Issue - meetings

Background:

This report requested Cabinet approval to commence public consultation on the Chatham Centre Design Code.

The report explained that Medway had been awarded £120,000 from the Department for Leveling Up Housing and Communities (DLUHC) in 2022 to produce an exemplar design code and design code process for Chatham Centre.

The Chatham Centre Design Code established a vision and associated design coding to deliver a connected network of distinctive routes and spaces and high-quality, contextual development that would contribute to vibrant and urban streetscapes.

Adoption of the Design Code would help to deliver sustainable, inclusive, and accessible development in Chatham Centre and aimed to diversify the scale of investor and developer engagement.

The draft Chatham Centre Design Code was attached at Appendix 1 to the report. A Diversity Impact Assessment had been undertaken in relation to the Code. This was attached at Appendix 2 to the report.

Reasons:

To allow the public and any other interested parties/stakeholders to review the Design Code in greater detail and provide their feedback for consideration by the project team, in line with statutory requirements for engagement on Supplementary Planning Documents (SPD), as set out in national legislation and the Council’s adopted Statement of Community Involvement.

To allow the project to progress to this important milestone and ensure that the project remained aligned with a programme which would see adoption of the Chatham Centre Design Code in line with the funding grant extended by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC).