Town Centre Management update: Maidstone Business Forum Food leads way in town centre revival


A SMILING sea-creature, moving into the home of the former Maidstone Club, is hop- ing to bring cheer to the faces of town diners. The club, in Earl Street, has been taken


over by the Thai gastro-chain Giggling Squid, which plans to open one of its flag- ship restaurants, followingmajor refurbish- ment later this year. The company, which boasts restaurants in upmarket locations such asHenley,Marlow and TunbridgeWells, has earmarked Maid- stone as a prime location in its expansion plans for the South of England, and is re- puted to be spending more than £600,000 on the refurbishment and re-fit. Cllr Malcolm Greer, who has been instru- mental in talks with several would-be de- velopers in the town centre, said: “This is a very successful chain and they plan to make sure the restaurant is absolutely top class, which shows how much they value Maid- stone as a place to be.” Cllr Greer revealed he would like to see


more of Earl Street pedestrianised, allowing the café culture to expand, with more tables and chairs spreading into the street. He has already asked the council for costings relat- ing to new and replacement trees to enhance the street scene, and said: “We want to en- courage more people on to our pavements.” Waterstones’ Earl Street store has also closed in recent weeks and will re-open as a JapaneseWagamama restaurant. News of Earl Street’s latest “eating explo-


sion” was revealed to the town’s business forum, where Town Centre Manager Bill Moss revealed that business was oncemore booming at the heart of the county town. He said a number of empty shop units be-


tween Week Street and Pudding Lane had slowly been filled over the past 18 months to the point they were now 100% full.  Work is going on inside the old Project Blue/Green Room restaurant, a new night- club has opened in the old Loder and Payne store and a new café was due to


Clubbers ‘pre-loading’ ONE in five people who enjoy pubbing and clubbing in Maidstone are already the worse for wear when they hit town. Statistics gleaned from the town’s urban blue


bus revealed that 20% of those breath-tested were already drunk before going out. Police officers working with the urban blue


bus carried out a voluntary survey of people arriving in town to gauge the level of ‘pre- loading’ – the amount of alcohol consumed be- fore clubbers arrived in the town’s bars. Town Centre Manager Bill Moss told the


Bar plans for


Night Economy Forum: “According to the po- lice statistics, one in five of those arriving in Maidstone are already ‘hammered’.”


former bank THE former Kent Reliance/ NatWest bank inBankStreet has been taken over by the Wilson brothers,whorunRoadhouseand Strawberry Moons in nearby Gabriels Hill. Work is underway to turn the imposing premises into some- where that may once again at- tract bankers. Town Centre Manager Bill


Moss said while the town had a thriving night time economy, therewere fewplaces where peo- ple could “pop in for a drink”’. He told the forum that the bar


would serve food during the day, butwouldhaveamore relaxedat- mosphere in the evening.


Station plans DEVELOPMENT of the old po- lice station at Wren’s Cross could open up Lower Stone Street for regeneration, the town centre forum was told. There are three listed build-


ings at Wren’s Cross and an ap- plication to develop the site with a superstore and housing would incorporate the adjacent land, occupied by a carpet shop. CllrMalcolm Greer said: “The


area needs ‘greening up’ and this could be the start of a new era for the Stone Street region.”


18 Malling


open this month.  In King Street, AMF Bowling is to close in August, when a new Hollywood Bowl will open instead in Lockmeadow.  Morrisons has begun work on the ground floor of the old Army and Navy store inWeek Street, while work is taking place on the upper floors to create a series of residential apartments. Cllr Greer said: “We need to have more


town centre housing for older people, who don’t need to have cars, therefore they don’t encounter problems of parking. They have money and need facilities, theatres and shops within walking distance. “There is a desperate need for housing in Maidstone and if we can get it in the town centre, we have a chance to revive the town centre’s economy.” Mr Moss said there were very few in- stances of burglary in the town centre. Cllr Greer concurred: “More people means less trouble.”


Blue bus to be charity MAIDSTONE’S urban blue bus is set to get char- itable status. The bus offers first aid and support to night


time revellers and was an instrumental part in the town obtaining the coveted purple flag for the ex- cellence of its night time economy. The running costs for the bus – about £20,000 a


year – aremainly through hire fees, and the Town CentreManagement, which operates the bus, also gets occasional grants from bodies such as Kent Police and the Safer Maidstone Partnership. Staffed by volunteers, it plays a crucial role in


the town centre on Friday and Saturday nights. Charitable status will mean it can more readily attract funding –with the potential to also attract gift aid on donations from tax payers.


‘High price’ for loss of marshals


THE loss of the town’s taxi mar- shals could cost Maidstone dear – in more ways than one. Town Centre Manager Bill


Moss fears that lack of funds to support the service could also lead to the loss of its recently- won purple flag. Mr Moss told the night econ-


omy forum that the taximarshals – who help keep trouble at bay among clubbers pouring into the streets in the early hours – had played an important part in help- ing the town win the accolade, earlier this year. The award runs for two years and has 18 months to go, but he


said: “If we don’t do something, I do fear we might lose it. The loss of the service has left a se- rious gap in our offer.” The service has benefited the police and the taxi drivers, as well as the public themselves, he told the meeting. Unfortunately, despite several donations, including private ones from four borough coun- cillors, the funds to run the service fizzled out on July 20. Dennis Conyon, from the Maidstone Licenced Taxi Oper- ators, said he was both angry and disappointed that the taxi operators had not seen fit to put


COSTINGS are being sought to clean up and “green up” Gabriels Hill in Maidstone. Now that Jubilee Square is com-


plete, councillors want to see the roads leading down from their showpiece street looking equally ship-shape, but inGabriels Hill, the pavements are loose, with an un- slightly Tarmac area at the bottom. Cllr Malcolm Greer has asked


KCC how much it could cost to green up the bottom of the hill, with possible tree planting and better


their hands in their pockets – but had been hoping to see a lead from the police, who had also not contributed financially towards the scheme. He said: “I know everyone is tightening their belts, but clubs and pubs in other towns donate towards their running costs. I don’t see whywe should be any different. “I am sad that individuals


have felt the need to putmoney into the fund and I would like to see them get it back – it is the businesses and the people who benefit from the scheme who should help to fund it.”


Seeking a cleaner greener hill


paving. He also asked for the cost of stone cladding over the mural on the Gala Bingo building and the application of anti-graffiti paint. He said he would ideally like to


see the granite continue down Gabriels Hill, but councillors have already been warned this could cost a lot a lot of money. He told the town’s business forum: “Gabriels Hill is a big plus in movingMaidstone forward, and we need to make it attractive.


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