Mayor of Maidstone officially opens Wallis Avenue regeneration in Park Wood
The Mayor of Maidstone, Daniel Moriarty officially opened Phases 1 and 2 of Golding Homes major regeneration scheme at Wallis Avenue, Parkwood at an opening ceremony in March.
The first two phases have provided 146 new homes and 13 retail units, two of which will be occupied by Fusion as a local community café and training centre.
The 146 new homes include a mix of family houses and flats and replace a similar number of outdated small flats. The scheme has been recognised for its distinctive, high quality design which achieves a very high level of sustainability as well as providing spacious and comfortable homes for local people.
The new retail units replace the shops in the existing Park Wood parade, which will be demolished to make way for a further 56 houses and flats and two more shops, which is all part of local housing association, Golding Homes’ Wallis Fields regeneration scheme.
Both national and local independent retailers have signed up to the new shop units and these include The Beauty Closet, Heart of Kent Hospice, Greggs Bakery and McColls convenience store. The remaining units are currently being finalised and hope to be trading soon.
Among the first to sign up for a new unit was Angie Raper who runs a successful beauty salon, The Beauty Closet. She said “I’m thrilled to have moved into the new building, I’ve got exciting plans for my business and my customers, and am looking forward to the future.”
Mark Mickelburgh, Head of Retail for Heart of Kent Hospice said: “We are delighted with the new shop with is both modern and spacious and offers us a great opportunity to stock a greater range of furniture as well as our usual range of donated items. We are already open and trading and look forward to welcoming both new and existing customers to our store.”
Anne Chapman, Golding Homes’ Head of New Business and Commercial Services said “We are delighted that retailers share our vision for this area. The construction stage is coming to an end, several retailers are already trading and we are looking forward to the remaining shops opening throughout April.”
Once complete the Wallis Fields development will create 200 new homes, a local community facility and 15 commercial units. The project is being completed with support from the Homes and Communities Agency.