Catch up with all the latest news from across the county with Oliver Leader de Saxe.
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00:00Good evening and welcome to Kentonite, live here on KMTV.
00:29I'm Oliver, leader of the sacks, and here are your top stories on Monday 17th February.
00:35The search continues, Sevenoaks shooting victim named as police hunt for suspect.
00:41Nothing remotely like this has happened in my entire time as a district councillor.
00:47Transport troubles.
00:48Could devolution be the ticket to solving Kent's bus crisis?
00:53You can have a system controlled by the democratically elected representatives who do the franchising,
00:58who choose the route.
00:59And raise a glass as the Kent Food and Drink Awards return for another year.
01:04I felt that the food and drink industry deserved a big pat on the back.
01:08They've been through an awful lot in the past few years.
01:21Well first tonight, a manhunt has reached a new stage today after a woman was shot in
01:25the village of Knockholt near Sevenoaks on Valentine's Day.
01:29Police have named the victim as Lisa Smith and tributes have been pouring in from friends
01:33and family.
01:34With flowers, handwritten messages and balloons all being left outside the pub where the attack
01:39took place.
01:40Well Finn McDermott joins me live from Knockholt.
01:43Finn, what can you tell us about the news we've learnt today about the victim?
01:49Well it's like you say Ollie, tributes have been pouring in across the last few days for
01:54the woman who died from gunshot wounds here on the Valentine's Day shooting.
01:58At the Three Horseshoes pub in the village of Knockholt near Sevenoaks.
02:02And it's like you say Ollie, the latest development in the story is that her name has been revealed
02:07to the public.
02:08Lisa Smith, we now know more about her.
02:12She was a grandmother.
02:13We also know that she had a son, two sons in fact, and a granddaughter.
02:18And one of her sons, TJ, said, my dear old mum, never be another to walk in her shoes
02:24the best.
02:25We also do know now that she is not from Kent, she is from Slough, but she does have
02:30connections to people here in the county.
02:33And to the village of Knockholt, certainly a small community, it's been a massive shock.
02:38I was here on Saturday afternoon and I found out I was speaking to the Sevenoaks District
02:43Councillor and Ward Councillor for Knockholt, Councillor John Grint, about the situation
02:48and how it's affected the community.
02:52It took me completely by surprise and utterly shocked me because this sort of thing does
02:56not happen.
02:57It's a very quiet area of the community.
03:01I have represented the village of Knockholt together with the neighbouring villages of
03:08Halstead and Badgers Mount on Sevenoaks District Council for the past 18 years and nothing
03:14remotely like this has happened in my entire time as a district councillor.
03:19Well Finn, you were on the scene over the weekend.
03:22What's changed here in Knockholt?
03:27Well it's definitely a different scene here, Ollie.
03:30Police cordons, a fire engine, South East Coast Ambulance, the police, forensics vans
03:35and forensics teams have all been replaced with flowers, balloons, messages of support
03:42and cans of Red Bull, all to show solidarity and support for Lisa and her family during
03:48this difficult time.
03:49Like I say, the area is now fairly quiet as people are paying their respects.
03:54I spoke to Neil Waters on Saturday when I was down here.
03:57He's a local who's been living here for some time and he arrived home just after the gunshots
04:02and told me about his experience with what happened.
04:06I was out all day and as I say I arrived home last night about ten past seven and as I was
04:15walking from the car up the side of the house I could hear some women screaming and shouting
04:22and then there was some guys shouting.
04:24I didn't know what had gone on because whatever happened had happened just before I arrived
04:30home.
04:31Well Finn, from my understanding the manhunt is still underway.
04:35What can you tell us about the suspect?
04:39Well the latest news on the suspect, we do now know that he was known to Lisa and similarly
04:46to Lisa he's not from Kent but does have those connections here in the county.
04:53The exact latest that we've heard is that a gun and vehicle that is believed to be belonging
04:58to the man were found by the Dartford Crossing.
