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Catch up with all the latest news across the county with Meghan Shaw.
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00:00Hello and welcome to Kent tonight live
00:29on Kame TV. I'm Megan Shaw and here are your top stories on Monday the 1st of December.
00:36Tunbridge Wells water crisis. Thousands of residents face their third day of disruption.
00:43Once we've got water restored then we're going to deal with southeast water. We're going to move
00:47into accountability mode. Mayhem outside Maidstone as collapsed wall causes traffic
00:53chaos for Kent village. It's just impossible to actually park a car outside driving property
00:57and with the amount of traffic we can't even have the windows open.
01:03And first day of Advent. As the countdown begins to the festive day we ask the people of Rochester
01:08if they have an Advent calendar.
01:11I don't have an Advent calendar. I'm 43. I try not to anymore. My daughter does who's six.
01:15Our top story tonight this evening. Southeast water customers in Tunbridge Wells are experiencing
01:31their third day of disruption with the number of people affected now rising to a reported 24,000.
01:38It comes after issues at Penbury Treatment Works resulting in a bad batch of drinking water.
01:43The local MP has called the situation utterly disgraceful and our reporter Chloe Brewster has more.
01:50Running water is something many of us take for granted. That's until you suddenly have none.
01:56Tens of thousands of people in Tunbridge Wells have been without water since Saturday
02:00after a bad batch of chemicals caused Penbury Treatment Works to be shut down.
02:04On the first day of Christmas, Southeast water said to the people of Tunbridge Wells, there still is no water.
02:10It's the day three of the water outage here and people here are coming to collect these bottled waters behind me there.
02:16My problem now is how we can have our breakfast because we don't have water to boil, you know, for drinking hot drinks.
02:24You can't wash, you can't do your teeth and it's degraded.
02:28With the two kids, they frequently go for lube and we have to clean the hygienic way in the toilets and everything, which is tedious now.
02:37It's like a total nightmare because you can't flush the toilets, you can't do anything.
02:42Theresa Barrett from the Black Horse Pub says the lack of water has forced her to cancel her first Christmas event of the season.
02:48We did lose a full day's tray yesterday.
02:50Looking at what we would have taken over the bar, we're probably looking at sort of, I don't know, £1,200 over the two days.
02:57Today would have been more probably because we had the event this evening.
03:01But for me, my rent still needs paying. That's £77 a day.
03:06My staff still need paying because it's not their fault that they can't come to work.
03:11And that money in the hospitality sector at the minute is just so hard.
03:15Residents say the issue is particularly frustrating after continuous problems with South East Water.
03:21This is obviously the run-up to Christmas and we, you know, Saturday, Sunday, really busy shopping weekend.
03:28We've had restaurants that have had to close.
03:29I was just speaking to a hotel owner who's lost £4,000.
03:33GPs haven't opened today. Almost none of the schools are open today.
03:37The junior employees on the ground, they run the sites really efficiently.
03:40You can see behind us, you just drive in, they pick some water up, put it in your boot and you drive off.
03:44But actually at a leadership level, South East Water have totally failed to make sure there's an adequate supply of lorries coming to those sites.
03:51Once we've got water restored, then we're going to deal with South East Water.
03:55We're going to move into accountability mode.
03:57South East Water's incident manager, Matthew Dean, said,
04:00I'm very sorry to all of our customers in Tunbridge Wells who remain without water or have low pressure today.
04:06Customers are beginning to see supplies gradually return.
04:08However, we do not expect the majority of customers to have their drinking water fully restored until tomorrow morning.
04:14Since the morning, supplies to a further 1,276 properties have been restored,
04:18with another 21,000 properties currently still experiencing supply issues.
04:22It's a very wet and windy day for people in Kent, but in Tunbridge Wells, they're hoping water starts coming out of the tap rather than the sky.
04:29Chloe Brewster for KMTV in Tunbridge Wells.
04:33And I'm joined by Chloe in the studio now.
04:36So Chloe, you've been down on the ground today.
04:38What was it like?
04:39I think it was organised chaos.
04:41I was at Tunbridge Wells Sports Centre, so that's one of three water distribution sites.
04:46Staff there were clearly working hard.
04:48You know, it was a big team.
04:49There was a team of people for people collecting water bottles on the ground, but also people who were just driving there.
04:55Yeah, people were frustrated, but they were in good spirits, many of them.
04:59And what should residents do in the meantime?
05:03So the water stations will remain open until 10pm tonight.
05:07You can find one at the Sports Centre, as I said, or the RCP Car Park or the Odeon Cinema.
05:11If you're a vulnerable person, you can sign up to the South East Water Priority Services Register, which means you'll get bottled water delivered directly to your door.
05:19We don't have much time, but do tell us, do we know yet when water will be back for those residents?
05:24So Mike Martin, the MP, told us that water will return overnight to households with all water back to homes by 6am tomorrow morning, hopefully.
05:30So we'll see.
05:31So hopefully that is sorted then by 6am tomorrow.
