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00:00Hello, good evening and welcome to Kentonite live on KMTV.
00:26I'm Abbey Hooke.
00:27Here are your top stories on Thursday 12th September.
00:31A broken system.
00:33Kent's GPs respond to damning NHS reports.
00:37Where we would like to take on more nurses and more doctors to actually see people quicker,
00:41we haven't got the money to be able to do that.
00:43New wheels.
00:44A change to the buses could give Kent's councils control of commuting.
00:49For too long the bus services have not worked for the residents of Medway and indeed across
00:54the county.
00:55Too early for a Christmas carol.
00:57Charles Dickens' chalet in Rochester opens up.
01:01He's a local person.
01:02He's somebody who's actually part of us and lived here.
01:16First tonight, GPs from across Kent have been left divided following a damning independent
01:21investigation into the state of the NHS.
01:23In a speech, the Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, claimed the service is broken as
01:28he laid out a 10-year plan, but he said there would be no extra funding without reform.
01:34Oliver Leader de Sacks has more.
01:37The health service under surgery.
01:40That was the message from the Prime Minister earlier today as he labelled the NHS broken
01:46following a damning independent investigation.
01:50This report I'm holding in my hands, conducted by Lord Darzi, is 163 pages and paints a pretty
01:58grim picture of the NHS.
02:01It says national health is deteriorating, waiting times are on the rise, as well as
02:07waiting times rising for people looking for a GP appointment.
02:12For one GP who has worked in Kent's healthcare system for decades, none of this is a surprise.
02:20We've had a major hit over the last 10-15 years in the amount of NHS funding that comes
02:26into the community.
02:28That effect has got to the point now where we would like to take on more nurses and more
02:33doctors to actually see people quicker.
02:35We haven't got the money to be able to do that.
02:37So we need something to happen.
02:39They're saying they're not going to put a lot more new money into the NHS, but that
02:43means that money is going to have to come out of hospitals and into the community to
02:47make that work.
02:48In his speech, Sir Keir Starmer outlined a 10-year plan for the NHS that included digitising
02:55the health service, moving care to the community and making it more preventative.
03:02The NHS is at a fork in the road and we have a choice about how it should meet those demands.
03:10Don't act and leave it to die, raise taxes on working people or reform to secure its future.
03:20Now working people can't afford to pay more, so it's reform or die.
03:27Strong words and cold comfort for the Kent local medical committee who say investment is key.
03:34I think, you know, when you look at the sort of resources that we get per patient per year,
03:39about £107, £108 per year per patient for absolutely everything, uncapped demand,
03:45I'm not entirely sure people would see that as enough and I don't think it is enough.
03:50So to say that, you know, you don't want to resource the NHS adequately,
03:54I'm a little bit concerned about.
03:56With the NHS in such dire straits, Kent's medical professionals are waiting to see
04:03whether the government's treatment will bring the NHS back on the pathway to recovery.
04:09Oliver Lewis for KMTV in Medway.
04:14Next night, an inquest has opened into the stabbing of an 82-year-old grandmother in her
04:19home near Tunbridge Wells at the end of August. Police were called to Brightridge in Southborough
04:24after sounds of a disturbance were reported. Sandra Squires was discovered in her garden
04:29with a stab wound in her neck. Her grandson, John Squires, was also seriously injured
04:34and arrested on suspicion of murder. Despite paramedics attending the scene,
04:38they were unable to save Sandra. John was taken to hospital where he died as a result of his
04:43injuries. The police are not currently investigating anyone else in connection with the deaths.
04:48Now, new footage of Dreamland's scenic railway roller coaster's malfunction have been released.
05:01Captured by Dutch YouTuber Cocktails and Coasters, that was the moment when the oldest
05:06roller coaster in the country broke its track. Thankfully, no one was injured in the incident
05:11on the 10th of August, the majority of damage being on the wooden slats below the ride itself.
05:16The scenic railway remains listed as not operating on Dreamland's website.
05:24Next tonight, Kent's local authorities could take control of bus services under new legislation.
05:30The Transport Secretary says the changes will deliver a bus revolution that will save vital
05:35routes. It will mean councils could make key decisions on timetables and fares, for example.
05:41But as our local democracy reporter Gabriel Morris has been finding out,
05:45it's something they don't all agree on. For a lifeline for many, but many passengers believe
05:52equality and the number of services are going downhill. The government says a new bill coming
05:58will recognise this and drive change. Plans would see local authorities taking control of the will.
