Medway News
The latest Medway news: planning decisions, council and crime updates, business and community stories, each linked back to its official source.
Top story
Chatham Care Home: 60 Beds on Old School Playing Field
A 60-bed care home is proposed on the last parcel of the former St John Fisher school field in Chatham. Comments close on 12 October, with 16 parking spaces.
More stories
Medway
Medway Stray Dogs: £82 to Claim Yours, 13th RSPCA Award
Medway kept platinum RSPCA awards for a 13th year. Claiming a seized stray costs £82 plus £35 a day in kennels, and unclaimed dogs go to rescue after 7 days.
House Prices
Medway House Prices July 2026: Up £2,838 to £298,547
July's Land Registry figures put the average Medway home at £298,547, the biggest monthly rise since March 2025. Flats are the exception, down 2.1% in a year.
Chatham
Chatham's Great Lines Park: Alcohol and Music Licence Bid
A company incorporated ten months ago wants an alcohol, live music and film licence over Great Lines Heritage Park in Chatham. Comments close on 14 October.
Chatham
Bringing Back Hope Chatham: Free Tickets for 30 September
A free afternoon at St John's in Chatham on 30 September marks a year since the Baton of Hope reached Medway. Tickets are free but must be booked first.
Planning
Medway Planning Committee Shrinks and Loses Call-In
Medway's Planning Committee drops to 13 councillors on 31 October, call-in ends and objection counts stop counting. Two people will decide what is heard.
Data
Medway Claimant Count 7,700: All of the Rise Is Young
Medway's claimant count reached 7,700 in August, 4.2% of working-age residents. Every bit of the two-year rise is under-25s, and the 25 to 49 group has shrunk.
Health
Medway Falls Classes Are Free: How to Refer Yourself
A fall costs the NHS £13,325 on average in Medway. The council's 20-week FaME classes are free, 500 people have finished them, and you can refer yourself.
Community
Pride in Medway 2027: Nominate in 9 Categories by January
Nominations for the 25th Pride in Medway Awards are open now and close in January 2027. Nine categories, and an April ceremony at Rochester Corn Exchange.
Chatham
Chatham Facial Recognition: 34,279 Faces, 18 Arrests
Kent Police scanned 34,279 faces in Chatham over two days and made 18 arrests. The force says every camera alert was accurate, and it has published the figures.
Rochester
IPS International Rochester Clears Ofsted in Every Area
Rated requires improvement in 2023, IPS International in Rochester now meets Ofsted's standard in all seven areas, with achievement up from 52% to 65%.
Medway
Ebbsfleet International Trains: Medway Backs the Petition
Ebbsfleet has had no international train since 2020. Medway Council backs the campaign to change that, and the petition stood at 84,298 names on 16 September.
Community
Three Little Words Memoir Launches in Rochester on 18 Sept
Lucy Clifford pushed three words under her mum's door at 10 to disclose abuse. Her memoir of that name is published on Friday and launched in Rochester.
Rochester
Oasis Restore Rochester: Two Ofsted Compliance Notices
Ofsted found restraint used outside the legal criteria at the Rochester secure school and served two compliance notices. The deadline is 20 September.
Schools
Medway Academy Conversion: Four Primaries, 1,529 Pupils
Swingate, Burnt Oak and the two Horsted schools left Medway Council control on 1 September, taking 1,529 pupils into a trust that was registered in June.
Planning
Allhallows Holiday Park: Comments Close 19 September
The deadline to comment on the bid to open Allhallows caravans from 1 February has moved to 19 September. One objection so far, and it came from a Kent charity.
Planning
Cliffe 250 Homes: Decision Deadline Passed, 88 Objections
Medway's deadline on the Cliffe detailed plans passed on 8 September with no decision. 88 objections, none in support, and six pre-start conditions now filed.
Council
Medway Matters Live Strood: Free Tickets, 1 October
Vince Maple and Richard Hicks take residents' questions at Strood Sports Centre on 1 October. It is the first public session since reorganisation was paused.
Community
Medway Creative Health: £400,000, 17 Projects, 5,000 People
Two years of Arts Council money in Medway: 17 projects, 200 sessions, 5,000 people, £90,000 more raised. Public event at Rochester Corn Exchange, 16 September.
Council
Medway Council Abolition Paused: May 2027 Vote Goes Ahead
Kent is one of 14 areas where reorganisation is paused. Next May's election is back to Medway Council's 59 seats, and 1 April 2028 is no longer fixed.
Education
Medway Test: Pass Mark Moves to the 26th Percentile
Medway has quietly widened its 11-plus. The grammar pass mark is now set at the 26th percentile, up from the 25th, with the test on 15 and 16 September.
Food hygiene
Medway Food Hygiene: No Zero Ratings, 21 Score One
Not one of Medway's 2,134 food businesses holds a zero rating. The 21 stuck on a one are mostly corner shops, and every one of them failed on paperwork.
Community
Veterans' Fair: Free Museum Entry in Gillingham, 10 Oct
Medway's first Veterans' Wellbeing Fair is on Saturday 10 October, and it waives the Royal Engineers Museum's £17.50 adult admission from 10am to 2pm.
Twydall
Pride in Place Medway: Apply by 11 Sept to Spend £20m
Three neighbourhood boards will decide how £60m is spent in Medway. Applications close at midnight on Friday 11 September, and the plans go to government in February.
