Innovation Park Medway – Sustainable City of Business

The vision for the Innovation Park Medway site includes Runway Park, which is intended to become the signature open space for the site, offering distinctive character areas which will provide a series of flexible spaces designed to accommodate a range of activities.

Getting Building Fund funding is being sought to enable delivery of one section of the Runway Park. The funding will be used to deliver pavements and footpaths, planting, street furniture and preparatory ground works.

The Runway Park will establish itself as the forum for collaboration, bringing businesses and individuals together in the public realm to foster an innovative spirit. The high-quality open space will be key to attracting investors and retaining skilled staff. Early delivery of Runway Park will enable businesses to interact with the wider community and will add to the marketability of the site.

Award of additional GBF funding

A new GBF prioritised pipeline was established to support projects experiencing cost increases due to the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic and Brexit or due to high inflation levels, or seeking to extend the original project to support further phases of an existing project was agreed by the Strategic Board in October 2022.

The project was included on the new GBF prioritised project and the award of an additional £400,000 GBF was approved by the Accountability Board on 25 November 2022. 

Investment in Innovation Park Medway

The project is part of a wider package of SELEP investment in Innovation Park Medway, totalling £11,446,823.  This funding will:

• enable reconfiguration of Rochester Airport to release the land required for the development of Innovation Park Medway;
• deliver improvements to the airport infrastructure to help safeguard the future of the airport;
• bring forward delivery of enabling infrastructure, including access road, signage and utilities, required to facilitate development of the first section of the northern site of Innovation Park Medway;
• bring forward delivery of enabling works, including access road, shared footpath/cycle route and utilities, required to facilitate development of the southern site of Innovation Park Medway;
• bring forward delivery of enabling infrastructure, including access road/footpath, utility infrastructure and primary/secondary substations as required, on a wider section of the northern site of Innovation Park Medway to allow accelerated development of commercial space;
• bring forward delivery of pavements and footpaths, planting, street furniture and preparatory ground works to enable realisation of the Runway Park.

For further details on the other phases of the wider Innovation Park Medway project please follow the links below: Rochester Airport – Phase 1, Innovation Park Medway – northern site (also known as Rochester Airport – Phase 2), Innovation Park Medway – southern site and Innovation Park Medway – northern site extension (also known as Rochester Airport Phase 3)

£85m of investment to East Sussex, Essex, Kent, Medway, Southend and Thurrock

The Getting Building Fund focuses on projects that can progress quickly and that will stimulate and better integrate economies in some of the most economically impacted and COVID-affected parts of the South East.

£85m of Getting Building Fund investment has been secured, enabling delivery of 45 projects across East Sussex, Essex, Kent, Medway, Southend and Thurrock.

Find out more here