Planning for Medway’s Growth – Medway Council’s Call for Sites

Businesses, site owners and local people have until the end of February to put forward sites to be considered for future development as part of Medway Council’s work on producing a Local Plan.

As part of the process of developing the Local Plan, local authorities are required to consider how their area could evolve and provide enough homes, jobs and infrastructure for the expected growth in population. The Call for Sites is part of this process, inviting landowners and developers to put forward areas of land for potential development, both residential and commercial, that could form part of the site allocations within the plan.

The government expects the council to carry out a comprehensive review of land that may be available for development. Through the Call for Sites, Medway Council is gathering information on potential sites as part of the assessment of land availability to inform the new Local Plan. When finalised and adopted, it will set out how the area will be developed to meet Medway’s growth needs over the coming years (up to 2040).

The Call for Sites is for all land uses, and not just housing, including:

• Employment and commercial
• Waste management
• Mineral supply
• Plots or pitches for gypsies, travellers and travelling show people.

All sites should be capable of delivering 5 or more dwellings or economic development on sites of 0.25 hectares (or 500 square metres of floorspace) and above. Sites for the extraction of sand and gravel (quarries) and landfilling waste are also sought.

The Local Plan is designed to sustain Medway’s economic and environmental future by allocating the use of sites for new housing alongside the growth in employment opportunities. The Plan also sets out how the council will maintain open spaces and parks, as well as historic sites, and provide community services such as schools and healthcare facilities. Councils are also required to achieve all of this while also protecting and enhancing the natural, built and historic environment.

Medway Council Leader, Cllr Alan Jarrett commented: “We hope that further opportunities will become available to be considered for inclusion in the Local Plan, giving us more sites to choose from as the best places for development to support the future growth of Medway.”

Landowners, developers and planning consultants need to submit their sites before midnight on Tuesday, 28 February 2023. This can be done online at medway.gov.uk/callforsites

Once the deadline has passed, the Council’s Planning Team will then assess the potential sites against a range of criteria, such as environmental impacts and access to services, to propose suitable sites for development allocations in the Local Plan.

The council will be publishing further details of the emerging local plan’s options for growth later this year for consultation. The selection of development sites will be finalised and published next year, before submitting the draft plan to a Planning Inspector for independent examination.