- 3 months ago
Catch up with all the latest news from across the county with Finn Macdiarmid.
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00Hello and welcome to Kent Tonight, live here on KMTV.
00:27I'm Finn McDermott and here are your top stories on Tuesday 28th October.
00:33Protection for pets. New bill prevents blanket ban in private rental properties.
00:37Good for wellbeing, it's good for the children and I think it's part of your rights as a tenant
00:45to be able to have a pet.
00:46Shoplifting surge. Kent's High Street is left counting the cost of rising thefts.
00:50It's on a rise, it is. We're dealing with shoplifters constantly.
00:57And breaking reality. Ten years of Electric Medway Festival brought in with VR celebration.
01:03We find ourselves in front of this amazing castle using augmented reality which maybe ten years
01:10ago was a bit of a dream. So yeah, it's a real milestone.
01:16But first, our top story. Animal charities across Kent have been welcoming the introduction
01:30of the Renters Rights Bill, which will make it easier for tenants to own a cat or a dog.
01:36Landlords will now be forced to consider requests for pets in their properties, which they won't
01:40be able to unreasonably refuse. Tenants will be required to have pet insurance to cover
01:44any damage caused by their pets. Animal charities have said the changes to the law, which are
01:49due to come into force next year, could decrease adoption rates and increase mental wellbeing,
01:54as Kristen Hawthorne has been finding out.
01:57A new law has been passed to make it easier for tenants in private rental properties to keep pets,
02:03by preventing landlords from denying responsible renters without a valid reason.
02:08Dee Bonnet, whose campaign led Maidstone Council to allow pets in temporary accommodation,
02:14knows first hand the difference this kind of change can make.
02:17Some people don't want to be pet owners, they don't want that responsibility, but they
02:22love pets. So the guy, or Rocky's dad, obviously, owns Rocky, and the other two guys here, they
02:31may not want that responsibility, but they love having Rocky around. So, you know, if one
02:37of them's left in the house and they're with Rocky, that's the company, the love, and you
02:43know, Rocky doesn't want anything apart from being fed, being warmed and being loved, you
02:48know, and he gives so much love back, as you've seen this afternoon.
02:52He's been really good for my recovery. Yeah, if I didn't have him, I'd feel worthless, you
03:02know, because I've lost everything and he's basically my family.
03:07But is this new law something that everyone agrees with?
03:10Yeah, I think renters should definitely have the right to have an animal or a pet. It's
03:14good for wellbeing, it's good for the children, and I think it's part of your rights as a tenant
03:21to be able to have a pet. Definitely. It's the case for a conversation, really. I know
03:26now things are so impersonal because you go through the agents and so on, and the agents
03:30do most of the vetting before you actually even have a chance to talk to the prospective tenant.
03:37I agree with that. I was going to say my mother lived in a ward and assisted place and they
03:45weren't allowed to have pets, and I thought that was a bit terrible as she owned the property
03:51as well. Those at the Kenwood Trust say that while it is a step in the right direction, that
03:56there's still a long way to go. For us, we would be keen to explore other ways of increasing the amount of
04:01supported accommodation, social housing, where pets are able to access that sort of accommodation.
04:07I think that's really important that people can access the accommodation, all types of accommodation,
04:14whether that be private rented, social housing, supported accommodation, and have access to their animals still.
04:20It's really important for us all to consider ways that that can be improved moving forward.
04:26While the new law has been welcomed by campaigners and animal charities, questions remain over how it will work in practice.
04:32But for those like Wayne, having a pet is already making a world of a difference.
04:37Kristen Hawthorne for KMTV, Maidstone.
04:42Next, a case of bird flu has been confirmed near Newington in Sittingbourne, with a three-kilometre control zone set up.
04:49Bird owners in areas like Lower Halstow, Bobbing and Funton all have to keep their poultry in enclosures and record any visitors.
04:56The Animal and Plant Health Agency Exclusion Zone has led to several businesses shutting their doors temporarily,
05:02and experts say the risk to the public does remain very low.
05:06But residents are being urged to follow containment measures.
05:09Well, Maisie Walker joins me now with more details on the story.
05:13I suppose my first question really is what kind of precautions are being taken to make sure everyone stays safe?
05:18Yeah, so since the presence of bird flu was confirmed in Sittingbourne,
05:23it's been advised that those who do own birds in this vicinity monitor and safely house them.
05:30The animals cannot be moved elsewhere during this time,
05:34and people are also required to keep a record of visitors and whether they come into contact with any other birds.
