Kent Tonight - Wednesday 28th August 2024
Catch up with all the latest news across your county with Mahima Abedin.
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00:00Hello and welcome to Kentonite live on KMTV.
00:28I'm Mahima Abedin and here are your top stories on Wednesday the 28th of August.
00:33Not in my backyard. Plans for 450 new homes in rural Medway to be decided.
00:40The impact on the residents of Hempstead and I am a resident of Hempstead, I live in Hempstead Road,
00:45is going to be really very very serious.
00:49Save our centre. Folks in MP fight to reopen Leisure Centre.
00:54There's a lot of challenges there. I think I'm really hopeful that we could,
00:57you know, get it open again.
00:59And Merry Christmas in August. How early is Kent getting ready for the festive period?
01:05What I would say is it's only four paychecks till Christmas. That's the way to look at it.
01:20First this evening, Medway residents will be out in force tonight to try and stop
01:25a controversial housing development. Neighbours to the planned 450 home estate are concerned
01:31about traffic and other issues it will cause to the Hempstead area.
01:35Councillors will vote later on whether or not to give the Gibraltar farm development
01:39the green light. Our local Democracy reporter Gabriel Morris has been following the story.
01:45These fields could soon be home to 450 new homes,
01:49but there's almost double the amount of objections.
01:52Proposals for Gibraltar farm have long been in the works and council officers
01:56have now recommended approval for outlying planning permission for the nearly 30 hectare site.
02:02Now as you can see, this is one of the most rural parts of Medway.
02:06Fields as far as the eye can see. They are relatively close to the M2 here,
02:12but if you were going to go by roads from where the proposed development is,
02:16well it would take the best part of 15 minutes down roads which locals say are already congested.
02:22Now some traffic will be coming out of what is a single lane track known as Ham Lane,
02:28and there is also provision for three passing places on West Soul Road.
02:34Just to give you some idea, my children used to refer that as the nightmare road because the
02:40traffic going down that is an absolute nightmare. It's just not wide enough for more than
02:45one vehicle for a long part of its length. So the impact on the residents of Hempstead,
02:51and I am a resident of Hempstead, I live in Hempstead Road, is going to be really very, very serious.
02:58If a scheme is given the green light, some locals would want to see a trunk road
03:02being built from where this main road abruptly ends to Junction 4 of the M2.
03:07But that's not part of the proposals and there are now calls for the development to be deferred
03:12to allow infrastructure plans to come forward. Yet that decision will be in the hands of Medway's
03:17Planning Committee this evening, where proposals have previously been rejected owing to concerns
03:22about the ecology of the area. But officers say mitigation is now in place and it won't
03:27have as big an impact as previously thought. There's an awful lot of talk about bats,
03:32dormice, stag beetles, birds, not a single word about the impact on the residents of Hempstead.
03:39Not a single word. I think we're in a really bad place when planning is concerned,
03:45when the impact on people is subservient to the impact on bats and dormice.
03:50Arguments on both sides will be heard tonight. It's never clear which way it'll go.
03:55But for housing targets for around 1,700 homes within Medway each year, even if
04:00Gibraltar Farm is approved, this won't even scratch the surface. Gabriel Morris in Medway.
04:09As Gabriel Morris reported there, the Planning Committee will be making a decision tonight.
04:13We'll bring you the outcome on our show tomorrow.
04:17Next tonight, the new Labour government cancelled a new scheme targeting anti-social behaviour in
04:23Kent. Under the Conservatives, more than £900,000 was set to be spent in the county
04:29on more neighbourhood policing, called the Immediate Justice Programme.
04:34But the Home Office wrote to the Kent Police and Crime Commissioner, Matthew Scott,
04:38at the end of July to say that the money was no longer coming to the county's force.
04:43Mr Scott, who's a political appointee and a Conservative, has said that he's disappointed
04:48with the news and that now is not the time to be scaling back schemes that will reduce
04:53re-offending and prevent crime. Next, police are appealing for
04:58information after life-saving equipment was stolen at a volunteer Coast Watch station in Ramsgate.
05:04The set of radios that were taken at the end of last week are used to alert the Coast Guard
05:09when people are in difficulty at sea. Experts say the theft could cost lives.
05:15This is the sixth time the station has been targeted in the last
05:18three months. If you know what happened, get in touch with Kent Police.
05:25Next tonight, new homes could be built on the site of a failed leisure centre in East Kent.
05:31Folkestone Sports Centre suddenly shut down at the end of July as the charity that ran
05:35the facility could no longer afford it. Administrators won't rule out building a
05:40development on the site, and now residents and the local MP are fighting to save the centre.
05:46I've been taking a closer look.
05:48Folkestone Sports Centre, a leisure space that once offered facilities
05:52loved and used by many of its local residents, could soon be turned into a building site.
