Dartford is in the mix to receive more than £4 million from the government for improvements to the High Street, transport and a new market square

The borough council has a plan to improve the town centre at a cost of £7.7 million. It already has £3.5 million of that, which has been earmarked for transport updates including better signalling and improved junctions.

But now a body set up to help economic growth in Kent has submitted a bid for £229 million of funding to the government.

The South East Local Enterprise Partnership (SELEP) said it would spend the money on 41 projects across the county, as well as East Sussex and Essex.

Dartford is up for one of the biggest chunks, at £4.3 million.

According to the report, Dartford town centre is one of Britain’s largest growth areas but transport problems have impeded development and are limiting its potential.

If the bid gets the go-ahead the council’s main ambition is to create a new market square, and to change the look of the town with a facelift including new outdoor furniture, as well as improving traffic flow through the town and creating new cycle and pedestrian routes.

Dartford council leader Cllr Jeremy Kite (Con) said: “This money would fall into a big package of improvements which are in the pipeline. We want to improve the general layout of the town.

“At the moment the town-centre transport system doesn’t operate very well. It’s often hard to tell how much of the congestion is because of needed town-centre improvements, and how much is due to the crossing, but changes are required either way.

“But this is also about opening up the community space available. Town centres are changing – some are struggling and Dartford has certainly struggled over the years with big retailers moving out. We need to create a new look for our High Street.

“We need to link it all up to the new housing which is being built around it, with pathways and greater accessibility. We are growing very fast but we can’t just go on building housing here and not having the social or community infrastructure to support it.”

The news comes just two weeks after fresh plans for Lowfield Street were revealed by Meyer Homes. The site has been a cause of frustration for 15 years after a series of planning disappointments – until Tesco ditched its supermarket and housing scheme and pulled out last year.

During the Dartford Festival, people got their first glimpse of plans for 500 homes on the site.

Exact plans for the town-centre improvements have yet to be drawn up, and Cllr Kite said as soon as the money was there, the council would consult the public.

He said: “We’re thrilled to be at the top of the list of projects. I think it’s fair, and we fought hard for it. This isn’t the only money available to us though. If the money wasn’t to come in, the project will still go ahead.

“We have more options down the line with community infrastructure levies from all the new developments, but the government fund would obviously be a tremendous help, and it would mean we could get the job done much quicker.”

SELEP said the cash would encourage a further £756 million of investment from the private sector and other funding in Kent.

It would generate £3 for every £1 invested by the Treasury, the body claimed, as well as creating 73,672 jobs and supporting 31,052 new homes across the region.

Another area which could benefit from the SELEP bid is Swanley, with £1.9 million proposed for the redevelopment of three sites for housing in the town centre.

A decision on the bid is expected before the Autumn Statement in December.

For more see the Dartford Messenger.