05:34Thank you very much, Chloe.
05:37A sitting-born mum is angry at Meadowfield School after her nine-year-old autistic son escaped the premises and ran into traffic.
05:46Lauren, the mum of nine-year-old Jaden, received a call at around 11.26am, informing her that her son had gone missing from the school.
05:53He was then seen running along the A2, where he boarded a bus as passengers and the driver alerted the school and did their best to keep him safe from oncoming traffic.
06:03Lauren said, I know everyone has bad days and mistakes do happen, but that was too far.
06:07Angela Ho, principal at Meadowfield School, said the safety and well-being of all our pupils at our school is their highest priority, adding,
06:15While we are unable to comment on specific cases to protect the privacy of those involved, please be assured that the appropriate actions have been taken in line with our safeguarding policies and procedures.
06:27A public inquiry will determine whether Ashford's Sevington Inland Border Facility will receive permanent status.
06:33The 230-acre site opened next to Junction 10A of the M20 in 2021, but only under a five-year temporary arrangement after a special development order was granted by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.
06:48With that arrangement soon running out, bosses are now seeking permanent permission for the site, which also houses a border control post for checks on food and plant products.
06:57An inquiry will get underway tomorrow at ABC's International House Headquarters.
07:02And villages have slammed traffic chaos in a small Maidstone village after a historic wall collapsed during the Central B Road.
07:11Leeds already suffers from lorry drivers causing gridlock.
07:16Now those living there say the temporary traffic lights have made the situation worse.
07:21But despite the wall being privately owned, Kent County Council say it's working hard to resolve the issue and bring relief to residents.
07:30And our local democracy reporter, Oli Leder went down, saw the village for himself and said how it impacted the village.
07:40Gridlock along an already busy rat run cut through for motorists.
07:46Or the result of a wall believed to be hundreds of years old collapsing along a narrow B Road running through Leeds, which villagers believe happened when it was hit by a lorry more than a month ago.
08:03It gives worse air every day. It's like a racetrack through here.
08:08We have arctics coming through here, which shouldn't come through here, unless, of course, it's for the farm up the road there, in which case they've got right of access.
08:15But other than that, everyone uses the cutthroat. It's just a nightmare.
08:19Quite often it will be bumber to bumber both ways, whether these lights are here or not.
08:24You can see just how much traffic is really building up along Lower Street because of these traffic lights.
08:32And they are costing the council £500 a day to operate.
08:37And while they are planning to recoup that from the homeowner or the insurance company covering the wall,
08:44it is a difficult situation for a village already beset by lorries that they say aren't suitable for the roads here.
08:53I've had several of my cars actually smashed by vehicles coming down.
08:59Fortunately, some stopped and some haven't. So it's just an ongoing cost.
09:04And unfortunately now it's just impossible to actually park a car outside your own property.
09:10And with the amount of traffic, we can't even have the windows open.
09:14Kent County Council say the temporary road closure is required to safely remove debris
09:22and make the wall secure.
09:24And once this is complete, the road will reopen to the public,
09:30while full repairs to the wall will take place off the highway.
09:36Temporary traffic lights in Leeds are a real bane of my life as well as everybody else's life
09:41because of course that is one of the roads that I use very regularly.
09:44HGVs are forced to go through there because there is no other way around at the moment.
09:50It's really unfortunate when something like this happens.
09:53But look, viewers can rest assured that my highways department are on it.
09:57They are fixing the problem as quickly as possible.
09:59And we really hope to resume normal service as soon as possible.
10:02I certainly hope so.
10:03It's been a difficult few weeks in the village.
10:07For those living here, the green light for these repairs cannot come soon enough.
10:14Olly Lieder in Leeds.
10:17And just before the break now in North Fleet High Street,
10:21manager of local restaurant The Hot Rod Diner has been praising the community
10:26for their support following the reopening.
10:28The establishment was forced to close for a week during the October half term
10:33after the major blaze of the Portland Factory Club fire.
10:38Manager and part owner of the diner, Lauren Chantler,
10:41said this temporary closure could not have come at a worse time
10:45as the diner relied on the weakened customers of the half term period.
10:50Since the reopening on November 4th,
10:52the diner has experienced a flourish of customers
10:55being even busier than they were before the fire.
10:59And that's all for now.
11:01But after the break, a former Labour MP has spoken out against the latest budget.
11:07She called it a misstep.
11:08After leaving the party last year,
11:11Canterbury Independent Rosie Duffield has taken a firm stance
11:14against the current leadership.
11:16We'll also be hearing the response from the struggling American diner in North Fleet
11:22after it reopened after a major fire nearby.
11:25And we'll also see how it's recovering from this massive setback.
11:29And finally, we'll get an update on the local sports action.
11:33We have everything.
11:34We've got the latest football games, the latest rugby ahead of tonight's new Invictus Sport
11:40following Kent tonight.
11:41But until then, don't move a muscle and we'll see you after the break.
15:46caught up with the outspoken political figure in the aftermath of the budget just
15:51last week.
