Plans bring fears for town centre Continued from page one
consequential effect on tenant demands. “The commercial objectives of one re-
tailer should not override the interests of the entire town centre, especially if the con- sequences are potentially significantly greater than the quantifiable impact of that one store alone.” The council has successfully negotiated
to raise Next’s Section 106 mitigation con- tributions to £140,000. This was the second increase after an initial £50,000 agreement was boosted to £100,000. The Town Team will receive £40,000 of this money over two years for projects to improve the viability of the town centre. The remainder will go to public realm improvements. “The extent of the Section 106 agreed
avoid backlash LAND Securities hopes by going public with its proposals and inviting feedback before submitting its plans, to head off any backlash to the redevelop- ment of Newnham Court. It arranged events this month
for Newnham Court tenants, councillors, and the public and has written to 7,500 residents inviting their views. Company spokesman Simon
Hoare said: “The company has been in talks with the borough and county councils for a num- ber of years, so this will not hit councillors’ desks cold. “However, there is always a danger that if you go too early, people will complain that you haven’t done your homework, or, if you approach them too late, some will say it’s a fait ac- compli. This is not a done deal, but Land Securities is hoping forsupport forwhatitseesasa very strong case for encouraging economic growth in the area.” Plans should be submitted in
the autumn. If approved, work could start next September, with the second phase complete by the end of 2016.
Safety fears BOROUGH Cllr Ian Chittenden, who also represents Maidstone NorthEastonKCC,believes some of the Section 106money from Next should be spent on the local area. “All the S106 money is going
to the town centre and none will deal with the impact on local residents. This is unac- ceptable,” said Cllr Chittenden, a planning committee member. “My proposals to improve the
safety of our local roads and the parking problems resulting from the lack of staff parking have been ignored. Next claims there will be over 129 new jobs but have only allowed four parking spaces for staff. “Traffic on local roads will increase substantially. The main stretch of Hampton Road through Vinters Park has no paving, requiring people to walk on the grass or the road.”
Vision for the shopping village
NOTTCUTTS and its café would move to the north of the site, to a new two-storey building with 82,000 sq ft of retail space, as the first phase of the development, to guarantee seamless trading for the garden centre. Itwouldbejoined–once the sitehas been demolished–by fellow“an-
chor tenants”: a two-storey Debenhams department store andWaitrose supermarket, with 29,000 sq ft for food aisles, on the Bearsted Road edge of the new village. Additional shop units would be provided for ex- isting tenants and newnames. Thepub,oasthouse officesandnurserywould be retained, and the vet- erinary practicewould not be affected
LAND Securities says it has ear- marked £5m to improve traffic management in the area. It proposes:
Moving the site access from Bearsted Lane to a slip road off the KIMs roundabout; Traffic lights at junction 7 and the Bearsted Road and KIMs roundabouts; Dualling the road between the Bearsted Road and KIMs
with the applicant will not in any way counteract the lack of confidence in the fu- ture of Maidstone,” addedMr Holland. “Although public realm improvements
are always welcome, the true vibrancy and attraction to retailers of the town centre comes from sustainable thriving activity.” The £140,000 agreement falls some way
short of the £1.34m secured by Wycombe District Council from Next for an almost identical out-of-town superstore. This higher payment, which will go to-
wards extending a park and ride system and a new bus service to the town centre, was se- cured becauseWycombe District Council has a community infrastructure levy policy in its local
plan.Maidstone Council does not. Next said it was willing to enter into an
obligation with planners to keep open its Fremlin Walk store, or an alternative store within the town centre, for aminimum five- year period. While this was welcomed, it was considered unenforceable. Speaking as a substitute planning com- mittee member, council leader Cllr Chris Garland said: “The Town Team is very ef- fective and to give them financial assistance to carry out work will boost the town cen- tre.
“We have shown how beneficial public
realm improvements can be to the town centre.” The committee accepted the Section 106 agreement with seven votes in favour, com- pared to four against and two abstentions.
Talks aiming to Scheme ‘will complement town’
LAND Securities regeneration plans for Newnham Court would extend the shopping area from 71,472 to 302,575 square foot. Despite this, Land Securities’ development director Chris Ward told the Downs Mail he was convinced it would “com- plement, rather than compete with” Maidstone town centre. He added: “We see this pro-
posal as bringing a much- needed ‘kerching’ to the tills in Maidstone, by enticing big name retailers in and keeping customers from travelling out to places like Bluewater. “It also offers Maidstone a
NOTCUTTS Tony Collins and ChrisWard
fresh chance to secure stores like Waitrose and Debenhams who have agreed to come if the plans are approved, after hav- ing looked exhaustively else- where in the town for a suitable site.” Mr Ward said the company was in talks with local bus
SHOP UNITS
DEPARTMENT STORE
companies to extend both the park and ride scheme and im- prove bus services into town so that shoppers could easily travel into town after having decided to stay inMaidstone to spend their money at the vil- lage and the nearby Next store. Tony Collins, from Harve-
store, which opened Newnham Court Village in 1983, says he, too, is excited about the plans put forward by Land Securities to transform the site. He said: “We are extremely confident that this is the right direction for the site, and that is why there is no Plan B at this stage.”
Traders positive INITIAL reaction to the propos- als by businesses at Newnham Court Village appear to be largely positive. Christiane Shaw, manager of Hammonds fitted furniture concession at Nottcutts for the last two years, believes it will attract more customers. She said: “If it all comes together, I think it’s a fantastic idea. We need something like this here.” She said that while traffic
was currently “horrendous”, she was sure they would get it right. Lisa Turner, from Bearsted,
who runs The Ice Cream Bar by the garden centre said that al- though the plans were some way off, she was hoping to move to the new-look site. “I think it’s a good idea. There’s plenty of room here for what’s being proposed.”
£5 million to improve traffic flow on local roads
roundabouts; Pedestrian crossings at the Bearsted Road and KIMs roundabouts
Improving cycle routes and bus links Jason Lewis (pictured), from Maidstone planning firm DHA, who has been acting as transport consultant, said: “We expect to not only keep traffic flows as they are, but to improve them.” A transport assessment plan
for the area was not available, but will be submitted to the council in the autumn.
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