Plans to build 179 flats at Queen Street car park in Chatham have been given the go-ahead by Medway Council. The Council-owned car park in the town centre will be redeveloped to provide one, two and three-bed flats across four buildings, with the tallest reaching seven storeys. As part of the proposals, residents will have access to on-site leisure amenities including a gym and communal games room. A total of 119 car parking spaces will be provided for residents, with a further 40 pay and display spaces for continued public use, in addition to parking spaces for 179 bicycles. In a report to Medway Council's planning committee, which unanimously approved the proposals this evening (Wednesday, 31 March), the development is hailed as an "advantage to Medway" that will contribute to the long-term regeneration of Chatham. Medway Council entered a joint venture agreement with developer Creval (Chatham) Ltd to progress the scheme and is expected to receive a significant profit share from the sale of the flats. BRL Architects, who designed the flats on behalf of Creval, hopes the new homes could bring in more than 560 new residents close to the town centre, "boosting the potential customer base and potential income to local businesses". "Bringing new homes close to the town centre can only boost both the day-time and night-time economies of the town centre," the Plymouth-based architecture firm added, "as well as raising the overall profile of the area." One of the conditions for approval is that the developer must provide at least 25% affordable housing - but this may be built as a separate block of flats opposite the major development. It is earmarked to be located on land owned by mhs homes on the opposite side of Queen Street currently occupied by a row of houses. A separate planning application for this is expected in the near future, although the affordable housing may be included as part of the main development proposals if the site does not come forward. The plans approved this evening come years after an initial application to build 118 homes and commercial floorspace on the car park was approved in 2010 - however, this scheme was later abandoned.
At a meeting in 2014, Medway Council was expected to declare the car park as 'surplus' and release the site for redevelopment. This was not given the go-ahead due to concerns around the loss of town centre parking spaces and the deterioration of the property market at the time. The Council finally agreed to bring forward the site for redevelopment, whilst retaining the car park and income, in 2018, according to Council papers. New plans for the car park were then submitted last spring, but these were slammed by Historic England suggesting it needed a 'substantive redesign' due to its scale and impact on the Great Lines and the landmark Naval War Memorial in backdrop of the site, prompting the developer to withdraw the application. Nearby to the car park, Medway Council's plans to redevelop the Pentagon Shopping Centre are gaining momentum, with a secret public sector organisation looking to move in and occupy part of the shopping complex. Santander has announced plans to shut its branch at Hempstead Valley Shopping Centre in Gillingham, as part of nationwide closures this year.
The Hempstead Valley branch will permanently close on Thursday, 24 June. In a statement, the bank says it had taken the "difficult decision" because fewer customers were choosing to bank in-branch, due to a shift to mobile and online banking which has further accelerated during the pandemic. Adam Bishop, head of branches at Santander, said: "Our customers are continuing to change the way they manage their money. As well as using our branches, many more of our customers find it convenient to do their day-to-day banking using Online, Mobile or Telephone Banking. "Due to these changes, we have carefully and thoroughly reviewed the way we develop our services for customers and considered many factors, including where each of our branches are located and how they are used," he added. The announcement is part of a decision by Santander to shut 111 of its branches across the country this year, affecting about 840 staff. Once the Hempstead Valley branch closes, the only remaining Santander in Medway will be the branch in Chatham High Street. The news about the closure of Santander comes just a month after it was announced that Hempstead Valley's Dorothy Perkins and Wallis stores will also permanently close.
A popular hair salon in Chatham town centre confirms that it will not reopen following the national lockdown.
Headcase in Batchelor Street, just off Chatham High Street, announced the news today, citing "the pandemic, accruing costs and a huge impact on the industry" as the reasons for its permanent closure. In a statement published on Facebook, the hair salon says that they - as a team - are "devastated" but are "positive, focused professionals who have adapted to this difficult time". "The Headcase team will remain a family forever. Each of us will continue as hairdressers but in different environments. "I want to thank everyone of you for your past and ongoing custom and loyalty and we consider you all as friends as well as clients," the statement concludes.
The hair salon's premises is currently being marketed for sale by Michael Parkes Surveyors for a cost of £135,000.
It has not yet been disclosed how many jobs are affected by the decision. The closure of Headcase joins a growing list of businesses that have left Chatham town centre since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. This includes Buzz Bingo, GO Outdoors, the Co-op Bank, KFC, Subway and travel agency TUI. Last month it was confirmed that Burton and Dorothy Perkins in the Pentagon Shopping Centre have also permanently closed. More hopeful signs are, however, in sight for the town centre, with Kent Reliance recently refurbishing its bank branch and Burger King currently giving its High Street restaurant a much anticipated makeover. Medway Council is in "advanced discussions" with an undisclosed public sector organisation in the first phase to redevelop Chatham's Pentagon Shopping Centre, which is expected to cost more than £10 million. In a report to be discussed later this month, the Council reveals that part of the shopping centre will be reconfigured and occupied by an "excellent" public sector tenant that will bring "varied" new uses, alongside "civic uses", to the town centre. While the public sector organisation has not been publicly disclosed at this stage, the Council says the project will allow the prospective tenant to dispose its existing "other unsuitable property", while providing a rental income to the unitary authority. It also hopes that this first phase of the shopping centre's redevelopment will "support the economic renewal post Covid-19 of the 'city centre' of Medway" after a wave of business closures over the past year. As part of the plans, the amount of retail floorspace in the shopping centre will be reduced, and the Council is to shortly begin consulting with the current occupiers affected to establish whether they can be relocated elsewhere within the Pentagon. One of the options for alternative premises being considered by the Council is to form a "dedicated area" in the centre for charitable and other third sector organisations, which it claims would "complement" the public sector tenant and the civic uses in the pipeline. Although not yet known in detail, the cost of the first phase of redevelopment is expected to exceed £10 million, with some of the funding being provided by the prospective public sector tenant.
Further design work will also be undertaken thanks to supported funding from a number of sources, including the One Public Estate funding stream, Section 106 funds from developers, and additional funding from the Council's own Capital Programme with a budget of just over £5 million, should it be required. Some of the redevelopment plans may be funded by the nearly £9.5 million it will receive from the government's Future High Streets Fund, the Council suggests, which aims to transform high streets into vibrant hubs for future generations and to protect, and create, jobs. The latest revelation in the future of Chatham town centre comes nearly two years after Medway Council acquired the Pentagon Shopping Centre for nearly £35 million in April 2019. At the end of last year, the Council's own house-building firm - Medway Development Company (MDC) - submitted a planning application for permission to deliver 164 flats across the empty Mountbatten House office block and in an extension beside it. It has been a challenging period for Chatham, after big names such as Debenhams, GO Outdoors, KFC, and, more recently, Burton and Dorothy Perkins all permanently left the town centre. More hopeful signs are, however, in sight for the town centre, with Kent Reliance and Burger King having recently refurbished their branches in the High Street. The first phase of the Pentagon Centre's redevelopment will be discussed at the Medway Council Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, 30 March, starting at 3pm. |
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