15:51I think people in Westminster often think of Canterbury as a very affluent area and they
15:57often lump London and the South East in one great big group.
16:01But like you said, we've got villages where we've got villages where people aren't necessarily in work at the moment and lots of economic factors about being based down here in this corner of England that make life quite hard sometimes.
16:13And we really need parents.
16:43We're going to be right back.
16:44We're going to be right back.
16:45We're going to be right back.
16:47Has this government?
16:48Has this government finally been listening to its critics, do you think?
16:50I think it's going to be right back.
16:51I think it's going in the right direction.
16:52I think it's going in the right direction.
16:53I was profoundly disappointed there wasn't any help for our hospitality industry.
16:56Me and Sir Roger Gale and some other of my neighbours have been fighting for that because obviously tourism is a huge part of our economy in Canterbury and Winsterville.
17:04And we need pubs and restaurants and smaller hospitality businesses to be able to make a profit.
17:12I know one local coffee shop owner who has 15 coffee shops and made £12 profit last year.
17:19That's just unsustainable.
17:21So we need those things to improve.
17:23And sadly, there was no VAT relief, which is the number one thing we need to happen.
17:28You mentioned hospitality there.
17:29Obviously, we have seen the sugar, the touted milkshake taxes or hit cafes like the one you just mentioned,
17:36as well as squeezing potentially the ability to hire staff with increases to minimum wage.
17:44What do you think the government should be doing with hospitality?
17:48Because obviously Canterbury has so many hospitality businesses.
17:51Yeah, exactly.
17:52And so many of those businesses were hit all in one go by the business rates, the national insurance contributions and the higher minimum wage.
18:01All of that stuff altogether was just too much for many businesses to cope with.
18:06I think they could have staggered those things.
18:08Nobody I know that runs a hospitality business wants to pay young people less than they deserve.
18:15But it is really difficult to make ends meet when all of their ingredients are so much more money.
18:20Their fuel bills are so much more money.
18:22And people can't afford to eat out.
18:24So it's a perfect storm, which is really difficult for people to weather at the moment.
18:29Do you think the tourism levy that's been touted could potentially help someone like Canterbury weather those financial burdens?
18:35Obviously, the Cathedral City is one of Kent's prime tourism hotspots.
18:40Will that make any difference, do you think?
18:42I'd be really worried about who directly benefits from that money.
18:45If it goes to central government, it won't help us at all.
18:48And also, of course, there's the worry that it might put people off from visiting us.
18:52If they're struggling a little bit, will they hesitate even more to come here if they know there's a levy?
18:57It would be great if it would help those businesses most struggling.
19:00But I'm not sure yet how that's going to work.
19:03Obviously, do you think that this budget has silenced the critics of this government?
19:08Do you think it's done enough to win over ordinary people, working people, businesses?
19:12Or is this just another misstep for a government that's already struggled in its first year and a half in power?
19:21I'm afraid it does feel like yet another misstep where the management of the Labour Party are trying to please everyone, which ends up pleasing nobody.
19:30I think they need to be bolder one way or the other and remember what the Labour Party is for.
19:36It's for smaller businesses and people without as much.
19:39If there had been perhaps the wealth tax or, you know, more balance between the haves and have-nots, I think it would have been more Labour.
19:46And that would have at least given people a direction to go in.
19:50But I'm afraid Labour are losing lots on the left and I'm not sure it pleased anybody too much in the middle either.
19:57Great interview there from Oli and Rosie, but now it's time to take a look at the sport from around the county with Chloe Smith.
20:15Starting off for football, Gillingham fought back from a 3-1 down at Shrewsbury with Robbie McKenzie's composed penalty and Elliot Nevitt's late header securing a 3-0 draw.
20:23The Jules were 2-0 down after just 22 minutes and although they got one back for an own goal, Towne added a third before the break and only a superb Jake Turner save prevented them from getting a fourth.
20:32Manager Gareth Ainsworth criticised a poor first half performance but praised the team's spirit, intensity and quality during the comeback.
20:38Ainsworth's word of encouragement gave McKenzie the necessary boost.
20:41Despite having no recent practice, McKenzie relied on instinct for the crucial penalty.
20:45Ashford United co-owner Lloyd Hume stands down as the manager of the Isthmian South East Club.
20:49Hume had been combining the roles of both manager and co-owner since Danny Kendall was fired in January.
20:54Ashford moved out of the Isthmian South East relegation zone on goal difference in Hume's final game in charge, a 1-1 draw at home to Sheppie United on Saturday.
21:01Craig Stone will take over as interim first team manager with immediate effects.
21:05Moving on to rugby.
21:06Shelford 38, Midway 29, Regional 1 South East match report.
21:11Midway lost 38-29 to Shelford in the Regional 1 South East match but still earned a try bonus point after a strong attacking display.
21:20They started well with early tries with Jonah Hyde putting immediate pressure on the home team from the start.
21:24Owen Church Mills added to the momentum with a skilfully executed crossfield kick but defensive errors and injured key players allowed Shelford to take control.
