News Archive

Transport Minister Paul Clark today (Thursday 11th June) visited Kent Thameside to travel on the award-winning Fastrack bus service and view major local development projects.

The Minister travelled on the Fastrack system to Gravesend and Dartford town centres, as well some of the new residential areas in Kent Thameside, including The Bridge, Dartford, and Ingress Park. The Bridge, a joint venture between Dartford Borough Council and ProLogis, is a £500m mixed-use development covering 264 acres which will deliver 1,500 new homes and 1.8 million sq ft of commercial space, including The Nucleus Innovation Centre. Ingress Park is an award-winning Crest Nicholson housing development.

Public consultation on the latest plans for Gravesend town centre's Transport Quarter starts on 13 June and runs until 26 July 2009.

An exhibition of the proposals is being mounted at Towncentric (from 13 - 26 June) and at Civic Centre (from 29 June - 10 July).

Please click here to view Gravesham Borough Council's Transport Quarter page.

House values near the Channel tunnel rail link stations are predicted to rise by a total of £1.6bn after fast domestic services start to operate later this year.

Homes around Ebbsfleet in Kent are set for the largest rise of up to £30,200, or more than 14 per cent of their average current value, according to a study of the economic impact of the rail line, called High Speed 1.

Extending Crossrail trains to North Kent would give regeneration plans in the area a “substantial boost” according to Kevin Lynes, chairman of the Kent Thameside Regeneration Partnership, as Transport Secretary Geoff Hoon visited the area on Tuesday (17th March).

The Secretary of State was visiting Ebbsfleet and Dartford to investigate the viability of Crossrail trains running through north Kent stations.

Bluewater, Europe’s leading shopping and leisure destination, celebrated its 10th Anniversary on March 16th 2009 and to mark the occasion launched a year-long programme of local community events and activities.

Since opening in March 1999, Bluewater has had a very positive impact on employment in the region by creating over 22,000 new jobs. The Learning Shop at Bluewater has helped in this success by finding jobs for 15,000 people, 23% of whom were long-term unemployed. Furthermore, 10,000 received training there, resulting in approximately 8,000 qualifications.

Caxtons' Kent Thameside office in Gravesend has let Bridgeview House, a two-storey office suite on St Mary's Road, Greenhithe, to new tenants Handelsbanken, one of Sweden's largest banks. Branch Manager, Trevor Adams, said Bridgeview House was ideally located in the expanding Thames Gateway region.

The Ebbsfleet Landmark Project announced that Mark Wallinger’s white horse has been chosen as the winner of the competition to find a new world class public sculpture in Ebbsfleet, Kent.

Mark’s proposal is for a 50 metre high white horse, standing on all four hooves at 33 times life-size. Sited to stand prominently at Springhead Park, the horse will overlook Ebbsfleet Valley, Ebbsfleet International station and be adjacent to the busy A2 trunk road. The sculpture will be seen by up to 60 million people per year.

Ambitious plans to transform education in Kent got the green light today (27 October) following financial and contractual agreement on the first phase of the county’s Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme.

Shorne Woods Country Park has benefited from a 16.8km extension to its trail network and the park celebrated with a free Discovery Weekend of walks, rides and nature activities for all visitors.

Paul Williams, formerly Deputy Chief Executive, has extensive experience in the Thames Gateway and of partnership working across the public and private sectors. As Acting Chief Executive, Paul will work closely with the Dartford and Gravesham Borough Councils, Kent County Council and other lead agencies in the delivery of Kent Thameside’s regeneration.

Government Minister Caroline Flint, Housing Minister for the Department for Communities and Local Government, has visited some of the Thames Gateway’s flagship regeneration sites as part of a tour of Kent Thameside and Medway.

Michael Ward, Chief Executive of the Kent Thameside Delivery Board, welcomed the minister to her first visit to Kent Thameside and the Thames Gateway since taking up her post in which she is expected to provide stronger and more visible leadership for housing in the area. On this tour, Ward, the Leaders of the both Dartford and Gravesham Borough Councils, and other key partners took the minister to view some of the key projects that stand to benefit from the area’s regeneration plans.

Five major artists – Daniel Buren, Richard Deacon, Christopher Le Brun, Mark Wallinger and Rachel Whiteread – are in contention to create the £2 million Ebbsfleet Landmark, the most significant public art commission since Antony Gormley’s ‘Angel of the North’ ten years ago.

In a move that will create many new job and training opportunities for local people, a branch of the Learning Shop has been launched at The Bridge development in Dartford. A partnership between Employ Kent Thameside, North West Kent College, Jobcentre Plus and Start International, the Learning Shop@The Bridge will help local people and companies benefit from the many new opportunities arising from the regeneration of the area.

Based at The Nucleus Innovation Centre, the Learning Shop@The Bridge can provide free recruitment services and help companies to identify funded training programmes. Similarly, it can provide training, mentoring and funding advice for local entrepreneurs or it can put them in touch with business advisers provided by Business Link.