The Town Centre Strategy for Maidstone and the proposed seven key areas for focus, proposed higher level spatial framework and missions that have emerged from the initial phase of analytical work. These will be used to inform the preparation of the draft Town Centre Strategy, which is expected will be ready for consultation during the Summer.

RESOLVED: That

1.  The update on progress towards producing a Town Centre Strategy for Maidstone town centre be noted; and

2.  The proposed higher level spatial framework, seven key areas of focus and the missions that have emerged from the analytical phase of work be agreed

Town Centres are always evolving to reflect changing needs and uses. Maidstone Town Centre is the social and economic heart of the Borough. It provides employment, leisure, retail and business/professional services for the Borough and beyond. The town centre is also home to a very significant residential population, therefore it also acts as a local centre to meet residents’ daily needs.

In recent years, Maidstone town centre, like many others across the country, has experienced challenges because of changing retail patterns and different business needs. These challenges were exacerbated by the COVID 19 pandemic, and it has been recognised nationally that town centres need support, to thrive and meet the needs of residents, visitors and businesses both now and in the future.

During 2021, Maidstone Borough Council started to consider the preparation of a Town Centre Strategy. The following committees considered the potential scope of the strategy - Strategic Planning and Infrastructure Committee 9th November 2021, Economic Regeneration and Leisure Committee 16th November 2021, Communities, Housing and Environment Committee 30th November 2021 and together these Committees helped to inform the brief for this work. On 23rd March 2022 Policy and Resources Committee approved an updated scope, workstreams, governance and an engagement strategy to inform the procurement of specialist consultants to assist officers with this work

On 4th October 2022, the Economic, Regeneration and Leisure Policy Advisory Committee supported the procurement of specialist consultants to work alongside officers, members and stakeholders to prepare a member-led Town Centre Strategy. The Executive then approved the procurement on 26th October 2022 and in December 2022 consultants We Made That were appointed.

The consultants are tasked with providing specialist advice, working with officers, members, and stakeholders to prepare a member led Town Centre Strategy and Delivery Plan, an Open Space Improvement Plan, a Lighting Plan for Maidstone, and an Inward Investment Plan. Once finalised, the Town Centre Strategy will provide a 30-year vision and direction for the town centre. It will provide potential investors with confidence to invest in the area and will support bids to Government and other organisations to lever in funding to assist with delivery, so that Maidstone continues to thrive and provide a vibrant place to live, work, invest and visit.

Progress Update

A number of key challenges and “must get right” issues were identified at the beginning of We Made That’s commission:

i.  Political buy-in and cross-party engagement with politicians with short-, medium- and long-term goals; this will be achieved through 42 engagements with the executive, presence at Policy Advisory Committees and a series of themed stakeholder sessions including town centre organisations such as the Business Improvement District

ii.  Supporting, strengthening, and expanding the arts and culture sector including consideration of the twilight economy; this will be achieved through engagement with the arts and culture sector to identify issues and opportunities, reassessment of outdoor spaces, lighting, and pedestrian connections to support access and safety

iii.  Consolidating the town centre retail offer to support footfall and the town centre offer, particularly for families; this will be achieved by identifying opportunities for strengthening the town centre retail offer by potentially relocating them closer to each other and re-purposing existing sites to other uses that would support a sustainable, vibrant town centre

iv.  Ensuring Maidstone’s role as a county town, a place where existing residents of the borough as well as new planned communities will gravitate towards for a high-quality town centre experience and offer; this will be achieved by creating an offer that competes in quality with other Kent towns, drawing visitors from the borough and beyond. Ensuring good access opportunities and a diversified offer to raise footfall and time spent in the town centre

v.  Rich building heritage with collections of valuable listed buildings, often dis-jointed by infrastructure and other changes that have adversely affected the setting and coherence of the town; this will be achieved by consideration of the different heritage assets as a whole and identification of ways to unify both the assets and the experience of them as one

vi.   Activation of the river and creating a rich, diverse offer alongside it, based on recreation and leisure including an audit of existing green spaces; this will be achieved by developing a deliverable plan for a riverbank culture, including high quality pedestrian routes and destinations; safeguarding the river edges of Opportunity Sites for leisure and recreation and delivering a lighting and green space feasibility study (which will be implemented via the UK Shared Prosperity Fund)

vii.  Good transport policies but a relatively poor track record of delivery and outdated gyratory roads which create severance between different parts of the town centre; this will be addressed by producing a comprehensive movement plan that will support a sustainable and deliverable transport vision.