21:32The result leaves them 7th in the league with two home games ahead to regain momentum.
21:36Something a bit different. Let's see what's happening in golf.
21:39Rochester and Cobham Park Golf Club's Justin Chenow is set to follow in the footsteps of golfing legends Tiger Woods and Jon Rahm at the 40th Justin Rose Telegraph Junior Open.
21:48The 15-year-old is one of 24 youngsters aged between 12 and 18 competing at Quinta do Lago in Portugal this week.
21:54He says that he's feeling quite confident and has been practising every day after school.
21:58Also, he feels he has a bit of an advantage as he competed last year.
22:01Chenow has already mirrored Justin Rose this year by winning the Douglas Johns trophy at the unofficial under-15 national championship.
22:08Another great week in Kent for sport.
22:20You can find out more of that and more in Victor which is just after Kent tonight.
22:25But for now, it's time to take a look at the weather.
22:29It's a rainy and cloudy night across all of Kent. Temperatures around 9 and 10 degrees this evening.
22:40Into tomorrow, things brighten up slightly. Cloudy all around. Rain in the east.
22:46Temperatures 8 and 9. And into the PM tomorrow, we've got 10, 9 degrees all around.
22:51Cloudy and showers, unfortunately. Looking ahead into your outlook.
22:55Rain on Wednesday and Thursday, 9 and 10 degrees. Though it does, the rain does seem to stop by Friday.
23:01Still quite overcast though at 10 degrees.
23:09Now, don't forget you can keep up to date with all your latest stories across Kent by logging on to our website, kmtv.co.uk.
23:19There, you can find all of our reports, including this one about residents in Sevenoaks who protested to save their Greenbelt area.
23:27I went down to Sevenoaks just last week and saw this one. This is a good one to watch.
23:31Save our Greenbelt! Save our Greenbelt! Save our Greenbelt! Save our Greenbelt!
23:40A Greenbelt area is a designated section of countryside which is protected from most forms of development.
23:46About 93% of Sevenoaks district is a designated Greenbelt area.
23:50I'm stood in one, even though you probably can't tell.
23:53But the darkness is not stopping Sevenoaks residents from making their message clear.
23:58The district is set to maybe see 17,000 new homes built between 2027 and 2042.
24:06A plan that would require parts of their Greenbelt to be downgraded to a Greybelt to make room for the development.
24:13On Tuesday, members of the community held a procession to protest the plan.
24:18We're very concerned about the overdevelopment of the area, the demands that will put on the infrastructure.
24:23We had a very long time where the main road was shut off permanently while they rebuilt the sewerage, the water pipes.
24:34So we're very concerned that the infrastructure is not there.
24:38In terms of food security, as a country we need all the land that we've got for farming.
24:46And it's good farming land that's going to be trashed effectively.
24:50It's good grazing and it's also good arable fields that are being developed.
24:55And suddenly, on my little patch, 600 homes going through, it's taking out a huge amount of that area.
25:03They began at Sevenoaks station and marched to the district council's headquarters on Argyle Road.
25:09They held candles to mourn the Greenbelt outside the council's meeting.
25:13Our campaign today is going to be a vigil, a vigil hopefully that's not going to come true.
25:20All the candles represent our saving the Greenbelt.
25:24We want to save it. We don't want it to die.
25:26A council spokesperson for Sevenoaks District Council said,
25:30We are currently consulting on the new local plan, which includes potential locations for new homes to meet the government's significantly increased housing targets for the Sevenoaks District.
25:41The government has instructed us to identify land for 1,145 new homes every year, a 63 increase on the current target.
25:52While the new local plan proposes to make the best use of existing built-up areas, we'll have to consider other sites to meet the government's housing target.
26:01Sevenoaks District Council's consultation, which includes 30 pop-up events, will close on the 11th of December.
26:09Maisie Walker for KMTV, Sevenoaks.
26:12An important report there from Maisie Walker.
26:16But still to come on tonight's programme, we're taking a look back at our top story this evening.
26:22As Tunbridge Wells suffers water supply issues, our reporter Chloe Brewster has been looking at the worries growing as thousands of residents have been left without water.
26:30We'll also hear about a proposal put forward by Kent County Council to create a single Kent Council.
26:36The reform leadership sees it as a shake-up for local authorities and looks to give better value for residents.
26:42But until then, you'll have to wait until after the break because we'll be back soon.
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30:57disruption, with the number of people affected now rising to a reported 24,000. It comes
31:04after issues at Pembury Treatment Works, resulting in a bad batch of drinking water. The local
31:10MP has called the situation utterly disgraceful, and our reporter Chloe Brewster has been finding
31:16out more.
31:18Running water is something many of us take for granted. That's until you suddenly have
31:23none. Tens of thousands of people in Tunbridge Wells have been without water since Saturday,
31:27after a bad batch of chemicals caused Pembury Treatment Works to be shut down.