05:44Some businesses, as you were saying, have temporarily shut because of the outbreak,
05:49such as Hen Weekend Chicken Boarding, which is essentially a kennel service for hens and ducks.
05:56This is just within the controlled zone, which covers areas around Bobbing and Funtin.
06:01On Facebook, the boss, Katarina Chauvin, said that this means by law all poultry must be housed or kept fully enclosed,
06:09and no birds can move on or off the premises until restrictions are lifted by the Animal and Plant Health Agency.
06:16Because of this, Hen Weekend will be temporarily closed for new arrivals and departures.
06:22The chief veterinary officer, Gordon Hitchman, announced these measures at 7pm yesterday.
06:30It comes after bird flu was found in other captive birds in the area.
06:35This refers to birds that are kept as pets or for competitions and excludes those that are raised for meat, eggs or other products.
06:44I see. I'm not too familiar with bird flu. Is it something that can affect humans at all?
06:48So while the disease primarily affects birds, some strains can spread to humans through things like close contact with infected animals or contaminated environments.
07:00People can get a range of symptoms from mild flu-like illness to severe respiratory disease.
07:06But the UK Health Security Agency advises that bird flu is a disease for birds and the risk to the general public's health is very low.
07:18I see. Well, thank you so much for bringing us this story, Maisie.
07:22Next, CCTV footage has revealed the moment a masked thief broke into a Ramsgate shop and attacked police officers.
07:2932-year-old Dean Pemble broke into the Svorkaček and Slovak supermarket on King Street before heading an officer over the head with a heavy object in a carrier bag, leaving him with severe bruising.
07:41A second officer was also assaulted before Pemble was eventually restrained with Pavasprej and arrested.
07:46He is admitted to burglary and assaulting emergency workers and remains in custody awaiting sentencing.
07:52Next, the British couple detained in Iran are losing hope following a recent court appearance.
07:58This is all according to their Folkestone-based son.
08:02Joe Bennett spoke to his mother, Lindsay Foreman, last week in only the second call they have had since she was imprisoned earlier this year.
08:08Iranian authorities arrested Ms Foreman and her husband Craig in January and later charged them with espionage, which they deny.
08:15Mr Bennett said the last ten months have been a living nightmare and he continues to ask for the public support.
08:22Next, Ashford's Hodes Wood is notorious for fly-tipping.
08:26It was even mentioned in a House of Lords inquiry on waste crime, which it says is critically under-prioritised.
08:33The report adds it's a national issue and needs more attention from the Environment Agency and the authorities.
08:38This has led the Kent Police and Crime Commissioner to support further calls for an independent review of waste crime as a whole.
08:45Well, I spoke to Matthew Scott about this earlier.
08:49Thank you so much for joining me, Matthew.
08:51First of all, during this inquiry heard it was over 38 million tonnes of waste being illegally dumped each year across the country.
09:00And during this report there was also a mention of this kind of under-priority of waste crime in terms of its enforcement.
09:07Can you talk to us about where you think this stems from? Where has this under-priority really come from?
09:13I think it's the lack of resources which have been given to the Environment Agency to tackle this problem.
09:19We know that there are multiple sites here in Kent, multiple sites across the country, and they just don't have the capacity to be able to investigate all of them effectively enough.
09:31Nor do we think they maybe have enough powers to do so.
09:34That's why people see the frustrating and disappointing scenes of places like Hodeswood near Ashford where they just failed to get a grip of it.
09:44And that's why the taxpayer is now footing the bill for millions of pounds worth of clear-ups.
09:50And you mentioned the taxpayer there.
09:53Your letter also mentions wanting to make it more of a priority for the taxpayer, for the citizen who might be affected by this type of waste crime like Hodeswood you mentioned there.
10:04What is the end goal towards reducing this crime? What does that look like?
10:10Well, our citizens are facing the cost of this, whether that's through increased cost of landfill tax, whether that is through the dumping in their local communities,
10:24millions of pounds of taxpayers' money, not government money, taxpayers' money being spent clearing up after these failures and after these criminals.
10:33What we need is we need a whole system approach which brings together every single agency properly to share intelligence,
10:40that residents have got just one place they need to phone to report it, not multiple.
10:45The inquiry specifically mentioned this waste on occasion has been illegally dumped by organised crime groups.
10:52Is this a concern for you as the police and crime commissioner?
10:56I absolutely agree with that. And I've described these waste crime groups as the new county lines because they are travelling enormous distances across the country to dump the waste.
11:07When I was out on a recent operation with Kent police, they were stopping lorries that were coming from Pembrokeshire to dump waste in Kent.
11:16That's unacceptable, but it just demonstrates how, being proactive, you can stop those kind of things from happening.
