by Alan Smith
ajsmith@thekmgroup.co.uk

With 48 shops and a 760-space car park, you might have thought Fremlin Walk was big enough not to miss.
But the owner, Legal and General Properties, is worried that some visitors to Maidstone are still having trouble identifying the centre.
So in an effort to boost footfall, the company wants to install giant letters spelling out FREMLIN on one side of the main entrance and WALK on the other side.
It also wants to cover parts of the street of shops with a transparent domed-roof, in an effort to make people feel they are in the middle of a significant shopping centre.
The letters would be made of coloured aluminium mesh, face-lit and back-lit with LED lighting strips.
But despite its declared intention of letting everyone know about the centre, the company is being very modest about its idea ahead of the grant of planning permission – perhaps fearing that the signs will not be found acceptable as the centre falls within a conservation area.
It is also seeking permission to place a giant multi-media screen on the wall opposite the entrance from Earl Street to screen adverts and public notices.
There is also speculation that Fremlin Walk will create a restaurant near the bandstand, but so far, any plans for a restaurant have not been submitted for planning approval.

For more on this story, including a look at the plans, see this week's Kent Messenger.