A council that stepped-up to fund long overdue upgrades to a bus station despite not actually owning it, is defending its decision saying it feels it’s the council’s job to support what has been a ‘long standing issue’ for the town.
New designs show a £1.1m facelift is on the cards for Maidstone’s bus station, which runs underneath The Mall and alongside Sainsbury’s.
The head of regeneration and economic development at MBC says although the council does not own the station, it feels it is its duty to pay for improvements that will benefit the whole town.
John Foster added: “It’s certainly a collective effort by all parties but it has been in our Integrated Transport Strategy, our Local Plan, and our corporate plan to invest and improve the bus station and it has been a long standing issue.
“It doesn’t reflect well on the County Town, it’s of an age, and we want to improve that as we do the whole of the town. We want it to be a vibrant place and that’s the job of the council in my mind and that’s why we’re putting our money into this.”
