Regeneration
in Park Wood CONTRACTORS moved in to Park Wood this month to start on a £38m regeneration project. The scheme, led by hous-
ing association Golding Homes in collaboration with local contractors Denne, will provide 191 homes, shops and community facilities. GoldingHomes is contribut-
ing £30,000 to a skate park and outside gym near Heather House. The park will also see improvements such as a cycle path and footpath. Some of the outdated homes will be demolished, startingwith the flats around thejunctionofWallisAv- enue and Longshaw Road, making way for 51 new houses, 18 apartments and a community centre. Subject to planning per-
mission, phase two will see flats between Longshaw Road and Bicknor Road re- placed by 77 homes and a shopping facility. Most of the homes will be
two or three bedrooms, and there will be a small number of one bedroom flats. Many will be for affordable rent. Theschemeisfundedby
the Homes and Communities Agency and supported by Maidstone Council.
Cash gifts ‘could kill beggars’
A HIGH-profile poster and sticker campaign has been taking place in Maidstone to help clear the town of its unwanted “street population”. The campaign – “Your kindness could kill” –
was developed some 10 years ago by Thames Reach, a London charity which helps the home- less and vulnerable, and is designed to show how cash given to street beggars can all too often pro- long their misery, as it is used to fund further al- cohol and substance abuse. Posters have gone up around the town centre
and in buses, with supplementary stickers in some of the main street shops, to hammer the message home that kind-hearted shoppers should not give cash to those begging in the streets. Addressing the Maidstone’s Business Forum,
the council’s Katie Latchford said: “The term ‘street population’ covers several different co- horts. Some are beggars, some street drinkers and others rough sleepers. “By giving money to them, people who think
they are performing an act of kindness are, in re- ality, prolonging their time on the street.” Katie said the council, which had managed to identify permanent suitable accommodation for 50% of those sleeping rough earlier in the year, was not wanting to discourage people from giv- ing – just to channel their donations into more ap- propriate areas. She said the council had been workingwith the police, Porchlight and theMaidstone Day Centre, as well as drug and alcohol charities, to help the street population and had experienced a high level of success. She said: “We do notwant to stop people giving
– but ask them to go online and donate to Porch- light or the day centre, which need funds to pro- vide food and shelter for the truly vulnerable people.”
JohnWilson with the poster urging shoppers to direct their donations to charities
Katie added: “People who are truly homeless
are often hidden, sleeping in cars or sofa-surfing. These are the people who need our help. Quite a number of beggars are not homeless and we are working with the police to address this issue.” But she said: “A lot of these people have com-
plex substance and alcohol issues.We are not say- ing ‘do not help’ – merely ‘do it differently’.” Town Centre Manager Bill Moss, who has been concerned at the growing numbers of people on the streets in the past six months, said: “We are 100% behind this project and will do all we can to assist.”
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