06:05This rightly isn't a one-size-fits-all approach and crucially places no additional burden on
06:12taxpayers. It simply acknowledges a truth that many in this house will agree with,
06:18that the best decisions aren't always made by Whitehall. They are made in town and city halls
06:25across the country, by those accountable to local communities, by those who day in,
06:31day out use the very services that we're talking about. Reforms are set to mimic the London bus
06:38network locally here in Kent and the aim would be for the county services to be integrated more
06:43efficiently, with the government saying they'll remove barriers to local leaders so buses can be
06:49faster and cheaper than ever before. But the man overseeing buses at Kent County Council has
06:54concerns. Clearly the devil's going to be in the detail. I mean at the moment a lot of people think
06:58I am the fat controller of buses in Kent because while we've had a deregulated bus system for
07:02decades now that's not always clear. My fear is that the public expectation may be raised about
07:09what councils could do but there's been no indication that central government will transfer
07:13any funds to allow us to do that and I think that would be the worst of both worlds where we have
07:18the theoretical ability to do something which is improve buses which we'd all like to do
07:22but no extra funds to do it and with our current financial position I cannot see how we could
07:27deliver that in any reasonable way. Councils would be given powers to introduce new routes and set
07:32fares. In Medway the leader says this is a step in the right direction. We know there are examples,
07:38longer term examples, before the law changed under the Conservatives where councils have run bus
07:43services and the profits that come from that go back into council services. That's a positive
07:48approach to public transport and we'll certainly be playing our part in the consultation because
07:52longer term we've got to have a system which works for people. For too long the bus services
07:57have not worked for the residents of Medway and indeed across the county. A consultation is
08:04currently running and the bill is expected to enter parliament later this year but more details
08:09on any funding settlement might become apparent. Gabriel Morris in Medway.
08:17Now to sport and Gillingham manager Mark Bonner has been nominated for league two manager of the
08:22season as his team prepare to take on Tranmere Rovers at Priestfield this Saturday. It comes
08:27after the Gilles suffered their first defeat of the season last time out against frontrunners
08:31Doncaster dropping them to fourth in the league two table. Well our sports reporter Bartholomew Hall
08:36joins me in the studio now. Gillingham will no doubt be looking to bounce back perhaps a bit of
08:43home luck? Definitely especially after winning and drawing in those first four games and then
08:49heading for the fifth one and losing it with Doncaster. Yeah definitely they'll be hoping for
08:53a bit of home luck especially because as a stat that we really kept pushing at the end of last
08:58season it continues on. Gillingham are now the only EFL club not to have lost a home league game
09:04in 2024. That last loss going all the way back to boxing day 2023 to Crawley. Now that run is
09:11made up of a few draws here and there but a really good marker for Mark Bonner who has been able to
09:17continue it on especially in that first month which you say as you say has been nominated for
09:24manager of the month. We'll be finding out in the coming days if he has won that or one of the
09:30others. One of the others is of course the man he took the job from now a manager of one of their
09:36rivals Stephen Clements. Let's take a listen to Mark Bonner speaking about that nomination.
09:41Ten points from the first four games which is good. I think that the points return is an
09:46exceptional one firstly. We talk about togetherness all the time. You only get ever any sort of
09:52individual awards or recognition or team of the week, goal of the month, manager of the month,
09:57whatever those records might be. You only get them because of everybody else around you. If
10:01we want to have the season we want to have we're going to need a few months where individuals are
10:05recognised for what they've done and that'll be because of the the work that everybody's done
10:10really. Gillingham taking on Tranmere Rovers this Saturday but elsewhere as the threat of
10:15relegation from division one of the county championship looms for Kent it's turning into
10:20a tense final few moments at Canterbury as the hosts hope to extend their survival in the top
10:25flight. In the last 10 minutes a change of innings began as Kent set their visitors 143 to win
10:31in nine unlikely overs as they hope to bat Hampshire out for a draw. It would put Kent
10:3636 points away from safety whilst a win would have them just 28 points adrift. Hampshire will have
10:44until 6.02pm to chase down the target. Kent Online will have your match report at the stumps.
10:51Absolute United have named former Rangers and QPR first team coach Harry Watling as their new
10:56manager. The new boss is appointed just three days after Danny Searle was dismissed after having taken
11:02only one point from the North Kent team's opening seven games. The disappointing start to the season
11:06has left Mr Watling with a tough job as he picks up the reins at the bottom of the National League
11:11table. He's due to be assisted by ex-Tottenham defender David Kerslake. Their first game in
11:16charge will be the fleet's home match against Hartlepool this Saturday. And as the new ice
11:22hockey season nears closer Gillingham's Invicta Dynamos are preparing to face some familiar foes
11:27they'll be up against the Solent Devils this Saturday. They'll have all of the latest on that
11:32at Kent Online, Abi. Of course all of that on Kent Online and of course on Monday a brand new episode
11:37of Invicta Sport coming up. Exciting stuff, Bartholomew. Thank you very much for all the
11:41sports details there. Now time for a very short break. See you in just a few minutes time with
11:46more news from right across the county. See you then.
