How residents in Chatham are pulling their decaying high street out of a crisis

“I walk along here, and I think oh, I’d love that one. And that one. I have a list in my head.” Cerian Eiles is walking up Intra High Street. She’s not daydreaming about buying a home – but restoring derelict buildings. “Just think of what we could put in them.” 

Just off Chatham’s struggling high street, locals are leading their own regeneration. Intra – the historic strip between Chatham and Rochester – was once a thriving hub. But after the naval dockyard closed in 1984, it slid into decline. 

Today, grand Georgian façades sit alongside rows of shuttered shops and decay. 

“So you have Rochester, the jewel of the Dickensian crown,” says Intra Community Trust co-chair Janet Fischer. “And then you hit Star Hill and suddenly traverse into Intra and into Chatham – and there’s some pretty significant deprivation.” 

Formed by residents, the trust grew out of a Medway Council-led High Street Heritage Action Zone (HAZ) backed by Historic England. Though HAZ was time-limited, locals chose to carry it forward. 

“A lot of it’s been about cultural interventions,” says Fischer – festivals, shopfront restoration, art commissions. On VE Day, a local artist painted poppies across windows down the high street. Planters and seating reclaim public space. 

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This kind of work has a real psychological effect, says Prashant Garg, whose recent research explores the impact of declining civic spaces on political inclination. 

“Obviously, to fix declining civic spaces you need longer term interventions,” he says. “But short-term interventions do make a big difference.” 

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People feel change is happening, even with small-scale acts. 

“It’s actually sometimes the cheapest things, but they have the most impact,” adds Fischer. “People need to see a visual benefit and they just feel like it’s getting better.” 

The trust has bold plans: converting a derelict pub into a sober space for teens, acquiring a Baptist church for a community hall, and buying up vacant properties for affordable housing and retail. 

“One of those things we’re looking into is if derelict shops come up for auction, can we mobilise funds? Can we take them over and think about what people actually need?” 

Launched with HAZ funding and backed by Medway Council, the trust now pulls in grants and local fundraising. The group are also looking to become a social landlord, capping rents and reinvesting the profits locally. 

It’s a model built on empowerment, not waiting for rescue. 

“If you stick your head above the parapet around us, you find yourself with a job very quickly,” says Fischer. “Complain, and you’ll probably end up leading the solution.” 

Unlike many regeneration projects that displace locals, this one focuses on “social ownership for social use”.  

It can’t be about ‘gentrification’, says Fischer: “We don’t want everything to be sanitised and gloss. We’re happy with our grit. We’re proud of it.” 

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