11:23So there is absolutely a role here for the police. Our regional organised crime units are working with the PCCs in the region in order to better understand the threat, risk and harm that these groups are posing.
11:35We now just need to join all the pieces together with the councils and the Environment Agency so that we can bear down on them.
11:42We need to continue denying them the use of our roads and tackling them for all sorts of things.
11:48Now it's time for a quick break. See you in just a few minutes.
11:53.
12:23.
12:53.
13:23.
13:53.
13:55.
13:57.
13:59.
14:01.
14:03.
14:05.
14:07.
14:09.
14:11.
14:13.
14:15.
14:17.
14:19.
14:21.
14:23.
14:25.
14:27.
14:29.
14:31.
14:33.
14:35.
14:37.
14:39.
14:41.
14:43.
14:45.
14:47.
14:49.
14:59.
15:01.
15:03.
15:05.
15:07.
15:09.
15:11.
15:12.
15:13.
15:15.
15:17.
15:19.
15:21.
15:23.
15:25.
15:27.
15:29.
15:31.
15:33.
15:35.
15:37.
15:39.
15:41.
15:43.
15:45.
15:47.
15:49.
15:51.
15:53.
15:55.
15:57.
15:59.
16:01.
16:03.
16:05.
16:11.
16:13.
16:15.
16:16.
16:17.
16:20.
16:21we've had quite a few thefts um ranging from numerous things from just clothing to expensive
16:27jewelry out the cabinets and we've had watches stolen we've had you know glassware homeware
16:34antiques loads of bits that have been stolen and obviously it affects the sales within the shop
16:40because although obviously we don't pay for the products it does prevent us raising money for the
16:45charity but this is just one case in many in the past five years there have been over 17 000 reported
16:52cases of shoplifting across the county this represents a 38 increase since 2020 and charity
17:00shops have been hit particularly hard according to a recent survey by the charity retail association
17:05in the majority of cases respondents reported an increase in the past 12 months in cases of
17:10shoplifting it's on a rise it it is we're dealing with shoplifters constantly as well as the the normal
17:19normal as well we're all we're always having to be on the lookout at the time of of it i've had
17:29many experiences being being in where we are i've had i've had to stop about three or four people
17:36constantly for all those caught red-handed many more slip through the cracks what we have to understand
17:42is that shoplifting is a massively underreported crime the numbers that we're seeing are only those
17:47which have been reported to the police the estimates are that this is much much higher there's multiple
17:52different reasons why we are seeing retail crime and the increase of it some of it has been organized
17:58crime groups some of it has been linked to people's addictions to drugs and alcohol and also there
18:07are people who do steal because they they need to i think people should be held to account for it but
18:14the police have got a number of different ways in which they can do that through community resolutions
18:19cautions formal charging and work with the businesses as well with the holidays coming up kent
18:25residents will continue to head to the shops for the authorities the challenge is clear stop the
18:31cases of theft from piling up alphie roe for kmtv in rochester next supermarket shoppers in kent should
18:41see cigarette style labels warning that chemicals in bacon and ham could cause bowel cancer scientists
18:47at the world health organization's international agency for research on cancer are demanding more
18:52regulations informing buyers of the harmful risks all in order to remove strain on the nhs but what
18:58do you think about this story and are there foods that you know you should be eating less well we went
19:03down to rochester to ask shoppers for their opinion nope no idea i did not no i didn't know i think more
19:11of where people should be eating more natural foods that haven't been preserved and definitely going to
19:16local farmers markets or shopping locally as possible yeah buying fresh food is definitely
19:21better for you because you know that there's not going to be as many chemicals in there more vegetables
19:27and pasta but not so much meat at all whatever whatever type of meat it is not so much meat more
19:35veg more whole grains pulses things like that fruit was definitely gonna make me think twice about where i
19:42get my bacon from that's for sure yeah uh but yeah other processed meats i don't get that as much so
19:50that doesn't matter anyway but yeah bacon gonna have to look into that it definitely will now i have
19:56that information it definitely will yes and now here's all your sports headlines coming in from across
20:02the county first up it's the jills and it's not quite an injury crisis at the club yet but it is certainly
20:18having an effect on the squad's selection this is all because of a lack of available wingers
20:24on saturday the side fielded three strikers up top with said palmer holden sam volks and josh
20:30andrews named in the starting eleven it comes as johnny smith and gareth mccleary remain out
20:35and aaron roe makes a tentative recovery from his own spell out injured the assistant manager richard
20:41dobson said that in an ideal world we'd like everyone available and we could probably play with wingers in
20:46the side we just thought the three strikers combination was the right one to go with
20:50the jills still did manage to create some chances on saturday with 14 shots and they'll head next to
20:55newport county for the fa cup first round now a few leagues down sitting born have made quite the