05:02Police may believe the man may have entered the water as call handlers reported seeing
05:07a man on the side of the bridge.
05:10And that's the latest development we have and for more information you can head to Kent
05:15online to hear more about the story and we will continue to cover this as it continues.
05:19Finn, thank you so much.
05:22Now GPs have been left divided as schools have begun requiring parents to provide medical
05:26evidence when a child is off sick with a cold or the flu.
05:29Some Kent school policies say if an absence doesn't seem authentic an additional doctor's
05:33note should be provided or the parents could be issued a fine of up to £80.
05:39But medical professionals warn it's unnecessary use of NHS resources including John Ribchester
05:46from the Whitstable Medical Practice.
05:49As yet the numbers aren't great but it is something which is mounting and whereas we
05:54are totally sympathetic to schools trying to tackle the problem of people staying off
06:00for no reason, this isn't really what the NHS is for.
06:04At a time when access to general practice and nurses is a real problem, despite the
06:09fact we're offering more appointments than ever before, it does mean that people with
06:15more serious illnesses just can't get to see their GP or nurse.
06:25Buses are a lifeline for thousands here in Kent but ask passengers and they'll tell you
06:30services aren't what they used to be.
06:32Bus companies are blaming rising costs and fewer passengers while councils say they can't
06:37afford to subsidise every route.
06:40With devolution on the horizon, could a mayor with greater powers fix the problem facing
06:46Kent's buses?
06:47Well, local democracy reporter Gabriel Morris has taken a trip around the county to find out.
06:52It's just gone 11am on the Queensway estate in Sheerness.
07:01These pensioners waiting for the 362 to take them into town for shopping.
07:06They all rely on the bus.
07:08Because of the means of transport I don't drive and I can't move because I've got bad
07:13legs so it's just hard to catch the bus but you're restricted.
07:18The last service into town is at 1.20 in the afternoon.
07:22Sylvia, in her 90s, takes the bus once a week.
07:26It drops her at Tesco.
07:28By the time she's finished shopping in town there's no bus home and she has to take her taxi.
07:36There's nothing helping people on the island.
07:40It's just going downhill and they're not looking after what the people want, you know.
07:47At my age and a lot of other people, elderly, it's too tiring.
07:53They say services have been cut back again and again.
07:58You know, with the cutbacks and cutbacks, with the government as well, I know that's
08:03nothing to do with the buses but I think Queensway will just get left behind.
08:08Why do you think Queensway's being left behind?
08:10I really don't know, because we're all old and we're degraded.
08:16They're thinking if we leave them long enough they all might just sort of give up and, you
08:22know, just become hermits.
08:28With fears growing that services could worsen in the coming years, is there any hope for
08:34public transport?
08:35Devolution will happen at some point.
08:39The Promise is a TfL for Kent.
08:42The Promise is an integrated transport service that isn't just about, you know, there is
08:47a bus company that can deal with this small part of a county where you don't get economies
08:51of scale, where you're essentially allowing private companies to call the shots.
08:55Instead, you can have a system controlled by the democratically elected representatives
09:00who do the franchising, who choose the routes, and then just find a contractor to carry it
09:05out just as happens in London.
09:07So bus operators are sceptical that copying the Transport for London model in Kent will
09:12work.
09:14The bus operators have very little say in how the bus network works.
09:18It's largely controlled by politicians, and when you get politicians controlling something,
09:24sometimes the commerciality can be taken out of situations.
09:28I don't believe that the TfL model is financially sustainable.
09:34But earlier this month, there was another bump in the road, the Kent bus crisis.
09:40Devolution delayed.
09:42Real change isn't now expected until the end of the decade.
09:46Bus campaigners fear what could happen in the meantime.
09:50The group Save Our Buses was set up in response to declining stagecoach services, particularly
09:56in rural areas across Folkestone.
09:58They believe timetables will continue to shrink until devolution arrives.
