Town Centre Future
For centuries Dartford has been a centre of commerce and leisure – a place to shop and visit.
But in recent decades the town has struggled to find an identity as the way we shop has changed. Major retailers have told us that existing shop units in the town do not meet their needs and local shops face unprecedented competition. Now, the town's new leaders are determined to put local people in the driving seat and restore Dartford's place as one of the region's finest shopping and social centres.
We are drawing a big picture for Dartford. We've already outlined our ideas for an Edwardian Central Park. We have hopes for things like a new bowling alley, replacement swimming pool, public plazas, improved walkways, new homes for local people and perhaps even an ice rink.
For many centuries Dartford's town centre has been the lifeblood of the town and a regional destination. We now have the opportunity to redefine the town for a new generation – and set the scene for Dartford's future.
Work has already started in the centre of town too. A major programme of work to improve the walkway from Home Gardens through to the High Street via Bull's Head Yard opens up the space in front of the Orchard Theatre. Major improvements are also planned for the Darent Valley Footpath, linking the town to the countryside, and plans are afoot to retain the heritage of many town-centre buildings through the townscape heritage initiative.
We're also proud of the town's historic buildings and traditional market image. We want to protect those buildings that have historic significance and ensure they remain central to the town. Protecting the town's conservation area and historic buildings is a priority. We want the market to be at the heart of shopping in Dartford.
We want to make a walk through the town a relaxing and enjoyable experience.
Shopping will not be just a chore but something to look forward to, with interest, activity and places to stop and rest around every corner.
We want to improve the look of the streets but also create public spaces as part of new developments. This might include Market Street, Mill Pond, Hythe Street, outside the station and an enlarged square outside the Orchard Theatre.
New development must be appealing and must support the town's visual attractiveness.
Encouraging walking and cycling is important to Dartford. We want to ensure paths, walkways and cycle lanes are clean, safe and accessible. This means establishing new routes and improving existing paths, such as along the river Darent, to make the town easier to walk to.
The future of the town depends on balancing a mix of shops – from the big department store to the small specialist retailers. It means encouraging brand new retailers, winning back the shops that have departed and supporting our existing traders. Today's big retailers need premises which are flexible, modern and large enough to meet the demands of Dartford's customers.
Opportunities exist to create new shops that meet modern needs in our town's shopping centres, in Lowfield Street and at the former Co-op building in Hythe Street.
Lowfield Street is vitally important to the town, both as a route into the centre and as a catalyst for the town's regeneration.
We want to encourage more use of the town in the evening making it a livelier, safer and more social place to be. By linking the daytime to the evening economy towns have shown that restaurants and cafés can encourage shoppers and visitors to stay longer, with shopping seamlessly giving way to bars, clubs and night-time entertainment.
We have space around the town for new family-centred facilities – aiming high could mean bowling, cinemas or new sports facilities. With Princes Park Stadium and a new skate-park already delivered we plan to improve facilities at Acacia as part of our new town centre.
The Orchard Theatre is a great facility but is not surrounded by the best environment. We have the opportunity to create a whole new entertainment and leisure district with the Orchard Theatre at its heart.
Dartford has a lack of hotel facilities in the centre of town. We want to encourage more overnight stays and longer term visits.
Other towns have found that restoring life to the town at night and at weekends can also be achieved by encouraging new homes, including flats and apartments, at the heart of the town over shops and businesses. It also means we don't have to build as many houses in our over-stretched residential communities.
Town centre living encourages a busier and safer town when shoppers have gone home. We propose to allow new homes in the town centre, in southern Lowfield Street, on Overy Street and by the Mill Pond to the north of the railway station, to increase the number of town centre residents. The success of Fastrack makes public transport a more attractive option for many. We know that people will use public transport if its reliable, safe and clean – but we still need to make proper provision for those who want to use their cars.
Car parking needs to be provided where it's most useful but without impacting on shoppers or visitors.
We want to reduce the level of unnecessary through traffic that clogs up the town whilst making travelling and parking easier and simpler for those who need to use their car – and without spoiling the look of the town.
Away from the hustle and bustle of the shopping district plans are already being developed to restore Dartford's historic Central Park to its Edwardian grandeur. We want to make more of this crucial town centre attraction so that families include it in their town centre visit.
A bandstand, tearooms, riverside walks and formal gardens will attract people to enjoy the town and park on sunny days.
We aim to open up the expanded park at Acacia and enable more entertainment and activities for families to enjoy, especially along the river. It's here that we would like to build a new swimming pool to replace Fairfield.