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15:11Hello and welcome back to Kent Tonight live on KMTV. Now the chalet in Rochester where the famous
15:17author Charles Dickens wrote some of his most famous works has opened up to the public. It's
15:22part of the Heritage Open Days, one of England's biggest festivals of history and culture. Well
15:28our reporter Mahima Abedin went down with great expectations. Charles Dickens, a world-renowned
15:35author, but his importance is felt that extra bit more right here in Rochester. In honour of
15:40Heritage Open Days, which celebrates England's history, Dickens' very own writing chalet has
15:46opened its doors for the public to come and see. Now Rochester played a key part in loads of Charles
15:51Dickens' work but this writing chalet just over my shoulder is at the heart of it all. It's where
15:57he started to write his unfinished novel The Mystery of Edwin Drood just before he died. Now
16:03the second floor is where he spent most of his time writing but unfortunately that's not open to
16:08the public to see due to safety issues but what is is the ground floor so let's go take a look inside.
16:14It was very important to him because he found it a very very freeing space in which to sort of work.
16:22We've had loads of people, we've had loads of people around this morning. It always seems to
16:27me to be enormously popular. It's really really important to North Kent Medway that we have this
16:35association and it would be brilliant if we can tell that part of his story all the more effectively
16:44because we can use this chalet. So I'm inside the chalet now and I've decided to come and take a
16:49look for myself. Now this ground floor room is quite small, it's quite tight, we can't go upstairs
16:54as I mentioned before but I've been told that this room has been used as a shed by Charles
16:59Dickens in the past. He'd keep some of his tools here and a few of his dogs and it's more than 150
17:05years old. But it's not just Rachel who appreciates the rich cultural significance of the chalet,
17:10it's those that came to visit too. Well Medway particularly because there aren't a lot of jobs
17:17in Medway so anything we can do that boosts the tourist industry is going to help us.
17:21He's a local person, he's somebody who's actually part of us and lived here
17:28even though I don't live in Rochester but I think it's important. Also I'm sure it brings
17:35in lots of tourists. It's important for Kent, he was a Kentish person towards the end of his life.
17:44Obviously it's an association that even dates back to Shakespeare we could say with
17:48Gadseel and Henry I so you know, living up needs to happen down here as well I think so that's why.
17:57And the chalet will remain open for four heritage days with great expectations
18:02that the next Dickens could just be one of those visiting. Mahima Abedin for KMTV in Rochester.
18:10Now while most might consider tea our national drink of choice, us Brits also love a coffee.
18:16Enough in fact to consume 36 billion cups a year. But what most don't consider is the
18:22environmental impact of used coffee grounds. But a Kent recycling company has introduced
18:28a scheme to give used coffee a new lease of life in McDermid Hasmore.
18:34The UK uses a lot of coffee and Canterbury is no exception. With a dense population and plenty
18:40of cafes, hotels and restaurants the city is the testing ground for a new coffee recycling scheme.
18:47Unlike driving your car, littering or using up electricity, drinking coffee might have a bigger
18:52environmental impact than you might think. The UK actually generates 250,000 tonnes of coffee
18:59grounds a year and one Kent recycling company is trying to tell people this is a bigger issue than
19:05they think. Country Style, a waste management company, have launched a weekly collection
19:10for coffee grounds at Cafe 35 in Canterbury with hopes of expanding across Kent.
19:16We're already collecting across every which area of Kent you know so it wouldn't be too
19:22difficult for us but we wanted to focus on Canterbury. It's got a hugely dense population
19:27of cafes, hotels, there's a lot of coffee sort of grounds, waste produced here. So
19:34here folks at a place like that we want to get the density so start here and we'll definitely
19:39push out as long as we can get the customers to get behind us and to try and you know recycle
19:45more of the coffee. The scheme sees the grounds emptied into a 40 litre caddy where the waste
19:51is taken to a site in Cambridgeshire. At the end of the recycling process the grounds become an
19:57organic pellet that Country Style hope to sell next year to gardeners and horticulturalists
20:03as a fertiliser. The businesses themselves however are the ones who have to pay for it
20:08so I asked the owner of Cafe 35 if this might have a financial impact.
20:13Well I think you need to weigh it up because obviously the businesses that are putting the
20:16coffee grounds into their general waste there is a cost against the waste so by not not putting it
20:24into the general waste anymore that's actually going to reduce those costs so if anything it
20:28may be no more expensive to do it may actually be even cheaper. Country Style say they wanted to
20:33make the service cheap so that it would be easier for businesses like Cafe 35 to adopt it
20:39but did say that some businesses could pay more for that sustainability. Well with summer ending
20:44we could see more and more people visiting their local cafes for a coffee. Finn McDermid for KMTV
20:50in Canterbury. Well should we be warming up with a cup of coffee let's take a look at the weather
20:55forecast.
