Catch up on 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.
00:28I'm Oliver, leader of the sacks and here are your top stories on Friday the 21st of February.
00:34Wake up and smell the coffee.
00:36Viral Tunbridge Wells cafe bus in conflict with the council.
00:41I feel like it's quite insulting to people who are trying to start a small business.
00:45Facing the music.
00:47Parents at Maidstone Performing Arts Academy furious over rising fees.
00:52I just knew that some wouldn't be able to cope with it.
00:54And paying the price of beauty as Dartford weighs in on cosmetic surgery.
00:59More and more these days to conform to what the media define as beautiful.
01:03Not something that I think I would do now.
01:04I think it's a good thing and also a bad thing.
01:17Now a viral bus double-decker bus converted into a coffee shop
01:22is in a planning round with Tunbridge Wells Borough Council.
01:25Construction of the moving mug was followed by millions on social media
01:30for opening its doors last year to the public.
01:33The intention is to move from location to location
01:36but costly repairs have seen it remain in one location for three months.
01:41The authority has warned the owners that staying there will require planning permission
01:46as local democracy reporter Gabriel Morris has been finding out.
01:52Jump on a bus and you'll often see commuters drinking a coffee
01:56but how about buying yours on board?
02:00Just two years ago this bus was driving passengers around the Weald of Kent.
02:05Today it's not too far away parked up in Tunbridge Wells serving coffee.
02:10It still looks like a bus and it still has the bell.
02:16But the business could soon be stopping after a planning round with the council.
02:20A letter has been sent to the owners telling them they need planning permission
02:24but they say it's private land and the owner of the car park is completely happy for them to be there.
02:30So to kind of be told like oh yeah you have to move based on the fact of
02:35you know we were told explicitly you know verbatim a grey area.
02:39It's I feel like it's quite insulting to people who are trying to start a small business
02:44and not only that it kind of feels like a waste of kind of the council's resources to be honest.
02:49We're not affecting anybody.
02:50Two months ago three idiots embarked on a project of a lifetime with no gear no idea.
02:55Social media sensation for professional idiots converted it last summer
03:00and now owners Neve and Luke have intentions of touring the country in it.
03:05But costly repairs mean the bus is unable to drive.
03:08The argument to the council time and money is needed to fix it
03:13and a petition has started in a bid to make the authority rethink its decision.
03:18It is feeling like it's a big part of the community at the moment
03:23and the support has been quite quite quite touching.
03:27In about 24 hours we had over 700 signatures.
03:31It was so reassuring honestly like we most of our business is regulars.
03:36Since opening in November locals say it's become the heart of the community.
03:41There's not really a coffee shop in the area
03:43uh and certainly for people like myself that it's easy to stop by
03:49and sort of that they're always friendly and I think they're doing a great job here.
03:52In a statement the borough council says they received a complaint about the moving mug in
03:56December and others have since followed and say they've been speaking to the owners to
04:01try and find a way to resolve the situation without the need for formal enforcement action.
04:07Plans are in place for a festival tour this summer
04:10but could it now be the end of the line for this location in Kent?
04:15Gabriel Morris in Tunbridge, Wales.
04:18Next tonight footage shared by Kent police shows the terrifying moment a masked burglar
04:24charged at an officer during a new Ash Green break-in.
04:28Footage shows...
04:30Stay where you are! Stay where you are!
04:37Footage shows Callum Knox violently resisting attempts to arrest him
04:40with the criminal even trying to snatch a taser during the incident at the town's Morrisons Daily.
04:46Meanwhile his 44-year-old accomplice Damien Smith
04:49can be seen complying with police demands to surrender,
04:52dropping his crowbar and lying on the floor.
04:55Both later admitted to burglary and two counts of assaulting an emergency worker
05:00with Knox being sentenced to two years and one month in prison
05:03and Smith jailed for two years and ten months after breaching a previous sentence.
05:11Now parents who are amazed at the performing arts academy have expressed concerns over school fees
05:16set to skyrocket as a result of new 20% VAT on private schools.
05:21Parents at the MEPA academy are worried they won't be able to afford the special education
05:26they want for their children but the government have defended the rise
05:29saying it will help support its teaching in the state sector.
05:33Iman Monroe has the story.
05:43At MEPA academy in Maidstone creativity is at the heart of everything
05:47but some parents are now having to get creative to afford their children's school fees.
05:52Since the start of January independent schools have had to pay VAT at the standard rate of 20%
05:57ending a long-standing exemption.
06:00For headmistress Mandy Ellen this has been challenging.
06:03We're a small school, we're independent and the type of students that we have here
06:08are the students that struggle in mainstream school.
06:10So we have working class parents that are doing everything they can
06:15to pay for their child to come to our specialist school and a specialist in performing arts.
