|
Maidstone Borough Council News ~ May 2023 |
|
MBC announces Borough Council
Election results
Maidstone Borough Council (MBC) has announced the results of the 2023 Borough Council Election’s after residents took to the polls across the borough last week – Thursday 4 May, to cast their votes on Maidstone’s 18 available election seats.
The count, which took place on Friday 5 May, revealed that 29,822 (29.9%) of eligible voters across Maidstone turned out to have their say at the local elections.
There are 55 MBC Councillors in total which are as follows:
- Conservative - 24
- Liberal Democrats - 12
- Independent - 10
- Labour – 6
- Green - 3
|
|
Maidstone children join Mayor to celebrate Coronation
The Mayor of Maidstone was joined by local children at a Traditional Street Party as part of the celebrations of the Coronation of His Majesty King Charles III and Her Majesty Queen Camilla.
Maidstone Borough Council (MBC) hosted the event for 150 primary school children outside the Lockmeadow Entertainment Centre ahead of the Bank Holiday weekend on Friday 5 May. The Street Party included ‘royal’ entertainment, music, a locally produced picnic lunch and each child was given a souvenir memento to keep as a reminder of the historic occasion.
Schools from across the borough of Maidstone were invited by MBC to apply for ten free tickets each to bring some of their Key Stage 2 students to join the Mayor in the celebrations.
The Mayor was also joined by the Mayoress – Mrs Sally Mortimer and the Deputy Lieutenant of Kent - Mr Bill Cockcroft who helped present each child with a Coronation Medal to keep as a reminder of the day. Entertainment was provided by local theatre group Pretending People and members from the Maidstone Museum learning team helped the children create their own royal crown to take home along with flags as souvenirs.
In addition to the Street Party, the Mayor announced that the area previously known as Town Square outside Lockmeadow was to be renamed as Coronation Square in honour of the special occasion.
|
|
Maidstone takes part in No Mow May
Once again this year Maidstone Borough Council Parks and Open Spaces team is taking part in the national initiative ‘No Mow May’ by not mowing five areas in the borough.
- The Limes open space in Staplehurst
- Grovewood Drive North, Weavering
- Dickens Road Open Space, Ringlestone
- Verges on New Cut Road
- Verges on parts of Willington Street
MBC will not mow these five grassy areas throughout May to allow any wildflowers in the lawns to have a chance to flower and support wildlife and pollinators.
A little piece of wilderness can be a powerful force helping to challenge the climate and biodiversity crisis. Plants and pollinators enrich our landscapes and their beauty and colours can calm our mind too. It will help improve biodiversity, especially at such an important time of year for bees, butterflies and insects.
MBC does not have responsibility for all grass verges in the borough however temporary signs will be put up at five of the sites it does own informing people of the project and neat borders will be cut to make sure paths won’t be blocked and areas should not look unkempt.
|
|
Enter your garden for
Maidstone Borough in Bloom 2023
The Maidstone Borough in Bloom competition is now open for entries for everyone who loves to create beautiful gardens and pots. MBC works with Coolings Garden Centre in Bearsted to run the competition and awards ceremony.
The competition is free to enter with categories ranging from individual pots to entire gardens. Category winners are awarded prizes of up to £25 of Coolings vouchers. Entries close Friday 30 June.
Judges will start inspecting all gardens, pots or allotments during July giving anyone wishing to enter plenty of time to create their stunning displays.
|
|
Stunning artwork at Buckland Hill in Maidstone
The railway bridge at Buckland Hill is looking stunning after Maidstone Borough Council (MBC) worked with local students and an artist to create eye catching street art.
Students from local schools; Maidstone Grammar School for Girls, Maplesden Noakes and Mid Kent College worked with street artist Graham Upton to create a mural about what Maidstone means to them.
The initial design workshops were led by Graham who then combined the students individual design ideas into a single mural. Students were then invited to spend a day on site learning how to recreate their designs using spray paints and helping to create the finished mural on the bridge. The murals have all been covered with anti-graffiti coating to ensure they stay looking good for many years to come.
The project has been supported by various organisations; Kent Community Rail Partnership (CRP), Network Rail (permission to use their wall for the mural), four students from Grow 19 helped with the whitewash base coat and Castledene Transport who provided additional funding which paid for the anti-graffiti coating.
|
|
Lockmeadow Survey
In November 2019, Maidstone Borough Council purchased the lease for Lockmeadow Entertainment Centre to realise its priority of making the borough a Thriving Place.
The Council is now seeking feedback from people that have both visited Lockmeadow, and those that haven't, so that improvements can be made to Lockmeadow Entertainment Centre.
Survey closes 11 June.
|
Design and Sustainability Development Plan Document (DPD)
Maidstone Borough Council is consulting on the further development of MBC's DPD, and is encouraging residents, businesses, and stakeholders to have their say. The new plan will help embed good design and sustainability as a core element of new development in the Borough.
The consultation is now open and closes 12 June.
|
|
Get in touch
Please forward this email onto your friends and family who may want to 'Stay Connected' to news from Maidstone Borough Council by emailing: communications@maidstone.gov.uk
|
|
|
|
