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Mall looks to future as retail village dropped


Continued from page one The following month, Maid-


stone Council’s planning commit- tee rejected the Land Securities plan – but itwas only in December that the six-month deadline to lodge an appeal passed. Council spokesman Roger Adley


said: “The applicant had six months from the date of the deci- sion notice to appeal against the decision to the planning inspec- torate. The date for an appeal has passed and we have not been in- formed by the planning inspec- torate that the applicant has appealed.” Mr Davy has kept the 57,000sqft


site vacated by T J Hughes “strate- gically empty” should Debenhams now seek an alternative site. Mark Bourgeois, executive di-


rector for Capital & Regional, owners of the Mall, said: “We sup- ported the decision of Maidstone Council which recognised the deeply adverse impact the Newn- ham Court proposals would have had on the town centre. By refusing its planning applica-


tion earlier this year, the council protected Maidstone town centre. “We know there is a demand for further retail development in Maidstone and are currently pro- gressing our own long-term plans for The Mall. “In October we submitted a planning application for the first phase of our vision which will see the centre modernised and refur- bished andwe are now working to submit a second planning applica- tion for wider improvements to The Mall and its surroundings in 2015.


“This would see extra retail and leisure space created, including an anchor store and bigger and better stores to house new restaurants and retailers.” Land Securities told the commit-


tee that the development would bring 1,500 jobs to the county town and that it would recruit local peo- ple for the development, having already had preliminary talks with Jobcentre Plus and Mid Kent Col- lege to discuss recruitment and training opportunities.


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Describing it as a “run-down site adjacent to the Next superstore”, Land Securities said: “The exciting scheme would have seen Deben- hams make its debut in Maidstone, Waitrose add its much-loved su- permarket brand, Notcutts garden centre move into a larger, more modern site and the addition of a number of smaller high-quality stores.” Lester Hampson of Land Securi-


ties said he was bitterly disap- pointed at Maidstone’s decision to reject the application. Speaking at the time, he said:


“This is a lost opportunity for Maidstone. Together with the Maidstone Medical Campus proj- ect on adjoining land, our two schemes would have created about 4,000 new jobs for the county town.” Land Securities was proposing


to invest £6 million in highways improvements. Another £1 million would have funded improvements to bus links between the town cen- tre and Newnham Court and on town centre enhancements.


News Gary finds his


forever home GARY the stray cat has a new owner, thanks to an appeal in the Downs Mail. We reported how he was aban-


doned in Maidstone in a cat basket, dangerously underweight and in- fested with fleas and worms. After taking in a number of


strays in recent months, Bearsted Veterinary Practice in Egremont Road put out an appeal in the Downs Mail for someone to give him a home. Fortunately for Gary, a pensioner


from the Senacre area read of his plight and was happy to take him in.


Veterinary nurse Kelly Phillips


said: “Gary’s new owner had lost a cat a year ago and despite being en- couraged to get a new animal had always maintained that when the timewas right a cat would find her. “When she saw Gary’s picture in


your paper she knew he was to be her new cat and he has settledwell in to his new home.”


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