Dartford Borough Council is inviting residents to have their say on plans to provide new public spaces and tackle some of the town centre’s traffic issues.

In 2017 the Council announced it had secured funding to create simplified road layouts, a new market square and to give a number of other public spaces a facelift. The Council’s funding bid focussed on proposals to improve traffic flow through the town, tackle congestion and create a better environment for shoppers and visitors.

The Council is now revealing some of the options to the wider community and inviting residents to give their opinions and suggestions during a month-long consultation period including briefings for local businesses and a public exhibition in the town centre. The proposals will also be available online.

The consultation kicks off with a briefing for local shops and traders co-hosted by the Dartford Town Team at Princes Park (Dartford Football Club) on 28th February, before moving on to a public exhibition at the Orchards Shopping Centre from the 1st to 3rd March. Residents will be able to view the plans in detail and advisors will be on hand to answer any queries.

Alongside the consultation, the Council is also launching a clear and straightforward update on progress at a number of major town centre sites which Council Leader Jeremy Kite hopes will answer the many perfectly understandable questions that local people have.

Jeremy Kite said, “I’m very aware that local people look at schemes and see some moving ahead quickly, some slowly and others might even appear to have stalled.  People have every right to ask questions about them so I’ve asked officers to produce a straightforward update on projects like Lowfield Street, the new proposals for a Cinema and NHS health centre, Market Street, the old GSK site, Acacia Hall and the final phases of the Central Park restoration.

The truth is that some of these projects are complex and more is going on behind the scenes than might first seem obvious but this update will at least set out the facts so that local people can be kept up to speed. We’ll also be answering some of the questions we often receive about what the impact of all the changes underway might mean for schools, health provision and other public services. In many cases, the questions people tend to ask are ones that we have all asked ourselves too, but it’s important to get the information out there to people so they have the facts.”

The exhibition will open in the Orchards Shopping Centre (inside the old Sweet Cake Fairy unit) at 10am on Thursday 1st March, closing at 5pm on both Thursday and Friday and at 4pm on Saturday 3rd March.