Maidstone
| Map | |
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| Location | Maidstone, Kent, England |
| Coordinates | 51° 16' 29.37" N, 0° 31' 23.39" E |
The aim of this page is to recognise, celebrate and encourage the self-empowerment of community agency networks (CANs) and community groups' activism for climate, environment and many other sustainability topics across Maidstone.
News
Nearly £500k funding offered for green projects, BBC News (Nov 09, 2025) — Maidstone Borough Council is offering nearly £500,000 worth of funding to support environmental initiatives to combat climate and nature crises in the borough- App launched to improve night-time safety, BBC News (Sep 13, 2025)
- Planning free-for-all as Maidstone council misses five-year housing target, kentonline.co.uk (Jul 05, 2025) — “Horrendous... Developers will now rule the roost”, Cllr Valerie Springett
- Nearly £500k funding offered for green projects, BBC News (Nov 09, 2025) — Maidstone Borough Council is offering nearly £500,000 worth of funding to support environmental initiatives to combat climate and nature crises in the borough
- Kent GPs under 'unsustainable pressure', BBC News (Sep 30, 2025)
- Food banks warn demand has reached crisis point, BBC News (Sep 23, 2025)
- ‘It fully changed my life!’ How young rewilders transformed a farm – and began a movement, theguardian.com (Nov 25, 2025)
- How heat from old coal mines became a source of local pride in this northern English town – new study, theconversation.com (Nov 20, 2025)
- ‘Robot’ buses could bring more environmental benefits than public transport with drivers, theconversation.com (Nov 20, 2025)
- Sharing soil, sweat and tears, ffcc.co.uk (Oct 30, 2025) — Are farm partnerships the future? We talk to the team behind Abunda to find out
- Renewable energy investment should come from defence budgets, say retired military leaders, theguardian.com (Oct 23, 2025) — Former European officers say spending on low-carbon power would make nations more resilient to threats from potential aggressors
- Green to Grey, How Europe is squandering the little nature it has left, greentogrey.eu (Oct 01, 2025)
- The Cambodian women rising up to protect their communal land, positive.news (Nov 20, 2025)
- Bees, Community, and Shared Futures, grassecon.substack.com (Nov 20, 2025)
- ‘Robot’ buses could bring more environmental benefits than public transport with drivers, theconversation.com (Nov 20, 2025)
Networks and sustainability initiatives
- Bearsted CAN, Climate Action Network, bringing together like-minded people from Bearsted and the surrounding area who want to work together to face the Climate and Ecological Emergency, a community group for everyone. added 09:39, 8 November 2022 (UTC)
- Maidstone and district Eco community on facebook.com
- Marden Community Eco Hub private group on facebook
UK and international events
UK events
Nov 10 - 16, 2025 (Mon - Sun) — Living Wage Week, livingwage.org.uk- Nov 13, 2025 (Thu) — Kindness Day UK, Nov 13 annually, aiming to increase the value of kindness in society as well as increase the amount of kind acts that take place, making kindness a greater part in our daily life, kindnessuk.com
- Nov 16 - 22, 2025 (Sun - Sat) — Road Safety Week, brake.org.uk
- Nov 22 - 30, 2025 (Sat - Sun) — National Tree Week, The Tree Council's annual tree celebration. People across the country planting thousands of trees to mark the start of the winter tree planting season. "Trees and hedgerows are some of the most powerful tools we have in the fight against climate change.", treecouncil.org.uk
Global or international events
- Nov 05, 2025 (Wed) — Media Liberation Day, Change the Media, Change the Future, mediarevolution.org
- Nov 06, 2025 (Thu) — Outdoor Classroom Day, celebrating and inspiring outdoor learning and play, outdoorclassroomday.com
- Nov 13, 2025 (Thu) — World Kindness Day, Nov 13, annually, highlighting good deeds in the community focusing on the positive power and the common thread of kindness for good which binds us, randomactsofkindness.org
- Nov 16, 2025 (Sun) — International Day for Tolerance, Nov 16 each year, fostering respect, acceptance and appreciation of the rich diversity of our world's cultures, our forms of expression and ways of being human, unesco.org
- Nov 19, 2025 (Wed) — International Men's Day, Nov 19, annually
- Nov 28 & 29, 2025 — Buy Nothing Day, en.wikipedia.org
2021-2030, UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, International community action events
Each week 3 different short videos from across the UK or world.
Northern Ireland community action, Haringey community action, West Midlands community action / ...This week's featured Global videos / ... read more about Cosmolocalism
Maidstone video
Social inclusion
- Kenward Trust, link checked 09:56, 28 January 2022 (UTC)
- Maidstone Day Centre, Homeless Care, link checked 09:56, 28 January 2022 (UTC)
Community resources
Kent Life, formerly the Museum of Kent Life, is an open-air rural life museum at Sandling, near Allington Locks, on the east bank of the River Medway. The museum includes a collection of historic buildings including a chapel, village hall and old houses. It also includes displays on agriculture, including a farm yard and farm animals.
