Maidstone

Our vision is to develop a vibrant, prosperous, urban and rural community at the heart of Kent where everyone can realise their potential.

The goal of Maidstone Borough Council is to deliver its services in an efficient, equitable and environmental friendly manner while ensuring that there are plans in place for the economic, environmental, social and cultural prosperity of all our people.

We will achieve our ambitions by being good stewards and ensuring we take a long-term view. The choices we make today will impact on the state of our environment, and the quality of life enjoyed by our residents, decades from now.

Green and Blue Assets

Parks and open spaces come in many guises from formal parks and gardens to country parks, woodlands and open country areas, allotments, rivers and lakes. Different types of space encourage and allow different activities. Access to a range of well looked after public spaces helps improve our physical and mental health as well as contributing to a vibrant economy and attracting visitors and tourism. Maidstone has 30 large parks and over 80 neighbourhood green spaces and the particular focus of the Local Plan period (to 2045) is to give everyone access to high quality public space, to implement the Go Green Go Wild project, and the Green and Blue Infrastructure Strategy to embrace and boost biodiversity and protect and enhance all our green and blue public spaces.

Mote Park, Maidstone. Image credit: Alex Hart.

Connectivity and Infrastructure Planning

Maidstone brings both its policies on good design and its own version of Building for Life 12 to bear on the issue of connectivity. We want to see developments that fit in with the grain of their neighbours, integrating into their surroundings, reinforcing existing and making new connections and desire lines.

We also demand that new developments should be supported by a network of local services, open spaces and service facilities for the convenience of residents and the creation of active safe streets.

Maidstone is one of the leading advocates of garden settlements which will bring balanced communities into being from the outset providing local employment options and services within walking distance of homes. We have plans to reinforce the viability and vitality of the towns and villages designated as local service centres and there is a team working on the regeneration of Maidstone town centre as a model for town centres of the future.

Image credit: Levitt Bernstein.

Sustainability, Transport and Clean Air

Sustainability a key issue and Maidstone is working hard to ensure the borough has a future where less harmful pollution will be generated, and efficiencies are achieved through better use of energy. The Borough has signed up to the Kent Environment Strategy which targets a 60% cut in greenhouse gas emissions (measured as CO2 equivalent) against 1990 levels by 2030.

Maidstone also has strong policies on sustainable drainage, encouraging provision for pedestrians and cyclists, energy efficiency, mitigating harmful emissions, protection of the green environment and reduction of waste.

Balancing the needs of vehicle owners with the requirements of other modes of transport is a difficult balancing act. The policies Maidstone has embodied in its Local Plan require developers to consider this issue in advance and come forward with proposals that satisfy these requirements -whether that is in the form of secure and local cycle storage or arrangements to bring public transport into the development. In addition, we will actively pursue alternatives to traditional car ownership such as car clubs, car sharing, and EV charging points to reduce the degree of traffic congestion and improve air quality for all.

Image courtesy of Maidstone Borough Council.

Modern Vernacular

Maidstone strongly supports good and innovative design. We see positive design as a generator of community and civic pride, activity and cohesion. Designs can depart from the forms and materials of the past as long as they respect and draw on the spirit of the rich heritage of buildings and places that make Maidstone such an interesting town in which to live and work.

Maidstone Museum, Maidstone. Image credit: Hufton and Crow.

Building Communities: Affordable Homes, Healthy Living and Social Mobility

As the county town of Kent, we are committed to being open for business, attractive for visitors and an enjoyable and prosperous place for our residents to live and work. Evidence of our focus on balanced growth is the ground-breaking Innovation Centre in the North Kent Enterprise Zone, the redevelopment of Maidstone East station and a new gallery for our highly regarded museum.

Healthy communities are fundamental to the sustainable success of any town and in Maidstone we are working hard to ensure that our communities have access to services, green spaces and relevant health care. We see only positivity in a wide range of diverse communities delivering cooperation and support.

Maidstone Innovation Centre, Maidstone. Image credit: Bond Bryan.

Growth and Infrastructure

A home for all is a key goal for Maidstone and achieving this requires a scaling up of affordable housing provision. We are working hard to ensure that all developments include an element of affordable housing with a range of type and locations relevant to the regularly updated housing needs survey.

Healthy living is so much more than the food and exercise we get. Healthy living encompasses our environment, clean air, parks and open spaces, good public transport solutions and strong communities. Maidstone is tackling all these issues head on and is determined to achieve a turnaround in healthy living and social mobility in the next few years.

CGI of the proposed renovation of the Peugeot Car Dealership building, Maidstone. Image credit: Hollaway Architects.

Heritage

Maidstone is fully committed to development that is inspired by our heritage and brings new and active uses to historic buildings. We are proud of our heritage and are striving to bring about active management of all our historic assets.