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Borough Wide Local Plan
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Maidstone Labour Group
LABOUR WORKS FOR LOCAL
INVESTMENT AND A THRIVING COMMUNITY
Labour believes in a nation
at work and an economic viability able to sustain long term growth.
Labour Councillors will:
 Implement our policies to create a lively and dynamic town
centre which incorporates a mix of uses, particularly leisure, housing and affordable
housing in the town centre.
Ensure the preservation and encouragement of lively and dynamic
villages which incorporate a mix of uses, including affordable housing.
Work in partnership with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry to
ensure town centre support and a thriving economy.
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Promote tourism in the borough. |
| TOWN CENTRE VISITOR NUMBERS DOUBLE Visitor numbers at the
Maidstone Gatehouse Tourist Information Centre for April, May and June have doubled year
on year since 1996 as have sales of services including accommodation bookings and
souvenirs. The Tourism Development Officer believes that the increase in visitor numbers
(20,475 in 1997, 10,584 in 1996) is not only due to the overall rise in tourists coming
from Europe to Kent but also our enhanced marketing profile and the vastly improved and
enlarged area for the public to browse around since refurbishments were completed last
summer. |
MOTORWAY
TOURIST INFORMATION CENTRE OPEN FOR BUSINESS
Doors opened for business at the new Tourist Information Centre at the Maidstone
Motorway Services on the morning of Monday 28 April.
Business has been brisk with visitor numbers averaging between 2500 and 3000 per week
over the last four weeks. The multilingual skills of the TIC Assistants are much in
demand.
Enquiries range from where to stay in Maidstone and what to see locally to how to get
to some of the remotest parts of the U.K. by car. A surprising number of local people
particularly from the nearby villages are also making use of the Service Area and the
T.I.C. to find information on local events, walks and so on.
Limited Bureau de Change facilities are to be introduced on an agency basis shortly
responding to a very clear demand demonstrates since the centre opened and providing a
useful additional source of funding.
The centre is open daily from 8.30 a.m. until 6.30 p.m. |
Work with Kent Labour MEP's to ensure a fair deal from European
funding for job creation in Maidstone.
Continue to insist that the area bordered by the High Level
Bridge and Tovil on both banks of the river, including existing unsuitable developments,
will be reserved for leisure and housing activities for the people of the Borough.
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Be committed to the preservation and continuation of the traditional
Maidstone Market on its existing lines on the Lockmeadow site. |
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Lockmeadow
Market The new market Hall was officially opened on Monday, 23 June
1997. The opening was attended by Councillors, officers, invited guests representing
regular users of the Market Hall and Directors and personnel of Marylebone Balfour Warwick
and Ballast Wiltshire.
All events and functions previously held in the old Agricultural Hall are continuing to
be held in the new Market Hall.
To accommodate Phase III of the Lockmeadow Development the Tuesday and Saturday
general/retail markets were resited on Tuesday, 20 May 1997. It is the first time that the
entire Tuesday market has been moved since 1920 when the market moved from Fairmeadow to
Lockmeadow to enable expansion.
The free shuttle bus from the Chequers Centre to the Tuesday and Saturday markets,
sponsored by the Health Committee and market traders, commenced service on Tuesday, 17
June 1997. This service picks up and sets down at the Chequers Centre, High Street, the
Cannon and Maidstone West Station between 09.30 am and 13.36 pm.
Support by the general public for the Tuesday and Saturday markets, and all other
events on site continues at an encouraging level. |
Insist that developments must be of high quality and take into
account the particular needs of the elderly, disabled, people with children and young
people; and provide, where appropriate, benefits to the community in the form of a
planning gain.
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Ensure our plans for the revitalisation of the town centre will deter out
of town shopping proposals, which we will continue to resist. |
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Maidstone
Town Centre Management Initiative (Minute 23, Page Dl.42) The Director
of Planning and Development submitted a report to the Committee regarding the position of
the Maidstone Town Centre Management Initiative at the end of its second three year term
and considered options for the future. The Committee expressed the view that the Town
Centre Management Initiative worked reasonably well and one of its main benefits was to
provide a link between the public and private sector. However, it was felt that the
Initiative needed a higher profile to highlight its existence and achievements and that
small businesses should be targeted to become members of the Initiative. The Director of
Planning and Development added that the Federation of Small Businesses was proposing to
become a funding partner for the following three year period.
The Committee expressed concern that the Kent county Council was not to be full funding
partners in the Initiative and it was felt necessary to ask the County Council to
reconsider their position with regard to the Initiative as soon as possible. |
Continue to protect and enhance the countryside and urban open
spaces and amenities. Improve public access by developing a network of green corridors and
open spaces throughout the Borough.
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Encourage high quality training. |
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INVESTOR
IN PEOPLE
In the presence of the Mayor, Tim Thompson of Kent TEC presented the Investor in
People award to the Directorate of Planning and Development and the Directorate of Finance
and Administration on 8 July 1997. This award effectively is the British Standard for
staff development, training and communication and represents the culmination of work which
has built upon the high standards established by the Borough Council over recent years and
has been overseen by a working group comprising staff of all levels and representing all
sections in each of the two Directorates. |
Ensure that all new developments should be in sympathy with the
existing characteristics in both rural and urban areas. We will resist the further
proliferation of eyesores such as the Texas warehouses on the Riverside.
Continue to protect and enhance the communities of Maidstone to
ensure a good supply of job opportunities for small local industries, affordable small
factory units and the preservation of essential community services such as post offices
and local stores.
Ensure that development proposals should incorporate a 'Forever
Green' component; a part of the development which is guaranteed public green space, in
trust, properly maintained with indigenous species for the sake of the people.
Copyright © 1996 [Labour Party Maidstone]. All rights reserved.
Revised: December 26, 1996.
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