ArcelorMittal is funding a rival vision for the future of Chatham Docks to that being forward by the landowner.
Peel Land & Property, freeholder of Chatham Docks, plans to close the commercial port in 2025 and develop high-density housing.
The Association of Chatham Docks Commercial Operators says this could mean £258m a year being lost to the Medway economy.
Chatham Docks is the last remaining non-tidal port in operation in the southeast of England and industry in the region wants to save it.
ArcelorMittal Kent Wire, which has a distribution centre in Chatham, has commissioned London architect SPPARC to design a new masterplan for the docks. It is proposing the construction of 100,000 sqm of industrial floorspace.
The proposed SPPARC masterplan includes the creation of a landscaped riverfront route linking St Mary’s Island, an established part of the Chatham Maritime development area in Medway, with Chatham Waters’ shopping centre on the mouth of the peninsula. There would also be new piers to improve the efficiency of the basin and green buffer zones and community spaces next to the old lock gates.
ArcelorMittal chief executive Phil Taylor said: “We’ve enlisted SPPARC to deliver a masterplan for Chatham Docks that will preserve and enhance its legacy and heritage. As a leading employer and job creator, it makes no commercial sense to rip out the heart of the Medway’s local economy.
“Ports in the southeast are already stretched to capacity. As Britain seeks to find new trading partners across the world, it is vital that successful places such as Chatham Docks are supported in policy and planning, and grow sustainably, in a coordinated way, as a critical component of Britain’s goods and manufacturing supply chain.”
SPPARC principal Trevor Morriss said: “Chatham Docks combines everything we value in a project: a historic site with the potential to generate pride of place, protect the existing jobs and create more jobs for the local community, and broader positive outcomes for the UK’s infrastructure.”
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