10:04These campaigners are forming a so-called people's focus group, bringing together operators,
10:10councils, and passengers.
10:14We should be able to tell people, the bus companies, this is the best way to operate,
10:19but they won't listen to us, sadly at the moment.
10:22But we will keep trying.
10:23And do you think devolution will make any differences to buses here?
10:26Yes, I do, and I think that a mayor of Kent will be solely responsible for running the
10:32buses, they will control the routes, and more importantly, they'll control the profits.
10:37Because with stagecoaches at the moment, they have what they call their golden routes, where
10:40they're making a lot of money, and they have the less well-off routes like my 74 service,
10:47and they won't subsidize one with the other.
10:49But when the franchise system comes in, and under the Andy Burnham scheme in Greater Manchester,
10:55the more profitable routes will subsidize the less profitable routes.
11:00Stagecoach says the combination of rising costs and fewer passengers mean they've had
11:04to face some tough decisions about loss-making services.
11:08With no quick fix in sight, the question does remain, can Kent keep its buses running long
11:15enough for devolution to make any difference?
11:19And for all the details about that really important story, just head over to the Kent
11:28online website.
11:30But now we're looking at plans to build new houses in Edenbridge after the break with
11:36concerns about flooding in the local area.
11:40And the Kent Messengers Food and Drink Awards, we're celebrating the businesses serving you
11:44the best food and produce here in Kent.
11:47I'll see you in a few minutes time.
12:50Hello and welcome back to Kentonite, live here on KMTV.
13:04Now a Margate artist, you may know her dame Tracey Emmings, has had plans to turn her
13:09former pub into a private home approved by Thanet District Council.
13:13The brown jug has served customers for over three decades in broadstairs, but its doors
13:18have been closed since 2019.
13:21Tracey Emmings applied for planning permission in 2023, which was approved by Thanet District
13:25Council for it to be transformed into a private two-bedroom house.
13:29The Pegasus Group suggested this proposal on behalf of the artist, saying this renovation
13:34is needed as the brown jug provides limited community value due to its poor state and
13:39facilities.
13:39So it is in a state of disrepair.
13:41More on this one on Kent online.
13:44Now a Swellborough Council workers are under fire after they drove over several graves
13:49in a Sittingbourne cemetery.
13:51Pictures show the messy tyre tracks that were left over around five different graves, which
13:56one bereaved man described as disgusting and completely unnecessary.
14:01Visiting to commemorate his late brother's birthday, Paul Daniels contacted the council
14:05after taking these photos and received an apology.
14:09Following this incident, Swellborough Council states they've launched an investigation
14:13into the incident and have requested repairs to be made to the damaged land.
14:18Now across the country and the county, more homes are being built to meet growing demand.
14:24But in small rural towns like Edenbridge, locals aren't pleased with the new planning
14:29application.
14:29That's because the amount of homes has gone from 340 to a whopping 450 being proposed.
14:37With regular flooding and environmental concerns, local groups like the Residents' Association
14:42want to prove their town isn't the right place for these developments.
14:47And our reporter Firmin Dermott has all the details.
14:50For locals in Edenbridge, the Four Elms housing development has been a controversial topic
14:54since it was announced, with Sevenoaks Council making a local plan until 2040 while also
14:59talking with concerned locals.
15:02The small countryside town was originally earmarked for 340 homes to be built and lived
15:06in, but recently a proposal to increase this to 450 was published.
15:11Many are concerned about the impact it could have on their town and its health, as well
15:15as how it could affect the Greenbelt's wildlife population.
15:18The Four Elms site is also located near a floodplain, an area of low-lying ground near
15:23the River Eden that's particularly vulnerable to flooding.
15:26Basically one of the factors, as well as the obvious one, about building on a floodplain,
15:33which is obviously rash in an era of climate change when we know we're going to get more
15:39flooding, we know we're going to have drought and then flood.
15:42So that in itself is ludicrous, frankly.
