We recently hosted a team of national experts to explore and discuss the regeneration of historic cities and towns.
The Historic Places Panel, facilitated by Historic England, was invited by the council to provide advice on Medway’s growth and regeneration. Their visit took place on Monday, 22 September and Tuesday, 23 September.
The Panel was welcomed by Cllr Vince Maple, Leader of Medway Council, Cllr Nina Gurung, Medway Council’s Portfolio Holder for Heritage, Culture and Leisure, and Naushabah Khan, MP for Gillingham and Rainham.
There were three key focus areas over the two days, these included looking at how community organisations in Medway can be supported to drive community-led regeneration. They also discussed what approaches should be taken in Medway to ensure that community groups have a meaningful voice in regeneration and growth.
The third focus area was around how the built environment industry, including developers, investors, agents and public bodies, can work with community groups to ensure new development is responsive to culture and heritage.
The Historic Places Panel visited locations in Gillingham and Rainham, including Gillingham High Street, Lower Rainham, The Sunlight Centre in Gillingham, and the Great Lines Naval Memorial, to explore some of the key heritage sites within Medway.
Members of the panel and officers in discussion at Medway Park.
The focus on Gillingham and Rainham provided useful discussions on the key priorities that could make up a new heritage strategy for Medway, and how heritage can play a role in delivering future regeneration in Rainham and Gillingham.
During the visit, the panel spent time with representatives from community organisations including St Margaret’s Church, Rainham, the Gillingham Community Panel and the Intra Community Trust, to discuss regeneration opportunities that could help restore and build on Medway’s special historic character.
The visit supports Medway’s vision for heritage currently being delivered as part of the Medway Heritage Place programme, a ten-year partnership with The National Lottery Heritage Fund supporting Medway communities to use heritage to build pride in place and power regeneration.
Invaluable feedback from sector experts
Cllr Vince Maple, Leader of Medway Council, said: “It was fantastic to welcome the Historic Places Panel to Medway. It was a chance not only to show off just some of the amazing sites we have here, but also to get invaluable feedback from sector experts on what other opportunities for regeneration in Medway there are. I would like to thank both our local partners for giving their time to support the visit and the panel for coming to Medway, and eagerly await their report being published later this year.”
Better understand the opportunities and challenges
Tom Foxall, Regional Director for Historic England in the region, said: “Our visit to Medway has given us an opportunity to better understand the opportunities and challenges facing its local communities, and how Historic England can help them.
“We are grateful to Medway Council for inviting the panel to visit. We were especially impressed with the energy and determination of the local community, as demonstrated in our visits to numerous historic sites from Gillingham High Street to St Margaret’s Church in Rainham. We look forward to sharing our ideas and recommendations with the council and local people.”
Medway’s appeal as a place is evident
Ben Derbyshire, Chair of the Historic Places Panel, said: “Medway’s appeal as a place is evident, but we were keen to dig down and look at how the area can better capitalise on its rich heritage. A key area of discussion was how Medway can build on the amazing, rich diversity of grass roots cultural and heritage activity to support a yet more resilient network of self-sustaining community organisations."
Following the two-day visit, the Historic Places Panel will prepare a report of their findings which will be published later in the year.