One of the fastest growing parts of Kent is asking its residents to have their say over how it should develop in the future.

Medway Council has launched an eight-week public consultation on its Local Plan, which will shape how the area develops in the next 15 years and beyond.

Much of the discussion will be around housing and infrastructure but the blueprint also covers protecting the environment, bolstering employment and aiding wellbeing.

There are currently three broad options for development on the table: option 1 focusing on urban regeneration; option 2 focusing on dispersed growth; and option 3, a blended strategy looking firstly at urban regeneration and brownfield sites but also at some greenfield sites.

The authority now wants the opinions of residents and is hosting 10 public information events across the Towns to outline the plans and give people the chance to ask questions.

Local plans are supposed to last for 15 years, but Medway hasn’t had a new one since the current iteration was agreed in 2003.

In December last year, Michael Gove, then secretary of state for levelling up, housing and communities, called out Medway as one of the worst councils for planning because of its lack of an agreed Local Plan.

The delivery of the blueprint was one of the key priorities for the Labour group when it gained control of the council in the May 2023 local elections.

Now possible designs for the Towns are going to the public for their views, with the final decision and implementation to be done by 2026 at the latest.

Local plans set out development priorities for an area, including which locations should be assigned for building homes to meet the government target of 28,000 new houses by 2041.

However the Local Plan is not just about housing, but also sets out how to manage infrastructure, business areas, as well as historic and cultural sites.

It also looks at ways to boost jobs, education and infrastructure in a sustainable way for the future with the hopes that more people will use public transport instead of their own vehicles.

The council’s portfolio holder for climate change and strategic regeneration, Cllr Simon Curry (Lab) who is heading the local plan process said the “blended” option using a combination of urban and rural land was most favoured, but nothing was “set in stone” until the public had expressed its views.

He said: “This is an exciting moment for Medway, and a chance to improve quality of life for us and future generations.

“The environment we live in has a direct impact on health and wellbeing, and so it’s important we can help improve our environment as best we can.

“We look forward to meeting with as many people as possible at our consultation events around Medway, and hearing everyone’s ideas on how we can build the Medway of the future.”

The consultation runs from today (July 15) to September 8, and the information events will be taking place across the next two months.

The full list of event is:

July 16 at Medway Park, Gillingham, ME7 1HF between 5:30pm and 8:30pm

July 18 at Pentagon Shopping Centre, Chatham, ME4 4HY (at the old Wilko unit) between 11am and 2pm.

July 22 at Halling Community Centre, ME2 1BS from 11am to 2pm,

July 23 at Hundred of Hoo Secondary School (Main Hall), Hoo St Werburgh, ME3 9HH from 5:30pm to 8:30pm

August 6 at Corn Exchange Princes Hall, Rochester, ME1 1LS from 4pm to 7pm

August 8 at St Margarets Church, Rainham, ME8 7JH from 5pm to 8pm

August 13 at St Nicholas Church, Strood, ME2 3HF from 3pm to 6pm

August 29 at Hempstead Valley Shopping Centre, outside M&S, ME7 3PD from 11am to 2pm

September 3 at the Allhallows Village Hall, ME3 9PG from 11am to 2pm,

September 4 at the Darwin Room in Innovation Centre Medway, Chatham, ME5 9FD, between 4pm and 7pm.

More information about the local plan can be found on the council’s website here.

The public consultation will take place between July 15 and September 8 and residents can collect printed versions of the consultation documents at any Medway library, but responses are to be given online.