05:57The centre suddenly shut its doors in July after the charity which ran it could no longer afford
06:02to operate it, causing 144 people to lose their jobs.
06:07Now its administrators say building homes on the site can't be ruled out.
06:12All our focus is on finding a leisure centre operator to take this site on. As administrators,
06:19we have an obligation to take the best offer for the creditors. If we arrive at this point where
06:28the highest offer, the best offer, is from a developer, well then these covenants and legal
06:34opinion will come into play. It plays a huge role in the health and well-being of an awful
06:39lot of people in and around Folkestone. Despite no developers coming forward yet,
06:44the possibility of this happening would mean the tennis courts, gym and even space to celebrate
06:49birthdays will never be used again, something residents are not happy about.
06:54We've got thousands of emails, lots of people with some serious, serious concerns. Folkestone
06:59Sports Centre that closed recently, that's a very, very local issue but an extremely important
07:04issue for people here in Folkestone. We've been able to do a lot of work on that, working with
07:09the administrators. Whether it can be reopened is going to come down to the numbers. I don't know
07:13what levels of debt the trust was under and whoever takes it on is going to have to deal with whatever
07:18debts there were. So look, there's a lot of challenges there. I think I'm really hopeful
07:23that we can get it open again. While the local MP persists on getting the site reopened,
07:29more than 8,000 people have now signed a petition calling for Folkestone and Hythe District Council
07:34to save the centre. In a statement, a spokesperson for the council said,
07:39we have not made any decision to bid for or purchase the site and there is no budget or
07:43plans to operate a leisure centre in Folkestone, and that it hopes a business with experience of
07:48running sports and leisure centres will come forward to take on the site and provide the
07:52valued facilities for residents. But now residents are left wondering what the future
07:57of their leisure centre might be. Mahima Abedin for KMTV in Folkestone.
08:04Next, a Medway GP says vaping is only getting worse in Kent as the British Medical Association
08:10demands the smoking alternative is banned. The BMA wants fruity flavours and disposable vapes to be
08:16taken off the shelves to deter the increasing number of under 18s from using them. I sat down
08:22with KMTV's health expert Dr Julian Spinks to find out how likely this move is and why the product
08:29is such a danger to teens. So Dr Spinks, today the British Medical Association is urging the
08:34government to ban flavoured and disposable vapes. Now doctors say that children are being targeted
08:40with the colours, the branding and the different fruity flavours, but we still don't know just how
08:45harmful they are. But surely it's less harmful than smoking? Well absolutely it is a safer thing
08:51than smoking but that doesn't mean it's safe. We are starting to see some effects from long-term
08:57vape usage and in particular when people are very heavy users of vapes we're starting to see some
09:03signs of lung damage. So we're wanting to make sure that people use it as a way of stopping smoking
09:07rather than being an entry into nicotine addiction. Now it's estimated that around 8% of 11 to 17
09:14year olds actually vape, but what have you noticed as a GP here in Medway? Does that percentage seem
09:19higher in Kent? Well certainly looking at the children I see going to and from work, absolutely
09:25I think it is higher and it does worry me. It's exactly the same way as a few years ago here in
09:30Medway we had very high levels of smoking. We managed to tackle that very successfully, now I'm
09:34afraid we might have another generation of addicts. Now you mentioned there that it does seem higher
09:39but it's actually legal to sell them to under 18s, so where do you think that the problem lies? Do
09:44you think it's with the manufacturers, the people that make them or the retailers or the young
09:48people actually buying them or do you think it's the government? Where I go shopping there's a
09:52vape shop and when you look at the packaging it looks like children's sweets or toys, it's really
09:59designed to be attractive to younger people and unfortunately they may have older brothers or
10:04sisters who buy them for them and we have heard of cases of parents buying vapes for their children.
10:09Now if the BMA do get their wish, will it create a black market for these vapes do you think?
10:14Is that something that the UK vaping industry is actually warning?
10:20Yes it's interesting they've said that, that's exactly the same argument people used to say
10:24about cigarettes banning advertising, plain packs and so on and it has not turned out to be the case.
10:30You didn't suddenly have a big black market in cigarettes, what you did see is a drop in the
10:34number of people smoking and in particular the number of children and teenagers taking it up.
10:40Now what do you think it will take for the government to stop young people from vaping
10:45and using them? Well we have got a bill going through about stopping cigarettes and reducing
10:50vapes, I hope that the government will actually respond to the BMA's call and say okay we need to
10:56keep these in place so that we can help people stop smoking but we want to protect children from
11:01taking up vaping. Now we all see the stop smoking message, it's come a long way, we know the impacts
11:07of smoking but people still do it, is it just a losing battle do you think? We have very successfully
11:13dropped the number of smokers in the UK and when you look at the work that's been done in Medway
11:18we have done even better than that, we're below the Kent average from being well above it so I
11:22think the message does work but you have to keep at it because otherwise you've got new generations
11:27of people coming through who when they're teenagers feel that they're sort of bullet
11:31proof and nothing's going to happen to them, unfortunately 30 years on it will happen.
