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“Maidstone Matters”, the first community strategy for the
borough of Maidstone (adopted 2003 and revised 2005) sets out how a
range of organisations and people joined forces as Maidstone
Borough’s Local Strategic Partnership (LSP) to make Maidstone a
better place in which to live and work. At that time you told us
that community safety, clean streets and transport were your top
priorities.
As a direct result of that strategy;
- community wardens and police community support officers have
become a daily sight on our streets,
- carers for sick and disabled family members have better
support,
- there has been greater involvement of voluntary and community
organisations in providing services,
- the streets have become cleaner,
- new affordable homes have been built in villages for local
people,
- measures to address speeding in rural areas have become
widespread
- and a one stop shop for public services (called the Gateway) is
to open in the town centre in 2008.
Most recently special project teams have been
set up by the LSP to address teenage conceptions and Maidstone’s
skills gap.
However, action still needs to be taken by the
agencies working together in Maidstone to address major issues such
as climate change, traffic congestion, provide facilities for young
people and much more …
To this end, and in response to a new
government White Paper ‘Strong and Prosperous Communities’, work is
now underway (November 2007 to October 2008) to draw up a revised
“Sustainable Community Strategy”. This time, rather than starting
from scratch though, the agencies have the previous strategy and a
new culture of consultation to build on.
As well as consulting with local people and
organisations, the new sustainable community strategy will be
strongly evidence based using neighbourhood statistics and rigorous
research. The new strategy will also be evaluated to ensure that it
really is sustainable – that the plans and actions we make today,
won’t damage the environment for future generations.
To find out more please click on the links
below: