Live the Island Dream Welcome
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LIVE THE ISLAND DREAM WELCOME TO Tranquil. Green. Home. Azure at St. Mary’s Island offers an idyllic blueprint for a simply wonderful quality of life. This new collection of beautifully appointed homes is the newest addition to a growing riverside community, where tranquillity and natural charm are always in abundance. 3 AZURE-CHATHAM.CO.UK ESCAPE THE HUSTLE AND BUSTLE AT AZURE RELAX AND UNWIND RELAX AS BOATS PASS YOU BY... The frenetic modern world can seem a million miles You’ll find carefully selected art pieces enhancing away when you’re at home on St. Mary’s Island. the streetscape, while children are encouraged to get This new community has been intelligently designed active at any number of outdoor play areas. Of course, to promote a healthy way of life, from the footpaths you can simply sit on the banks of the River Medway and cycleways linking local amenities to the 20 acres and watch the boats go by when the mood takes you. of landscaped open space all around you. 4 THE MARINA, ST. MARY’S ISLAND 5 AZURE-CHATHAM.CO.UK ARTIST’S IMPRESSION OF AZURE IDYLLIC LIVING AT AZURE Meanwhile, just across the bridge at Chatham Maritime is a whole host of shopping and leisure amenities. There’s the Dockside Outlet Centre, which boasts 80 shops including Marks & Spencer, Clarks, Benetton and Thorntons. Formerly a boilerhouse to the dockyard, the mall also features a food court, the popular Dickens World venue and OUR VISION FOR THE a multi-screen cinema. You can also stop for a drink or a bite to eat in the FUTURE AT AZURE ARTIST’S IMPRESSION OF AZURE unique surroundings of the 19th century Ship and Trades pub, which once housed dockyard offices and an engineering shop. The pub also has rooms for when you are welcoming Life on St. Mary’s Island harks back to a simpler time, visitors from out of town. when many of us enjoyed a real sense of community. Leaf through your local magazine, the Maritime The area is part of a planned new fast train service Messenger, to find out about news and events from to London, offering journeys from Ebbsfleet to Kings Cross your neighbourhood. Enjoy a range of activities at your in just 20 minutes. community centre, with choices including kickboxing, sea scouting and photography. Stroll to your local THE MARINA, ST. MARY’S ISLAND supermarket to pick up the essentials and pass Train times taken from nationalrail.co.uk the time of day with your neighbours. At Azure, you’ll benefit from a doctor’s surgery and a pharmacy within walking distance of home. You’ll find that both the surgery and the community centre embrace the green ethos of the island by utilising renewable energy. ARTIST’S IMPRESSION OF AZURE Computer generated images are planning artist’s impressions of Azure ARTIST’S IMPRESSION OF AZURE and are subject to change. 6 7 AZURE-CHATHAM.CO.UK THE HISTORY OF ST. MARY’S ISLAND THE HISTORY OF ST. MARY’S ISLAND THE BEGINNING AN INTERESTING PAST AND AN EXCITING FUTURE The Romans found good use for the Island, even though St. Mary’s Island was created from a series of marshy inlets With this in mind, the new homes on the island have been it was little more than a marshy swamp criss-crossed in the late 1800s, when the neighbouring Old Naval Dockyard constructed to ensure the lowest possible impact on by tidal channels. They constructed a road underwent a large-scale expansion. The regeneration the environment. Highly efficient boilers ensure low energy and established a ferry route from the Island to the of the area included the creation of the dock basins which use and low emissions, while insulation levels are high to Hoo Peninsula. The ferry – incongruously named now separate the island from the mainland. keep heating costs down, with all materials free of CFCs. Prince’s Bridge on early maps – remained in constant Low energy light fittings are incorporated, with A-rated use right up to the final years of the last century. The dockyard enjoyed an illustrious history of shipbuilding electrical appliances used where possible. and repair for the Royal Navy over four centuries, with more than 400 ships built there including Nelson’s flagship Most new homes on the island come with water saving Victory. The last work at the dockyard was carried out in 1984, features such as dual flush WCs, efficient spray taps and and several of the industrial, administrative and domestic water butts in the gardens to recycle rainwater. buildings have been carefully preserved since then. The quality of the homes has been recognised with a range Today, St. Mary’s Island remains a part of Chatham Maritime, of accolades, including the RICS Property Management Awards whose development