Maidstone council plans to redevelop Royal Mail Sorting Office near train station get government funding

Plans to redevelop part of a town left derelict for a decade have been given a boost by the government.

Maidstone council has received a £2.1m grant from the Brownfield Land Release Fund to help it bring forward plans to regenerate the former Royal Mail Sorting Office site.

The Brownfield Fund is intended to help local authorities develop sites that might otherwise be unviable.

The area, close to Maidstone East Station, was allocated for regeneration in the 2017 Local Plan. The council says it has prepared a planning application, but no details have yet appeared on its planning website.

When the authority held a public consultation on its plans in March, its architects were talking of a £50 million mixed-use scheme for 217 homes along with 1,822 sq metres of commercial space, plus associated access, parking and landscaping.

The scheme – which includes demolishing Cantium House, which belongs to Kent County Council – at that stage envisaged two six-storey apartment blocks, plus one six-storey block and one eight-storey block with commercial space on the ground floor.

But the plans showed only 176 parking places were being created to support the 217 new homes.

A council spokesman justified the shortfall because of the site’s easy access to the town centre and railway station, arguing residents wouldn’t need cars.

Plans included a split-level public piazza plus a “pocket park” which would include a children’s play area.

The cabinet member for housing and health, Cllr Lottie Parfitt-Reid (Con), said: “The council is delighted to have been awarded this money which will help to enhance Maidstone town centre – subject to planning permission.

“We are committed to deliver 1,000 affordable homes in the borough and the development at the former Royal Mail site will help realise that ambition.”