15:47But related to that are the infrastructure issues, which simply aren't there to support
15:52that sort of development.
15:54The town's utilities that locals worry could be hit hardest includes their sewage network,
15:59with some worrying that with more people using the utility, the River Eden could see
16:03more discharges alongside potential flooding.
16:06NEDRA, the New Eden Bridge District Residents' Association, also suggested that the water
16:10services, public transport and electrical infrastructure wouldn't be able to cope with
16:14the increase in population without significant investment.
16:17There are also substantial concerns over ecological impact, including nearly a 40% net loss in
16:22habitats for multiple different species of bat, birds and other animals.
16:26You know, when I first moved here, I could walk down the River Eden and see kingfishers
16:30quite regularly.
16:31I don't see those any longer.
16:33And so we are killing the habitats that support those sort of, you know, those environments,
16:39those species.
16:40We've got a number of, you know, protected species and priority habitats here.
16:45And unfortunately, they are under threat from this development.
16:49A spokeswoman for ProVision, the development consultant involved with the application,
16:53said new built development is sited in the areas with the lowest probability of flooding
16:58and the onsite drainage strategy has been designed with an allowance for climate change.
17:02An ecological enhancement plan is also included to increase habitat and foraging opportunities.
17:07The development does promise potential for a secondary school, but locals are making
17:11sure the council understand their concerns with the plan ahead of further application
17:15meetings.
17:16Finn McDermid for KMTV in Eden Bridge.
17:19In sport now, and despite coming close at the weekend, Gillingham FC are still yet to
17:24pick up a win of the seven games, with new, especially now under new manager John Coleman,
17:30who admitted to the press after the match he's desperate to get that first win for
17:34the League Two team on his record in this new season.
17:39That's football.
17:40I've been through this mill loads of times.
17:45And when you're desperate, I'm desperate to get my first win.
17:48Obviously, you tend to snatch your things a little bit, for one.
17:53Sometimes it goes for you, sometimes it doesn't.
17:55And sometimes it feels as though everything is going against you.
18:00And you've got to ride it through.
18:01You've got to go through it.
18:02You've got to go through the pain, but you've got to show the endeavour that we showed.
18:08So I think our fans, I thought our fans were magnificent today.
18:12Really wanted to score to reward them more than anyone, to be honest.
18:16And for all your sporting news, you can head to the KMTV website, kmtv.co.uk,
18:23to see the latest episode of Invicta Sports, as well as all our other news reports,
18:28including this one from an Ashford school banning phones to bring down bullying.
18:33I actually do like it because it, for me, it helps me and my friends try to communicate more.
18:40We focus more on lessons.
18:41We have, like, I feel like we progress more on lessons.
18:44How much do you use your phone during the day?
18:48Well, for the pupils at John Wallace School in Ashford,
18:51they use their phones very little and say that others should do the same.
18:55As part of their uniform, students at this school are given one of these pouches,
18:58where at the start of the day, they have to put their phone in
19:01and lock it, where it stays in their backpack until the end of the day,
19:04where they can unlock it using one of these magnets that are dotted around the school.
19:10And then it opens back up again.
19:11Yeah, it helps me, but also others in our class,
19:14because some people on their phones distract other students,
19:16but as a whole community, we're able to focus more.
19:20It opened your attention span as well, and it gave you more time to focus on lessons,
19:24rather than constantly hearing notifications in your bag,
19:27and because you've got that access to your phone.
19:30Now I can go play sport. I can do stuff like that without being,
19:33oh, why are you not on your phone? Why are you not responding to my text in lesson?
19:38Usually, when you find yourself on your phone for a long period of time,
19:42you kind of get distracted, and you don't see what's going on around you.
19:46I think it's just made me realise that, like,
19:48the fact that a lot of this information is also in books.
19:51Once the ban was set in place, teachers at the school maintained to pupils
19:55that this change was not a punishment, but rather something they should be excited about.
