Message from Katerina
Apologies for not getting the news to you sooner – yesterday was such a big catch up day after all my efforts being put in to last minute campaigning on the hall.
For those of you who did not hear, Council voted unanimously NOT to sell the old Maidstone Community Hall site until they have thoroughly investigated ways of holding onto the land and making it economically viable and a place of community engagement. Council noted this could take years, but they will not rush the process. Councillor Carter was chairing the meeting and as such, was not supposed to speak. However, she made a point of standing anyway to note that she had been particularly impressed with POW’s submission and articulate presentation of the arguments. She was clearly moved by the community spirit demonstrated by our submission and campaign and is excited about working with us in future.
This is a fantastic result for POW. Whether or not Council offers us involvement in the rejuvination of the Maidstone Hall site, we are thrilled. Our objective with our proposal was primarily to keep the site in public hands. The market garden was secondary to this objective. However, given council’s positive response to our group, I am sure that eventually Council will support is in such a project, whether on this site or another.
It should be noted, however. That decision does not save the site forever. Should council not be able to find a viable community project for this site, it has not ruled out selling the land in future. I, therefore, urge all of you who are residents of the Maidstone and nearby areas to let council know you are interested in being involved in any future plans for the site. It is important that whatever happens on this site a) is viable and b) engages the community. So please keep an eye on it and take any opportunity you can get to be involved. We will keep you posted about any further developments.
In the meantime, thank you to everybody involved in the campaign, especially those who wrote letters and turned up to the Council meeting. Thank you for the all the personal emails of support people sent me and thank you to Nina who instigated the campaign in the first place.
Well done everybody!