Published: Wednesday, 22nd January 2025
Learn more about our Love Gillingham programme in the first of a series of blog updates from Cllr Harinder Mahil, Portfolio Holder for Economic Regeneration and Inward Investment at Medway Council...
For far too long, Gillingham town centre’s potential has remained unrealised. We want to provide a better town centre for our residents, businesses and visitors.
We are determined to bring forward the required change: after all, the town centre has so much potential to be an area that brings communities together, creates a vibrant and exciting local economy and attracts new visitors and businesses to the area.
The Local MP for Gillingham and Rainham, Naushabah Khan, is working with Medway Council, Kent Police and other partners to start the change. The Gillingham Taskforce was launched last year by Naushabah, bringing together stakeholders from the across our community to making real, meaningful improvements that benefit everyone. Having recently met in November, the Taskforce are set to meet again shortly as they look at the key priorities including safety, green space improvements, street cleaning, housing, public health, new business investment and much more.
Our efforts to boost the high street and restore it as a local hub for our community have already started. In September, we hosted ‘The Big Day Out,’ a celebration of Gillingham’s diversity and spirit. The event brought together businesses, local services and residents, featuring fun activities, entertainment and the launch of our new ‘Love Gillingham’ brand, designed by local business woman Esther Johnson. With over 2,500 attendees, it was an incredible success and shows the potential of Gillingham in hosting these types of events. We’re delighted to confirm that the event will return this summer 2025 – more details will be provided in the next blog.
At The Big Day Out, you may have come across the Gillingham Community Panel stand. This exciting co-creation project, commissioned by Medway Council and led by Design South-East and BPTW, invited residents and businesses to shape the vision for our high street. We were overwhelmed by the response during the three-week drive, receiving nearly 150 applications for the panel. After a thorough selection process, 40 passionate community members were chosen to participate.
The first panel, held on 2 November, was attended by the MP Naushabah Khan and the attendees pulled together some excellent insight. Their input has already highlighted key challenges in the area, such as safety, cleanliness, and the need for green spaces, while generating creative ideas for improvement. The panel met a second time at the end of November, with a third and final session planned for 1 February. I know that both Naushabah and myself can’t wait to see how their collaboration continues to shape the future of Gillingham; their input is invaluable to helping us form a long-term plan to improve the town centre.
The Love Gillingham Panel is working to shape the future of Gillingham
In other news, Medway Norse has been hard at work maintaining the greenery around the town centre. Last month, several trees were pruned to maintain their health through the winter and ensure sustainable growth as we approach the spring period, which is welcome after what has been a very cold winter so far which has put challenges for us including implementing SWEP (Severe Weather Emergency Protocol) to protect the most vulnerable residents.
Town centre trees pruned to maintain their health
The Taskforce is dedicated to enhancing cleanliness in the local area. Our housing and waste services are working closely with landlords and homeowners to provide the resources and guidance they need for proper waste storage and recycling ahead of weekly kerbside collections. Additionally, the council’s waste officers will be engaging with individual properties to ensure best practices are being followed, helping to keep the High Street clean and welcoming for everyone.
You may not know that the national average for the number of empty shops on high streets stands at 16%. While our rate is much more positive for Gillingham High Street at 6.2%, we are committed to reducing it further. Currently, six units on the High Street are vacant and we are committed to working hard to bring them back into use, creating more opportunities to provide valuable services for our community.
While there are already many businesses already operating on the High Street, playing a vital role in supporting our local economy, Improving housing is also a critical part of our work. This includes supporting vulnerable residents. Medway Council is the largest social housing provider in Gillingham and this spring will unveil new 44 affordable apartments at Truro Manor, providing safe, sustainable and affordable homes for Medway residents.
As I’m sure you will agree, the Love Gillingham programme is gaining momentum but there is still so much to come. We’re just getting starred and the changes we are making now will have a lasting impact on the future of our town centre. 2025 is going to be an exciting year for Gillingham and we can’t wait to see further improvements come forward this year. There’s much more to come.