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Football fury aer price hike
PARENTS of tomorrow’s poten- tial football stars are slamming a 100% price hike for coaching at Maidstone’s Gallagher Stadium. Soccer Elite runs classes through-
out Kent and has taken over the training at Pebbles, the junior sec- tion ofMaidstone United FC. But the former pay-as-you-play system, which cost parents of youngsters, aged from four to six, £4 a session, has been replaced by a monthly direct debit scheme of £24.20, which equals £8 a session for the 36weeks the classes are run – even though many of the coaches are the same people. Emma Gregson had hoped to
send her son Matthew (4) to Peb- bles at the start of the new season, but she is so outraged at the club’s action she has reconsidered. Mrs Gregson said: “It cannot be possible that Pebbles was so unvi- able to warrant a price hike of 100%. Soccer Elite will offer noth- ing more than Steve Bunn and his team did for half the price.” Mr Bunn started children's foot-
ball clubs in Oakwood Park many years ago and has latterly coached children at Maidstone United, sup- ported by coaches from Soccer Elite. Last year, the company’s founder, ex-professional footballer Lee Spiller, was appointed techni- cal adviser to Maidstone United’s youth section. Together with Tony
Browne, they manage football academies at a variety of venues to suit all ages and abilities. Soccer Elite claims to offer “‘high-quality coaching led by SEFA professional coaches who have a history of developing play- ers to join professional academies such as Chelsea, Arsenal and Tot- tenham”. It also offers “opportuni- ties to play fixtures against professional clubs such as Chelsea, Charlton andMillwall”. But Mrs Gregson said: “I have brought my nephew to Pebbles for years and this set-up was already in place. “I feel Maidstone United’s man- agement team has sold out on the youngsters of the town, in ex- change for financial gain.” Bill Williams, chief executive at
the Stones, said a fee increase was the onlyway to move the develop- ment programme forward and cover new costs. He said the club “will not gain a
penny from the increase and all the extra monies created will go to Soc- cer Elite to pay for coaches and equipment”. Mrs Gregson added it was a “shameful decision to limit access to youth football to the well-off and those who wish to push elite selection over sourcing those with greatest potential”. Soccer Elite declined to respond to our requests for a comment.
Petition fails to stop store
A 270-NAME petition was unable to prevent the introduction of a con- venience store on the site of the former BP filling station at 531 Ton- bridge Road, Maidstone. The main concerns
were about congestion and the proliferation of retail stores in the local area. Local ward Cllr Alis- tair Black said: “Currently there are three Tescos, six corner shops and three supermarkets all within a two-mile radius. There is also residents’ concern about traffic congestion within the area. “I have concerns about the unloading of large lorries just off the
pavement which will compound the problems and cause traffic chaos.” However, Maidstone Council’s planning committee had no grounds
to refuse the proposal because an objection had not been raised by Kent Highway Services, whose officer Louise Rowlands said the store would not cause a significant increase in traffic from its existing use as a filling station. Cllr Ian Chittenden, amember of the committee, felt nine parking
spaces at the store would be insufficient. Cllr Dennis Collins, also amember of the committee, said: “This facil-
ity is going to open up shopping to a considerable amount of people who can get there by walking. If this was close to where I live, I would walk there instead of driving elsewhere. It is likely to reduce the amount of traffic using the road.”
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Maidstone Town September 2014 5
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