Medway Council Leader: ‘Medway has managed to move on from a devastating period’

The Leader of Medway Council, Cllr Rodney Chambers, has said that Medway has moved on from the ‘devastating’ blow of the Dockyard closure.

Around 7,000 people were left unemployed from 30th March 1984 when the Conservative government, led by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, took the decision to close the dockyard.

But now, 25 years on, the space vacated by the dockyard has opened up opportunities for housing, three universities, two tourist attractions, a brand new shopping centre and a cinema.

Cllr Chambers said ‘The closure of the Royal Naval Dockyard brought about the loss of thousands of jobs. This was a devastating time for the area. However, this area is tough, resilient and resourceful and it is because of this that Medway has managed to move on from this period.’

However, Cllr Chambers was keen to stress that despite the positive changes made so far, Chatham Maritime, and indeed Medway as a whole, is far from being a completed regeneration project.

‘During the next few years, the whole area will be transformed. We aren?t just 25 years on from the sad and traumatic closure of the dockyard, we?re many miles down the road towards regenerating the whole of Medway.’