by Duncan Lamb
Proposals by the Prudential and Shell Pensions Trust to create the UK’s third largest shopping centre — extending to 900,000 sq ft — in the centre of Maidstone were this week recommended for outline planning consent by Maidstone council.
The developers are hoping to double the size of the town’s main shopping area, the newly refurbished Chequers centre, by adding a further 330,000 sq ft of retailing with 2,400 new parking spaces, a bus station and a landscaped park leading to the banks of the River Len.
A spokesman for the developers said that they would be working with Maidstone council and Kent council to landscape and pedestrianise part of King Street to “further enhance the amenities within the town centre”.
The plans are a bold move, especially in the light of proposals from Land Securities and Whitbread to develop a 470,000-sq ft shopping centre on a site fronting the prime pitch of Week Street.
Architects Leslie Jones are currently preparing designs for the Fremlin Centre on two and three levels with three large anchor units and an entrance facing the existing Marks & Spencer store on Week Street.
A Land Securities spokesman confirmed that the developers and their partners — who control some 65% of the site bounded by Earl and St Faith streets — were progressing with their plans. Land Securities director Keith Redshaw said that the site had been identified in the local plan as suitable for a major shopping centre and “research has shown there is significant unsatisfied demand and potential for a new high-quality shopping centre — particularly in the prime position in Maidstone”. Leslie Furness & Co are development consultants for the project.
Joint letting agents and advisers for the Prudential scheme are Hillier Parker and Molyneux Rose.