21:02coup acquiring the services of former liverpool and born with winger jordan ibe i've made his top
21:08flight breakthrough after joining liverpool from wickham as a teenager then he was transferred over to
21:13born with before shifting to non-league where he played for ebbs fleet he's been training with
21:18the brickies for the past week and according to boss ryan maxwell his hope is that i can start to
21:23enjoy football again he added i just want to take it step by step once we get his international clearance
21:28through because he was registered out in sweden sitting born will visit crowborough in the league
21:32cup this evening all the best of luck to them but over to cricket now and the teenage all-rounder
21:38ukash singh has put pen to paper on a new three-year contract with kent the homegrown player made his
21:45full debut against somerset in their 2024 metro bank one day cup campaign and has made 22 county
21:51appearances in his career scoring 640 runs and taking five wickets he's also scored an impressive
21:57youth test century for england under 19s all against india scoring 117 from 155 balls and adding i'm
22:05extremely proud to make my first class debut for my boyhood club this year but he assures us this is
22:11just the start for me and it's a chip off the old block as jason smith becomes the first sec sorry the
22:18first second generation winner of the formula ford festival at brands hatch the 19 year old seemed
22:24unfazed in the 50th anniversary race leading from the lights all the way to the checkered flag in a
22:30dominant performance his dad neville won the kent class at the same event back in 2010 and jason says
22:35i've been dreaming of this since i was a child and now dad and i are the first people to have won it
22:40as father and son the west kingsdown circuit will host the next edition on october 24th 2026
22:46and that's all for your sports news
22:59and don't forget you can keep up to date with all the latest stories from across kent by visiting our
23:03website at kmtv.co.uk there you'll find all our reports including this one by megan shaw all about
23:10how veterans paint models to help with their well-being what do helicopters glue and military
23:17veterans all have in common they can all be found in models for heroes sessions which allows veterans
23:24to distract themselves focus on something meaningful and find comfort in shared experiences founded in
23:302017 the charity hosts two sessions in kent one in ginningham and the other in aylesford which sees
23:38these attendees create and paint their own models a recent collaboration between the canterbury-based
23:44agora models a company specializing in museum grade model kits has donated these to veteran
23:51groups in support of world mental health day next week models for heroes is a support group for
23:57military veterans and emergency personnel and their group revolves around making models
24:04assembling model kits and building dioramas but why models a study in the british journal of
24:10occupational therapy found creative hobbies boost mental well-being and focusing on a personal
24:16project creates a sense of purpose and accomplishment people get so much out of it i can't sort of
24:23emphasize that enough it's you know guys that maybe for the first time have come out
24:29um and you know interacted with with a group of ex-service personnel um and it's not long before as i say the the the banter
24:42starts but um it's great it's it's almost like a steam valve releasing uh all that pressure that's been
24:51built up and it does help so much an increased well-being is not the only benefit on offer here as you can
24:58see here these are super fiddly but they're great for improving dexterity i'm really struggling here
25:04but these guys are much better than me for some models for heroes sessions have been a lifeline i'm a
25:11veteran military of 17 and a half years in the royal engineers and i suffer with ptsd
25:18um and it helps no end i've unfortunately i've been to some dark places um and i know the benefit of
25:31this because as i said it pushes all the nasty thoughts to the back of the mind as long as places
25:37like these continue to offer support for veterans the war against loneliness wages on megan shaw for
25:44came tv in chillingham now let's take a quick look at the weather
25:56well it's a fairly cloudy evening across kent with us seeing the temperature sit around 11 degrees with
26:00a gentle breeze from the south south west tomorrow morning the temperature will bump up across the
26:04border 13 degrees with light rain all around and in the afternoon the light rain continues temperatures
26:10dropping to 12 with the exception of dover remaining at 13. and here's your outlook for the coming days
26:16this includes thursday looking cloudy with some sun an average of 14 degrees friday with clouds and light
26:21rain seeing 16 degrees throughout the day and finally saturday 14 degrees with more of that light
26:32now it's time for a quick break next up kent tenants will no longer be restricted by
26:37their pet when looking for a new rental property this comes with the new introduction of the renters
26:42rights bill which will restrict landlords control we'll have all this and more just after this very
26:47short break see you in a few minutes
27:07we're going to see you in a few minutes
27:14we're going to get a little bit in a few minutes
27:16and we'll see you in the next two minutes
27:17please
27:18let's talk about that
29:51Hello and welcome back to Kent Tonight Live here on KMTV.
