Maidstone council puts £250,000 into plan to make town safer for women and girls

Maidstone Borough Council has approved a £250,000 action plan to tackle violence against women and girls, with Maidstone town centre — identified by Kent Police as the district’s worst hotspot — at the heart of the effort.

Women and girls living and working in Maidstone borough should see new support services, safer public spaces and awareness campaigns rolled out after the council approved the spending on 22 July 2026. The plan — developed under the banner of the Be Better campaign, shaped by partners from across the district — also creates a new dedicated Women’s Safety and Violence Prevention role at the council.

The scale of the problem locally gives the investment some context. Kent Police recorded 36,337 violence against women and girls offences across Kent in the 12 months ending July 2025 — around 30,086 of those outside Medway. Just over half (52.4%) were domestic abuse cases. Maidstone town centre sits at the top of Kent Police’s own analysis as the area with the highest concentration of such offending in the district, with offenders travelling in from further away than at other local hotspots.

The council’s plan covers a wide range of activity. That includes public awareness work, support for survivors, making public spaces feel safer, White Ribbon accreditation — a national scheme where organisations pledge to challenge attitudes that lead to male violence against women — and work with men and boys on changing behaviour. The council also says it wants to embed the lived experience of women and girls directly into future decision-making, working through agencies covering community safety, health, housing, education and support services.

But questions remain about how quickly the money will make a measurable difference. No implementation timetable was confirmed when the cabinet approved the plan, and the available material sets out no target figures for reducing offences. For residents wanting to know when specific projects will start, or which venues and businesses in the night-time economy might be asked to take part in safer-space schemes, those details have yet to be confirmed publicly.

According to the council, the investment will deliver a coordinated local response rather than a single-agency fix — reflecting the way Kent community safety documents describe VAWG as a problem requiring prevention, victim support, enforcement and behaviour change working together. No formal opposition to the funding decision was recorded in the available material.

No named councillor or officer statement was published alongside the announcement, but the council’s post confirmed partners from across Maidstone helped shape the Be Better campaign before it was brought to cabinet for approval.

The council’s cabinet decision on 22 July 2026 is final — the next step is for the new Women’s Safety and Violence Prevention officer to begin coordinating delivery of the action plan across partner agencies.