Hockey player dies during game
ASTALWARTofSuttonVa- lence Hockey Club collapsed and died during a match. Dave Gambrill (60) was play-
ing for the Veterans at Chelms- ford when he suffered a heart attack. He died on the field de- spite the best efforts of first aiders and paramedics. A statement on the club’s website said: "Dave was a gen- erous hearted person who was much loved by his many friends. His sudden death has come as a terrible shock to us all. He will be greatly missed." The statement explained:
"Davewas a leading member of our growing club in the 1970s and early 1980s, and was cap- tain for many years. "He organised a very successful celebration of
the club's silver jubilee in 1979. On the field, he was a very effective goal scorer.” Dave, a solicitor based in Rochester High Street,
lived in Allington. In the 1980s, he left Sutton Valence to play for Cobdown at Ditton.
CAMPAIGNERS in Loose have won the battle to prevent the conversion of the former Paper- makers Arms pub into five houses and six flats. Around 60 people, including members of North Loose Resi- dentsAssociation, at- tended an appeal made by applicant Brookheath in re- sponse to Maidstone Council’s non-deter- mination of its plan for 509 Loose Road. Planning inspector Christopher Bowden sided with those against the plan, claiming the height of the development would “ap- pear at odds” with the two- storey form of the adjacent
But he was still instrumental in bringing back past members to the club for the Exiles game each autumn. Nick Willson, the Vets’ vice captain who knew Dave from the ‘70s, said: “He had always been a very good friend of Sutton Va- lence. We always felt he would return one day. Ironically, it was only last season that he came back to play for the Vets.” The club statement added: "Al- though incredibly sad and very premature, his death among friends while playing the game he loved for Sutton Valence was somehow appropriate for some- one who had given so much to the club in the past.”
The weekend after Dave’s death, a minute’s si-
lence was held in his memory prior to all the club’s matches. He was a former pupil of King’s School, Rochester, and his funeral was held at the cathe- dral.
Dave leaves his widow Caroline and two sons, Simon and Peter.
Pub homes scheme flounders at appeal
terraces. He also claimed the proposed
lack of any parking spaces could cause highway safety is-
Taxpayers foot the bill for costs MAIDSTONE Council was forced to pay the appli- cant’s appeal costs. The application was registered in August 2010, but after almost a year the borough had failed to make a decision, meaning Brookheath de- cided to appeal for non-determination. Mr Bowdenwrote: “The council failed to determine
the application within the necessary time frame; properly to justify the delay in its determination; and to enter into any proper or detailed communication during the application process. “The council has thus acted unreasonably, which
has resulted in the appellant incurring unnecessary expense in pursuing the appeal.”
sues. He reported: “The effect of ad- ditional overspill parking
538 pothole fixes in the borough Continued from page one
9,544 square metres of patching on 115 different roads. The other locations with pothole repairs in double figures were (Maidstone unless otherwise stated): Ulcombe Road, Langley, 27; Hermitage Lane, Detling, 25; Darman
Lane, Yalding, 25; Middlesex Road, 25;Western Road, 24; The Street, Stockbury 20; Church Road, Harrietsham, 18; Bicknor Lane, Bicknor, 17; Coldblow Lane, Thurnham, 17; Boxley Close, 15; Burtons Lane, Collier Street, 13; Hastings Road, 13; Bell Lane, Boxley, 12; Notting- hamAvenue, 12; Gallants Lane, East Farleigh, 11; Hollingbourne Hill, Hollingbourne, 11; Longend Lane, Collier Street, 10; Park Barn Road, Broomfield and Kingswood, 10; and Bunce Court Road, Otterden. Gallants Lane also had the biggest area of patching, 524sq m, ac- cording to a report to the Maidstone Joint Transportation Board.
Parish clean-up is team effort
YALDING parish councillors have thanked those who gave up time on a Sunday to collect litter, strim and cut back vegetation. The parish clean-up day saw:
Footpaths cleared from Burgess Bank to Mill Lane and the High Street to Vicarage Road.
Litter collected in Lughorse Lane and from Congelow to
4 South
Woodfalls. Tidying ofWindmill Path.
Scouts weeding and collecting litter at the High Street.
Other residents tidying outside of their properties. Thanks were also given to the womenwho fed and watered the workers and to Maidstone Coun- cil for collecting the rubbish bags.
Ian Payne ofWest Farleigh Sports Club is presented with his award by Hope Powell.
would be likely to not only add congestion and inconvenience for local residents but also po- tentially hazardous to road users and pedestri- ans through pave- ment parking, which would restrict visi- bility and obstruct the highway.” He added there would be instances of, “mounting pave- ments or verges to se- cure passage on the relatively narrow roads in the vicinity of the site. “The fact that park-
ing is currently per- mitted there and is
under pressure from existing vehicles is no reason to make matters worse.”
WEST Farleigh Sports Club was presented with a centenary award by the Football Associa- tion.
More than 20 clubs and vol- unteers were given Kent FA awards by England Women’s
Fight on for quicker internet
Continued from page one
“That mixture of satellites and receivers rather than digging up streets and putting in fibre op- tics might well be worth look- ing at. “Two-thirds of our parish are
on the direct line of a receiver on the ridge that separates the High and LowWeald." KCC recently secured a large government grant to boost rural broadband - the parishes of Ul- combe, Yalding and Goudhurst were among those to benefit. Mr Round said there is a "combinational jigsaw of issues that have frustrated the devel- opment of rural businesses". He said potential start-up
firms are usually offered some- where on Parkwood industrial estate by Maidstone Council butmany would actually prefer to set up in converted farm barns or stables in areas like Staplehurst and Marden. "But then they discover the broad- band is appalling,” said Mr Round. “There are developments in Headcorn where they have been unable to rent out their units because of that,” he added.
Dale Farm doubt Continued from page one
enforcement and planning.” Cllr Thomas believes it is un-
likely any of the Dale Farm evictees will arrive in Maid- stone. “They probably already had places to go to because they always knew they would get moved on eventually. “Travellers are also family- oriented and generally like to stick with their extended fam- ily. So it is unlikely they would move to a site where there are existing families.”
Gypsy makes passionate defence of residence – page 20
Centenary award forWest Farleigh club
manager Hope Powell. The awards aim to recognise
and reward the unsung heroes in the county who make a dif- ference to grassroots football in their local community. The club’s earliest records
date from 1911 when it was purely a football club. In 1920 a cricket sectionwas started be- fore the two sports joined to formWest Farleigh Sports Club in
1927.Areserve football team started in 1965 and a 2nd XI cricket team started in 1994. The club also supports a
youth section, which started in 2004 providing football for under-7 to under-12 football teams on a Saturday morning, and an over-35s veterans foot- ball team was started in 2008. Cricket is enjoyed by players of all ages from 14 to 60, while the current football ages range from 6 to 51.
You can e-mail the Downs Mail —
info@downsmail.co.uk
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