30:15Here's a recap of your top stories.
31:22Payne led Maidstone Council to allow pets in temporary accommodation knows firsthand the difference this kind of change can make.
31:29Some people don't want to be pet owners.
31:59They're informed and being loved and he gives so much love back as you've seen this afternoon.
32:04He's been really good for my recovery.
32:08Yeah, if I didn't have him, I'd feel worthless.
32:14You know, because I've lost everything and it's basically my family.
32:19But is this new law something that everyone agrees with?
32:22Yeah, I think renters should definitely have the right to have an animal or a pet.
32:26It's good for well-being, it's good for the children.
32:28And I think it's part of your rights as a tenant to be able to have a pet.
32:34Definitely.
32:35It's a case for a conversation really.
32:36I know now things are so impersonal because you go through the agents and so on and the
32:42agents do most of the vetting before you actually even have a chance to talk to the prospective tenant.
32:49I agree with that.
32:50I was going to say my mother lived in a ward and assisted place and they weren't allowed
32:57to have pets and I thought that was a bit terrible as she owned the property as well.
33:04Although people say that this is a positive change, those at the Kenwood Trust say that
33:08while it is a step in the right direction, that there's still a long way to go.
33:12For us, we would be keen to explore other ways of increasing the amount of supported accommodation,
33:17social housing where pets are able to access that sort of accommodation.
33:22I think that's really important that people can access the accommodation, all types of accommodation,
33:28whether that be private rented, social housing, supported accommodation and have access to their animals still.
33:35It's really important for us all to consider ways that that can be improved moving forward.
33:40While the new law has been welcomed by campaigners and animal charities,
33:44questions remain over how it will work in practice.
33:47But for those like Wayne, having a pet is already making a world of a difference.
33:52Kristen Hawthorne for KMTV, Maidstone.
33:56Next tonight, Hoadswood near Ashford has been singled out as evidence in a House of Laws inquiry
34:01into fly tipping across the country.
34:04The House of Laws, Environment and Climate Change Committee have called for environmental agencies
34:08to make tackling waste crime and fly tipping a priority.
34:12Hoadswood has suffered from debris piled high 12 feet and 3,000 tonnes of illegally dumped waste.
34:18Megan Shaw has more.
34:2080 hectares of woodland, wildlife and unfortunately rubble.
34:26Hornswood near Ashford in Kent is a biological site of special scientific interest.
34:32This means it is protected for its wildlife or geography.
34:36But Hornswood was a feature in a House of Lords inquiry for other reasons.
34:41It has become a dumping ground for waste and debris.
34:45The inquiry revealed that each year, more than 38 million tonnes of waste
34:50is being disposed of illegally by organised crime groups.
34:54More than 30,000 tonnes of this has been in Hornswood,
34:58in some places mounting to 12 feet high mounds of rubbish.
35:02A problem that started in 2020 and worsened two years ago.
35:06Fly tipping in general across Kent has garnered concern from residents.
35:12There's people fly tipping outside their houses and it's all across the pavement.
35:17It's in the alleyways.
35:18It's in the alleyways.
35:19People dump stuff in the alleyways.
35:20They have a favourite place which is usually opposite our place as well, isn't it?
35:24I don't know what goes through people's minds.
35:26Like, you know, I know that you have to put an effort in to get rid of stuff properly,
35:29but at the end of the day, it's harming the environment.
35:32The Environment and Climate Change Committee sent a letter to Emma Reynolds,
35:37Secretary of State for the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs,
35:41and labelled measures to address waste crime such as that in Hornswood
35:45as critically under-prioritised, recommending an independent review.
35:50In a letter to the committee, Kent's Police and Crime Commissioner, Matthew Scott,
35:55expressed his support for this.
35:57He said, together with the Environment Agency, Kent Police and local authorities,
36:01I'm committed to creating a joint approach.
36:04And I'm pleased to see that the inquiry has made some recommendations to the government,
36:09including the need to ensure that the Environment Agency is appropriately funded and staffed.
36:14The eight recommendations include DEFRA setting and checking up on targets
36:18and taking a multidisciplinary approach.
36:21But those living in Kent seem to want a more localised solution.
36:26You'll go to the tips again. I mean, where do you go?
36:31I mean, you have to make passes now before you can go in.
36:34I think the government needs to step in and to actually spend more money on the local areas.
36:42Yeah, people have to book in.
36:43Also, the council used to pick things up for free.
36:45Now they don't.
36:46Now they encourage people to put it somewhere else.