31:31On the first day of Christmas, South East Water said to the people of Tunbridge Wells,
31:35there still is no water. It's day three of the water outage here, and people here are
31:40coming to collect these bottled water from behind me there.
31:43My problem now is how we can have our breakfast, because we don't have water to boil, you know,
31:49for drinking hot drinks.
31:51You can't wash, you can't do your teeth, and it's degrading.
31:55With the two kids, they frequently go for a loo, and we have to clean the hygienic way
32:01in the toilets and everything, which is tedious now.
32:04It's like a total nightmare, because you can't flush the toilets, you can't do anything.
32:09Teresa Barrett from the Black Horse Pub says the lack of water has forced her to cancel
32:13her first Christmas event of the season.
32:15We did lose a full day's tray yesterday. Looking at what we would have taken over the bar,
32:20we're probably looking at sort of, I don't know, £1,200 over the two days. Today would
32:24have been more, probably because we had the event this evening. But for me, my rent still
32:30needs paying. That's £77 a day. My staff still need paying, because it's not their fault
32:36that they can't come to work. And that money in the hospitality sector at the minute is just
32:42so hard.
32:43Residents say the issue is particularly frustrating after continuous problems with South East Water.
32:47So this is obviously the run-up to Christmas, and we, you know, Saturday, Sunday, really
32:54busy shopping weekend. We've had restaurants that have had to close. I was just speaking
32:57to a hotel owner who's lost £4,000. GPs haven't opened today. Almost none of the schools are
33:03open today. The junior employees on the ground, they run the sites really efficiently. You can
33:07see behind us, you just drive in, they pick some water up, put it in your boot, and you
33:10drive off. But actually, at a leadership level, South East Water have totally failed to make
33:15sure there's an adequate supply of lorries coming to those sites. Once we've got water
33:19restored, then we're going to deal with South East Water. We're going to move into accountability
33:23mode.
33:24South East Water's incident manager, Matthew Dean, said,
33:27I'm very sorry to all of our customers in Tunbridge Wells who remain without water or who have
33:31low pressure today. Customers are beginning to see supplies gradually return. However,
33:36we do not expect the majority of customers to have their drinking water fully restored
33:39until tomorrow morning. Since the morning, supplies to a further 1,276 properties have
33:45been restored, with another 21,000 properties currently still experiencing supply issues.
33:49It's a very wet and windy day for people in Kent, but in Tunbridge Wells, they're hoping
33:53water starts coming out of the tap rather than the sky. Chloe Brewster for KMTV in Tunbridge
33:59Wells.
34:00Now, one Kent, one council. Those are the proposals put forward by Kent County Council's
34:07reform leadership as part of a call to shake up the county's local authorities. Instead of
34:13dividing the county up into a number of single-tier authorities, KCC argues that one single Kent
34:20Council holds the answer to simplifying local government, strengthening services and delivering
34:25better value for residents. Here's a clip from our reporter, George Walker's interview
34:30with KCC leader, councillor, Lyndon Kemp-Karron.
34:33Well, you see, the irony with LGR is it is meant to be giving more power to people, but I
34:40think it actually does the opposite. I think by the government's plan to effectively carve
34:44up Kent into unitary authorities, I think that removes power from people in the way they have
34:50it now where they can vote for a parish, town, district or borough councillor and then a county
34:55councillor. I think the whole prospect of LGR worries me because I think it removes power
35:00from there and shoves it up the chain to Westminster. So I find that profoundly undemocratic. So that's
35:07why at Kent County Council we rejected the plans to carve up this beautiful county of ours
35:12and sort of force it, squeeze it into a preordained model that had been sent down by central government.
35:18And we came up with our own plan which provides Kent and Medway with one council, the strategic
35:25authority, the Kent Council. And underneath that we have three area assemblies which provide
35:31place-based services so that the people that live in those area assemblies still feel that
35:36sense of locality and they have representatives who are plugged into what's happening locally.
35:41And what would the division in terms of what the services that those committees would provide
35:46versus the sort of single unitary authority? I mean you've got sort of things like licensing
35:50and housing and planning that are often quite specific to localised needs. Would those committees
35:55be able to reflect those local needs relative to the unitary authority?
35:59Well I think if option 1A does become successful I think it gives us the chance to sort of shake
36:04all the pieces up and lay them down in a better way. So our idea is this. So at the moment Kent County Council
36:11provides the core services, the adult social care, the children's care, the education, you know,
36:17allocating school places and of course highways which is really important maintaining our roads and motorways.
36:23The Kent Council would still provide those core big services. So again one of the dangers with the other
36:32plans for LGR is dividing up Kent into unitaries. How on earth do you disaggregate those big services
36:38and apply them to three or four or possibly five unitary authorities? At the moment Kent County Council can
36:44provide those services at scale which means we can save money. So we retain that ability with our plan option 1A.
36:51And the local area assemblies will have a very similar structure to the district and borough councils.