20:00So initially, there was a disbelief. Students were kind of a bit shocked.
20:05Are you really going to take our phones away from us?
20:10But then when we explained it, and we explained that this wasn't a punitive,
20:13this wasn't a punishment, we weren't taking something away.
20:15We were actually giving them back childhood.
20:18We were giving them back that ability to have meaningful conversations.
20:22We've introduced this for a year now.
20:23We've seen harmful online abusive behaviour, cyberbullying,
20:28that type of behaviour has reduced by 80%.
20:31But it's not just the pupils that have benefited from the change.
20:35As staff retention rates have seen a 12% reduction since the ban began.
20:39The shift in children's mobile usage, however, goes far beyond just this school.
20:45The crime commissioner for Kent said that it is more important now than ever
20:49that we talk about the problems that social media, smartphones,
20:52and online bullying are causing to young people.
20:55We need to support schools in implementing smartphone policies.
20:59Anyone can become attached to checking and using their phone,
21:02causing many of us to depend on them during social situations and for information.
21:06But with phone bans being introduced for the younger generation,
21:10this problem could change in the future.
21:12Kristen Hawthorne, KMTV, Ashford.
21:21It's a really fascinating report there.
21:23I'm not sure I could give up my smartphone.
21:25What do you think?
21:26Go to our website kmtv.co.uk
21:29or go to our social media to make your voice heard.
21:33We want to hear what you have to say about all of this.
21:35But now let's take a quick look at the weather for the coming week.
21:44This evening will be cloudy and temperatures stay mostly at three degrees,
21:49four over in Dover into tomorrow morning.
21:53Quite clear, actually, sunshine across the county.
21:56Temperatures reaching highs of eight in Medway.
21:58Everywhere else in the county catching up by the afternoon, seven degrees.
22:02Still staying clear and cloudy and the outlook for the rest of the week.
22:07Cloudy on Wednesday, continuing to Thursday,
22:10then a clear Friday, temperatures rising to 12 degrees.
22:20And finally, for the second year running,
22:23the Kent Messenger Food and Drink Awards are celebrating our county's
22:27very best chefs, restaurants and volunteers.
22:30So what can you expect from Kent's culinary Oscars?
22:35Well, we caught up with Sharon Marriott, who's been organising the event
22:39to find out why it really matters to those businesses,
22:42those restaurants that provide high quality produce to you day in and day out.
22:47We felt that the food and drink industry deserved a big pat on the back.
22:51We've been through an awful lot in the past few years with Covid
22:55and then the kind of the climb back to normality from there.
22:59So we felt that they needed rewarding for all their hard work and they were.
23:04And the feedback that we had just was that it had done great things for their business.
23:10The promotion that we were able to give it,
23:13the coverage that we were able to give them has done wonders for them.
23:17We are hosting the event at Chilston Park Hotel,
23:21which we're really excited about.
23:23It's an absolutely stunning setting.
23:26And we've got 11 categories, so we'll have 11 winners on the night.
23:31But we're also going to be celebrating and rewarding our runners up.
23:36It's going to be a really exciting night.
23:38I know that Abby Hook and Bartholomew Hall will both be there on the evening for KMTV.
23:45But that's it from us here tonight.
23:47You catch our later bulletin in the evening.
23:50But that's everything for me right now.
23:52Don't forget, you can keep up to date with all the news from across the county
23:55by logging on to our website, kmtv.co.uk.
24:00There you can find all our packages, all our reports, all our special programs,
24:04including the Kent Politics Show in Vixen Sport.
24:06A brand new episode out right now for everyone here who has missed it.
24:11Kent on Climate and of course, Kent Film Club.
24:15And did you know that every morning you can start your day right by going to our morning show,
24:217am every single morning, where we get all the latest news and views from across the county.
24:27That's really everything for me.
24:28I'll see you very, very soon.
24:29Have a lovely evening.
24:30Goodbye.