by Alan Watkins

awatkins@thekmgroup.co.uk

The next stage of The Towns’ regeneration could involve a giant puppet elephant, a massive human doll, and a 50ft spider.

They were suggested by delegates at a top conference at Chatham Maritime on Wednesday as a means of putting Medway on the map.

The Making of Medway looked at taking regeneration of the five towns forward. It was the third such conference in eight years.

Artistic creations like these cost in the region of £1million but have helped create pedestrian areas in other parts of the country, according to creative arts company Artichoke.

A bridge linking Medway with Southend – known as the Lower Thames Crossing – has also been proposed.

The bridge was proposed by Sir Terry Farrell as an iconic structure that could attract worldwide interest. It would link Medway, Cambridge, East Anglia, the north of England and the Channel crossings.

It was his parting shot as Medway’s design champion. Sir Terry is stepping down after five years advising the council and Medway Renaissance on how to transform The Towns.

A bid for city status came from Cllr Rodney Chambers, leader of the council and was endorsed at the end of the day-long conference by the 200 delegates.

If Medway Council succeeds, it would form the crowning achievement in a year of celebrations planned for 2012.

Richard Hicks, assistant tourism director, formally launched the council’s cultural strategy.

He told delegates the council intended to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Dickens, the bicentenary of the Royal Engineers, and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in two years’ time.

He was also very optimistic that Medway would succeed in its bid for the Great Lines to have World Heritage status. It would put Chatham and Gillingham alongside the Taj Mahal and the Great Wall of China as world treasures.

During the day, delegates heard from church leaders, education chiefs, developers and regeneration bosses on what was happening in Medway and what could happen next.

The Very Rev Adrian Newman, Dean of Rochester and a member of the Medway Renaissance Board, said the recession was an opportunity to plan ahead.

Robin Cooper, the regeneration director, said city status made sense and would be a unifying feature of the Five Towns.