Housing plans for the Civic Centre site in Strood have been submitted.

The planning application features 195 homes, of which 25% will be affordable.

The homes include 61 houses and 134 flats, which will be provided in buildings ranging in height from one to four storeys.

Parking spaces for 121 cars and 256 bicycles would be created, plus two car club spaces.

A riverside café, ‘live/work’ unit and a replacement building for the existing ambulance rest station are also proposed.

The plans include improvements to the river walk and a new public open space with a children’s play area, offering views of Rochester Castle.

Housing firm Medway Development Company (MDC), owned by Medway Council, is delivering the scheme.

The site has been empty since the former Civic Centre was demolished in 2010, after the council moved its offices to Gun Wharf in Chatham.

In 2019 the site was put on the market for development, but council officers ended the search for a developer two years later due to financial constraints.

The council was awarded £1.7 million in government funding last October for infrastructure works on the site, including a new access road, drainage and diversions to underground utilities.

New flood defences have already been installed in 2019, financed by £3.5 million from the Local Growth Fund.

A decision on the planning application is due by Friday, 21 June.

If approved, construction work could begin in early 2025.

View the planning application and submit comments on Medway Council’s Planning Portal here.