|
This newsletter will provide regular updates on the work taking place to make Gillingham a better place to live, work, learn and visit for years to come.
In our first edition of 2026, we cover the following updates:
- Gillingham Taskforce
- Reducing litter on the high street
- Follow us on Facebook
- Christmas tree lights
- An update from the chair of Gillingham Town Centre Taskforce, Naushabah Khan
- Gillingham Town Centre Action Plan
- Tackling anti-social behaviour
- Medway Local Plan
- Tennis at The Strand
- Historic England Places Panel visit
- New fitness studio at Medway Park
- New homes
Stay up-to-date on the latest Love Gillingham news via our website
Got a question? Email futuregillingham@medway.gov.uk
Our Gillingham Town Centre Taskforce is led by MP for Gillingham and Rainham, Naushabah Khan. The Taskforce is made up of teams across the council, including members of Medway Council's Cabinet, including Cllr Harinder Mahil, Portfolio Holder for Economic and Social Regeneration Inward Investment, Cllr Louwella Prenter, Portfolio Holder for Housing and Homelessness, and Cllr Adam Price, Portfolio Holder for Children's Services,. The Taskforce is also made up of officers from Kent Police, with the aim to make the town centre a better place to live, work, learn and visit.
The Taskforce made great strides in 2025. Some of the highlights included:
- The publication of our Gillingham Town Centre Vision and Action Plan online
- Appointing a community group of volunteers who will help to drive improvements to the town centre
- Running the 2nd annual Big Day Out event, which attracted over 3500 visitors to the High Street
- Our enforcement officers have been ensuring that littering is caught and punished: Read on for more details below...
The Gillingham Taskforce is determined to reduce the litter on the high street. Through our enforcement officers, we've taken major action over the last year to catch culprits and reduce the amount of incidents of littering on our high street.
Cigarette butt waste is the most common form of littering on Gillingham High Street. Around 95% of all fixed penalty notices (FPNs) are handed out for litter offences.
Thanks to the efforts of the Taskforce, we have seen a significant reduction in the high street with only 37 fixed penalty notice (FPNs) given out over the summer (July – September 2025). We have also seen a 24% reduction of waste-related reports in the high street from the general public in comparison to the year prior to August 24.
Gillingham High Street now receives a morning clean and litter bin emptying throughout Monday-Friday until 4pm, while a weekend crew clean the high street on Saturday & Sunday mornings.
The Taskforce will continue to work with residents and local businesses to make our high street clean and tidy throughout all times of the year.
Report a litter issue here
We have nearly 300 followers to the Love Gillingham Facebook page.
With lots of exciting news to come this year, follow the Love Gillingham Facebook page to get the latest community updates
Follow here
Gillingham High Street's Christmas Lights switch-on took place on Friday, 28 November.
This year's event saw the return of the popular Christmas Window Display competition. With a resounding 139 votes, Crops & Bobbers Hairdressers were crowned the winners of this year's competition. Thank you to the many businesses that took part and helped make the high street look fantastically festive.
We also saw the Salvation Army Christmas Carol concert which saw the band perform several classics to help get everyone in the Christmas spirit.
We hope you had a peaceful and happy Christmas break!
I wanted to take some time to reflect on the hard work that has been undertaken over the past year to improve Gillingham Town Centre and ensure that our high street is a place our community can take real pride in.
The Love Gillingham 'Big Day Out’, hosted on Sunday, 20 July, was a resounding success and truly highlighted that when we work together to improve our community, the results are fantastic. Residents enjoyed the broad range of activities on offer, and it was wonderful to see so many of us coming together to celebrate our area. It’s not every day that you get to see wrestling up close on your high street, and even challenge the Leader of the Council to a title fight… watch out next year Vince!
Over the summer, we also launched the Gillingham Town Centre Vision and Action Plan, bringing together local residents, businesses and stakeholders to discuss how we can improve our town centre. This strategic plan provides a clear vision for the transformation of the town centre in the coming years, and working alongside Medway Council, local businesses and residents, it’s now time to deliver its recommendations.
I’m also pleased to say that our no-nonsense approach to tackling littering and waste disposal on the high street is delivering real results. But we know there is much more to do. Looking forward, we have plans to uplift our high street with new artistic elements, including the creation of various community murals inspired by local residents and organisations (more to be announced on this over the coming months). We will also be exploring new methods to tackle issues with parking, as well as antisocial behaviour, which have been requested as key areas of focus as we look to improve our town centre.
