Planning

As Medway grows and is developed, tall buildings of six storeys or more are likely to be proposed. If they are in the right place and are of the highest quality, such buildings could have a legitimate role as landmarks for urban renaissance and regeneration, creating a new appeal for residents, workers, visitors and developers.

Care must be taken to protect the historic built environment and the landscape and riverside setting of Medway.

Medway Council has therefore produced a supplementary planning document (SPD) on the issue of building heights. This document is a supplementary-planning document to the main environment policies of the Medway Local Plan 2003 It encourages higher buildings in some locations but lays down restrictions in others. The policy will be used to guide developers and architects when they apply for planning permission.

The policy is in two parts. Both are available in pdf format below. To use these files you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader. If you do not have this on your computer, please use our advice page.

Part 1 provides general location and design policies to assist developers and architects in designing higher buildings of high quality in appropriate locations. The guide applies to the whole of Medway:

• Adopted policy - May 2006 (pdf 4,075KB).

Part 2 identifies specific locations suitable for higher buildings within the Medway waterfront area. This is the area where the major centres and regeneration sites are located and the one that will see the most changes over the next few years. A summary of the document is provided here:

• Summary (pdf 5,449KB);
• Appendix strategic views (pdf 4,758KB).

For the full version of Part 2, please contact the Design and Conservation team.

Printed copies of the policy are available at the following locations:

• Chatham Library, Gun Wharf, Chatham;
• Rochester Library, Rochester High Street, Rochester;
• Strood Library, Bryant Road, Strood.

Additional copies can be bought from Medway Council's Design and Conservation team.

The adoption process

The building heights policy was prepared in compliance with new requirements laid down by the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 and was adopted as a full supplementary planning document in May 2006. As a part of this adoption process the council produced an appraisal of the implications of the policy for sustainability. It also consulted widely on a draft version of the policy and considered all representations it received on this draft before finalising the policy. For copies of the sustainability appraisal and the consultation statement, contact the design and conservation team.

^ (back to top)