News Town Centre Strategy for Maidstone
Maidstone Borough Council (MBC) is moving ahead with producing a Town Centre Strategy and its ambitious transformation of the town centre.
The strategy will aim to create a range of new retail, leisure and employment opportunities for the people, communities and businesses in the town centre and across the borough. It will identify a variety of new education, health, and other infrastructure. Importantly, the strategy will also be designed to reinforce Maidstone’s role as the County Town of Kent.
Maidstone Borough Council Leader, Cllr David Burton, said:
"In common with many other town centres throughout the country, the Covid 19 pandemic, changes in retail patterns and the way we use our town centres has impacted on Maidstone. Despite these pressures, our town centre, our businesses and our communities have responded well. But we cannot be complacent, and must ensure that Maidstone is equipped to adapt and prepare itself for the next 30 years.“This strategy will look at the varying demands on retail and how we can support our shops in changing times. It will look at how the Council and key partners can support the people who live and work in the town centre and critically, will be based on creating much needed new investment and jobs, together with new social and economic infrastructure.”
In order to help deliver this, a very experienced and multi-disciplinary consultancy - We Made That - have been secured to deliver the new strategy by the end of 2023.
We Made That have a strong track record in working on projects which seek to maximise wider economic and regeneration benefits as well as social value. This includes a number of flagship town centre strategies in Kent and the south east, including Folkestone, Margate, Colchester, Southend-on-Sea, and Bexleyheath. The team has worked on the development of the Mayor of London’s Town Centre and High Streets Adaptive Strategies guidance, which has provided new perspectives on how town centres can evolve in the future.
Holly Lewis Co-founding Partner of We Made That said:
“Our team is excited to start work on the Maidstone Town Centre Strategy. We will build on past conversations and learn from local perspectives to develop proposals that celebrate Maidstone’s great assets and set a trajectory for a prosperous future”.
David continues:
“Maidstone is the County Town and the business capital of Kent. We will lead on this strategy which reinforces the town centre as the County’s economic and cultural centre and will make it clear that Maidstone is very much open for business.”
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