Medway & district · Local news you can trust
Every private let in seven Medway wards will need a council licence from 4 January 2027, at £840 a home or £1,600 an HMO. The wards, the rules and the fees.
Read the full story
Christmas
Chatham Dockyard Christmas 2026: Mission Christmas Prices
Mission Christmas tickets went on sale on 25 September: £17.50 adult, £25 child with a present. The rest of the Dockyard shuts from 16 November until February.
Rochester
Rochester High Street Patrol: 26 Searched, 2 Arrested
Kent Police swabbed drinkers for drugs as a condition of entry on Rochester High Street on 18 September: 26 people searched, 4 possession notices and 2 wanted men arrested.
Rochester
Clive Road Rochester Children's Home Refused, 27 Objected
Medway Council has refused a three-child children's home at 9 Clive Road, Rochester. The 112 sqm terrace is 8 sqm under the size test and staff traffic would harm a cul-de-sac with no turning space. An appeal is open for six months.
Chatham
Two New Chatham Nurseries Pass First Ofsted Inspections
Play A Way on Jenkins Dale scored Strong in all six areas and Marina Montessori at Chatham Maritime met the standard everywhere, with safeguarding met at both. What Ofsted found, and what parents should ask.
Medway
Medway Children Feel Safer and Happier: 2025 Survey Results
85% of Medway children now say they are happy with their lives, up from 64% in 2021, and 77% feel safe where they live. What 5,000 responses to the council's survey found, and what still bothers them.
Gillingham
Gillingham HMOs: Councillors Refuse Three in One Night
Medway's planning committee threw out three Gillingham HMO conversions on 26 August, two against officer advice, and one is already at appeal. The six applications and how each went.
House Prices
Medway House Prices July 2026: Up £2,838 to £298,547
July's Land Registry figures put the average Medway home at £298,547, the biggest monthly rise since March 2025. Flats are the exception, down 2.1% in a year.
Chatham
Chatham's Great Lines Park: Alcohol and Music Licence Bid
A company incorporated ten months ago wants an alcohol, live music and film licence over Great Lines Heritage Park in Chatham. Comments close on 14 October.
Planning
Chatham Care Home: 60 Beds on Old School Playing Field
A 60-bed care home is proposed on the last parcel of the former St John Fisher school field in Chatham. Comments close on 12 October, with 16 parking spaces.
Medway
Medway Stray Dogs: £82 to Claim Yours, 13th RSPCA Award
Medway kept platinum RSPCA awards for a 13th year. Claiming a seized stray costs £82 plus £35 a day in kennels, and unclaimed dogs go to rescue after 7 days.
Planning
Medway Planning Committee Shrinks and Loses Call-In
Medway's Planning Committee drops to 13 councillors on 31 October, call-in ends and objection counts stop counting. Two people will decide what is heard.
Chatham
Bringing Back Hope Chatham: Free Tickets for 30 September
A free afternoon at St John's in Chatham on 30 September marks a year since the Baton of Hope reached Medway. Tickets are free but must be booked first.
Medway is five towns that grew into one another along a single river, and it takes some knowing. Chatham, Gillingham, Rochester, Strood and Rainham each keep their own high street and their own set of arguments, and out past Wainscott the Hoo peninsula villages have another set again. One council answers for all of it.
That is the reason for this site. A decision taken by Medway Council in Chatham lands very differently in Twydall than it does in Borstal or on St Mary’s Island, and somebody ought to be reading the paperwork and writing down what it says. We go through the planning register, the crime figures, the licensing notices and the council’s own reports, and we publish what is in them with a link back to the original every time. The rest of our week goes on the pages you need on an ordinary Tuesday morning.
None of it is guesswork. Every figure carries a link to the document it came from, so you can go and read that document yourself.