Tesco, The Brook, Chatham

Tesco, The Brook, Chatham, was a former Tesco superstore in Chatham, Kent, England.

History

In the mid‑20th century the corner of The Brook was filled with small shops and businesses. Local recollections note that a grocer's "Packer building" (red‑brick, two‑storey) shop was at the foot of The Brook. Mackay's of Chatham also operated a factory nearby at Fair Row, but had directive advertising near this specific corner of The Brook. The antiques dealer Francis Iles also opened a store in 1961 at the corner of The Brook, described in one memoir as "a haven for collectors of China", run by a young couple named Audrey and John. These buildings were later demolished for redevelopment. In the late 1970s and early 1980s the entire block was cleared to build the new shopping complex, which was the Tesco site. In March 1982 the modern supermarket and its parking facilities opened. This was a Tesco Superstore, specifically built for the purpose, and designated as Store ID 2254 – a 106,000 sq ft (9,850 m²), two‑storey store with its own rooftop car park – developed at a cost of about £8 million. (Medway Council retained the freehold of the land throughout.) The opening of the store reportedly created over 450 jobs. Amenities included a 155‑seat café, an in‑store bakery, and departments for home and clothing goods. The large brown‑brick building was constructed partly over the historic course of The Brook stream, which had been built over by the late 19th century. A local history site notes that because The Brook had been buried under the site, "the foundations weren't quite up to the job" when the "very big Tesco store" was built, requiring early reinforcement work.

Tesco era and decline (1982–2015)

For over three decades the store anchored Chatham town centre. A connected seven‑storey pay‑and‑display car park (the Market Hall Car Park on Cross Street) opened at the same time (March 1982) to serve the supermarket and surrounding shops. However, from the 2000s onward the Tesco branch began to decline. Shoppers and local media noted that the store had "long needed a revamp" and had been allowed to become "dark and dingy" in appearance. Sections of the sales floor were progressively closed off and used for stock storage. In 2012 Tesco even spent £35,000 on added security (fences and lighting) for the store and multi‑storey car park, suggesting the site had become neglected. By 2015 the branch was widely seen as under performing, and it was listed as one of Tesco's loss‑making stores nationwide. In mid‑January 2015 Tesco announced that the Chatham store would close, with the last trading day set for Easter Saturday, 4 April 2015. The store manager commented that staff were "proud" to have served Chatham but "sad to be leaving". Councillors noted that profits had fallen and expressed doubt another supermarket chain would take over.

At the time, Conservative-run Medway Council, which owned the site, denied rumours that the building was slated for redevelopment into housing. Local customers interviewed outside the store said they were unsurprised by the closure, lamenting that Tesco had "let the branch decline" after years of neglect.

Post‑closure and interim uses (2015–2020)

After Tesco shut in 2015, the site remained largely vacant. The freehold stayed with Medway Council.

In 2016, part of the former superstore unit was let to the outdoors retailer Go Outdoors (a camping and leisure chain), while the other part (originally earmarked for a JD Gyms facility) remained empty. A Go Outdoors branch at The Brook in Chatham opened on 26 March 2016, with actor Ross Kemp [...] the ribbon at a grand opening ceremony. It closed in August 2020. (One report states its closure was linked to failed lease negotiations with the landlord.) With no new tenant, the big retail building stood empty from 2020 onward. The adjacent "Market Hall" building – a large, brown‑brick hall built alongside the Tesco store – was occupied by a HomePlus furniture store during this period, but this too closed by 2024 and was demolished shortly after in 2025.

Community groups and local planners began discussing the site's future. The Arches Chatham Neighbourhood Forum held consultations in 2021, noting that the "freehold of the site" remained owned by Medway Council. A local news site described the town‑centre block as a "purpose-built Tesco superstore that shut in April 2015". In June 2022 the property was listed for sale, with agents highlighting its "significant redevelopment potential". At that time Medway Council still retained the freehold of the entire complex, including the multi‑storey car park. Over 2015–2020, the adjoining car park's usage had collapsed; council figures show that income from the Market Hall car park fell from £97,475 in 2010 to only about £1,042 in 2021, and the car park was closed in 2022 "until the future of the disused superstore… is determined".

Redevelopment proposals (2023–2025)

In October 2022, Medway Council sold the site to developer Arpenteur Nightingale. Arpenteur described the property as a development opportunity comprising three areas: a northern multi-storey car park, a central/southern large retail unit with rooftop parking (the former Tesco/Go Outdoors store), and a northwestern former market hall building. The company held public consultations in early 2024, proposing a residential-led scheme. Initial plans envisaged roughly 335–355 new apartments of one to three bedrooms in buildings of 6–12 storeys, with ground-floor commercial space and a new public plaza. As part of these plans, Arpenteur proposed re-opening the closed multi-storey car park for use by residents and the public. In December 2024, RLT Engineering Consultants Ltd was appointed by Arpenteur Nightingale to conduct a flood risk assessment and develop a drainage strategy for the former Market Hall building in support of a detailed planning application for a mixed-use development on the former Tesco site.

By December 2024 a full planning application (ref. MC/24/2495) for 319 flats on the 1.11 ha site had been submitted (under Arpenteur Nightingale's name). Demolition of the old Tesco/Go Outdoors building and the adjacent Market Hall began in February–March 2025 to clear the way. Media reports and the BBC noted that the new development (if approved) would include 133 one‑bed, 175 two‑bed, five three‑bed, and six studio flats across five blocks of five to seven storeys. Medway Council's planning committee was due to consider the application in June 2025. Planning officers recommended approval, but local residents and the Arches Forum raised objections about the scheme's height, massing, and lack of on-site parking. (The plans rely on the reopened car park for resident parking.)

On 5 June 2025, Medway Council approved plans to build 319 flats on the former Tesco and Go Outdoors site in The Brook, Chatham, aiming to boost investment and regenerate the town centre.