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KENT'S historic Medway towns seem an obvious place for Docklands- style waterfront living. Decline set in during the Eighties when the royal dockyard at Chatham shut. Regeneration has been slow to start, but new fast-rail links and ambitious development projects are starting to tempt London commuters, two decades after Eurostar trains first cut a swathe through this region.
Journey times between the capital and north-east Kent have been slashed by HS1, the "high-speed one" domestic service launched last December. This has boosted the property market in key locations along the route, while the wider economic benefits to the region will be more than Pounds 17 billion, according to a study by transport consultancy Colin Buchanan and economic analyst Volterra. With its castle and cathedral, 780 listed buildings and 26 conservation areas, Medway is lobbying for World Heritage status.
Chatham, Rochester and Strood are the main towns and all close to each other. Development ripples are reaching Gillingham, Rainham, Sittingbourne, Gravesend and Maidstone, which have good motorway links.
Chatham is at the centre of the action, with high-rise flats and family houses being built alongside a protected Georgian quarter, a new 300-berth marina and retail complex, plus leisure attractions such as the popular Dickens World.
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St Mary's Island, Chatham Maritime, once part of the naval base, is now a 150-acre eco-friendly estate. Traditional Kentish-style designs are mixed with contemporarystyle architecture -- bold colours, timber cladding, sun decks, steeply pitched roofs. And there are splendid water views. Eventually 5,000 people will live there. Two new phases of homes at Sail Loft and North Shore are launching next month. Prices from Pounds 135,000 for flats and Pounds 200,000 for houses. Call Countryside Properties on 01277 260 000.
At Ebbsfleet Valley, once a centre for cement and paper manufacturing, Land Securities is transforming 1,035 acres into a spot for families, singles and couples, with schools, amenities, offices and plenty of landscaped open space. Because of the industrial legacy, the landscape seems a million miles from the rolling Kent countryside of oast houses and heritage villages depicted in tourist brochures.
About 10,000 new homes are planned, including the UK's first "fibreoptic" residential community -- superfast 100 MB broadband access allowing video downloading and home-office networking. Springhead Park is the first residential scheme off the blocks. New four-bedroom town houses have been launched. Prices from Pounds 215,000. Call 01474 335195.
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