06:20So I already know how hard it is for the parents and then to then have the VAT on top
06:30I just knew that some wouldn't be able to cope with it.
06:32Most fee-paying schools in Kent are not passing on the full cost of VAT onto parents.
06:37The schools we surveyed are increasing fees by an average of 13.6%.
06:42Polling shows the majority of the public supports Labour's decision to end the VAT exemption for private schools.
06:48But the schools themselves and many opposition MPs say it's unfair to tax education in this way.
06:53I've had a large number of letters and emails about the VAT increase.
06:59Not just about the principle of it which is wrong but also about the rushed implementation
07:03bringing it in in the middle of a school year in January.
07:06Well this idea that the government has that they're gonna take the money and use it to support
07:11state schools, I mean firstly that's not the way government finances work.
07:14You don't hypothecate a tax and pay for a particular thing with it, no taxes work like that.
07:19Back at MEPA, Mandy will have to face the music for now.
07:22I would have to close the school if I had to absorb the VAT
07:27so I have had to add it on to every parent unfortunately.
07:32The government said its mission is to break down barriers to opportunity
07:35and ensure every child has the best life chances.
07:39Ima Murrow, KMTV.
07:45Now how many languages languages can you speak fluently?
07:48Well according to the 2021 census one in three of us Brits can speak more than one fluently.
07:54Today is International Mother Language Day aiming at promoting awareness of linguistic diversity.
08:01Well to unpack this a little bit more we spoke to Kent academic Dr David Hornsby,
08:07an expert in languages, on our morning show earlier today.
08:11Dr Hornsby thank you very much for joining me today.
08:15Kent is obviously a home of a variety of languages,
08:17many different cultures and mother tongues here,
08:20but it might be surprising to some of our viewers to know
08:23what languages come as the runner-up when we talk about the most popular first language.
08:27We've got Romanian, Nepalese, Polish and Punjabi.
08:31Now when I was at school these are never an option for something for me to learn.
08:35Why is it that in our schools we have such a focus on European languages
08:39like French and German and Spanish?
08:42I think there was always a perception when we joined the European Union
08:46or the economic communities it was in those days that it was going to be essential to have
08:51several languages for business purposes, for trade purposes
08:56and there are obvious advantages to speaking the languages of your neighbours.
09:00I would look at things slightly more broadly than that.
09:02I think learning languages are good for you full stop
09:06and that's true whether you're learning French which I used to teach, German, Spanish
09:12or you're ensuring that your child for example grows up bilingually,
09:17that's a huge advantage to have.
09:18I mean it is really interesting this day that's been set up by the United Nations,
09:22it goes back quite a few years, the International Mother Language Day
09:26and it's all about the promotion of linguistic diversity
09:30and promoting multilingualism,
09:33so making people be more encouraged to learn another language.
09:37But as someone who has dedicated your academic career to that,
09:41I mean that's got to be a day that means a lot to you.
09:45It does and I think we ought to start thinking in terms of language rights as well.
09:50I mean there are many parts of the world where you can't be tried
09:53or get an education in a language that you are proficient in.
09:56In many parts of the world using two or three languages on a daily basis
09:59is perfectly normal, it's just a way of life.
10:04So I think what UNESCO is trying to do,
10:07so it's been going for about 20 years now,
10:09is trying to get us to think in terms of respecting people's right
10:12to have a mother tongue, to use their mother tongue
10:15and for that opportunity to use that language
10:19in as wide a possible range of circumstances
10:21is seen as something worthy and respectful.
10:26Do you think there's a there's something to say about
10:28sort of just the general culture of having language surrounding us?
10:32The mere fact of addressing someone in their own language,
10:34even if you don't get it quite right, if you're doing your best,
10:37people will appreciate that and you are saying to that person,
10:41look I'm trying to see things your way
10:43and I think that is obviously in the current rather worrying times for the world,
10:51that is a very very positive statement.
10:54There's also a very interesting conversation that's coming up at the moment
10:57where some schools are trading in their modern foreign language requirement
11:01to actually teaching British Sign Language instead.
11:04I wonder what your take was on that
11:05because at the end of the day British Sign Language is still a form of English.
11:08It's an important language and again it's all part of
11:12a general feeling of including people and making people feel
11:14that expressing themselves in one particular way is okay
11:18and it is legitimate and it's something to be welcomed and celebrated.
11:22Thank you very much for joining us Dr Hornsby this morning,
11:24really good to have you on the programme.
11:27Really interesting one that one.
11:29Maybe I should brush up on my GCSE Spanish.
11:32We have a short break coming up now.
11:34After the break Gillingham are looking to win their first match of the season this weekend
11:39but can they do it?
11:41And the true cost of the Excel bully bill ban I mean for us here in Kent.
11:47See you soon.
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15:12Welcome back to Kent tonight.
