British Heart Foundation is opening a new store at Hempstead Valley in Gillingham.
The charity shop is planned to open in spring next year. It will sell pre-loved and vintage clothing, shoes, media, toys, books and household items. A spokesperson for British Heart Foundation said the store will have six paid staff members and a large team of volunteers. The charity will join Demelza, which became the first charity to open a store at the shopping centre earlier this year. British Heart Foundation currently has three stores in Medway, located in Gillingham High Street, Chatham High Street and the Pentagon Centre, Chatham. Plans have gone in to convert a Grade II*-listed naval structure at Chatham Maritime into a sports complex with restaurants. Machine Shop No 8, opposite the Dockside Outlet Centre, could become a centre for padel tennis - one of the world's fastest growing sports which is a mix between tennis and squash. It would include eight playing courts, which are about half the size of normal tennis courts, across two floors in the central hall of the structure. Two restaurants are also earmarked for the centre, including outdoor decked seating areas overlooking the water. Speaking to the Medway Messenger, manager of the Dockside Outlet Centre, Anthony Sutton, said "a household name" and "established operator" had expressed an interest in moving into the restaurant spaces.
Repairs will be made to the cast-iron skeletal frame as part of the scheme, including strengthening the metal joists and painting it with a specialist protective coating to safeguard the structure from further degradation. For several years it has been exposed to the elements and because of its deteriorating state of repair, it has sat on the national Heritage at Risk Register overseen by Historic England since 2001. The structure was built as a dry dock slip-cover in around 1845 by Fox Henderson & Co for Woolwich Dockyard. However, following the dockyard's closure in 1865, it was deconstructed and rebuilt in Chatham where it became a machine shop. The iconic naval structure is now the earliest surviving metal-framed slip cover in existence. A decision by Medway Council whether to approve the scheme is due by Tuesday, 27 December. View the planning application by clicking here. |
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August 2023
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