Partnership working
Maidstone Borough Council recognises the
strength and value of effective partnerships in contributing to the
improvement of service delivery and in meeting its strategic
priorities. We recognise that we do not have the capacity to do
everything ourselves and so we are committed to working with others
to develop and deliver our shared goals more efficiently.
- Below is a list of the key partnerships the Council
is currently involved in with information on what the partnership
does and what it achieves:
Key Partnerships
Channel Corridor Partnership
The Channel Corridor Partnership is the first strategic
partnership to be created for Maidstone, Ashford and Shepway. A
significant part of the work of the Channel Corridor Partnership is
to challenge others on developing and delivering economic
prosperity in our area. For example we will advocate and lobby for
significant infrastructure projects such as the Leeds/Langley
By-pass, junction improvements on the M20 and land allocation for
business use. Some of the activities that are being pursued include
creating an economic growth strategy and action plan that will have
the full support of the private and public sectors, undertaking an
economic impact assessment of Operation Stack (where trucks are
parked on the M20 when channel freight services are disrupted), and
developing our European relationships by working with the Kent
International Affairs Group. More information is available on the
Channel Corridor
Partnership website.
Clean Kent
The Clean Kent Campaign was launched in May 2004, to tackle the
issues of littering and flytipping, as well as graffiti and dog
fouling, which all have an impact on our local environment and how
we view it. The aim is to make Kent a cleaner county and one which
we can all enjoy and be proud of. More information is available on
the Clean Kent
Campaign website.
Heart of Kent Tourism Consortium
The Heart of Kent consortium was created in 1988 as a tourism
marketing partnership between Maidstone Borough Council, Tonbridge
& Malling Borough Council, Tunbridge Wells Borough Council and
Sevenoaks District Council. Ashford Borough Council joined the
consortium in 2002. The five local authorities work together
to market and promote the five Heart of Kent towns and the
surrounding countryside to visitors. As well as producing the Heart
of Kent website, the consortium publishes an annual Holiday Guide
and works closely with other tourism enterprises in Kent and the
South East of England on numerous other marketing activities for
the area. The consortium also supports a network of Tourist
Information Centres to meet the needs of visitors once they have
arrived in the Heart of Kent area. Further information is available
on the Heart of
Kent website.
Kent Benefit Partnership
The Kent Benefit Partnership was originally set up by Kent
County Council, Medway Council and all twelve of the Kent district
authorities to promote the take-up of Council Tax Benefit
among pensioners. Because of the success in this area, having paid
out nearly £3 million in benefit, the take-up work has moved on to
cover Housing Benefit and working-age customers as well. More
information is available on the Kent Benefit Partnership
website.
Kent Children's Fund
The Children’s Fund aims to provide a flexible and responsive
approach to meeting needs and developing good practice for services
for children and young people at risk of social exclusion. The
Children’s Fund aims to develop services so that children and young
people at risk of social exclusion are identified early and
services are developed which support them, their families and the
communities where they live, enabling them to overcome barriers and
disadvantage, and start achieving their potential. More information
is available on Kent
Children's Fund webpages.
Kent Invicta Chamber of Commerce
The Kent Invicta Chamber of Commerce is a membership
organisation which provides a full range of business support
services, ranging from networking, business support to
representation. Our aims are to build and support an environment
that is conducive to business growth and enterprise. More
information is available on the Kent Invicta Chamber
of Commerce website.
Kent Partnership
The Kent Partnership provides a strong collective voice for the
leaders of Kent's interests and therefore enhances the efforts made
by individual organisations and groups. Responsible for overseeing
Kent's community strategy, the Vision
for Kent, it has a key role in encouraging community
leadership, supporting new initiatives and helping to ensure the
effective delivery of services. Importantly, it is recognition that
defining and delivering Kent's future needs goes beyond the remit
of local authorities acting alone. more information is available on
the Kent Partnership
website
Maidstone Local Strategic Partnership
The Local strategic Partnership produces the community strategy
for Maidstone and involves a range of partners in promoting the
economic, social and environmental well-being of the area with key
priorities identified for local action. More information on the
partnership is available on the Council's community
strategy webpages.
Maidstone Town Centre Management Ltd
Maidstone Town Centre Management Ltd's mission is to create and
develop active partnerships and broad networks to establish a
healthy and sustainable environment which involves and benefits all
stakeholders.They have a number of initiatives in the town centre,
more information is available on the
Maidstone Town Centre Management Ltd website.
Medway Valley Countryside
-
Medway Valley Countryside provides advice, training and
practical support to communities to conserve
wildlife, habitats and the landscape. Supports landowners to
enhance the Medway Valley by providing advice about
grants, control of invasive
species, and advice on Environmental Stewardship applications.
They also work with the local community,
Borough
Councils,
Parish Councils and Public Rights of Way to improve access and
recreation along the Medway Valley Walk and
throughout their area. Work is carried out in partnership
for the management of
special habitats, and encourage animals like otters, barn owls
and water voles. The organisation host site visits, talks,
presentations and information to schools, Parish
Councils, community groups and landowners, They
also provide opportunities for people of all ages to volunteer,
do practical work, wildlife surveying, and enhance their locality.
More information is available on the Medway Valley Countryside
website.
Parkwood Plus Healthy Living Centre
Park Wood Plus Centre is a joint project with
the Primary Care Trust. The centre hosts a range of community
activities including keep fit, selling cheap fruit and vegetables,
access to a range of services, residents groups and multi agency
meetings. The Parkwood Partnership Group is working to improve and
co-ordinate agency approaches across Health, Housing, Education and
community engagement in a catchments area of 6000 people.
Safer Maidstone Partnership
The Crime and Disorder Act 1998 requires
public bodies to work together in reducing crime and disorder
through forming partnerships, devising strategies for crime
reduction and action plans to ensure effective delivery. More
information on the Safer Maidstone Partnership is available on the
council's community safety webpages
The Safer Maidstone Partnership (SMP) is
Maidstone’s Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership and comprises
a number of partner organisations. The over-riding objective of the
SMP between 2005-08 was to reduce crime in the Borough by 15.2%.
This target was set by the Government Office for the South East and
was agreed by the SMP. In order to achieve this over-arching
target, four key priorities were identified, each accompanied by
individual action plans which detail the targets and projects that
relate to the priority.
1. Reduce
anti-social behaviour
2. Promote a
positive image of young people
3. Drug &
alcohol misuse
4.Reduce the fear of
crime by engaging with communities
West Kent Arts Partnership
The purpose of this partnership is
to realise growth for the arts, promoting and encouraging arts
activity in line with local strategies across West Kent, where
there is benefit and “added value” achieved by joint working.