36:58So they'll be able to provide local services. They'll be able to advise on planning. I think the Kent
37:06Council would have strategic authority so we'd be able to look at Kent and Medway as a whole and decide
37:12on the big things like where new housing estates should go if at all, how much land should be given over to
37:17other projects. But it is those area assemblies which will provide the link to local people. That is how
37:24democratic our plan is.
37:26You can watch the full unedited interview with Councillor Kem Karen by going to our website
37:33www.kmtv.co.uk. You can also watch the rest of our Kent tonight special on local government reorganisation
37:41after Invicta Sport tonight at 7pm.
37:45Now, charities like Porchlight who assist less fortunate individuals find accommodation have
37:51noticed a rise in rough sleepers across the county. Earlier we spoke with Dan, a former rough sleeper,
37:57who told us about his struggles finding places to stay for him and his dog until being contacted by Porchlight.
38:03Yeah, it just got to a point where people were saying, we can take you but not your dog. So, then we ended up on the streets.
38:17Yeah, that's the worst. That's the first ever time I've been on the streets. I've always worked,
38:22always had a partner, was brought up well. And yeah, I've seen people on the streets, you know,
38:33always bang on the pound or something. But I've never actually thought, you know, how it actually,
38:38how bad it is. And I can honestly say it was the worst. We was only on the streets for about a week,
38:44but it was the worst experience of my life.
38:46Earlier, we spoke to 81-year-old sitting-born pensioner, Joyce White of Prentice Close.
38:53She claims her front wall was hit by an Amazon delivery driver and is horrified that the company
38:58won't pay out. On Monday 3rd November, Joyce went outside to investigate a bang she heard after
39:04receiving her parcel, only to find out that the delivery driver had reversed into her wall,
39:10destroying several bricks. Amazon rejected her claims from over insufficient evidence. And here's
39:17what she has to say here. The Amazon man in a white van drove up and gave me my parcel. I went indoors,
39:25said thank you to him. I came indoors, but sat down in my armchair and then I had a bang. I got up
39:31straight away as best I could. And I found him standing by the brick wall here. And he's saying,
39:38sorry, sorry, you'll have to get onto Amazon. You'll have to get onto Amazon. And I said,
39:43can I have your name, please? No, no, no, no, no. So I said, have you got paper and pen in the van? No,
39:49no. I said, well, if you wait here, I'll go and get you. By the time I got in, came out, he'd gone.
39:54He'd driven off, horrified.
39:59And he said, obviously, they've had to come up on the pavement. There's no reversing camera in the van.
40:08A Folkestone pensioner tripped over a drain cover, causing him to fall over and break his arm.
40:17While enjoying a family day out, Colin was left screaming in pain after tripping over in a busy
40:22town centre. Colin Waldron, aged 72, suffered a broken arm and various bruises to his ribs
40:28after taking the fall. He spoke with us earlier today.
40:32I was going uphill. There was quite a lot of people around in the street. And I stayed on the pavement
40:37rather than in the cobbled path because I thought, oh, the cobbled road looks a bit awkward.
40:43And looking up ahead rather than looking at where I was putting my feet, as you do when you're going
40:48uphill. And I suddenly tripped on, I didn't know what it was at the time, and went down flat on my face.
40:59Well, I put my hand out, obviously, because the injury is to my wrist and to my elbow,
41:08and to my right elbow, my right knee, and my ribs are damaged because the camera was on my chest.
41:15You had a camera around your neck?
41:16Yeah, the camera was around my neck, and the camera went in like that.
41:22And basically, I lay there screaming. Couldn't move.
41:27And now to music. It's been revealed that DJ musician and producer Fatboy Slim is to perform
41:34at Dreamland Margate next summer. The artist, real name Norman Cook, is a major name in the 90s
41:39dance music scene, combining funk, house, hip-hop, acid and rock for his signature sound.
41:45That's all we have for now, but catch us after the break.
41:57The artist, real name or the artist, real name or the artist, real name or the artist,
42:11and the artist, a very important area of art in the 90s.
42:15This is a project that shows up to 10-yard hours from the 90s.
42:19That's a project that shows up and that's all.
42:23And the artist, real name or the artist, real name,
44:56Hello and welcome back to Kent Tonight Live here on Kame TV.
45:15As December begins, millions of people are opening the first doors on their Advent calendars,
45:21a tradition that actually dates back to 19th century Germany.
45:25What began with simple devotional images has since evolved into the modern Advent calendar.
45:30But what keeps this tradition so popular?
45:32Joining me now is Naila Mohamed, our reporter.
45:35So Naila, what is the history behind Advent calendars?
45:38So I'm going to start with the definition of Advent, and it comes from the Latin word Adventus, which means arrival.
45:45And it was originally, Advent was originally seen at a time where it marked Christ's second coming in the religious sense.
45:53And it wasn't until the Middle Ages, sorry, that Advent started to mark the birthday of Christ in Bethlehem himself.
46:00And it's thought that the first Advent calendar was actually in 567 AD, sorry, when monks would fast the month before Christmas, the month leading up to the 25th.
46:13But the idea of counting down to Christmas began in 19th century Germany, where people would mark, just with like a bit of chalk, a tally on a wall or a door.
