An iconic pub has been saved from demolition but motorists may not be pleased.

Plans for an improved junction layout at the Wheatsheaf pub in the Loose Road,Maidstone have been dropped by Kent County Council’s (KCC) cabinet member for highways and transport Cllr Neil Baker.

The junction is a key confluence between the A229 Loose Road heading towards Staplehurst and the A274 Sutton Road heading towards Headcorn, and is the key route into Maidstone town centre from the south.

KCC purchased the pub, which shut in 2019, from its former landlords Renee and Rosa Kenny so that it could be pulled down to make way for an extended, signalised junction that was budgeted to cost £5.6m.

But the junction scheme has progressed no further than the closure of the Cranborne Avenue leg of the junction while the pub sits “decaying” with peeling paintwork.

Now KCC highways officers are saying the Cranborne Avenue closure has provided the vast majority of any benefit the scheme was likely to deliver, and it was not worth proceeding with the rest of the junction re-format.

Officers said: “The closure of Cranborne Avenue alone, delivered an immediate and significant improvement to the capacity of the Wheatsheaf junction.”

Since that closure, they said, highways officers had been assessing the relative values of a “do minimum” approach and a “do maximum” approach at the junction, and had come down firmly on the side of do minimum.

The do minimum scheme consists of retaining the Cranborne Avenue closure with some “minor enhancements.”

The southbound A229 stop line and refuge island will be moved closer to the junction, which will reduce lost time taken up by vehicles progressing through the junction once they have a green light.

New traffic signal technology will be provided, with improved pedestrian crossing facilities.

In addition, the technology will improve co-ordination between the Wheatsheaf junction and the A229/Armstrong Road signal operation further down the road towards town - so that traffic escaping through the Wheatsheaf lights isn’t immediately held up by the queue formed by a red light at Armstrong Road.

The do maximum scheme would have involved a complete reconfiguration of the junction and necessitated the demolition of the pub.

But officers said: “Our forecast capacity modelling makes it clear that the limited additional benefits provided by the do maximum scheme do not represent value for money.

“The scheme would also cause considerable disruption during its construction.

“The do minimum scheme will keep costs and disruption to a minimum and negate the need to demolish the pub.”

The Wheatsheaf has been a pub since 1830. It has formed a prominent landmark entry to the town - especially under the ownership of the Kennys, who always ensured that its distinctive green and cream livery was regularly refreshed.

Sadly since it closed, KCC has allowed the building to fall into disrepair, with a boarded-up window, broken plasterwork, now shabby paintwork and a bat roost in the roof.

KCC has not announced what it intends to do with the pub now.

It had obtained permission to demolish it back in October 2021 but never did so.

Earlier this year, Loose and Linton councillor Brian Clark suggested that KCC could reopen the pub with a new livery and rebrand it The White Elephant.

He said: “It is a travesty that it was bought if it is not needed.”

”The Wheatsheaf's paintwork is decaying, the pub sitting in limbo and its once cared-for elevations are looking sad.

“Meanwhile, in the foreground, the Loose Road has gone from congested to complete gridlock.”

Cllr Clark has been pressing KCC to reveal what is happening to the money that was allocated to the project - so far without success.

Shepway ward councillor Joanna Wilkinson (Lab) said: “I personally would like to see the Wheatsheaf become a community asset or put back into use as a local pub.

“But I will soon be canvassing the residents of Shepway to see what they would like to see happen to it.”

Brian Shingleton, a resident of nearby Cripple Street, said the Wheatsheaf should be re-opened as a pub. He said: “It was very successful, despite having no car park.”

But he was not sorry to see the KCC junction scheme dropped. He said: “It was farcical. It was never going to work from the start. The design included a bench on a green space in the middle of the junction - for people to sit and watch the traffic! Come on!”

But nor did Mr Shingleton accept that nothing could be done.

He said: “There are problems with traffiic moving north towards the Armstrong Road junction. Traffic gets held up by cars stopping to turn right into Plains Avenue, and then at the Armstrong lights, cars in the turn-right lane cut back into the main lane. It is dangerous. Better lane-marking is needed.

Sean Carter is the former chairman of the North Loose Residents Association (NLRA), which recently merged with Loose Parish Council.

He said: “KCC seems to be walking away from the whole of the south Maidstone corridor - it has also decided to do nothing further at Sheals Crescent, at Armstrong Road or at The Swan junction on the Loose Road.

“I don’t believe that there is nothing further to be done. The NLRA made a number of detailed suggestions for improving traffic flows along the corridor, none of which were taken up.

“Even if the modelling suggests the proposed Wheatsheaf junction configuration would bring little benefit, there are other things that could be done.

“KCC has millions of pounds set aside for these improvements and if it is not used there is a risk the money will be lost.”

He suggested more “white lining” of lanes - similar to that carried out recently at the Running Horse roundabout in Sandling, guiding traffic along dedicated lanes so that the merger of vehicles from the A274 and the A229 could be achieved more smoothly.

But, he warned, that would need more space than was at present available, and so might still require the demolition of the Wheatsheaf.

He said: “There was a very similar junction in Cheadle, where white-lining has proved very effective in improving traffic flows.”

But he agreed with KCC, that Cranborne Avenue should remain closed.

He said: “It’s a very emotive subject, but it is clear the closure has improved traffic flows heading south through the junction.”

Mr Carter said: “If KCC is saying that there really is nothing more that can be done at the Wheatsheaf, which is already full to capacity, it should declare the congestion at the junction ‘severe,’ because that would have implications for future house-building allocations to the south of Maidstone.”

Ever since the 2017 Local Plan, housing allocations in Maidstone have been allowed by government inspectors because there have been junction improvements promised to mitigate the extra traffic - most of which have never happened.

A KCC spokesman said: “We fully appreciate the importance of the building to the local community and environment and will be making a decision soon about whether to retain ownership."

Helen Grant, MP for Maidstone and Malling, said: “The ‘Wheatsheaf project’ has been a costly exercise at the taxpayers expense and a solution must be found in the short-term in order to avoid further deterioration to the building.

“I have written to KCC asking what are its plans for the future of the former pub?

“I have also the cabinet member what is the estimated time delivery for the ‘Do Minimum’ approach to include moving the southbound A229 stop line and refuge island closer to the junction?”

Mrs Grant said: “Congestion is the principal issue in this area and will only become exacerbated if house-building continues to surge, as proposed by the new government.

“Previously, planning applications have been approved due to junction improvements being promised.

“Now the Wheatsheaf project has been scrapped in its entirety, what will KCC’s position be on future housing developments in the South Maidstone region?”