36:50I think they could bring that back.
36:52Megan Shaw for CAME TV in Hoodswood.
36:55Now, asbestos has been found in debris following a fire in North Fleet.
37:01After ongoing surveys to assess damages, traces of the dangerous substance were found whilst testing the debris.
37:06In a statement issued this morning, residents have been advised to stay inside with their doors and windows closed.
37:12Though there's no significant health concern at this time.
37:15That's according to the UK Health Security Agency.
37:17Local authorities have suggested residents don't come into contact with any ash or debris.
37:22Next, caravan owners could be asked to leave their homes as Sheppie Holiday Park unveil plans to replace it with hundreds of new homes.
37:31Owners Kent Holdco want to build around 430 permanent homes, including retirement apartments.
37:39This would involve scaling down the park, leading for some to be concerned about the future of their caravans.
37:44The site manager says they're worried that some users are living on the park all year round, which is not allowed.
37:49A full planning application is expected to be submitted earlier next year.
37:54Now, Britain's smallest brew pub, The Four Candles, is now up for sale, 13 years after its opening in Broadstairs.
38:01Owner Mike Beaumont says it's time for someone younger to take the reins.
38:06The establishment proves to be a staple for pub-goers nationwide, with it appearing on camera's Good Beer Guide most years.
38:12Beaumont estimates a new owner may be able to produce over 90,000 litres of beer a year.
38:18Now, don't forget you can keep up to date with all your latest stories across Kent by logging on to our website.
38:23That's cametv.co.uk.
38:25There you'll find all our reports, including this one, about residents in who calling for compensation after sewage overflows from a recent heavy rainfall have wrecked their gardens.
38:34I just can't imagine even gardening being the same.
38:39You just keep thinking about the smell and the state and the mess of paper and everything everywhere.
38:46Helen Bruce's garden contaminated with waste, a sign of the stink that's come after the storm in the Hoo Peninsula.
38:55It was on the 20th of October the 80-year-old saw sewage leaking down her drive after heavy rainfall, ruining a space she says was sculpted by her husband, who now has dementia.
39:11Like when my husband was at home, he'd break the drive and everything and it's just sighting seeing it all.
39:20Just everything he's done, made the drive, the steps, he's even run down the path.
39:27It just makes me feel ill, the fact that things that he's done have been ruined with actual sewage.
39:36You can see Southern Water hard at work behind me, clearing up some of these sewage overflows.
39:42But people living in the property say this isn't enough.
39:46It's absolutely disgusting. This shouldn't be happening. They should have sorted the problem out.
39:52They've had three weeks to sort this out. What have they done? Nothing.
39:57Tracy and Stephen Medhurst live two doors down on Marley Road.
40:01They've had to clear out their garage after what they say is the second bout of flooding in recent weeks.
40:08Last three weeks, we've had a horrible stench in the house. It's just permeating through the house.
40:13We cannot get rid of the smell. And no mention of any possible compensation.
40:17So I can't see them ever doing anything. I mean, I don't even know what channel we could go through to actually try and get compensation, to be honest.
40:26Local councillor Michael Pearce has already written to the water company on the matter, saying this should never have happened in the first place.
40:38There are many elderly residents here who have suffered a lot of distress from this situation, which has been ongoing for some weeks now.
40:46This isn't the first time it's happened. And as we're entering the winter period, we're likely to see more heavy downpours of rain,
40:53which is just going to exacerbate the situation. So this needs to be resolved quickly.
40:58And my residents need to be compensated for the distress and I will push that quite hard.
41:03In a statement, Southern Water said its teams found blockages in underground pipes along Marley Road and removed unflushables,
41:13wet wipes, fats, oils and grease, which caused external flooding while also blaming heavy rainfall.
41:20But despite the companies saying they've provided online forms as regards any customer compensation,
41:27the distress here is hard to put a price tag on.
41:31Oli leader in who?
41:33Now it's time for another quick break.
41:37But next up, Ashford's Long Acres Garden Centre is facing a drop in trade due to nightmare roadworks.
41:42We're bringing you this and other stories from across the county.
41:46See you in just a few minutes.
41:53See you in just a few minutes.
41:55Here as well.
41:57See you in just a few minutes.
41:57We can see you in quite a few minutes.
41:59Do you think we are going in almost a few minutes?
42:02In this season, we can order you to회 up.
42:02If there are Guevane PhDs, first with a dull microphone and once everyone is one,
42:06Bodans, a speak is papa and learned something,
42:08Fox is his ce que believable that terms do?
42:13So this is more flexible.