Upnor
Arethusa Centre Upnor: 31 Flats, No Affordable Homes
Officers back replacing the vacant Arethusa Venture Centre at Upnor with 31 flats. A viability report says the scheme works only with no affordable homes at all.
Chatham
Longhill Avenue: 16 Homes Backed on Chatham Chalk Slope
Officers recommend 16 houses beside Samuels Towers on land inside the Great Lines wildlife site, four years after the application. Kent Wildlife Trust still objects.
Council
North Kent Council Paused: Medway Was 55% of It, 81 Seats
Paused on 7 September 2026. The plan: Medway abolished on 1 April 2028 for a three-borough council on 81 seats, against Medway's 59 today.
Schools
Medway School Streets: 14 Roads Back Under ANPR Now
Term started on 1 September, so drop-off restrictions are live again at 14 Medway schools. Cameras issue penalty notices, and food deliveries are not exempt.
Planning
Cliffe 250 Homes: 77 Objections, and the Missing Deeds
77 objections and no letters of support across the three Cliffe applications. A residents' group says two 1940s and 1950s deeds for the sports ground were never filed.
Council
Rodney Chambers OBE: Medway's Longest-Serving Leader Dies
Medway Council's leader from 2000 to 2015 has died. He sat on four councils across five decades, and took an OBE in 2011 for services to local government.
Health
Medway Flu Jabs: Booking Open Now, First Doses 1 September
Booking is open and the first jabs go in on 1 September. Medway's uptake trailed England in all three adult groups last winter, at 73.5 per cent of over-65s.
Transport
Medway Tunnel: £10.5m Bid to Replace Its 1996 Systems
Medway Council wants £9.25m to renew the tunnel's 1996 electrics, ventilation and life-safety systems, adding £1m itself. Decision due this autumn.
Community
Chatham Community Supermarket: £1 Veg Bags, Opens October
A social supermarket opens on the Pentagon's first floor in October: £1 fruit and veg bags, no referral or membership needed, open to any Medway resident.
Planning
Docking Station Chatham: Access Road Plan In, Opens 2027
Chatham's Docking Station has planning consent but no road to it. A bid filed on 19 August would run a 3.1m lane from the Dockyard car park to the front door.
Schools
Medway GCSE Results 2026: Only 7 Schools Gave a Figure
Seven of Medway's 20 secondary schools published a school-wide GCSE figure for 2026, and the council published none. What each one said, and the fair benchmark.
House Prices
Medway House Prices Up 1.1%, Still Below the 2023 Peak
The average Medway home hit £296,182 in June, up 1.1% in a year, but still £6,055 under its January 2023 high. Flats are 7.1% below theirs.
Planning
Allhallows Holiday Park Bids to Open From 1 February
The Allhallows holiday park wants caravans occupied from 1 February, a month earlier than its permission allows. Comments now close on 19 September.
Community
Medway Young Mayor: Vote Closes 31 August, 8 in Running
Medway's first Young Mayor is chosen by 7 to 18 year olds and voting shuts on Monday 31 August. Eight candidates stand; the seven runners-up become deputies.
Schools
Medway Ofsted Report Cards: Howard School Rated Exceptional
Eight Medway schools now have Ofsted's new report cards. The Howard School was rated Exceptional; Wayfield Primary is in special measures.
Data
Medway Claimant Count: 7,670 in July, 7.7% in Chatham
Medway's claimant count rose to 7,670 in July, 4.2% of working-age residents and above England's 4.0%. Ward rates run from 1.5% in Hempstead to 7.7% in Chatham.
Planning
Cliffe 250 Homes: Detailed Plans In, Comment by 28 August
Detailed plans for 250 homes either side of Church Street, Cliffe: 63 affordable, all two-storey, 560 parking spaces, new pitches and pavilion. Comment by 28 August.
Planning
Strood Rede Court: Barratt Plans 360 Homes on Green Belt
Barratt David Wilson wants up to 360 homes on Green Belt farmland north of Strood, with access off Clinton Avenue and Beaufort Road. Comments close 3 September.
Rainham
Rainham Defibrillator and Bleed Kit Planned for High Street
Nationwide has applied to put a 24/7 defibrillator and a bleed control kit by the Cricketers bus stop on Rainham High Street. Comments close 4 September.
Travel
Medway Free Bus Travel for Children Ends 31 August
Children aged 5 to 15 travel free on Arriva, Chalkwell, Nu-Venture, ASD and Kent Country buses across Medway until Monday 31 August. Under-5s already ride free.
Council
Medway Youth Justice Service rated requires improvement
Inspectors scored Medway's Youth Justice Service 6 out of 12: assessing and victim work require improvement, planning and delivery are good.
Recycling
Brita filter recycling now at all three Medway tips
Used Brita water filter cartridges are now accepted at Capstone, Cuxton and Hoath Way recycling centres, after the scheme went live on 7 August.
Parking
Brook car park closes 6 September: where to park in Chatham
Chatham's Brook multi-storey and Solomons Road close at midnight on 6 September. The 12 council car parks left hold 729 bays: here is the full list.
Twydall
Pride in Place Medway: free family days, 15 and 23 August
Free family days in Twydall on 15 August and Rede Common on 23 August, where residents help shape how up to £20m of Pride in Place money is spent.