11:37Coming up after the break, is it too early to be talking about Christmas? Our reporter Oliver's
11:43been asking shoppers in Rochester if it's too early to be feeling festive.
11:47All that and more after the break, see you soon.
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15:13Hello and welcome back to Kentonite live on KMTV. Now it may be August but believe it or not we're
15:19chatting all things festive on the show now. Time Christmas is the UK's biggest seasonal store and
15:26they're preparing to launch a grand opening over the weekend in Medway. But is this just way too
15:32early to be thinking about the holiday season and is it leaving shoppers in Medway feeling frosty?
15:37Oliver Leader de Sacks has been finding out.
15:41While the sun may be beating down on Medway, across the river time Christmas is firing up
15:48for the festive season with just days away from the grand reopening in a fresh and new space.
15:56But with more than three months until December, is it a little too early?
16:02It's a big run up so people are thinking about it and they, you know, something to look forward to
16:07so you know there's not long to go. So people are like well what are we doing so to be honest
16:11sure it's never never too early for us. So what I would say is it's only four paychecks till
16:16Christmas. That's the way to look at it so there's not a lot of time.
16:20It's clear then that time Christmas don't think it's too early to get ready for the festive season
16:27and they have come prepared. As far as the eye can see there's candy canes, there's baubles,
16:34there is wrapping paper and it is in fact the biggest Christmas shop in the UK now and that
16:41means an expanded winter wonderland experience where they showcase all their lights. Last year
16:48thousands flocked from across the five towns to see the display, to come along to their Grinch
16:53Days and this year promises to be even better. I can't show you any of it just yet. The grand
16:59opening is this Saturday so no spoilers from KMTV. But I do wonder are people on Rochester
17:08High Street a little bit more bar humbug about early Christmas? When is too early to celebrate
17:16Christmas? Now. Yeah now. September. September as well. Yes. October I would think. September.
17:26Me personally I don't like celebrating Christmas until the first of December. That's for me is
17:32when the Christmas tree goes up I like to start getting my Christmas shop in. But it is nice to
17:38start seeing some bits up a little bit before. I think it's a shame when people put it up way
17:44too early because then it's a long time for the children to wait. Yeah but they don't appreciate
17:49it what it's for if it's too early. That's why they just know that they get a bar of chocolate.
17:54I mean when you were a younger mum at Christmas. Yeah. I mean what was it like for you? I mean you
17:59never waited from October did you? No. It was like a week before. There you have it. Rochester
18:08says bar humbug to the August advent. But love it or hate it it's clear for some the countdown
18:17for Christmas has already begun. Oliver Leader of the Saks reporting for KMTV.
18:25Now don't forget you can keep up to date with all your latest stories across Kent by logging
18:30onto our website kmtv.co.uk. There you'll find all our reports including this one about the birthplace
18:37of Rallycross right here in Kent.
18:59The Lydden Legend Festival. The birthplace of Rallycross celebrating the glory of classic
19:06rally machinery. It's a sport that started right here in Kent right here at Lydden Hill Circuit
19:12back in 1967 making it the oldest Rallycross circuit in the world and Kent's very own Tristan
19:19Obindon is going to show me what it's like the other side of the safety barriers and actually
19:24I'm incredibly lucky because not many people get to ride in that car. I've got my crash helmet which
19:30we like. What do you prefer on the tarmac or on the dirt? Tough question.
19:40The dirt's really good here now with the jump yeah it was before they changed the circuit it
19:46was really fast it was like tarmac all the way around really which is cool but it wasn't it's
19:51more fun now.
20:08How was it? Oh my goodness it felt like we were like so out of control but so in control at the
20:14same time there's nothing like that that was insane that felt like 200 miles an hour it's
20:21like 105 top speed but it's more about the drifting than the skill. You look quick out there. Yeah get
20:28me one of those that's wicked. I've been coming here since I was tiny it's our home race so it's
20:34always special this weekend particularly though being a Legends Festival it's gonna be amazing
20:39it's gonna be absolutely fantastic it'll probably be the biggest meeting of the year we think here
20:43watched Rallycross since I can remember so to now be in it at this level yeah it's my dream come
20:50true. And that dream is apparent across the paddock this weekend a range of cars will be out
20:55on track headlined by Group B and four WD Monsters with stars from the racing world, supercar features
21:02and a round of the Retro Rallycross Championship. The aim to highlight the rich racing history Lyddon
21:09Hill holds. There's no in-company's cars they're all here for display and fun to put a show on
21:16so this is all about a show and we base this on a bit of anything like Goodwood Festival Speed
21:22so this is a smaller version of Rallying and Rallycross. It's what we've done we've got a
21:29great history from the 50s of having Rallycross started here. Rallying is obviously in partnership
21:35with us so we brought it all together to make this what you're seeing today. The short sharp
21:41style of racing is different to that of more popular motor sports like Formula One and touring
21:46cars. Six laps, six cars every six or seven minutes created back in 1967 born between
21:55Canterbury and Dover. Abbey Hook for KMTV at Lyddon Hill race circuit.
