BY ED JENNINGS One of the new Labour government's big pledges was to get housebuilding going after years of under-delivery by successive governments caused a housing crisis across the country. This reached a nadir during the previous government when mandatory housing targets for local councils were scrapped, meaning they could decide themselves how many homes to build. Spoiler alert: This does not tend to go well for anyone needing somewhere to live. One part of the plan is to designate some green belt land as grey belt and thus appropriate for development. This would primarily be previously developed land in the green belt and land that doesn’t contribute to any of its aims. In Medway, this isn’t hugely relevant, as we only have very small areas of designated green belt, primarily west of Strood and Cuxton. No one seemed particularly inclined to build on it anyway. Other than winemakers, anyway, but more on that later.

BY ED JENNINGS It feels as if the time to panic about Medway Council’s finances comes earlier every year. After a fairly tense budget-setting process in February, which saw the council gain last-minute approval to use exceptional borrowing powers to keep things ticking over, it’s already time to start worrying about next year. Already, things aren’t looking good. Following this year's first round of Revenue Budget Monitoring, Medway Council is set to overspend by £16.5m, which is quite a large figure. Despite borrowing nearly £15m this year to meet the existing budget gap in Medway, another similar figure has arisen this year. Given Medway’s reserves currently stand at £10m, there is, at the very least, £6m that can’t currently be funded in Medway Council’s budget. So, where have the extra costs come from?

Plans have been submitted to Medway Council to completely redevelop the remaining unused site within Rochester Riverside: The former Acorn Shipyard on the west side of the development. Acorn Shipyard closed in 2017, with its buildings destroyed in a series of fires, leaving the site a barren wasteland today. The owners of the site are proposing to build three residential blocks consisting of 132 flats, a cafe, and a commercial/community building, as well as a new pier. The final item in the plan is the most curious, as it offers a permanent pier mere weeks after Medway Council proposed building a temporary one for Rochester in a nearby location. The proposals even cite the new pier as a potential permanent mooring point for the Medway Queen, currently docked at Gillingham Pier. However, it is unclear whether they have consulted anyone involved with that vessel about a move. Most of the plans are fairly perfunctory. The flats themselves are unremarkable, and the nine-storey height of the main block is likely to raise some eyebrows given its height compared to surrounding developments and waterfront location.