Dockside Outlet Centre in Chatham is set to welcome a dental clinic, after Medway Council approved plans submitted last month.
The dentist will open in an empty unit on the first floor near to the Poundstretcher store, previously used as an office. It will operate from 8am to 8pm every day of the week including public holidays. In a report by Medway Council, it concludes that the dentist will introduce a "level of diversity to ensure that the Dockside area has a range of interests to draw people in" while providing services that "benefit the local community". The proposal was put forward by retail management firm WD Ltd, who owns the discount shopping centre on the Chatham Maritime complex. It is not yet known how many new jobs will be created or when the dentist will open. Plans to build dozens of affordable flats on a car park near Chatham town centre is facing a wave of criticism from local residents.
The proposals, put forward by Medway Council's own house-building firm Medway Development Company (MDC), could see 24 flats for affordable rent built on Upper Mount car park, off Old Road in Chatham. As part of the development, 15 car parking and up to 24 cycle parking spaces will be provided, which, although falls below the Council's required car parking standards, is considered "acceptable" due to its "sustainable" location, claims DHA Planning consultants on behalf of MDC. Some 21 parking spaces will be retained for continued public use. However, the plans are receiving a wave of objections from residents living in the streets surrounding the car park, with one claiming it "feels wrong in every respect." Work to clean, repair and repaint the Luton Arches in Chatham will take three weeks longer than initially anticipated, Future Chatham has been told. Network Rail began a £652,000 refurbishment of the well-known railway bridge in January this year, which was due to be completed today (21 March). However, a Network Rail source has confirmed that "emergent steel repairs" are needed following the discovery of "areas of concern" in the 1858-built metal underbridge of the structure while work has progressed. It is now hoped that the Luton Arches refurbishment should finish on Sunday, 11 April instead. After a long life in service, Network Rail says the bridge needs a refurbishment to "make sure it can continue to carry trains and passengers for another 160 years", as well as to "maintain its place" as an "admired landmark" in Chatham.
The wider project involves high pressure water jet cleaning, masonry repairs, pigeon proofing, gutter repairs, installing new plates under the railway to improve the track quality and repainting the steelwork. The westbound side of Chatham Hill towards Rochester is narrowed down into a single lane for the duration of the refurbishment. Its full refurbishment comes after leaking, old metal guttering was replaced with new plastic pipes back in 2015, after which £96,000 worth of improvements were completed in late 2017 involving the installation of a canopy to protect pedestrians from pigeon droppings. Network Rail also joined forces with community group Arches Local and artist Lionel Stanhope last summer to create a unique art mural on the bare walls of the bridge. The refurbishment is being completed by contractor Dyer & Butler on behalf of Network Rail. Photos: Future Chatham Medway's first, one-of-a-kind 'movable forest' has landed at Luton Primary School in Chatham, in an effort to help combat climate change and clean up the air. Resident-led organisation Arches Local recently developed and installed the moveable forest concept. This involved trees being planted in large containers that can then be flexibly moved around the Luton area of Chatham. The starting point for the project is on the schoolgrounds of Luton Primary School in Luton Road, where three pear (Pyrus Calleryana Chanticleer) and two cherry (Prunus Avium Plena) trees have been placed in 1000 litre and 500 litre containers respectively. At the beginning of the year, an apple (James Malus) tree was also planted in a 1000 litre container at the Great South Allotment off Magpie Hall Road, Chatham, to test the concept of the project.
Arches Local coordinator Stephen Perez said that while they would have liked to and planned to plant more trees, they discovered that actually the type of tree, the location, and community involvement among other factors can be “equally if not just as important than simply the number of trees planted in an urban setting.” “We hope that the movable forest will help combat climate change, clean up the air and lock in carbon dioxide in an area that continues to suffer from poor air quality,” he added. The latest project by Arches Local comes just months after 31 trees were planted in the streets of the Luton area in Chatham to mark National Tree Week. Working together with local charity Medway Plus, the Luton Urban Trees project was delivered thanks to £10,000 in funding from Postcode Local Trust and a further £5,000 investment by the Big Local programme in the area. Arches Local was formed as part of the Big Local initiative, funded by the National Lottery, to improve areas across England, including central Chatham. Photos: Arches Local |
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August 2023
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