downsmail.co.uk Facelift to boost
“twilight” zone WORK to revamp The Mall in Maidstone could see a new “twi- light” shopping facility to bridge the gap between day and night- time activities. Work on a £5m facelift, most of
which will take place during the night, will see new flooring, light- ing and entrances installed to the town centre shopping outlet in a bid to encourage more shoppers. Longer-term, owner Capital and
Regional plans to spend £100m on creating a cleaner, brighter centre that will encourage shop- pers to stay longer in town – and spend more money. New leisure facilities and addi-
tional food and drink outlets are planned to bridge the gap be- tween daytime shopping and the town’s busy night time economy – restaurants, bars, cinemas and nightclubs. The trademark canopy in King
Street will be taken down as part of the first phase, being replaced with a bright new glass entrance, along with changes to the other main entrance at the bottom of Gabriel’s Hill. Capital and Regional says im-
provements to another of its out- lets have seen a 2% increase in footfall.
News
Access threat helps to scupper homes scheme
THE owner of a dance and events venue in Tonbridge Road, Maid- stone says she was prepared to re- fuse developer access had a scheme for five homes been approved. Margaret Preedy (pictured) lives
atNo33, fromwhere she has run her dance studios for 15 years. She strongly objected to a pro- posal to develop on the former Budget Rent-a-Car site nearby, and told Maidstone Council's planning commit-
tee, before its decision to refuse the scheme: “The only access to this pro- posed site is across private land, owned by me. There is no inde- pendent access. “I have the right to move this ac-
cess at any time with two months’ notice, which I could be forced to do to protectmybusiness, thus making these plans non-viable. “I run classes six days and
evenings aweek for adults and chil- dren as young as four years old. I run school holiday clubs with chil- dren on the premises all day. I have
any complaints that may arise from this and will insist on no windows facing my premises and full sound insulation used in the build.” MrAtkins, representing the appli-
The premises in Tonbridge Road
party and wedding bookings in for everyweekend this year, and into fu- ture years. “It would be wrong to accept that
any of these events could bewatched by overlooking residents. This past week, in excess of 1,400 people came through my front door. Over a year there could be 100,000 visitors. “The front windows of the pro-
posed development will be less than 2m from my busy car park with my guests leaving late in the weekday evenings and past midnight at the weekends. “I will not be prepared to accept
cant, said the site had been marketed for business use for two years, but had no takers. However, Cllr Stephen Paine, a member of the committee, said: “I think I have supported every brown- field regeneration scheme since I be- came a councillor [in 2008]. “But for this one I really do have concerns. The layout is very dense and there is a lot of overlooking. It has happened before,whenwe have had housing next to a business, the residents start a campaign. Before you know it, a successful business will have an enforcement notice, which is the last thingwe willwant.” Cllr Brian Clark, also on the com-
mittee, said: “It is ironic that a Rent- a-Car site caused less harm than housing but we are shoehorning in large family homes. I can see some great problems if this goes ahead.” The committee voted to refusedue
to the proposal's cramped design and its lack of amenity area.
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www.thestonetilewarehouse.co.uk uk Maidstone South September 2015 11
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