News
Office space for new start-ups
A NEW enterprise hub to help start-up businesses is to be opened in Maidstone Gateway. Work is underway after Maid-
stone Council agreed to rent the first floor terrace of the building, in King Street, from landlord Cap- ital & Regional. The facility, which will help businesses of up to nine employ- ees, will be open from 7am to 7pm on weekdays as well as Saturday mornings. It will include:
eight offices available for start- up businesses on flexible terms; breakout seats for networking; up to 20 hot desks; 20-seat seminar space and a small meeting room. The facility, which will open in
July or August, follows a failed at- tempt to convert the former post of- fice in King Street into a hub after a funding U-turn by KCC. Research showed a 30% increase
in people from the borough work- ing from home in the past 10 years. Maidstone has one of the highest concentrations of home-based busi-
nesses in the country – 9,000 ac- cording to the 2011 census – and national surveys suggest these businesses often work in isolation and lack access to equipment, facil- ities and networking. Maidstone Council’s cabinet member for economic develop- ment, Cllr Malcolm Greer, said: “New businesses have told us that well-equipped spaces to work, with flexible and affordable terms, are key to getting a business off the ground.” The facility could benefit up to
1,000 entrepreneurs a year through affordable workspaces, events, seminars, mentoring and network- ing opportunities. Clients will have a variety of membership options: booking a desk for a single day; coming in 30- 100 hours a month; taking an office on easy-in, easy-out terms. Mem- berships will include a minimum 100MB broadband and free wifi. To sub-let office space, email council officer Karen Franek at
karenfranek@maidstone.gov.uk or call 01622 602392.
MAIDSTONEStreetPastors have a new chairman. Rev Canon Arthur Houston (below), priest at Christ Church Park Wwood and associate vicar of St Luke’s, Maid- stone, has been on the manage- ment team for some time. He takes on the role
of chair, from Dave Creasey, who
THE first homes atWallis Fields in Park Wood have been completed and residents have moved in. The first 17 homes in the £34m re- generation area include two-, three- and four-bedroom properties. The homes are all available for af- fordable rent and are allocated to families with a housing need through Maidstone Council and the Kent HomeChoice scheme.
downsmail.co.uk New chairman for street pastors
becomes vice-chairman. Arthur, from Northern Ireland,
has worked as an interim minister on the Isle of Sheppey, at St Paul’s Church in Maidstone andwas vicar of Holy Trinity Church, Margate. He trained at an agricultural col-
lege and has been an agricultural missionary with Tearfund. He said: “Street Pastors have an incredible dedication to their voca- tion and are hugely respected by all the secular authorities; may that work of practical love flourish.”
Residents move into new homes The first two phases of regenera-
tion includes 142 homes, made up of one- and two-bedroom apart- ments and two-, three- and four- bedroom houses. The scheme also includes community facilities, retail units and a parksidewalk. TheWallis Fields project is being completed with support from the Homes and Communities Agency and Maidstone Council.
Magna Carta to go on display
ANhistoric copy of the rarely displayedMagnaCarta will go on display in Maidstone this summer. Magna Carta Rediscovered, a free exhibi- tionmarking the document’s 800th birthday, will be at the Kent History and Library Centre in Maidstone from July 25 to September 6.
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KENT.ME16 0PU OPEN MONDAY TO SATURDAY 9am – 5.00 pm
8 Maidstone South April 2015
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