Mote Park Projects


New café

Cafe

Work has started in Maidstone’s stunning 440 acre Mote Park on a fantastic new café with both indoor and outdoor seating and new larger modern toilet building to support the many visitors to the park.

We are organising and leading the work which is being carried out by BBS Construction Ltd.

The new buildings will include a changing places toilet for people with limited physical capacity as well as a flexible space which will be available all year round for local schools and community groups to hire.

Improved landscaping and new surfacing will link the new facilities to the car park, where increased bicycle parking will also be provided. The existing café, toilet block and estates office will be demolished which will open up the view of the lake. It is hoped the new facilities will be open to the public in 2022.

The new flexible space, café and toilets are the second phase of the council’s £4.3 million investment in the redevelopment and improvements of Mote Park.

As part of these works a new Estate Building will also be added closer to the Leisure Centre.

Further details can be found on our News website.

Essential work for Maidstone Mote Park dam  

The sluice gates and boathouse were built around the 1830s when the River Len was dammed to form the lake and needed refurbishing.

The essential work, which began in December 2019, will stop the lake from flooding by refurbishing the sluice gates, increasing the capacity of the overspill of the lake, constructing a ‘wave wall’ and a short section of embankment.  These works will improve the capacity to control the transfer of water flowing across the dam and ensure the dam does not fail during extreme flood events.

If the dam were to fail, the water could swell rapidly over 40 acres of land, which would see Turkey Mill, Mote Park and surrounding areas under water. With estimated depths of 12 feet this would endanger lives and damage homes and businesses.

Final repairs to the boat house will be taking place in the summer of 2021.