has been overseen most recently by the and the Daily Mail UK Property Awards. homes and communities agency (HCA). It’s one of the largest regeneration schemes in Europe, with plans in place to ensure its future is just as productive as its past. UPNOR CASTLE HISTORIC SHIPS, ST. MARY’S ISLAND 8 9 AZURE-CHATHAM.CO.UK THE HISTORY OF ST. MARY’S ISLAND CONVICT THE HULKS BASINS From the time of the Napoleonic wars to the end of the At the height of Victorian England, thousands of convicts reign of Queen Victoria, the ox-bow reaches of the river were used to dig out St. Mary’s Creek and construct, in its off St. Mary’s Island were used to accommodate line upon place, Basins One, Two and Three. The spoil was used to line of hulked ships. These decommissioned naval vessels create St. Mary’s Island. Completed in the 1870s, the three accommodated incarcerated hardened criminals Basins were used by Chatham Dockyard and warships of the and prisoners of war. Royal Navy for almost 100 years. It was closed in March 1984 by the Ministry of Defence with the loss of around 7,000 jobs and left a legacy of contamination that required extensive remediation before housebuilding could even start. THE MARINA, ST. MARY’S ISLAND THE HISTORY OF ST. MARY’S ISLAND REDEVELOPMENT HISTORIC SHIPS, ST. MARY’S ISLAND In the mid 1990’s, the Government announced an The HCA is responsible for the redevelopment of the international competition to create a masterplan remaining 200 acres known as Chatham Maritime, for the regeneration of St. Mary’s Island, a part of providing business, retail and leisure facilities to the the former dockyard. Of the masterplans submitted, wider community. Many of the original buildings have Countryside’s was the most visionary and they were been retained; some sensitively converted for modern chosen by English Partnerships to undertake the use and others retained as historical features. 150-acre residential redevelopment of the Island. These include the Ship & Trades building, which has A joint venture was formed between Countryside been converted into a bar, restaurant and hotel, and English Partnerships, before their interest was Pump House No 5, and the Police House. The former passed to the South East England Development Drill Hall has been converted into a Learning Agency (SEEDA) and now on to the Resource Centre for the University campus. Homes & Communities Agency (HCA). VIEW OF ESTUARY, ST. MARY’S ISLAND 10 11 AZURE-CHATHAM.CO.UK INTUITIVE DESIGN AND ATTENTION TO DETAIL A MARITIME MASTERPLAN The creation of a new community needs painstaking The homes at Azure nestle on the banks of the tranquil attention to detail, with intuitive design and careful River Medway, amongst beautiful mature trees and construction, ensuring that future residents will shrubs, with each property benefiting from its own garden enjoy the best in modern living. Countryside Maritime and parking space. The cleverly designed masterplan has done just that with Azure at St. Mary’s Island. ensures that the homes offer privacy at the same time as being an integral part of the neighbourhood. 12 AERIAL VIEW OF ST. MARY’S ISLAND 13 AZURE-CHATHAM.CO.UK AMENITIES AND ATTRACTIONS VENTURE OUT NEARBY TREASURES 01 02 03 St. Mary’s Island St. Mary’s Island The Ship and Trades Church of England Community Centre Maritime Way, Chatham, Primary School Island Way West, St. Mary’s Island, Kent ME4 3ER Island Way West, St. Mary’s Island, Chatham Maritime, Chatham, A stylish pub/bar, restaurant Chatham Maritime, Chatham, Kent ME4 3EP and hotel is situated in the heart of the marina. 09 RIVERSIDE WALK Kent ME4 3ST The community centre is a A local primary school is located modern building which brings the A comfortable place for everyone to 2 minutes away by car which offers community together inviting local relax and enjoy the history of 08 DOCTOR’S SURGERY great educational services ideal for residents and visitors to join in with the island. growing families who wish to school many activities and social events. their children close to home. 01PRIMARY SCHOOL 02 COMMUNITY CENTRE 04 05 06 The Co-op Dockside Outlet Chatham Marina Maritime Way, Chatham, Centre Maritime Marina, The Lock Kent ME4 3ER Management Suite, Maritime Way, Building, Leviathan Way, Medway, Chatham, A convenient place to get your Chatham, Kent ME4 3ED Kent ME4 4LP essentials and enjoy the atmosphere The Dockside Outlet Centre has over of island life. 30 leading retailers. Whilst enjoying a A beautiful waterside location shopping trip you can also stop for a situated on the River Medway, the 06 MARINA Marina is the perfect place to relax ‘SHIP & TRADES’ PUB bite to eat or go to the cinema. 07 ELITE SAILING CLUB 03 and explore the surrounding area.