46:23And it was started initially for a little child, which is quite sweet.
46:26And then it was in the early 1900s of the next century where newspapers and publishing companies would create their own little simple Advent calendars just in their own little newspapers.
46:37And then in the 1920s, a guy from Germany called Gerhard Lennig, he had the idea to put these little doors inside, and we can fit little things inside.
46:45And so he put original biblical characters and biblical verses inside them.
46:50And then this did slow down during World War II because of paper rationing, but people still held the belief of Advent calendars.
46:56And it picked up again in the 1950s, where people started to then put chocolate and toys.
47:00And you just kind of answered that there, but how have they developed since?
47:04Because I know the ones in Little definitely don't just have devotional pictures in them anymore.
47:08Absolutely. It has changed so much.
47:10I mean, the different nations around the world all do Advent calendars very differently.
47:14So over in China, Christians will hang coloured papered lanterns on walls.
47:19In Scandinavia, churches will light 24 mini candles for each day leading up to Christmas.
47:25And then in Germany, they would hang 24 wreaths and then open up a little gift as well.
47:30So it very much still does have the religious essence to it.
47:35But modern Advent calendars are digressing away from having its religious purpose.
47:40I mean, we're seeing it more now.
47:41You've got jewellery and makeup and perfume.
47:44And if you've got a particular niche, it's likely that that niche or interest is going to have some sort of themed Advent calendar.
47:49So we are digressing away from that quite a lot.
47:52And people are making their own Advent calendars as well now.
47:55Thank you very much, Nila, for that.
47:57Very insightful.
47:57Thank you very much, Nila.
48:27I don't know, because I used to have Christmas with my family in Spain and then like the family kind of broke up a bit.
48:33So it's not been in the regular routine, but we always used to have like an Advent calendar given to us by the grandparents.
48:39I don't have an Advent calendar.
48:40I'm 43.
48:41I try not to anymore.
48:42My daughter does, who's six.
48:44More terrorists are urged to watch out for icy patches as gritters gear up to treat roads around Kent tonight.
48:51Kent County Council says road surface temperatures are expected to fall below freezing and is warning drivers to stay vigilant.
49:00Main roads in parts of Kent are set to be treated tonight in a bid to prevent ice and frost from forming.
49:05A spokesperson said motorists are advised to watch out for icy patches and stretches, particularly on the untreated roads overnight and into tomorrow morning.
49:16A weather warning for rain has also set to come into effect tomorrow for much of Kent, but this has since been lifted.
49:22And speaking of weather warnings, here's your weather.
49:31Again, rainy and cloudy all across Kent tonight.
49:35Temperatures around 9 and 10 degrees into tomorrow morning.
49:39Rain lifting in some areas along the west.
49:42Rain continuing throughout the east and throughout into the evening.
49:46Rain again.
49:47Temperatures rising 9 and 10.
49:49So not too bad for December.
49:51And your outlook rain on Wednesday and Thursday, 10 degrees and 9 degrees.
49:55Clearing up into Friday, still quite overcast and sitting at 10 degrees, which is still quite warm as we move into December.
50:07Now, don't forget you can keep up to date with all your latest stories across Kent by logging on to our website.
50:13That's kmtv.co.uk.
50:15There you'll find all our reports, including this one, about a viral K-pop group filming their latest music video in Linton.
50:23Kent has plenty of musical history.
50:26Aussie was born performing in Folkestone Oasis with an early gig in Royal Tunbridge Wells, but now a viral K-pop group has joined the band.
50:33Rise are a six-member boy band group from South Korea and are one of the rising star groups of the K-pop genre, with more than 4.5 million Instagram followers.
50:41And for their new single, Fame, they filmed their music video at Linton Park, near the village of Linton, by Maidstone.
50:49And with K-pop's popularity growing globally, it's no surprise to stans, which basically means enthusiastic fans, here in the UK, that groups have started branching out.
50:58To get more of an idea of the reach of the genre, I spoke to our health expert, Dr. Julian Spinks, who's also an expert on K-pop.
51:05They're a relatively new K-pop band. They've only been around for a couple of years.
51:10But they're starting to make a name for themselves, and they were in one of the big concerts for the number of bands in June.
51:16And I hope they come back to Kent, and we've become their second home.
51:20And also, maybe it'll start to encourage people in Kent to take more interest in K-pop and other Asian pop genre.
51:26Now, it's fair to say that K-pop has become a global sensation, with groups like Blackpink, Twice, and Cat's Eye climbing the charts every day.
51:34And it's even crossed over into film, with K-pop Demon Hunters being a huge success.
51:39And now that we can say that K-pop has officially arrived here at Linton Park and in Kent,
51:44does this mean Kent will become a new hub for the genre, or is it too soon to expect everyone to be a stan?
51:50As I stood there, I considered that if Kent would become the European centre of K-pop,
51:54we should get a head start and make our own Kent-pop group.
51:57So I took to Maidstone's High Street to find some rising stars that might rival Rise.
