Maidstone Council Puts £3.53m Towards New Heart of Kent Hospice

Heart of Kent Hospice's planned new building in Linton has passed the one-third mark of its £18.5 million cost, after Maidstone Borough Council's Cabinet approved £3.53 million towards construction this week. It's a single grant, but one that comes out of a much larger pot of money the council hands out each year - and that mechanism is worth understanding, because it's not council tax at work here.

The £3.53 million comes from the council's Community Infrastructure Levy, or CIL - a charge developers pay when they build in the borough, which Maidstone is required to spend on infrastructure that supports the growth those developments bring: schools, health facilities, roads, open space. It isn't general council spending, and councillors don't have discretion to use it on day-to-day services. Cabinet Member for Planning Policy and Management, Councillor Tony Harwood, called it "an excellent example of how developer contributions can be invested in infrastructure that delivers lasting benefits, both for current residents and future generations."

Heart of Kent Hospice has provided palliative and end-of-life care to people across the Maidstone area for more than 35 years, and is now trying to replace its facilities with a purpose-built hospice and community care hub in Linton. The council's £3.53 million takes the fundraising past one-third of the £18.5 million total, but the hospice still needs to raise a further £12 million to build it. Chief Executive Ann-Marie Kelly said the funding would "future-proof the provision of outstanding palliative and end-of-life care for terminally-ill people in our community," describing a building that would be "flooded with natural light and open-spaces," where patients and families could draw on the hospice's staff and volunteers "with comfort, independence and dignity."

The hospice funding sits inside a wider £13.8 million package of CIL spending that Cabinet approved for projects across the borough, selected through a competitive bidding process judged on strategic importance, deliverability and how well they support the growth set out in Maidstone's Local Plan. The same round includes money towards expanding Maidstone Girls' Grammar School, improvements at Lenham Nursery School, a contribution to the One Maidstone Health Hub, upgrades at Staplehurst Community Centre and Bredhurst Village Hall, a new puffin crossing in Nettlestead, and the creation of Maidstone East Park - a reminder that a single eye-catching grant like the hospice's is usually one line in a much longer spreadsheet.

Source: Maidstone Borough Council