CAB hit by volunteers shortage


FINANCIAL hardship is hitting the voluntary sector, with fewer people offering to volunteer. Maidstone Citizens Advice Bureau is one of the organisa- tions that has been hit by fewer people being able to give their time for free – and is now on the look-out for new volunteers. The bureau, which is Maid-


stone’s largest advice-giving charity, is also the largest in Kent. It operates from its head- quarters in Bower Terrace, as well as from offices in the


Maidstone Gateway. It offers ahomevisiting service,


and monthly outreach sessions in Headcorn, Lenham and Mar- den and twice-monthly sessions inAylesford and ParkWood. The bureau, which receives


the bulk of its funding from the Legal Services Commission and Maidstone Borough Council as well as from various charitable trusts and donations, has 28 staff and 52 volunteer advisers, as well as volunteer adminis- trative staff and trainees.


Car park ‘at risk of falling down’


THEfutureofacrumbling towncentremulti-storey car park is hanging in the balance. Maidstone Council’s cabinet has been advised to demolish the KingStreet car park, after structural en- gineers claimed it is in danger of collapse. The car park,built around1970,has deteriorated in


the past 10 years and will have to be closed within a year unless significant repairs are carried out. While demolition of the car parkisestimatedtocost £500,000, repairs are likely to cost £700,000. How- ever, thiswould allowthe ground floor retail space to bere-let, bringing the councilsomeadditional income. The cost of demolishing the building and creating a


surface level car park would be about £650,000, whichwould generatesomeincome whileallowingof- ficers to seek other development opportunities. A site appraisal two years ago suggested redevel- opment costs could range from £8.5m to £17m but


A MAIDSTONE town centre church is to launch a new community centre, after purchasing a derelict property in Foley Street. St Luke’s Church has bought the building, which had fallen into disrepair after years of neg- lect, and is now busy transforming it into a com- munity centre for use by people in thewhole area. Nine volunteers from DSH Chartered Account-


ants & Business Advisors were among the helpers who rolled up their sleeves and got stuck in to help turn the hellish building into heaven. The nine spent a day helping to clear, clean and redecorate the building, which will be used for a range of activities including children’s clubs, meals for the elderly and counselling sessions. Louisa Young, Accountant at DSH’s Maidstone office, said: “I am delighted we could help in breathing new life into the building, which will be a real asset to the people ofMaidstone.” The volunteers worked in two teams - one fo-


cused on clearing out the garages and store rooms (whilst trying to avoid the spiders!) and filled a skip with the rubbish, while the other cleared, cleaned and painted three rooms.


COUNCIL tax reductions look set to be slashed under cost-cutting proposals being put forward by Maidstone Borough Council.


With the exception of pension-


ers and those living alone, every household claiming benefits stands to be affected – more than 6,000 working age people.


Council taxpayers arebeing con-


sulted on three options: Lowering discounts by 24.5%


16 Town


officers think it is unlikely to attract any interest. The car park has 213 spaces, which earn the coun-


cil £42,000 a year. The ground floor was vacated by the Co-op supermarket a year ago. Officers say the best option would be to demolish


the car park, with season ticket holders offered spaces in other council-run car parkswhile a surface level car park is created. Itwould then offer a chance for redevelopment when the market improves.


Community spirit alive in new centre “The work was extremely tiring but it was all


worth it when we were able to see the transfor- mation at the end of the day,” said Louisa. Richard Pain, project manager for St Luke’s Centre, said: “We’d like to thank all the DSH vol- unteers for their hardwork; they all did a brilliant job. We were overwhelmed by their enthusiasm for the project, they raced through the tasks we set them and got much more done in one day than we expected.”


Mill Street beauty salon idea A PLAN has been unveiled to convert offices at 9 Mill Street, Maidstone, into a beauty salon at the ground floor with flats above. Asupporting statement said: “Until recently the


entire property,which is spread over three floors, had been used as offices. It is now vacant. Our proposal is to convert the ground floor into a beauty salon and revert the first and second floors back to residential as a two bedroomed family unit. The front facade will be altered to suit the new access to the flat.” Maidstone Council will determine the planning application.


Benefit cuts may leave thousands poorer


for everyone except pensioners. Reducing discounts by 18.5%


for everyone except pensioners and reducing the discount on empty properties from six to three months.


A 13% reduction in discounts


for everyone except pensioners, the discount for empty properties reduced from six months to one month, and the end of the10%dis- count for second homes.


Owners of empty properties and second homes will mainly be af- fected by the changes, part of the Welfare Reform Bill. The council needs to offset a £1.3m reduction in funding it gets from the Govern- ment for council tax relief.


Visit www.maidstone.gov.uk


to take part in the consultation, which runs until October 8.


Formore information call01622 602750. Visit Downs Mail’s website — downsmail.co.uk However, 21 volunteer advis-


ers left during the year, while only six replacements were re- cruited, prompting the bureau to launch a vigorous recruit- ment campaign. Speaking at the bureau’s an-


nual generalmeeting, chairman SirMichael Buckley said: “The bureau continues to need new volunteers, whether as advis- ers, administrative workers or members of the trustee board. “Unlike some other advice agencies, the bureau provides


substantial advice to the great majority of clients, accompa- nied by action when appropri- ate. It is very far indeed from being only a sign-posting or re- ferral organisation.” Guidance tutor Maurice Burlem said: “The past year has seen a disturbing fall in the number of advisers in the team. While it is heartening that 38% of those who left did so because they found employment, the decline is considerable cause for concern.”


Homes investment Continued from page one


The Government wants coun- cils to use prudential borrowing to bring back derelict residen- tial properties into habitable use. This could include long- term empty properties. Maidstone Council’s housing service has already secured funding to restore 10 properties but surveys have identified 50 derelict properties in the bor- ough and 500 that have been empty for more than two years. It has been suggested these could be refurbished and used to provide temporary accommo- dation for the homeless. The cabinet has identified a


range of schemes that would also be eligible for investment. These include commercial pro- posals, schemes where the out- come returns at least a break-even figure and, after cov- ering the cost of funding, there is a further financial or non-fi- nancial benefit to the council that supports its strategic plans. The council says it is in- evitable that there are risks in investing in these properties, so is proposing to establish a fund of £500K to cover any potential scheme failure. The schemes will be long-term and, although short-term values could go up or down, the value should in- crease over their lifespan. Maidstone has assets worth


£79m, including the ParkWood industrial estate, which gener- ates over £300,000 per year to the council, but this value will increase if more properties are purchased. Council leader Chris Garland


said: “This is a means by which we can get things moving in the borough. The council needs to approve the concept of borrow- ing money to invest in these kind of projects, which is some- thing new for us.”


Street evacuation SHOPS in Maidstone’s Gabriel’s Hill had to be evacu- ated after a bottle of super- strength acidic toilet cleaner was spilled in a hardware store. A woman in her 30s was


taken to hospital with minor burns after it smashed near her legs at the Robert Dyas store.


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