42:14I might see you in with a couple's situations also mentioned .
46:33And here's your outlook for the coming days.
47:27I've teamed up with Square Pegs Arts to create Forest Keep, an augmented reality game as part
47:35of Electric Midway's SIP Annual Festival.
47:39all you need to experience it is your mobile phone let's go and see what the
47:46experience has been like this choose your own adventure explores themes of AI
47:53and the rising issue of climate change so I think we're in a really interesting
47:58time when it comes to AI and climate change obviously a lot of AI generation
48:02is is using up energy and therefore contributing towards climate change but
48:06also it can help us tackle climate change and solve some of the problems
48:10that we haven't been able to solve the event is also special for Electric Medway
48:15as the company is celebrating its 10th anniversary yeah it's a real milestone
48:22for the the charitable so it's a real milestone for the company it's been going
48:29since 2015 obviously technology has massively transformed in that time and
48:34and it enables the ambitions of Electric Medway and all the beneficiaries to
48:40to grow and and we find ourselves in front of this amazing castle using augmented
48:47reality which maybe 10 years ago was a bit of a dream so yeah it's it's a real
48:52milestone to celebrate actors of square pegs art say these opportunities are
48:58vital for getting people with physical and mental disabilities involved in
49:05creative projects well as you know it's really hard for disabled artists to find
49:10opportunities like that and it's it's really important and it makes a big
49:15difference when we are involved in events that are happening still in its
49:20prototype phase electric medway and square pegs arts are striving to improve the
49:29experience and make forest keep a reality warper Henry luck the came TV in
49:38Rochester and finally for gamers by gamers that's the mission of one Tunbridge
49:44Wells company organizing one of this year's biggest gaming expos in the UK the to
49:49the moon Expo will be taking place in just a matter of weeks at Birmingham's
49:53NEC with 15,000 gamers from Kent and beyond set to descend on the West
49:57Midlands from the 12th to the 13th of November along with a hundred and fifty
50:01exhibitors and a esports arena the event founder Monty Stewart has popped in to
50:06tell us more of what visitors can expect so Monty what inspired you to create
50:10this event talk to us about where it all started well back in 2020 myself I ended up
50:15going into esports it kind of saved my bacon considering I graduated into the
50:19pandemic with a music and events degree it wasn't exactly useful at that period of
50:23time but from there I ended up with my friend and my co-founder we started
50:27streaming on Twitch and from there we found our entire journey into the
50:30gaming world and from there we ended up going to marketing and we saw the
50:33studios were having to pay quite quite large amounts of money to exhibit to to
50:37these kinds of events and at the end of the day we think that those prices are
50:41outrageous and it was really really important for us to be able to provide
50:44an amazing opportunity for studios and for gamers to be able to come to an event that
50:47doesn't cost the world to do so I see and we can see here a bit of the lineup of
50:52some of the companies that will be coming down to the event tell us what can
50:55people expect in terms of activities and speakers paint us a picture 100% so on
51:00the 12th we've got our consumer stage we've got some amazing VIP guests coming
51:03down such as Luke Dale and Tom McKay from Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 we've
51:07also got an amazing retro area all the old-school retro kind of games a
51:10life-size D&D you can immerse yourself directly into the world of D&D and play out
51:15those characters alongside our esports stage which is happening on the 13th
51:19with our League of Legends tournament which is absolutely it's gonna be crazy
51:23without that area there amazing I mean when it comes to gaming events and other
51:27events I'm sure it can be hard to different you differentiate yourself from
51:30behemoths like Comic Con and similar events so what is different about this
51:35festival in terms of like where we differentiate ourselves we are community
51:39focused and community driven everything that we do is built alongside our
51:42gamers we have our we have a creator crew that are coming along all of our
51:44twitch streamers and all of our content creators cosplayers and we've built their
51:48creators on with them directly in discord so we're not the big conglomerate that
51:51just says we're doing this and that's that we are the small indie team so to
51:55speak the small indie festival whereby we come together with our content
51:58creators to build amazing experiences for everyone alongside the game is
52:01alongside the studios as well I sure I understand that and with events like
52:06these I imagine it's there's a fair bit of challenges building up to it and this is the
52:10first edition right and say that so tell us how are you expecting how you
52:15preparing ahead of that big opening day a lot of caffeine and a lot of meetings
52:20that's pretty much it in terms of the open day we're obviously two weeks away
52:24now 12th and 13th so we're getting all the logistics in place production it's
52:28non-stop meetings meetings meetings basically to get all this lined up for
52:32doors open on the 12th I see and you mentioned there about the fact that