Since December 2022, officers have worked with the consultants to undertake data collection and analysis to develop a comprehensive, detailed understanding of the town centre. This has included initial scoping of work (stage 1) and a review of social, economic, and environmental issues and engagement with key stakeholders (stage 2). This has included two deep dive workshops with stakeholders on 28 February and 1 March 2023 where topics discussed ranged from the need to improve health and wellbeing generally, through to design and technology, housing, town centre uses, access and public transport. Those attending included, for example the NHS, Kent County Council and Clinical Commissioning Group. A walkabout with Cabinet was held on 18 January 2023, followed by a discussion with Cabinet on 22 February 2023 about emerging issues.

All this fact finding, analysis and discussions have led to proposed seven

key areas for focus:

• Maidstone’s Role as County Town

• Town Centre Diversification

• Nationally Significant Heritage

• Transport Infrastructure

• Public Realm and Green Spaces

• Active Riverside

• Health and Wellbeing

These key areas for focus recognise that Maidstone town centre needs to:

• Be ambitious for the future

• Be adaptable to change and growth

• Diversify the land uses in the town centre

• Make the most of the town’s rich nationally significant heritage

• Create an active riverside, making the most of the river

• Improve and enhance transport infrastructure

• Deliver high quality public realm and green space

• Embed health and wellbeing, the environment and climate change as

golden threads that run through all future plans and projects in the

town centre.

Proposed Higher Level Spatial Framework and Missions

From the analysis of information and engagement that has taken place to date, a proposed higher level spatial framework and missions for Maidstone Town Centre have also been developed. The proposed framework can be found at Appendix 1, which provides a synthesis of town centre information identifying key areas and connectivity. This is early work and will be developed further to inform the preparation of the draft Town Centre Strategy. The proposed missions are set out below.

Proposed Missions

 Mission 1 - Maidstone as a County Town for the future:7

• Maidstone to be Kent’s most prosperous town centre:

– Being the business capital of Kent

– Desirable and high quality new mixed-use neighbourhoods

– A diverse town centre offering which serves residents and attracts

visitors

– Best in county cultural and civic facilities

Mission 2 - Environmental and Placemaking Excellence:

• Maidstone to be known for its high quality places, heritage and green

and blue spaces with:

– Award-winning heritage areas which are active and easy to access

for both residents and visitors

– Attractive and connected public realm with exemplary

environmental performance

– A safe, connected, and active riverside, serving leisure, commercial

and environmental purposes

Mission 3 - High Quality of Life for All:

• Maidstone to be a desirable place to live with:

– A low crime rate

– High number of diverse jobs for local people

– Great travel connections within the town, the surrounding area, and

to London and beyond

– Varied and high-quality leisure and entertainment offering

Next Steps

Together, the proposed seven key areas for focus, proposed higher level spatial framework and proposed missions provide the basis for further work to be developed, which will take place until Summer 2023 to prepare a draft Town Centre Strategy. Other work will also take place to start preparing an Open Space Improvement Plan, a Lighting Plan for Maidstone and an Inward Investment Plan. This suite of work will include considering the viability of different proposals.

Maidstone Borough Council have also been successful in securing funding from the Government’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund towards town centre improvements. This will include green space and lighting improvements, alongside other town centre initiatives. The preparation of the town centre suite of work and funding will be coordinated to ensure that Maidstone considers all issues and opportunities holistically and maximises the benefits to the town centre, residents, businesses, and visitors.

The draft Town Centre Strategy will be prepared over the coming months and brought back to a future Committee and Executive for approval before wider public engagement this Summer.

Option 1 – that the recommendations set out in this report are

supported; the merit of this option is that the Town Centre Strategy work

can be progressed quickly to enable a draft Strategy to be prepared by

the summer.

Option 2 - that the recommendations set out in the report are supported

and agree an alternative approach; the impact of this is that the

recommendations have been developed from the information analysis

and discussions that have taken place to date, which has included the

input of stakeholders, so any amendments would need very careful

consideration to ensure they are supported by the evidence.