Petition against tower block plans launched
Council suggests pulling down shopping centre for homes
A petition has been set up to stop the building of a 15-storey tower block in Maidstone town centre.
Huw Whitethread, a concerned resident, has created the online campaign to highlight how the development could affect the town.
The housing plan is the latest in a series of proposals from Maidstone Borough Council (MBC) and discusses creating a building of apartments, with one flank of the structure rising to 15 levels.
Under the local authority’s vision, the Broadway Shopping Centre would be demolished and replaced with 281 flats. Mr Whitethread’s petition expresses concerns the site would “severely impact” Maidstone.
He makes reference to the level of air pollution more homes could cause and lists the effects it may have on residents, including cancer, asthma and heart disease. The issue is a growing concern since Friends of the Earth revealed Upper Stone Street generates the fifth highest level of pollution in the country outside London, and the road has almost double the European Union’s limit for nitrogen dioxide. Mr Whitethread added: “Maidstone’s roads are already gridlocked at peak commuting times and weekends, additional housing and the traffic that additional housing brings will negatively impact this further. “Doctors surgeries are already struggling to meet demand with the average waiting time for an appointment being three to six weeks.”
The campaign encourages people to contact their councillor and chairman of MBC’s planning committee, Cllr Clive English, to reject the proposal. It has gained more than 2,000 signatures.