52:36you're very community-based and I'm aware there's a specific emphasis placed on
52:40indie developers and you also mentioned that there's a League of Legends
52:43tournament you know how are you going to try and balance between these big triple
52:47A studios and these indie developers to make sure that everyone sort of gets a
52:50fair piece of that expo pie 100% so the way that we position ourselves with
52:54indies is that we wanted to reduce that fiscal aspect right it gate keeps in
52:57these me I want to exhibit at normal normal other kind of events you're looking
53:01anywhere between like four to eight thousand pounds to exhibit as an indie
53:04developer and for a couple of students that have just come out of university
53:07that's unattainable so in terms of where we've positioned ourselves our indies
53:10come on board with us for 120 pounds and we say look guys this gives you
53:13everything you need to exhibit and then on the flip side with our triple A is what
53:16we encourage them to do our immersive experiences that are going to actually
53:20generate ROI at the end of the day for them to attend because that was the big
53:23thing when we were doing our marketing for a couple of different studios is that ROI
53:26was always the killer and it was a case of immersive experiences win every time it's
53:30why we have ready or not coming down to do a SWOT experience alongside ex SBS
53:34members and you'll essentially immerse yourself into one of their levels but
53:37all the kit included as well and it's gonna be awesome I see and I've heard a
53:41bit about the accessibility and the diversity that you're trying to put
53:45forward as part of this event tell us what inspired you to include some of
53:49these safe spaces that I've heard about and what's how do they differ from
53:53neurotypical spaces for anyone who isn't really familiar a hundred percent well I
53:56myself am autistic so it's a case of whenever I go to a Gamescom for example if I go to an
54:00MCM Comic Con I'm always there with my AirPods in because it provides me with
54:04essentially just a bit of a bit of a barrier and it can get incredibly
54:07overstimulating for people when they go to an event like that and there's no
54:10way for them to decompress there's no way for them to go and sit there's no
54:12way for them to just take their selves away from that so that safe space which
54:16we're doing alongside safe in our world essentially is an area of people to go
54:19and decompress and a place for people the way we've got noise cancelling
54:22headphones we've got lots of stuff there to try and provide support alongside the
54:25amazing team that's safe in our world who are going to be running that area for
54:28us that's amazing and I imagine you were very focused on November like you got
54:32you mentioned in addition tell us what's the plan after that if it goes well a
54:36second edition in Europe there are any plans to expand I know this is all early
54:39doing yeah I'm just about the if it all goes right so all goes right we have a
54:43five-year plan so we're aiming to stick around till 2030 we want to go us up to
54:46about 50,000 we're here to empower the creative industries we're here to really
54:49bring together because at the end of the day we've spawned some amazing IP for
54:53gaming out this country from GTA coming up in Dundee and that kind of stuff and I
54:57think it's really important that we remember that I think it's really
54:59important that we empower the creatives and the amazing people that we have in
55:02this country to do outstanding things and for global innovation as well we've
55:06got an Australian exchange coming over we've got people flying out from Texas to
55:10exhibit their games because it's cheaper for them to fly to the UK and
55:13exhibit with us than it is for them to exhibit in their hometown Wow I see and the
55:17audience probably couldn't see but my eyes lit up when you said D&D but not
55:21everyone's like me for anyone who isn't a D&D fan or maybe into gaming is the
55:25event still for them how would you sort of pitch it to your average person on
55:29Gillingham High Street a hundred percent well in terms of who should come if you
55:33are a gamer if you enjoy D&D if you are creative gaming isn't all just about
55:37gaming there's so many different things that you can do within it from the D&D
55:42aspect to tabletop to even though the marketing guys behind it like we're here
55:46to try and showcase that gaming isn't all about playing video games at a
55:49professional level it's not what it's all about you can get into so many
55:52different angles and it's why we've got so many different educational partners
55:55such as Northampton University and College of eSports to really showcase what
55:59you can do and where you could go into the gaming industry from that absolutely
56:03I mean it's a huge industry especially here in the UK we haven't got much time
56:07very quickly could you tell us how can people find out more where can they buy
56:11tickets tell us about that 100% so tickets available on our website we're also on
56:15eventbrite as well find out more on our website which is which is www.tothemoonexpo.io
56:21and then yeah we'll see you in November on the 12th and 13th for sure
56:25amazing honestly I wish I could be there I wish I had more time off but that sounds
56:29amazing brilliant thank you so much for your time thank you well you've been
56:32watching Kent tonight live here on KMTV there is of course more news made just for Kent throughout
56:38the evening but that is all the time we have thank you so much watching and we'll see you soon
56:42goodbye
Comments