Health and wellbeing
Blackthorn Trust is a UK charity in Maidstone, Kent which offers specialist therapies and rehabilitation through work placements in the Blackthorn Garden. They offer help to people with mental health difficulties, chronic pain and type 2 diabetes. The charity's work is based on the work of Rudolf Steiner (an Austrian philosopher, social reformer), and the charity aims to assist individuals to progress towards their full potential.
- Blackthorn Trust, link checked 09:45, 28 January 2022 (UTC)
Reduce, reuse, repair and recycle
- Maidstone Freerecycle, Public Group with 25568 members
- Recycle for Maidstone (App)
Cycling activism
Maidstone Cycle Campaign Forum, charity representing the cycling community in Maidstone, aiming to improve the cycling conditions in Maidstone and encourage people to take up cycling as part of a healthy lifestyle, and also as a practical and environmentally friendly alternative to cars for short journeys to shops, schools, etc. link checked 09:42, 28 January 2022 (UTC)
Trees, woodland and forest
Oaken Wood is a 18.7-hectare (46-acre) geological Site of Special Scientific Interest west of Maidstone in Kent. It is a Geological Conservation Review site.
Known locally as "Barming Wood" due to the village of Barming being the closest settlement to Oaken Woods, it is an ancient woodland with orchids, dormice, tawny owls, nightingales and many species of bat (alongside various other species).
This site provides the best example of a very unusual topography, with cracking and tilting of underlying weaker strata during the Pleistocene by periglacial processes producing crests and troughs in the surface rocks.
A public footpath crosses the site.
In 2013, plans to uproot parts or all of Oaken Wood for a ragstone quarry were met with controversy due to its environmental importance (with various different species residing there) and its possibility in setting a legal precedent for up to 300 other ancient woodlands in the UK.
see also: News archive
About Maidstone
Campaigns
- Kent quarry extension is one of the biggest threats of the 21st century. Hermitage Quarry expansion plans: If approved, the loss could even surpass ancient woodland losses from the Lower Thames Crossing and HS2 schemes combined, woodlandtrust.org.uk, added 14:04, 9 August 2023 (UTC)
- Enough is enough - Maidstone's Housing & Infrastructure, petition against housebuilding levels in Maidstone via cprekent.org.uk, added 17:17, 18 February 2020 (UTC)
see also: Trees, woodland and forest, Maidstone news archive
Past events
- Aug 3 - Sep 8, 2023 (Thu-Fri) — Maidstone's Eco Hub
Maidstone is the largest town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies 32 miles (51 km) east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town, linking it with Rochester and the Thames Estuary. Historically, the river carried much of the town's trade as the centre of the agricultural county of Kent, which is known as the Garden of England. There is evidence of settlement in the area dating back before the Stone Age. The town, part of the borough of Maidstone, had an approximate population of 100,000 in 2019. Since World War II, the town's economy has shifted from heavy industry towards light industry and services.
News archive
- Nearly £500k funding offered for green projects, BBC News (Nov 09, 2025) — Maidstone Borough Council is offering nearly £500,000 worth of funding to support environmental initiatives to combat climate and nature crises in the borough
- App launched to improve night-time safety, BBC News (Sep 13, 2025)
- Planning free-for-all as Maidstone council misses five-year housing target, kentonline.co.uk (Jul 05, 2025) — “Horrendous... Developers will now rule the roost”, Cllr Valerie Springett
- Councillor backs campaign to block housing scheme, BBC News (May 20, 2025)
- Over 25,000 oppose quarry extension into ancient wood, woodlandtrust.org.uk (Aug 02, 2023) — "Over 25,000 of you joined us in responding to the consultation on the shocking proposal."
- Oaken Wood: The largest destruction of ancient woodland this century, stuartjeffery.net (Jul 17, 2023)
2011-2021
- The absurdity of Lenham Heath 'garden town', CPRE Kent, Nov 3, 2021...cprekent.org.uk
- Maidstone councillors of all political colours call on Government to ease housing targets. Jan 28, 2020...kentonline.co.uk
- £1 million for Biodiversity and Climate Change in Maidstone. Jan 24, 2020...news.maidstone.gov.uk
- Free Library chance as Penenden Heath expands, Mar 1, 2018...downsmail.co.uk
- CPRE Kent challenges Maidstone Local Plan, Nov 29, 2017...cprekent.org.uk
- Maidstone joins the Little Free Library revolution! 2016...downsmail.co.uk, date not found
- Men grow wellbeing with Parkwood community allotment project, June 4, 2014
- Oaken Wood Public Inquiry begins - could set precedent on ancient woodland protection across England, November 22, 2012...Woodland Trust Media Centre
- Kent case opens door to wider destruction of UK's richest wildlife habitat, May 10, 2011...woodlandtrust.presscentre.com. Woodland Trust urges Government to call in Kent County Council approval for quarry extension into ancient Oaken Wood.
Near you
Ashford - Malling - Medway - Swale - Tonbridge - Tunbridge Wells
See also
- Towards a more democratic and climate friendly way of meeting housing need across England
- London and South East England
- Saving water in South East England
| Authors | Phil Green |
|---|---|
| License | CC-BY-SA-4.0 |
| Cite as | Phil Green (2022–2025). "Community action/Maidstone". Appropedia. Retrieved November 28, 2025. |