Maidstone Green Party are shocked at the news that Maidstone Borough Council have opted to waste another £4m upgrading streets in the town centre. This comes after spending £6m of taxpayers money redesigning the gyratory system, with no real improvement to traffic flow, and a further £3m repaving the high street in 2012.

The Greens have actively campaigned in Maidstone for better uses of public funds, while the council continue to invest in business areas. They have called for the funds to be invested in schemes that help local people instead.

Stuart Jeffery, Parliamentary Candidate: “The Lib Dems who run Maidstone Borough Council seem to be only interested in spending money on business areas and anti-green schemes and the Tories are clearly comfortable with this too.

"Maidstone residents have recently experienced a 4% increase in council tax rates, as a resident I am annoyed that the council continue to spend our money on aesthetic measures which will only benefit businesses and not the people of Maidstone.

“Maidstone has one of the highest levels of homelessness in the UK, which is shameful, and with more and more families relying on food banks, how can our council justify this extravagant spending? I want to see this money invested in schemes that will really help people such as reducing traffic, reducing rough sleeping, and insulating homes.”

 ends

Notes:

Rough sleeping in England: autumn 2016 https://www.gov.uk/.../rough-sleeping-in-england-autumn-2016