22:00Now it's time to take a look at the weather forecast.
22:10This evening expect clear skies across most of Kent, some cloud by the coast and temperatures
22:15between 16 and 17. Tomorrow morning not a cloud in sight, sunny with highs of 19 in most parts.
22:23Warming up to highs of 23 by Thursday afternoon, staying nice and dry with clear skies.
22:28And here's your outlook for Kent, a mix of sun and cloud this weekend with highs of 23 degrees on Sunday.
22:45And finally the summer of sport is far from over for us here in Kent as nine athletes from the
22:50county gear up for the Paralympics in Paris. Over the next 11 days more than 4,000
22:57athletes with different disabilities will be competing in more than 500 events. From swimming
23:04to archery to wheelchair rugby and powerlifting. How prepared are Kent's contributors? I spoke to
23:10Elyse Apare earlier to find out. So Elyse the Paralympics started today. They do actually,
23:16the opening ceremony has been held tonight and this is great news because the 2024 summer Olympics
23:21just concluded and Team GB did really really well. They managed to get 64 medals, 40 of them being
23:26gold. So anyone who missed out on the Olympics, we have the Paralympics happening tonight.
23:30And the Paralympics are very similar to the Olympics. They're a series of international
23:34multi-sport events involving athletes competing for their country. But these athletes have a
23:39range of disabilities and there's several sports like paracycling, wheelchair basketball, power
23:44swimming, power rowing, wheelchair rugby. So over the next 11 days we are going to see over 4,000
23:49athletes competing in 549 events in 22 sports. And Team GB is actually one of the biggest
23:55teams in the Paralympics with 327 athletes. 169 of them are returning Olympians and 73 of them are
24:02returning Olympic medalists. And they are predicted to bring home between 100 and 150 medals which
24:07makes it a really big number but actually very doable for the team. As in the last games in 2020
24:12in the Tokyo Paralympics, the Brits placed second and they actually collected 124 medals and 40
24:19of one of them were actually gold as well. Sounds really exciting and we have some Kent
24:23athletes too. We have quite a few Kent athletes as well. Will Bailey for table tennis, Ollie Manjin
24:28for wheelchair rugby, Liam McGarry for powerlifting, Matthew Robertson for paracycling, Zach Skinner for
24:33athletics, Callie-Anne Warrington for swimming, Iona Winnethrift for swimming, Henry Brandt for
24:39triathlon and Victoria Kingston for archery. And we actually spoke to Paralympian Zach Skinner
24:44from Tonbridge who was born completely blind before regaining some sight at the age of two.
24:49And he actually placed fourth in the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics and earlier we spoke to him
24:54about his defeat in the last games and how he managed to overcome it this time around.
24:59It's made me more well prepared and I think because of where I placed in Tokyo it's made me
25:05probably hungrier and added more fuel to my fire to make sure I don't finish fourth again. Initially
25:11I didn't really process it very well and I think it probably sat with me for longer than it should.
25:16But I think once I got over sort of, and what I had probably seen as like a huge failure to be
25:23that close and still not come away with something, for me now it's just, it's made me realise how
25:31terrible it feels to come fourth. So I just want to make sure I get out there and do my best to
25:37win the competition to be honest. Sport is brutal and athletics can be really cruel I think.
25:44Unfortunately it's like this double-edged sword where the lows outweigh the highs and the highs
25:50outweigh the lows. But then once you achieve that it's a truly exceptional feeling and it's one I'm
25:58hoping to achieve later this summer. So Elise, there's loads of Kent athletes to look out for
26:04over the next 11 days. So many to look out for. I'm really looking forward to watching as well.
26:08The Paracycling especially is probably one of my favourites. I'll be looking forward and
26:11rooted for them here in KMTV as well. You've been watching Kent Tonight live on KMTV.
26:17There's more news made just for KMTV, Kent, throughout the evening. Now don't forget you
26:22can always keep up to date with the latest news across your county by logging on to kmtv.co.uk.
26:29Make sure to keep up with us on your social timelines by liking us on Facebook and following
26:33us on X. That's all from us here at Kent KMTV. Thank you and have a good evening.