Kent County Council is going some way to meet the anger of disabled drivers over the recent loss of disability parking bays in Maidstone town centre.

Replacement bays are to be provided for those lost in both Earl Street and King Street.

Russell Boorman, KCC's project engineer, explained that when earlier in the year, the authority was invited to apply for a grant from the Government's Active Travel Scheme it had a very limited time in which to do so. It had to commence any schemes within four weeks and complete them within eight and he said: "There was just no time for the normal level of consultation."

In Maidstone, two schemes were implemented : the existing pedestrianised area of Earl Street was extended down to Pudding Lane, and in King Street, "pop-up" cycle lanes were created.

But Mr Boorman told a meeting of the Maidstone Joint Transportation Board: "We understand that neither of them is perfect."

He said the highways authority was now carrying out a number of revisions, acting in response to criticisms received, and furthermore in December there would be a full survey of their use and of the pubic reaction to the schemes to decide whether in the New Year they should be made permanent, continue on a temporary basis or be scrapped altogether.

In King Street, three disabled spots were lost to make way for the cycle scheme.

One has since been restored. Two news spaces will now be created in Church Street, and one additional disabled bay will be created in the King Street public car park, owned by Maidstone Borough Council, so there will be a net gain of one space.

In Earl Street, a double parking bay was lost and substituted with a "parklet" - a wooden platform built out into the carriageway intended to assist cafes and restaurants in the area to cope with Covid by providing the opportunity for additional outside seating areas.

The disabled bays will now be replaced with two new bays to be located immediately in front of the Hazlitt Theatre in Earl Street, where there are currently double yellow lines.

Other revisions to the schemes will include the shortening of one parklet in Earl Street to extend a loading bay, the widening of the alighting platforms in King Street, so that passengers stepping off buses will not find themselves stepping directly into the cycle lane - which Cllr Val Springett (Con) described as "highly dangerous," and also the removal of centre road chevrons which had been upsetting local taxi drivers.

The revisions were welcomed by councillors, with Cllr Ian Chittenden (Libe Dem) describing the current situation as "a bit of a mess."

Cllr Rob Bird (Lib Dem) said that while the idea of creating extra outdoor seating areas may have seemed like a great idea when first thought of in May, by the time they were installed in September, they were a bit pointless.

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