He’s a man on a mission, and now the councillor responsible for the town centre regeneration has Maidstone’s busiest street in his sights.

Fresh from completion of the first phase of the High Street works, and with work on phase two under way, Cllr Malcolm Greer (Con), has revealed Week Street is now on his hit list.

Cllr Greer wants Gabriel’s Hill and Earl Street included in the current beautifying of the town, with paving, seating and extra greenery. He is awaiting a funding report from Kent County Council, that has already agreed to pay for a new pavement and road surface in Mill Street, once lower High Street work is completed.

He said: “It is looking more than possible to do all these. We want to make Earl Street an area for eating; with wagamamac coming and a new Thai restaurant, plus improvements to the look of the street.

“We will need to do it in two phases, with the traffic orders and then find the money for the regeneration, which I expect to do within the year.

“We have got to be alive to situations where we can get money from projects – we’ve got to be ahead of the game.

“Week Street is on the wish list, definitely, and the Maidstone East project should help.”

Discussions are ongoing for plans to transform the train station at the top end of Week Street, to include shops and restaurants and extra parking.

Work began on the lower High Street in April and contractors are awaiting the arrival of granite paving from China before re-paving the area in the same material as the rest of High Street and King Street.