Labour defeated in bid to protect jobs at under threat Chatham Docks by Conservatives on Medway Council
06:00, 25 January 2020
updated: 09:22, 25 January 2020
Hundreds of jobs remain at risk after Conservative councillors refused to back calls to protect businesses at Chatham Docks.
Landowners Peel L&P intends to shut the port down in 2025 and the site has been earmarked by council officers as having redevelopment potential.
But a motion tabled last night called on officers to consider taking steps to "safeguard employment, skills and the local economy".
Cllr Andy Stamp (Lab) asked members for support in requesting officers to think about removing the mixed use designation of the site and making it "solely for employment use".
The port – which contributes an estimated £150 million to the Medway economy – supports 800 skilled employees but the land has been put forward for redevelopment by Peel L&P.
Planning officers have already stated it could be considered suitable for a mixture of homes, leisure and retail if it is included as a formal policy in the new Local Plan.
The draft document is due to be published in the spring ahead of a series of public consultations.
Cllr Stamp said: "It will be a travesty if we were to allow it to be lost.
"The closure of the naval docks hit our towns, we can't let it happen again.
"Chatham Docks' location is unique, it's irreplaceable.
'You will be judged in history if you don't support this motion,' Cllr Andy Stamp (Lab)
"We have a duty to ask officers to protect Chatham Docks and protect local jobs and work."
Cllr Jane Chitty (Con), portfolio holder for planning, economic growth and regulation, warned members the motion should not go ahead saying it would harm the yet-to-be-published draft Medway Local Plan.
"It would be unwise to discuss individual sites without the necessary evidence base," she said.
"Such discussion would prejudice the entire Local Plan."
But the council's chief legal officer, Perry Holmes, confirmed the motion had been carefully considered before the meeting.
Mr Holmes explained it would not prejudice the Local Plan process and that officers would have considered what the motion asked of them.
Cllr Stamp criticised "a lot of scaremongering" in the debate adding councillors would be "judged in history" for rejecting the motion.
The Tory group voted en masse to block the motion despite Conservative MP Kelly Tolhurst lending her support to keep the docks open – something she campaigned for during the General Election along with her Labour opponents, Cllr Stamp, Cllr Teresa Murray and Cllr Vince Maple.
Average salaries for jobs at the port are £28,000 – some £6,000 higher than the Medway average.
'It would be unwise to discuss individual sites without the necessary evidence base,' Cllr Jane Chitty (Con)
Some 65% of workers either cycle or walk to work because they live in Medway and would be forced to drive if port operations moved elsewhere, Cllr Stamp added.
Cllr Murray described the docks as a "modern thriving port" with businesses there looking to grow.
Businesses based there are working on several high-profile projects such as Crossrail, Lower Thames Crossing and the Silvertown tunnel, which will link Greenwich with Silvertown in London docklands.
But bosses say their firms will quit Kent altogether if the docks are shut down.
The land has been earmarked as being "suitable, available and achievable" to be considered for new housing, leisure and retail under the council's Strategic Land Availability Assessment – which assesses whether sites are appropriate for inclusion in the Local Plan.
The council reiterated its support to protect Chatham Docks in 2012 when one of the 75 conditions applied to the Chatham Waters scheme stated developers must repair or replace the lock gates to "aid in the retention of the commercial dock" in accordance with the Medway Local Plan 2003.
