Gypsies’ plea to stay put
A GYPSY family who were given temporary permission for their site at West Malling have asked to stay there permanently. Tom Harber and his wife Kathleen set up home at The Horseshoes, Sandy Lane, eight years ago and were granted ap- proval in 2010 for the change of use for two years. Now they are seeking to have
the time limit removed for their site, which includes a mobile home, touring caravan and landscaping. Their application to Ton-
Store’s hospice event is spot on
bridge and Malling Council, says there is currently no suit- able alternative for them. They say they need to stay in
the area as Mrs Harber and her children all suffer with asthma and she has often had to attend hospital for treatment. Their youngest son attends a local school. The family had previously
tried living in bricks and mortar housing but could not adapt, and would not go to Coldhar- bour or any other socially-pro- vided site because they feared
intimidation and
theft.Mrs Har- ber had previously stopped on the Coldharbour traveller site with her family about 20 years ago, but they had left due to site conditions. Their toilet and sink had been
stolen and washing was taken off the line. The Harbers had tried to pur-
chase land in Chart Sutton be- fore moving to Sandy Lane. They were refused planning ap- proval, but said they had seen others get permission in the same area.
Top marks for new museum
MAIDSTONE Museum has re- ceived top marks for the eighth year in a row. The Visitor Attraction Quality Assurance Scheme, managed by VisitEngland, found the mu- seum’s new-look buildings, fa- cilities and galleries, had added greatly to the visitor experience andwere of an excellent quality. They said staff provided a friendly and professional wel- come and played an important role in the enjoyment of a visit. Simon Lace, museum man-
STAFF and customers went “dotty for Demelza” during a fund-raising week- end for the children’s hospice. Everyone went red, white and dotty
for the whole weekend, selling dotty Demelzamerchandiseandhomemade dotty cakes. The store was visited by a larger- than-life Minnie Mouse (in her famous dotty dress) and fundraising was boosted by Sainsbury’s Energy, who were working in the Larkfield store over the weekend and who donated £200.
Demelza’s Go Dotty Campaign ran
from May 18-25 which was also na- tional Children’s’ HospiceWeek.
Church clean-up THE summer clean-up of Dit- ton churchyard and the sur- rounding area will take place on Saturday, August 18, from 9am to noon. All are welcome, and refresh-
ments will be provided. The event is supported by
Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council,who have agreed to re- move the rubbish at the end of the morning. If you wish to attend, please
call Dave Stevens on 01622 717492 so that catering can be organised.
ager, said: “This is a fantastic outcome for us, as we pride our- selves on this report. Our visi- tors are themost important thing to us and we want to make sure we give them the best possible experience we can. “Maidstone Museum is one of
the leading tourist attractions in Kent and one of the best muse- ums in the South East, and this report highlights the work we are doing to maintain this sta- tus.”
The VAQAS report is based
on telephone enquiries, emails, leaflets, thewebsite, signs, cus- tomer service, the attraction it- self, catering, the shop, facilities and general observa- tions.
Gas works bring double trouble
CONTRACTORS replacing the gas main in Maidstone town centre have hit a problem – less than six weeks into the 12- month project. Plans to tunnel under the junc-
tion of Lower Stone Street and Knightrider Street have been abandoned after workmen dis- covered an unstable layer of run- ning sand beneath the sewers. Southern Gas Networks have doubled the workforce to make up for lost time and will put a new gas pipe inside the old one.
Dummies wanted! ST MARY the Virgin Church, Net- tlestead, is planning a special matrimo- nial celebration to mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. On the weekend of September 1 and
2, all couples who have beenmarried in the church over the past 60 years will be invited to return to the place where they made their vows – and the brides are being asked to display their dresses! The church held a similar event in
2002, tomark the Royal Golden Jubilee, when about 30 dresses and brides- maids’ dresses were on display. It proved a great success so a repeat
event is on the cards – but it’s likely to draw even more fancy frocks! Organisers are now on the search to borrow tailor’s dummies ormannequins for theweekend, so that the dresses can be shown in their full glory. Anyone who can help is asked to con- tact Marguerite on 01622 871272.
4 Malling Team manager John Adsley
said: “This is disappointing and a serious setback. “The ground at this depth was
found to be running sand and it is neither practical or safe to tunnel through this type of ma- terial without very time con- suming and expensive special measures to stabilise the mate- rial to be excavated.” Although work in Knightrider
Street has gone according to plan and is on schedule, this new dis- covery means there will be
changes to the planned traffic flows through the town centre. Lower Stone Street will be re-
duced to one lane after Romney Place and access to Mote Road will vary at differing stages of the work. As with the earlier phases, warning signs will be put out before the changes take effect to give local traffic the opportu- nity to find another route. The extra lane restrictions are expected to be in place for about two weeks
It’s a goal as kids sign for Palace
TWOMaidstone boys have been given a two- year contract to train at Crystal Palace FC. MatthewFunnel (12), from Langley and MatthewHathway (12), from Kings Hill, are both pupils at Oakwood Park Grammar School. Both boys started playing with local teams –
Funnel with Bearsted and Hathwaywith Ayles- ford – aswell as training with Lenham-based Soccer Elite. The pairwent for a trial at Crystal Palace in January 2011 and both joined at the end of the previous season. Now, they have formally signed a two-year contract, which could be the start of a spectacular football career. The boys have to turn up for training at Sel-
hurst Park four times aweek – twice after school and twice at theweekend – butmum Claire Funnel said: “It’s hugely exciting for all the family.We love going up to see them train.” She admitted: “It’s quite a commitment, as
the boys don’t get to have sleepovers or go out with their mates. But it’s every boy’s dream to be a footballer and they have alreadymet some of the players aswell as playing against teams
Harry Lacey, Matt Funnel and Matt Hathway
from top clubs like Chelsea, Arsenal,West Ham and Spurs.” MatthewFunnel plays in goal, while the other Matthew, along with Harry Lacey (12), from Folkestone, plays in midfield. The boys recently returned from Soccer Elite’s trip to the European Youth tournament in Valencia, Spain, where theywere crowned Best Academy.
You can e-mail the Downs Mail —
info@downsmail.co.uk
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