Welcome | 
Once in a 

Generation

By Robin Cooper, Director of Regeneration, Medway Council

The architect Sir Terry Farrell, whose work features in some of the worldÕs most famous skylines, neatly summed up the massive 
opportunity in Medway.


A
s our newly-appointed Ôdesign championÕ, Sir Terry Farrell was taken on a tour of our key regeneration sites two years ago. 
We told him about the closure in 1984 of ChathamÕs dockyard and Royal Navy base with the loss of thousands of jobs. We told him about the decline of MedwayÕs traditional riverside industries, and more lost jobs. 
And he said:ÒYouÕve lost a lot. But youÕve also gained a once-in-a-generation opportunity. Because the loss of the Navy and river-based industry has released prime waterfront sitesÉit has released the best of MedwayÕs land.Ó 
In his visionary report Five Towns Make a City, he argues that the river that gave us our rich history is now the key to MedwayÕs future. He concludes:ÒMedway has an exceptional geography, a rich heritage, a dynamic creative population and a resurgent economy. These are powerful ingredientsÉÓ 

Indeed they are. And Medway Council and its partners are determined to deliver that once-in-a-generation opportunity that Sir Terry was so quick to see. ItÕs a transformation that will take a generation but we are now well into the Ôdelivery stageÕ of the programme. 
The most dramatic evidence of this is our flagship regeneration site Rochester Riverside with its great views of the River Medway and RochesterÕs famous castle and cathedral. For years a scene of industrial dereliction, Rochester Riverside will become a striking new waterside community of 2,000 homes. Plans include two parks, a primary school and two hotels. A walkway and cycle path has given the first public access to the siteÕs one-mile waterfront for over 100 years. 
Rochester Riverside will set the highest design and sustainability standards for the wider regeneration of Medway, where massive private and public sector investment will produce up to 40,000 jobs and 16,000 new homes in a city of 300,000 people. 


Robin Cooper Director of Regeneration, Community and Culture Medway Council