The development of Council plans to regenerate Rochester and Chatham centre and riverside move on.
On Wednesday in a huge vote of confidence for an increasingly effective and successful Conservative administration the government announced £56 million of money for Medway.
The strength of the Conservative case for investment in Medway was reflected in the size of the award, and the diversity of projects on which the money is to be spent.
There is money to unlock the Rochester Riverside development that has been stalled due to lack of funds. There will be money to develop further the universities at Medway.
There is £10 million to start the urgently needed improvements to Chatham town centre. There is also money to work through the regional park plans that form part of the Thames Gateway.
Overall a good day for Medway, and a further example of how things can improve under Conservative stewardship.
But before people get too excited about the largesse of the government in dishing out money, we should pause for thought and consider how remorsefully we have been taxed for over half a decade now.
Welcome though this substantial allocation of money is it is actually more about returning some of Medway‘s money to where it belongs—in Medway rather than in the pocket of the Chancellor of the Exchequer!
The only disappointing news was the delay in a decision whether or not to bring the CTRL domestic route to Medway. On the day that the Eurostar set a new UK record of 208 mph, there are still no plans for it to stop off at Medway.
Regeneration will continue in Medway, with a healthy kick-start being provided by this £56 million. But the CTRL link is a vital cog in the wheel, and without it regeneration will be slower and less robust.
Housing allocations remain a key plank of government thinking, and whether we agree with the total numbers or not there can be little doubting that those largely derelict sites such as along the riverside can accommodate a proportion of the demand.
This newspaper has supported the notion of regeneration in Medway for a long time and rightly too, for without a vibrant and lively town centre Medway will continue to underachieve.