15:14Now Dartford Borough Council says millions repairing a local theatre.
15:20The Orchard Theatre has been shut since September 2023
15:24when it was found to have structurally unsafe concrete in its roof.
15:28That roof on the theatre has since been repaired and solar panels have been fitted
15:33but significant works are now required to meet modern regulations.
15:37Works with a hefty price tag but the council's cabinet
15:40have decided it will be going ahead with these works due to be completed next May
15:46with £9.8 million required to bring it up to scratch.
15:51Now the Excel bully ban is set to cost Kent Police
15:54more than a million pounds by the end of the next financial year.
15:58The Chief Constable Tim Smith revealed the staggering cost of the ban
16:02and the Police and Crime Commissioner's quarterly performance and delivery board.
16:07Homing the seized band dogs has already cost the force for £600,000
16:12but they say the government aren't doing enough to support local police.
16:16It is a significant increase in costs, not just financial costs in terms of things like
16:23fending and vets but also for the strain on our staff and we are having to,
16:30we've had to train a further two dog handlers and to qualify them as
16:34dog legislation officers bringing us to six.
16:37That is, that is almost exclusively off the back of the challenge of
16:41policing the Excel bully legislation.
16:44Well a government spokesperson says the ban is there to protect public safety
16:48but ongoing dog attacks show more needs to be done to protect the public,
16:53including considering whether or not there needs to be further controls on dog ownership.
17:00But if we want to talk more about politics,
17:02every Friday means a brand new episode of the Kent Politics Show,
17:05a weekly discussion programme that gets Kent's politicians talking.
17:09This morning we discuss antisocial behaviour
17:12on the streets of Sittingbourne, Sheppey and Tunbridge and Morling.
17:17Too many people say to me they see the drug dealing going on in the court street corners,
17:21they see the shoplifting that continues and those levels of crime I don't think,
17:28whatever the data says, in real people's lives it matters to them, they see it and it affects
17:34and it affects a lot and it's not just in our big town centres that we see this antisocial behaviour.
17:39We see it in the smaller villages and elsewhere and so it's all well and good putting the
17:44investment into the big towns like Sheerness and Sittingbourne in Swale, where I'm from,
17:48but we also need to see it in some of our smaller villages and rural areas where
17:54rural crime is, as we know, I'm not so sure that's on the decrease.
17:58Is it the role of a borough council to supplement what we're spending on Kent Police?
18:03We spend a huge amount of money on the Kent Police precept but it's working
18:09at the moment. How sustainable it is going forward to keep putting that money into that
18:13resource is debatable. I know that the parish councils are actually paying into that now,
18:19so yeah it's an interesting situation. We've still got antisocial behaviour and my worry,
18:26my real concern is that when we see children's centres being cut and the provision for teenagers
18:33like the youth hubs, the family hubs being reduced, so you have to turn up with an appointment,
18:40that's having a big impact. I know there's issues at Millmead in Margate and at Seashells
18:45on the island and we need to make sure that those facilities are kept open because they really
18:50address those teenagers. They are the resources that we need to support.
18:56There doesn't seem to be a real pattern here and it kind of raises the question,
19:00how can we tackle antisocial behaviour that isn't really a pattern in how it emerges or seems to be
19:07appearing across the county? I think Mark touched on it earlier and I think some of the early
19:11interventions are the ones that work best and we have seen a massive reduction in youth services
19:17in Kent. I know when one of the children's centres on Sheppey closed last year, the services for the
19:24teenagers were supposed to go to a local library. A year on, not one child has been seen and not
19:30one session has been held and I think that's a really important question. How do we get more
19:34resources into younger people to help them, give them the tools they need to avoid getting involved
19:42in antisocial behaviour and crime in the future?
19:46Now in sport and Gillingworth searching for that much-needed win in League Two this weekend,
19:52they're on the road to face bottom of the table Carl Isle. The Gills are yet to win since John
19:57Coleman took charge last month, having scored just four goals in seven League Two matches.
20:03But there is a sense of ultimate in the club according to their defender Max Clark.
20:08I think you see the level and the commitment in the last two games was there. It's just frustrating
20:14we didn't win the game. Both of them, I thought we could have come away with three points in both
20:19games. This is what Gillingham is, the fans love when you're working hard for each other and just
20:24working for the team, for the club and I think there was really backing us on Saturday. We heard
20:32that a lot and so it just shows if we're committed like we was Saturday and the fans will always be
20:37there for you. Now don't forget you can keep up to date with all your latest stories here on KMTV
20:43on the KMTV.co.uk website including this one at Kent's Queer Pioneers. With Valentine's Day fast
20:51approaching many people might be trying to emulate some iconic power couples David and Victoria
20:56Beckham, Emily Blunt and John Krasinski, but for Kent's historians the answer is obvious. Writers
21:02and lovers Virginia Woolf and Vita Sackville-West. So during LGBTQ History Month a new exhibition at
21:08Sissinghurst Castle in Cranbrook to honour the love, life and literature of Vita has opened to
21:14the public. Throughout the annals of history Vita Sackville-West was mostly known for her relationship
21:19with the writer Virginia Woolf but this exhibition aims to show that she was a writer,
21:23a best-selling one in her own right, a gardener and an icon of LGBTQ history. The exhibition called
21:29Between the Covers has been in the works for many years and includes a visual collaboration with
21:34artist Sarah Tannatt-Jones to bring their story to life. When visitors visit Sissinghurst today
21:40they can expect a very well-known garden which was created by Vita and her husband Harold.
