Amazing

Internet was tooooo slow!! And most frustrating part is you can’t get any better provider/fibre connections at all

The form was easy to fill out and they wanted to hear what you had to say

Good to have the opportunity to participate in this survey.

The Borough officials are very lax at management of traffic in the high street, ensuring that the pavements etc are returned to the same finish after works as before, maintaining foot ways etc from plant growth and transport problems with local buses and park and ride etc which results in numerous individuals shopping out of Maidstone

There were no questions or any chances to mention anything that would be of help to myself personally
Like lower price swimming sessions for disabled people like myself I'd love to be able to do this on a quieter time but after checking found the prices are beyond what I could afford without using the last of my savings or going without meals

Lack of services for the residents of the county town although council tax keeps rising every service being outsourced but are all below standard as to what is required by the residents to much focus on big housing development and not enough focus on the services that are needed to sustain the amount of housing being built including doctors schools and transport

The options given to respond to certain questions fail to cover the answers I would like to give.

I agree with most of the previous contributors' comments. I have lived in Maidstone all of my 59 years and have have been very saddened to see a historic market town with a wonderful history gradually being destroyed by too much housing development mainly and turning into a "borough" of London. I no longer shop or visit any restaurants in the town due to a very real fear of being mugged or worse. I appreciate that times change - but whatever has happened certainly hasn't been for the better.

I have completed the Resident Survey 2022 bur did not see anywhere where where I could make a specific point of interest to me. My suggestion is to feature an enlightening talk on recycling on the local tv news be it BBC or ITV.
For example, when you recycle an envelope incorporating a plastic transparent window used for the name and address should you go the trouble of removing that as it is not paper? Similarly, should you remove a metal screw top from a wine bottle?

An excellent survey with a good choice of questions. Easy to navigate round and to complete

Life in Maidstone is deteriorating year by year. Air pollution levels are dangerous and probably often illegal adjacent to the roads. As more and more houses are built in the area the traffic levels continue to rise and congestion is becoming impossible. Many local buses are very old and belch out black smoke which the council should ban, it's no doubt illegal. Air pollution therefore gets worse. Provision for cyclists is very poor ( I do cycle myself ) and park and ride from the Bearsted side has been discontinued, so more car use is favoured. Planned road junction improvement schemes seem to be behind schedule. This all means that Maidstone is an unhealthy place to live and is unattractive to visitors. Over time smart higher market town centre shops have closed and many people we meet in other towns in Kent say' there's no decent shopping in Maidstone now, it's not the place it was and we've stopped going there'. The answer for those able to do so is to move out, and many are doing just that. When we had school age children at home the good local schools were a big attraction but since they grew up we wonder why we are still living here and maybe we will join the leavers in our retirement before the town gets even worse, as it will on current trends. I have communicated with my councillors who say they agree with this analysis of the problems but they appear unable to change things. As the county town situated on the river Maidstone has or had the potential to be attractive and welcoming as a place to live or visit but over years it has headed in the opposite direction and the trend continues. What a great pity!

This survey is just what we need at the moment so we can have our say however I don't think you will be surprised to hear negative comments! I have lived in Maidstone all my life and was proud of the town once but not any more.I work in Bayfields opticians in pudding Lane and unfortunately see problems and crime on a daily basis. We get comments from our clients now that say,' what has happened to Maidstone '! And ' I only come in to Maidstone when I have to'! It's such a shame as we have some great restaurants and shops particularly in fremlins walk,which feels safe,but I would not feel safe out in Maidstone at night anymore since London Borough Council have purchased flats to house undesirable people. We have seen for ourselves the problems this has brought and this needs to be stopped NOW !

I don't think the survey questions could generate a particularly useful report... Questions and the responses elicited were very narrow... No opportunity for actual, personal contributions...

Complete absence of questions about major issues...like the obscene amount of house building with the total lack of transport networks to back it all up...the constant clogging up of the roads with traffic... Maidstone definitely feels like a dumping ground

For a 'county town' Maidstone is about the shabbiest place you could go. It is run down, clogged up, very poor quality shopping, very badly planned, appalling buildings allowed to shoot up anywhere, expensive to park... Nothing is made of the history, the remaining beautiful buildings, no attempt is made to try and entice people in...the Carriage museum isn't open, you can't visit the Town Hall, the river front is a joke...in any other town these things would be celebrated

I must admit Maidstone has changed but not for the better, we live on the main road and although we expect traffic noise the constant sound of Police sirens all day is I feel unnecessary. I appreciate that new officers need to train but every day up and down, really. Also the rise of the unchecked electric scooters speeding up and down the footpaths is an accident waiting to happen, these need to be challenged and stopped as they are illegal and someone will get seriously hurt.

Maidstone has gone downhill far too much I have lived here all my life too much new housing being built everywhere causing so much traffic buildup Doctors far too busy and can only get phone appointments decent shops all disappeared in
town Shops moved out of town only accessable if you drive nothing left to go into town for now I do most of my shopping online now

Why is it that the council is building/providing housing for overflow from South London. Maidstone used to be a nice place. Look at some of the people hanging about in the city centre. For pity sake, stop building around the Maidstone area. We are clogged up already.

I have tried so many times to complete this survey and just before the end it "kicks off"

Regards,
Jim

Sadly, I have to agree with all of the negative comments below. Too much house building with none of the infrastructure. A Southern Relief Road was being planned when I moved to Maidstone in 1974. - Have they finished it yet?
On the positive side some nice social housing has been built from what I've seen.

I love where I stay because I feel safe and everything I need to do in life is close. I would Maidstone town centre to have more variety of stuff, my biggest worry I have is that I will not get a job and stuff is going cost to much.