New Funding to restore Rochester heritage sites
Historic buildings in Medway are set to be restored following the announcement of five million pounds of funding for historical buildings across the UK.
Transcript
00:00 The old high street between Chatham and Rochester has been home to a host of historic buildings
00:05 for centuries.
00:06 Now new funding being given to Medway Council as a Heritage Development Trust means many
00:11 of these buildings can be restored to their former glory without further financial burdens
00:16 on residents.
00:17 Residents both here in Medway and actually across the South East value the heritage of
00:22 Medway.
00:23 It's well documented.
00:24 People have been visiting Rochester over the last few weekends in part to see some of those
00:28 great historic buildings.
00:30 We want to make sure that with this particular project we bring back something which has
00:34 been derelict for decades and will add real value both to the intra area and of course
00:39 the wider Medway area as well with no cost to taxpayers that funding coming from external
00:44 sources.
00:45 The money will be handled by the Old High Street Intracultural Consortium who hope to
00:49 use the funds to resurrect these buildings as community centres and arts hubs including
00:55 the grey two littered waterworks building known locally as the White Castle.
01:00 They say it's vital to restore these sites and that the waterworks are just the first
01:04 of many.
01:05 We do have our eyes on a few buildings.
01:08 We also have our eyes potentially on a very nice pier that's outside of this building.
01:15 The most important part is that we do things hand in hand with the community and that they're
01:19 really sustainable.
01:20 Heritage to us is part of the fabric of who we are and where we live and our communities
01:25 are the sum total of both the things that have come before, the things that we are now
01:28 and the things that will go forward.
01:30 One of the funding partners behind the project is the Architectural Heritage Fund.
01:35 They say bringing old buildings back for commercial use is the only way to protect them.
01:40 The best way for a building to be protected is to have it in use.
01:44 Sometimes that can mean changes need to take place so adaptations or upgrading buildings
01:51 or modernising buildings, it's important to do that in an appropriate way.
01:56 So understanding the significance of a particular library or a particular shop building is really
02:01 really important.
02:02 But it's really really important that buildings are in use to make sure that income is coming
02:07 in so they can be properly repaired and maintained.
02:10 The Government Arts and Heritage Minister goes even further, saying that projects like
02:15 this weave volumes before bringing attention back to the high street.
02:18 I've been hearing from people who run local businesses, seeing just how important it is
02:22 for the footfall, for them, for the things that they're up to, the new jobs that will
02:25 be created as we breathe life into these old buildings.
02:28 Last time I was in Chatham was to see the docking station, the brilliant new project
02:32 which the Government is funding through the Cultural Development Fund, helping bring exciting
02:36 new jobs from the creative industries here to Medway.
02:39 So this investment is about unlocking opportunity, it's about bringing jobs, it's about bringing
02:44 visitors and tourist income to areas, which is all about sharing the prosperity that we
02:51 can build together.
02:52 The message then here at the Chatham Memorial Synagogue, historic buildings, use them or
02:58 lose them.
02:59 Oliver Leader of the SACS reporting for KMTV.