We’re thrilled to announce that our forum has been awarded £50,000 from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to shape the future of a key site in Chatham town centre.
The site encompasses the former Go Outdoors superstore, market hall (currently HomePlus Furniture) and multi-storey car park.
The events surrounding the pandemic, combined with Go Outdoors’ closure on-site in 2020, illustrated the need for a reset in our approach to local development. It created a time in space for us to think ‘Is this really what people want or need?’ Compact neighbourhoods where people are no more than 15 minutes away from their day-to-day amenities and access to green space have never been more appreciated.
Using the government funding, our aim is to create a community-led vision and masterplan, called Heart of Chatham, setting out possible ideas for what could replace the site based on local people’s views.
We’re launching an extensive engagement programme this summer, which will see a myriad of workshops, drop-in events and surveys take place to capture the needs and thoughts of various stakeholders.
This process will enable our forum to explore the potential use of a planning tool known as a Neighbourhood Development Order (NDO), which was introduced by the government in 2011.
An NDO can grant outline planning permission for a specific development in a particular area. This could include specified changes of land or building use (e.g. residential, commercial or recreational uses) or certain kinds of alterations.
Social enterprise Create Streets has been appointed by our forum to provide urban planning and design support towards the plan.
