Rochester and Strood (UK Parliament constituency) mixed use developments will include some 3,000 plus new mixed tenure homes, offices and shops, two new hotels, restaurants, river walks and open spaces and links to historic Rochester. The Rochester constituency has ancient origins dating to the 16th century, but it has seen many changes in the 20th century. From 1885–1918 the wider area was split between Chatham, Gillingham and the "old", rural, Medway constituency. The Chatham seat joined Rochester to form Rochester and Chatham in 1950, which formed the core of Medway in 1983. When the boroughs of Rochester upon Medway and Gillingham merged in 1998 to form,
Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburgh Railway R&P; this proved to be a bottleneck, and the company which succeeded the Rochester and Pittsburgh Railroad Company, the Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburgh Railway, built a forty-mile detour, opening it in 1893. While the R&P was expanding on its south side, it also built on the north end. Using the Rochester and Charlotte, the Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburgh, and the Perry Railroad as construction companies, it brought much greater capability to the old RS&L yard at Lincoln Park and extended its line to the coal pier on the Genesee River at Lake Ontario (Charlotte). Succumbing to over-expansion, the R&P went