8 Maidstone Borough Council
Adventure Zone A survey of residents and visitors in 2014 found that people were interested in paid-for adventure activities in the park, so councillors agreed, in February 2015, to create an Adventure Zone! This will include high rope courses, climbing walls,
A Sustainable Future for Mote Park
Maidstone council has been looking at ways to secure the future of the borough's parks in the face of significant funding cuts. Our main grant from central Government has been cut by 59% since 2010, and the Government's recent funding announcement means that not only will that grant be removed completely in 2 years, but a large proportion of our business rates will be taken away too. This means that to balance our budget, we have had to consider either cutting support for the services we're not legally obliged to provide (like parks), or raising income where we can to protect them, including through council tax and fees and charges.
We consider Mote Park to be one of the borough's greatest assets, so we made the decision to protect it, rather than risk seeing standards there decline. "A Sustainable Future for Mote Park" is a series of projects, outlined on this page, intended to raise money at the park to make sure that we can not only maintain and protect the park, but improve it too.
Café
Refurbishment When we surveyed visitors and residents about Mote Park in 2014, the message was clear - our café facilities need improving! We have now brought the management of the café in-house, which means we have more control over it and can use the profits to help look after the park. We've given the café a complete makeover, extending and redecorating the interior, improving the seating, and adding a new kitchen so that we can offer a higher quality, more extensive menu.
Car Parking Charges You will have seen information in previous editions of Borough Update
adventure golf and Segways, improving the offer at Mote Park by giving a wider range of activities at lower prices than many similar facilities. The current playground will be upgraded with better free-to-use equipment at the same time.
A planning application will be submitted in February for the construction of the Adventure Zone, which will be placed near the current main play area and café. We're keen
to make sure that it doesn't have a detrimental impact on the landscape, so it will not take up more than 0.38% of the park. We've also done a lot of work to make sure that the proposed location has the minimum impact on the heritage and ecology of the park.
about the introduction of parking charges in Mote Park - and why we've made that difficult decision. These charges come into force on Monday 1 February, and we hope that all of our residents understand why we've done this.
The charge starts at 10am, allowing time for people to walk dogs or go for a run in the morning without having to pay, and is £1 for up to six hours. Stays of more than 6 hours are £12, which is
to deter commuters from parking there. We've previously kept the gates closed until 9am to stop commuter parking, but this new charge means we'll now open the gates at 8am.
The money raised through parking charges will help to maintain the park and make vital improvements to protect it for future generations, including looking after some of the oldest trees. It will also go toward improvements to the toilets and café.
There will be more improvements to come, so watch this space!
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