Maidstone Business Forum update Reviewing the


Portas Review THE forum is to consider the 53-page Portas Review, from retail marketing consultant Mary Portas, about the fu- ture of Britain’s highstreets. In it, she says she wants to put the


heart back into the centre of the UK’s high streets, where they can be seen as centres for socialising, education, cul- ture, health and wellbeing – and not simply shopping. She says: “The new high streets won’t


just be about selling goods. The mix will include shops but could also in- clude housing, offices, sport, schools or other social, commercial and cultural enterprises and meeting places.” Town Centre manager Bill Moss


said he agreed with many of the re- port’s findings, but not with the idea of free car parking, nor with the in- troduction of market stalls to town centre streets. However, he said he fully supported


the idea of disincentives to prevent landlords from leaving units vacant.


Jane Shotliff reports


Vacant shops are town centre’s new challenge


CALLS are being made for empty shop units in Maidstone to resurface as housing, doctors’ surgeries or day centres. Empty shop numbers continue to rise,


with news that Hawkins Bazaar (The Mall) and Evans (King Street) have folded and The Oyster Box (Royal Star Arcade) is to shortly follow suit. But Town Centre manager Bill Moss be-


lieves residents and retailers should be pre- pared to consider new opportunities for repositioning the county town in line with the changing face of retail trends. He told the Maidstone Business Forum


that, far from being all doom and gloom, Maidstone still had a bright future full of opportunities. But he warned: “Out of town shopping centres and the internet have undoubtedly impacted on shopping patterns.We have to accept that as a country we are now over- shopped. In good times, the economy can support those shops but when the chips are down, we simply do not need so many re-


The gas man cometh… MAJOR disruption to town centre traffic is on the horizon with news that gas mains are due for replacement in Upper and Lower Stone Street. Work is due to begin on the 12-month project in April and a KCC


traffic management system has already earmarked potential prob- lems as far away as the M2. Maidstone town centre is notorious for traffic bottlenecks when-


ever there is an accident or road closure in the vicinty and Stone Street can suffer from something as simple as a badly-parked car. The town has already endured one spell of gasmain replacement


and survived but Town Centre manager Bill Moss has warned: “This one is going to be unbelievable and a real blow to drivers.”


New project proves town’s not square


MUSIC, dancing and a whole host of enter- tainment could be on the cards for the new Town Square, due for completion in the spring. MBC’s John Foster


says that the new square – being created in front of the Town Hall – needed to be utilised as much as possible. Discussions were already taking place about licensing, with a view to sim- plifying the amount of red tape required for urban entertain- ment projects. Town Centre Management member Ivan White, who also represents the Federation of Small Businesses, said he hoped the council was successful in its aim, which was in line with the Mary Portas survey into the future of Britain’s high streets. He said: “Shopping is only part of today’s town centre expe- rience. At a time when we need to compete with the likes of Bluewater, we need to offer something extra to make our town centre a vibrant place that people want to be a part of.”


Work in progress on the Town Square


Considerate contractors EUROVIA, the company contracted to carry out the reconstruction of Maidstone High Street, has been given a gold star under the industry’s Considerate Constructors’ scheme. Contracts are assessed on a number of fac-


tors, ranging from client satisfaction to the operatives’ facilities and the company’s concern for the affected parties. In December, Eurovia was awarded 36.5 points out of a possible 40 and full marks in one of the eight categories, recognising out- standing and exceptional service.


34 Town


tail outlets. “We need to consider other options,


rather than have shops sitting empty. Should there be a change of use to housing, more job centres, day centres or doctor’s surgeries?” He said Town Centre Management was talking toMaidstone Council about extend- ing a free parking scheme that would allow people to park without charge between the hours of 3pm and 6.30pm – something he felt would be particularly attractive to par- ents after school. But he admitted empty shop units were unattractive and were to be discouraged. Mr Moss suggested landlords should pay


the full business rate on empty properties for the first year, with a case for adding a 50% weighting to properties still vacant after that time, as an incentive for landlords to find new tenants. At present, the major- ity of empty town centre shops attract rate relief for three months but thereafter must pay the full amount.


‘We will be watching’ when Medway takes control of CCTV


MAIDSTONE Town Centre Management will be keeping a close eye on crime figures when Medway Council takes control of the CCTV monitoring service in April.


Following the council’s con- troversial decision to award the contract to neighbouring local authority Medway, some retail- ers and residents fear crime could increase. Under the current contract, Maidstone receives 17,520 hours of CCTV monitoring each year, but this will be reduced to 10,640 from April – a 40% re- duction in hours. In December 2011, 205 people


were arrested directly as a re- sult of CCTV footage, while the monthly average was 175. Town Centre manager Bill


Moss said: “This is the service standard we are looking to re- tain.”


Representatives of the Metro- politan, Dutch and Swedish po- lice have visited Maidstone to study its CCTV system – as well as the FBI. Although the equipment itself


is not state of the art, the com- mitment of the people who op- erate it and who liaise on a daily basis was outstanding, members heard. Crime reduction numbers in


Maidstone were excellent, but were less impressive in Med- way and Sittingbourne, mem- bers were told. Ivan White, chairman of the


Mid Kent and Maidstone branch of the Federation of Small Businesses, said he was appalled that the town’s own bid to run the hugely successful CCTV service had been rejected in favour of a cheaper bid from neighbouringMedway. He told members: “I am not saying the council has done anything legally wrong – but they have not compared like with like in awarding the tender and we have been sold down the river.” Mr White argued that the


TCM bid had been unfairly re- jected as it was based on sup- plying the existing number of hours. “We too could have put in a


lower bid had we also reduced the hours,” he said.


Shoppers vote


with their feet THE recession has failed to dampen shoppers’ spirits in Maidstone, where footfall has risen in the town’s two main retail centres. FremlinWalk expects to


see around 175,000 visitors per week, while TheMall can anticipate up to 325,000 shoppers.


Pre-Christmas figures showed an increase of 2.5% on the same period the previous year, which was very rewarding in the current financial climate, said Town Centre manager Bill Moss.


Award-winning reconstruction job Visit Downs Mail’s website — downsmail.co.uk


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