housing targets, the Town’ council is required to provide 1,636 homes a year until 2041.

Medway Council’s planning department budget increased by £320,000 to cover the anticipated cost for the preparation of the Local Plan, and it received a £227,962.50 grant from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government in March 2025

On June 26, councillors will discuss the proposals at a special full council meeting and vote on whether to put them out to the public to get their views.