21:02Tonight lows of seven degrees down in Tunbridge Wells overnight clear skies the rest of the county
21:0810 degrees. Staying clear until your Friday morning a bright and sunny start to the end
21:13of the week. Highs of 13 by the afternoon creeping up to 16. Some clouds in parts but staying
21:19mainly sunny and here's your outlook for Kent for the rest of the weekend too.
21:23Saturday and Sunday a mixture a bit warmer by Monday.
21:37And finally this evening what should we be watching in Kent cinemas this week and some
21:42have even been filmed right here in the county. Well let's find out more Kent Film Club's presenter
21:47Chris Deasy joins me in the studio now. Chris thank you very much for joining me today. Now
21:54the first one I want to talk to you about it's actually coming out tomorrow in cinemas
21:58Friday the 13th a bit spooky and it's about a murder Buckingham murders and filmed in the county.
22:04That's right in Dover and also I believe in High Wycombe so it's a film that is Indian in its
22:11derivation but filmed in Britain and dealing with immigrant experience dealing with all sorts of
22:16questions about a murder and a police detective. Of course it hasn't come out yet so I noticed it's
22:21showing at a few locations not yet in Kent I was a bit disappointed because of course it's exactly
22:26on my radar but it is showing at the Cineworld at the O2 is also showing in Essex. And do you have
22:31any spooky suspicions about watching a film on Friday the 13th is it is it doomed if you watch
22:37it on a... I have literally seen Friday the 13th on Friday the 13th. Of course you have.
22:43Exactly do you know it's funny but it's also but it's you ask that question it's almost like
22:48watching a Christmas film outside of season so you know and you can do it but of course you also
22:53feel that it feels kind of wrong you know everything should be in its in its place but we
22:57are heading towards the the Halloween period but it's always that liminal thing isn't it that space
23:02because I was in Herne Bay on Tuesday and thought it doesn't feel like summer anymore so we are
23:06literally transitioning and we will start to see I'm afraid we're going to have more horror films
23:10as we head towards Halloween so it is that season. That season definitely September brings
23:16that about but some sunshine in the weather forecast there but some nice crisp autumn
23:20weather there. Also something that's been in the cinemas Beetlejuice I'm not saying it any more
23:25times than that. Yes that's right I said it twice last week with Mahima now it's if you know the
23:321988 original you know what you're in for I mean there are some very daft moments I mean when Tim
23:37Burton made the first one he was a fledgling director he was very creative and of course now
23:42he's a big name but he's returning to his roots the good thing about this is that there's no
23:47obvious CGI you kind of feel that these are real you know puppeteers and it has that and mannequins
23:52you kind of feel that everything has been thrown at this including the kitchen sink and there's a
23:57very bizarre turn when they all start singing along to Richard Harris's version of MacArthur
24:01Park and because I saw more than one film on that day I thought am I going to stay awake for this
24:06but it was Tim Burton in full kind of you know it's like the pram is full of toys
24:13and he's enjoying himself and he's making the sort of films that he wants on his terms
24:17and also nostalgically of course he's kind of doing the sort of cinema that he owns that
24:25kind of genre so it was a real delight to watch and it's a very you know bringing back the cast
24:30from the original as well Michael Keaton and obviously Winona Ryder as well. Very and you
24:35could go into so much analysis about that film and about that director as well just very quickly
24:41Chris what else should we be keeping our eyes peeled for this week? Well I kind of feel that
24:45you've got a lot of the retro films in the last few days I've seen various Batman films including
24:50Batman and Robin pilloried on its release but it's very entertaining and some of the Spider-Man
24:54films as well but also looking forward to Lee which is the film about you know with Kate Winslet
25:00playing the Second World War Vogue journalist who goes and shoots the war scenes and a complete
25:06you know transformative experience. Amazing well to those superheroes I'm going to try and to link
25:11our next item with that flying in the skies because just before we go our colleague over at
25:17Kent Online has been taking his journalism career to new heights. Today he learnt how to fly a plane
25:23in Rochester taking off over the Medway towns soaring above the Maidstone villages and touching
25:28back down safely albeit at the airport. Here's Joe Crosley reporting from the clouds.
25:58So
26:13I've just finished our flight in the aeroplane over Rochester Maidstone
26:19Singapore and it was absolutely fantastic definitely try it if you get the chance
26:24Well we're all very jealous of Joe's job today well you've been watching Kent Tonight live on
26:32KMTV that's all we've got time for this evening there's of course more news made just for Kent
26:36throughout your evening Mahima will be here with your 8pm news bulletin a bit later but for me
26:41and the Kent Tonight team that's all for now, bye-bye.