By: Kent Thameside Delivery Board To

By: Kent Thameside Delivery Board To: Environment & Regeneration Policy Overview Committee – 20 April 2007 Subject: Kent Thameside ___________________________________________________________________ Kent Thameside 1. Kent Thameside is the urban part of the boroughs of Dartford and Gravesham, north of the A2 trunk road. 2. It is one of nine priority areas identified within the Government’s Thames Gateway development areas stretching from London to the sea. 3. Public and private sectors began to co-operate on the future development of the area in the early 1990s, when it was clear that major quarrying and cement manufacturing activity was likely to come to an end, and when the Channel Tunnel Rail Link was planned to come through the area. The initial Kent Thameside Association gave way, in 2003, to the Kent Thameside Delivery Board, a public private partnership based around the three local authorities: Kent, Dartford, and Gravesham; major private companies (Channel Tunnel Rail Link, Land Securities, and Countryside Properties); and central government agencies, including SEEDA and English Partnerships. The Delivery Board is supported in its work by Kent County Council as the accountable body. A delivery executive of 10 people supports the Board in its work. 4. The Board agreed its Regeneration Framework in 2005, with a mission statement as follows: “To create a distinctive and vibrant destination of choice through the development of successful communities which capitalise on the rich heritage of Dartford, Gravesham, and the river Thames.” 5. The Government has been working on a strategic plan for Thames Gateway as a whole, and in November 2006 published the Thames Gateway Interim Plan. This identified four major projects in the Gateway as having the potential to transform the region’s economy. The four projects are: • The completion of Canary Wharf. • Stratford and the Olympics • The development of the Port, both at Shellhaven in Essex, and around Sheppey. • The new business centre at the Ebbsfleet Valley. 6. Over the period to 2026, 25,000 new homes, and 50,000 jobs, are planned for the Kent Thameside area. At the same time, major investment is planned in open space and leisure (“the Green Grid”). Community facilities – schools, health, etc. – are to be provided on the major developments by means of section 106 agreements. 7. Within the area there are three main focuses for development: • The Ebbsfleet Valley – new settlement of 10,000 homes and five million square feet of commercial development, around the new Ebbsfleet Station. • The historic town centres of Dartford and Gravesham. • Waterfront sites. The Crest Nicholson development at Ingress Park is now substantially complete, and SEEDA are planning a major development at Northfleet Embankment. 8. Work on the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (“High Speed 1”) is now complete. The track and the Ebbsfleet Station have been handed over. Channel Tunnel trains start running in November 2007, with the first train at Ebbsfleet planned for November 19 th . This service will be followed in 2009 by the Kent domestic service, which will provide a 17 minute connection to St Pancras, with services radiating out from Ebbsfleet to Ashford, Gravesend, and the Medway towns. 9. From the beginning of plans for the development, in the 1990s, it was accepted that Kent Thameside would be a Public Transport Oriented Development. After early discussions about a possible tram network, what is now being implemented is a state of the art rapid transit system, using modern bus vehicles, running where practical on separate carriage ways, provided either by public investment, or by developer contribution. This system, Fastrack, began operating in March 2006. The first route has now been running for a year, and from the start passenger numbers have been ahead of forecasts, and the service has attracted an enviable reputation for customer satisfaction and reliability. The second Fastrack route begins operation in the summer of 2007, with a stretch of track running, across the Bridge development in Dartford, and on to Crossways and Ebbsfleet. 10. Development on the major site at Eastern Quarry, adjacent to Ebbsfleet Station, has been delayed for two years, as a result of concerns expressed by the Highways Agency about the adequacy of the transport network. Although the A2 is now being widened to four lanes in each direction, the Highways Agency have voiced concern that this investment will only be sufficient to cope with the increase in background traffic, and not with the extra traffic generated by Eastern Quarry. For the last year the Local Authorities and the Highways Agency, have been in detailed discussions about a package of transport measures to ameliorate the situation. Using investment in public transport, demand management and some investment in the road network. It is proposed that this investment should be by public and private sectors, and that the private sector contribution should be mobilised by means of a tariff, or charge per dwelling. Discussions with Government on their contribution, and on the finalisation of these arrangements, are ongoing. Michael Ward 19 March 2007 .

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