Medway applies for city status for a fourth time as council looks set to be abolished

Medway Council's main offices at Gun Wharf in Chatham
-Credit:LDRS


A fourth attempt is being made to have a part of Kent recognised as a city – but some question whether it’s what the area really wants.

Medway Council leader Vince Maple announced at a full council meeting last night (January 23) he had written to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to bid for city status. In his letter, the Labour leader argues the Medway Towns share a “intertwined history” and is already “a city in all but name”.

He asks the area be granted the status as part of the upcoming local government reorganisation and devolution changes which will see Medway Council cease to exist. Medway has made three previous bids for city status, in 2000, 2002 and 2012, but all have proven unsuccessful.

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Independent Group councillor Michael Pearce believes residents should be asked if it’s something the public really want.

The granting of city status is usually done to mark significant events such as coronations or jubilees. In the most recent designation of cities in 2022, Doncaster, Chelmsford and Southend-on-Sea were among those granted the honour.

In the letter Cllr Maple added: “Whilst reorganisation will present a much bigger change to the many district and borough authorities across Kent, it will not represent such a significant loss of identity.

“Regardless of reorganisation, the town of Maidstone will still be Maidstone, Dover will still be Dover, and Dartford will still be Dartford.

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“We have long believed the collective Medway Towns have a strongly intertwined history and have come to function together, particularly since the creation of Medway Council, as a city in all but name.

“A visitor to Medway could wake up in a hotel in Rainham, visit the Historic Dockyard in Chatham in the morning, watch Gillingham FC play a match in the afternoon, before listening to Evensong at Rochester Cathedral and going for an evening meal in Strood and be completely unaware they have moved between our five towns.”

Cllr Maple added the designation would be “a fitting end” to Medway Council as it is to be abolished following the reorganisation of Kent’s councils into three or four unitary authorities in 2028.

Speaking at the meeting he said: “I hope government look at this favourably – there is no process, no competition and, for the avoidance of doubt, the cost of this bid was me pressing send on an email. Whatever happens next with devolution, I think now is the time to put Medway on the map once and for all. Medway the city.”

However, support for a city-status application was not unanimous. Independent Group councillor Michael Pearce believes the public should be asked if they want it.

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He said: “I know this is going to be a big ask, and it will be an incredible feat if it happens, but I think what this council should actually ask the people of the Medway Towns is if they want to have city status.

“Possibly, they might want Rochester city status, we lost it – well, we didn’t lose it, it was cancelled on purpose by the out-going Rochester Labour council.

“Could we please have some democratic input, which is important because it’s about an identity which is going to be imposed upon the people in our borough, can we please ask residents if they want this status.”

Rochester was first designated as a city in 1211 by King Henry III and retained the status despite local government changes in the 1970s and 1980s.

However, during the creation of Medway Council in 1998, the government required charter trustees to be appointed in order for the city status to be retained.

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In 2002, the City of Rochester Society noticed Rochester was missing from the register of cities and it was believed the lapsed status had been the result of a mistake.

However at a Medway Council meeting in 2004 to discuss an eventually unsuccessful bid to regain the city status it was suggested there had been a choice not to appoint the trustees.

Cllr Maple dismissed the suggestion of a vote on the topic of Medway city status, saying a referendum would cost the authority a quarter of a million pounds which would have to come from making cuts to services.

City status primarily constitutes a formal recognition of local pride, but some have suggested the designation also boosts the profile of an area and makes it more attractive for inward investment from businesses and tourism.

Cllr Maple sent his letter to Baroness Sharon Taylor of Stevenage, the parliamentary under-secretary of state at the Ministry of Housing on January 9, who will consider whether to grant the city status plea.