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£6,000 cost of a night on town
AN average Saturday night out in Maidstone costs the people of the borough more than £6,000 – and two thirds of this is the cost of pro- viding CCTV. It costs Maidstone Council £4,327
for CCTV coverage in the town cen- tre on a Saturday night – and a fur- ther £400 is spent on extra street cleansing and a public urinal. The council spends £199.80 on providing licensing enforcement of- ficers, while the cost to Kent Police is averaged at £1,146.08, which covers the cost of police officers, processing suspects and investigating crime. The findings come from a Night-
time Economy Task and Finish Group, with partners from Kent Po- lice and various council depart- ments. It was set up to review the costs of maintaining a safe and clean town centre. The group’s report to the council’s housing and environment commit- tee says that the nighttime economy bringsmanybenefits to the borough, including employment. It creates a vibrant town centre and improves the positive perception and aware- ness of the borough. However it also creates potential
for problems, such as anti-social be- haviour, crime,waste and harm. Although the nighttime economy
is often perceived as being centred on the town’s nightclubs with activ- ity post-11pm, the term also covers restaurants, pubs and cultural ven- ues. There is support for these to be developed further, to offer greater diversity and to attract a wider age range, according to the report. The agencies which jointly fund Maidstone’s nighttime economy each Saturday together spend about £315,785 in a year. Volunteers play an important part,
too, with the taxi marshalls, street pastors and Urban Blue bus helpers providing more than 4,000 hours of voluntary cover each year, dealing with more than 600 incidents and re- ducing ambulance call-outs and A&E admissions due to alcohol. Maidstone has nine pubs and
clubs which open as late as 3am on Saturdays, but the report concludes that these businesses provide jobs and contribute almost £323,000 in business rates, of which the borough council gets 40%, (£129,116.70),KCC 10% and the remaining 50% to gov- ernment.
Zoe Kirby (seated) with area manager Sandra Fruish (right) and staff Pop-in centre for veterans
A NEW pop-in centre where armed forces veterans and their families can access advice and practical help has opened at the Royal British Legion Village in Aylesford. The facility is one of 16 nation-
wide which aim to provide a wel- coming space for service personnel, veterans and their families to get fi- nancial, emotional and social sup- port.
Advice and information officer FREE
Zoe Kirby, who will be running the drop-in twice a week, with the help of volunteers, said: “We can help with a range of problems or we can help people make the link to other organisations who can give special- ist help.” The centre, which is close to the newly-opened Base Camp café, is open Mondays and Thursdays from 10am to 4pm. For more details, call 0808 802 8080 or visit
rbl.org.uk.
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Call Now – 01732 617557 Malling November 2015 3
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