Clarification: A news story has appeared on the front page of today’s Medway Messenger with an illustration of a possible design for the future of Mountbatten House in Chatham.
We are just as excited as our colleagues at the Medway Messenger for possible future plans for the building but they’ve got a bit ahead of themselves and we are today issuing a clarification on the current position.
We are still in the process of purchasing the building so it is still very early stages in this project. As we have some very ambitious plans for the building and the future of Chatham we have held a design competition for architects to set out what they would do with the space at Mountbatten House – the building above and surrounding The Pentagon shopping centre.
A winning design has been chosen by the directors of Medway Development Company – our housing development company delivering exciting improvement projects in Chatham town centre but unfortunately, the design printed on the front page of the Medway Messenger on Thursday, 4 June, is not the winning design. It was just one of the many we received and was just showcased on the firm’s website which is where the images in today’s Medway Messenger were taken from.
We’re pleased to announce that Lyall Bills and Young is the winning design company and they are now finalising their design and getting it ready to be submitted for a planning application. We are looking forward to sharing these plans and vision with the people of Medway when the details are a little more finalised. The public will be consulted on the finalised design and have the opportunity to formally share their views as part of the planning process and we anticipate this will be in the autumn.
Chatham has seen huge improvements over the years following investment in the town centre, and we are committed to continuing to help the historic maritime town thrive. The design competition follows our acquisition of The Pentagon shopping centre in 2019. We are also in talks to acquire Mountbatten House to enable us to move forward with our plans to further improve the town centre and provide greater choice and opportunities for our residents. All plans are subject to planning approval.
We are looking forward to sharing the exciting plans
Cllr Howard Doe, Chair of Medway Development Company, said: “This is a very exciting project and we are grateful to all the companies who created a design for the development of Mountbatten House. We believe the mixed use, residential led scheme will further transform the centre of Chatham. Medway Development Company will be working with the winning architect to bring forward their design and progress a planning application for the scheme. We are looking forward to sharing the exciting plans for the flagship regeneration project later in the year as part of a public consultation process.”