21:47However Vita's story extends much more beyond that. Vita was a very prolific writer herself
21:57and we wanted to create an exhibition that would celebrate her writing which is how this
22:04exhibition came about. The display shows the versatility of Vita's writing. It wasn't just
22:08novels like Portrait of a Marriage or Family History that she wrote. She also created poetry,
22:13semi-autobiographical works, plays and even a crime novel, Devil at Westies, which she never
22:18published and this is the first time it's ever been on display. But it wasn't just her literary
22:23work. Objects that were important to her were also on display. Now this here is Minerva. It was the
22:29printing press used in the Hogarth Press to print works by Virginia Woolf, Sigmund Freud, T.S. Eliot
22:35and it was originally owned by Virginia Woolf but was later bought by Vita which is why they have
22:39it here at the exhibition. The exhibition was created with LGBT history in mind and they wanted
22:44to make sure that it promoted that with accuracy and care. Some parts of the story that we're
22:49telling would have been illegal during the time of their life and we want to make sure that we're
22:54creating an accurate account that resembles both you know the intricacies of the story but also
23:00making sure it's relatable to a contemporary audience and in that sense you know there is
23:05quite a lot of difficult navigation in making sure that it tells the story truthfully
23:13while taking into consideration the balances that you get between narrating a story that's
23:19almost 100 years old and telling that to an audience today. Vita's sexuality was a core part
23:26of who she was and she once wrote that in the future it will be recognized that many more people
23:31of my type do exist than under the present day system. If she was alive today she would probably
23:36be happy to see the LGBTQ pride flag flying at her castle home. Finn McDermid for KMTV in Cranbrook.
23:46Now the weather.
23:52It will be a rainy evening tonight, temperatures mostly sticking around 11 to 12 degrees
23:58going into tomorrow morning that rain persisting temperatures a clear 10 across the county.
24:05Into the afternoon though we see a bit more sunshine particularly up towards Medway that
24:10rain dissipating rising to 12 degrees in Dartford those temperatures dropping back down going to
24:16next week by Tuesday to be eight degrees and on Monday more rain and more sun and more cloud.
24:29And finally new research reveals a 94% rise in corrective surgery to botch cosmetic procedures
24:35abroad in the past three years costing the NHS £15,000 per patient. But are trends on social
24:43media and influence from online stars partly to blame for this national boost in our desire to
24:48change the way we look? Nearly 40% of Brits feel pressured by social media to alter their
24:55appearance but do people in Dartford agree with that sentiment?
25:00Well predominantly I think plastic surgery is a vanity issue a lot of people you know because
25:04I think there's this need more and more these days to conform to what the media define as
25:08beautiful. I think I'd be open to it it's not something that I think I would do now
25:12but I think it's definitely got a place so for example if I was in an accident.
25:16I think it's a good thing and also a bad thing if it's done in vanity it can be a bad thing hey
25:22but there's people that do require plastic surgery so it's a double-edged sword if you like.
25:29You shouldn't be having plastic surgery I think you know if you've had an injury for example or
25:35you're you know sort of predisposed to physical defects that's it you know. I might have had a
25:41little bit of Botox once or twice um I don't know if that counts but yeah I'm open to the idea.
25:47I'm blessed to be happy with what I've got to be fair if I needed it of course.
25:51There's no real point to sort of like modify yourself um in accordance with what the public
25:55deem as being beautiful because you should be you should just be beautiful in your own way.
25:58That sounds cheesy but I think that is you know holds weight that varies to be honest.
26:02People haven't researched it enough so I know like people that have gone abroad to have it done
26:07and maybe using people that aren't licensed or certified so I think that's probably got a lot
26:12to do with it. It's a really interesting debate that one if you want to make your voice heard on
26:17just go to our social media let us know what you think. Well that's everything from us here on Kent
26:24tonight live here on KNTV. There will be more news just made for Kent throughout the evening and
26:29don't forget you can keep up to date with all the latest news from across the county on our website
26:34kntv.co.uk including that brand new episode of the Kent Politics Show. I'll be back next week
26:42I'll see you very soon. Have a lovely weekend.