Member News
By Rehman Chishti MP - 17th March 2011
Writing ahead of his adjournment debate, Rehman Chishti MP says Medway is "a city in all but name - a place with a rich heritage and undoubtedly a great future".
I grew up in Medway and it's a fantastic place to live with a rich heritage, innovative enterprise, sporting excellence, festivals, concerts, exhibitions and a strong community.
Medway consists of the towns of Chatham, Gillingham, Rainham, Rochester and Strood, as well as rural areas including the internationally renowned Hoo Peninsula. All these places are interwoven by one aspect – the River Medway, a place that, over the centuries, has been the setting for an awe-inspiring history.
Rochester Castle, built in the 13th century for the then Archbishop of Canterbury, is one of the finest examples of a Norman keep anywhere in the country. It is England's second oldest, built in the 7th century. Moving along the river there is Upnor Castle - an Elizabethan fort built to defend naval ships from coming under attack by the Dutch.
There is also, of course, the naval dockyard itself – a place that has provided men and arms during the age of sail, steam and more recent times. For example, Admiral Nelson's flagship HMS Victory was built there and the old sea dog himself lived there.
The Chatham naval dockyard used to be one of three royal naval dockyards in England, with the others being at Portsmouth and Plymouth. Two places that are, you will note, already cities.
In the 1980s Chatham Dockyard closed and tens of thousands of people lost their livelihoods. This was a devastating and bleak time for the whole area – and many people thought Chatham and the wider Medway towns would never recover. But the people of Medway are a resourceful and resilient lot, who – after a period of shock – picked themselves back up.
Since the closure, Medway has been transformed. St Mary's Island and the Chatham Docks have been successfully regenerated and more is to come along the Rochester riverside and in Chatham town centre, where regeneration work continues despite the recession.
We have seen major growth companies starting up in Medway over the last few decades and four universities have also come together in a unique partnership at a shared campus. This caters for more than 10,000 students and the figure is set to grow.
With the new high-speed rail links, its close proximity to the capital and Kent's major ports, it also has fantastic transport connections.
And Medway also offers a diverse range of sporting and cultural events, thanks to its new centre for sporting excellence – Medway Park, an Olympic training ground based in my constituency, and our extolled calendar of activities which include cutting edge art festivals, as well as celebrations of Charles Dickens, who moved to Medway at the age of five and based part of his novel Great Expectations and his unfinished work The Mystery of Edwin Drood there.
In fact I'm told that Medway has more days of free festivals than any other area in the south east outside London.
So I think it is fair to state that Medway is a city in all but name - a place with a rich heritage, which is going places, and undoubtedly has a great future.
Rehman Chishtihas been Conservative MP for Gillingham and Rainham since 2010.
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