As always, if you have any suggestions or ideas about our high street and the work of the Gillingham Taskforce, please get in touch with my office by emailing naushabah.khan.mp@parliament.uk
Best wishes,
Naushabah Khan
MP for Gillingham and Rainham
In 2024, Medway Council commissioned a consultant team to lead a co-creation project to shape a vision and action plan to improve Gillingham town centre and make It a better place to live, work, learn and visit.
The Action Plan was published in July. Following a summer consultation on the plan, we are now working with our Community Panel members and Medway Council officers on how we deliver the recommendations set-out in the plan.
In December, we ran an engagement workshop, facilitated by consultants BPTW, who were commissioned to build upon their previous work on the community co-created Gillingham Vision & Action Plan. The workshop was held across two sessions, to transform the Vision & Action Plan into a prioritised list of projects that could be delivered.
We will provide more details early this year on the next steps.
View the Action Plan
 |
|
A joint operation with Kent Police has seen a Closure Order placed on a property in Gillingham.
Magistrates granted the order on Tuesday, 9 December on a property in Centenary Gardens, Gillingham following persistent complaints about anti-social behaviour.
"Anti-social behaviour is not acceptable, and we will continue to work closely with our partners to stand up for the majority of Medway’s residents.”
Cllr Louwella Prenter, Portfolio Holder for Housing and Homelessness.
Read more
|
We have now reached the next stage on our way to getting our new Medway Local Plan adopted, outlining Medway’s future growth up to 2041. We have now submitted our Local Plan and supporting documents to the Secretary of State. They will now appoint a Planning Inspectorate to go through an independent examination of the plan this year.
Our Local Plan outlines how Medway will grow over the next 15 years, including housing, businesses, transport and much more, along with the necessary supporting infrastructure.
The Planning Inspectorate will consider any changes that should be made to the plan. We expect to hear back from them with initial comments in early 2026.
We are working towards getting a new Local Plan adopted by the end of 2026, enabling us to ensure Medway will be a better place to live, work, learn and visit for years to come.
Learn more about the work to-date, latest news and next steps to getting our plan approved by the Planning Inspectorate via our online examination hub – www.medway.gov.uk/localplanexamination
Read more
 |
|
Start 2026 with a game of tennis: Enjoy our newly refurbished courts at The Strand
The new courts have been fully refurbished to ensure they can be enjoyed by players of all abilities for years to come.
As well as weekly Barclays Free Park Tennis sessions, the refurbished courts will host Local Tennis Leagues, giving people the opportunity to get involved in friendly and social local competitions.
All courts are available to book via the LTA website. New booking systems and gate access technology means it is now easier to get on court by booking in advance to guarantee availability.
Book now
|
We hosted a team of national experts on the regeneration of historic cities and towns earlier this autumn.
The Historic Places Panel, facilitated by Historic England, was invited by the council to provide advice on Medway’s growth and regeneration.
The Panel visited locations in Gillingham, including Gillingham High Street, The Strand Park and Lido, Sunlight Centre, and Great Lines Navy Memorial, to explore some key heritage sites within the town.
Jane Gibson, a member of the Historic Places Panel, explains more about the purpose of the visit via this video.
The Panel are preparing a report of their findings which will be published shortly.
Read more
 |
|
The brand-new fitness studio is now open. The studio is fitted out with mirrors, new sound system, lighting, air-conditioning and a seated waiting and relaxation area. The new space allows Medway Sport staff to increase capacity for fitness classes.
There are now a range of classes taking place at the studio, which is situated on the first floor of the sports centre, including sessions such as zumba, classic dance aerobics, pilates and yoga.
Discover more at Medway Park Sports Centre
|
Five years ago, Medway Council created Medway Development Company (MDC) to deliver high-quality residential developments that are integrated into our wider regeneration initiatives to make Medway a better place for everyone.
Gillingham Town Centre has also benefitted from an MDC-led regeneration projects during this time: months:
White Road
20 affordable, energy efficient modular homes. Each home features low carbon technologies.
Truro Manor
Our Truro Manor development will provide 44 apartments for affordable rent in Gillingham.
The homes will be available for bidding by eligible households via Kent Home Choice.
Across five storeys, there are 15x one-bed and 29x two-bed flats.The development is part of the HRA’s ongoing commitment to providing more affordable housing in Medway.
|
