Chatham Waters comprises 26 acres of brownfield land, which equates to around 25% of the wider Chatham Docks estate Chatham Docks, including the area now comprising Chatham Waters, is a legacy naval base, which was closed by the government in 1984. Following this, the commercial operation of the docks was established. Part of the wider site became vacant in 2012 and it is on this area that Chatham Waters has come forward.
An element of commercial port use remains to the north, but as a legacy naval base, the dock infrastructure is old and expensive to maintain. Peel L&P refurbished the very old lock gates in 2013, a £7m investment that was funded through securing planning consent for Chatham Waters. This refurbishment secured the remaining dock’s ongoing commercial port operation to 2025.