52:03But it didn't get off to a great start.
52:05Can you have any bands?
52:07The Smiths?
52:08No, as in K-pop bands.
52:09Do you guys know any K-pop artists?
52:11No.
52:12Don't know, that's okay, that's okay.
52:14Can you guys sing?
52:15No.
52:16Okay, can you dance?
52:17Yes.
52:17You can dance, okay, brilliant.
52:19And can you speak any Korean?
52:20No.
52:21Can you guys sing?
52:22Yeah.
52:23If he can, yeah.
52:24You can sing, okay, perfect.
52:25What about dancing, how are we there?
52:26Yeah, I'm good at dancing.
52:28So do you think that K-pop could become bigger in England and Kent?
52:31Yeah, I think it already is pretty big, because I know K-pop Demon Hunters, the Netflix show,
52:35their music hit top charts, even in the UK, so I feel like people just need to open up a bit more about it,
52:40because it's in a different language, so people don't really understand it, don't really want to know it,
52:44but I feel like it's just happy, it makes me happy, personally.
52:48And here's our line-up, an all-girl group, except for Connor, and I'm, of course, the manager.
52:52Well, I had my team assembled, unfortunately, we decided to not go ahead with the band,
52:56but hopefully Kentish K-pop fans will be happy to see more artists and groups like Rise doing work here in the county.
53:02Finn McDermott for KMTV in Linton.
53:04Coming up after the break is another episode of Invicta Sport, with all the latest sports from around the county,
53:14but before we go, let's take a look back at this weekend's football results.
53:18Well, Dartford are on brilliant form lately, with recent wins against Chichester and Whitehawk in their last few outings.
53:26And they return home now to take on Dulwich Hamlet, a bastion of non-league,
53:30who this season found themselves right around the mid-table.
53:33But can they challenge the darts and hopefully take flight into a top spot?
53:36Let's find out.
53:38And the darts are on them from the off-winning possession,
53:40and a brilliant line-breaking pass from Dan Carter there.
53:42Builds it up, and it's left without a white shirt behind it, but a very good start.
53:48And they continue peppering the Dulwich keeper with shots, but nothing coming from it.
53:53Oh, but they've kept it in now.
53:55Carter's on it again, passes it around.
53:56He finds Sam Smith, who hits it, and the Hamlet can only watch as it bobbles into the corner.
54:01Not the only Sam Smith that can make a crowd sing.
54:03That puts the darts up by one.
54:06Ollie Box works his way into the box, but can't get it on target.
54:09Feels like they're reaching for a second before they break, but can they find it?
54:13Now, Hamlet are finally trying to level out the game here.
54:16Passes out to the wing.
54:17Sean Bonnet-Jackson brings it inside, and Solbo has a go,
54:20but it goes wide to end a first half that Dulwich will want to forget.
54:24Into the second now, and Dan Carter has a pop himself,
54:26but not enough to find it to the top corner.
54:30And oh my goodness, Ollie Box, what a strike.
54:33If I ever saw a dart flying that fast, I'd leave the pub in fear.
54:37What a shot.
54:38Just a shame it was deflected.
54:40And the Hamlet on the offensive, but it doesn't go anywhere.
54:42A little too much on that last pass.
54:45And nearing the end now, can Hamlet pull off a heartbreaking comeback?
54:48Goes to Alfie Payne, a good strike, but not good enough.
54:51That is full time, and the darts have three points there.
54:54The scoreline does not reflect what a game that was to watch.
54:57But how lucky were our other Kent sides?
55:00Elsewhere in the Itzmian Premier, Chatham suffered a home loss,
55:03conceding four goals in a match to forget for the normally on-form Chats.
55:07Ramsgate saw a two-all draw away to Whitehawk,
55:10and Folkestone took down Chichester with three goals to nil.
55:13Next up, current league leaders Folkestone will face Brentwood Town at home.
55:17Ramsgate hope to avenge Chatham playing St Albans.
55:20The darts will travel to Lewis, and Chatham will hope to emulate Folkestone with a trip to Chichester.
55:24Now to League Two, and as the saying goes, if you can't beat them,
55:28then at least score a few goals while you're out there.
55:30With a three-all draw away to Gareth Einsworth's old side, Shrewsbury,
55:34they managed to come back from 3-1 down in the first half,
55:36and should be very happy with the lone point.
55:39The Jills will head to Colchester next week,
55:40and hope for a victory after the last three consecutive draws.
55:44In the National League South, Dover managed a 2-0 brawl against Slough Town.
55:48Ebbsvleet weren't quite as lucky,
55:49taking only a point away from their clash to Farnborough,
55:51and Maidstone took full marks against Salisbury,
55:54while Tunbridge ruined what would have been a full sweep in the National League South
55:57with a loss to Hemel Hempstead.
55:59Next, Dover head to Chesham, Ebbsvleet face Worthing,
56:02the Stones will take a weekend trip to the historic city of Bath,
56:05and the Angels will be praying for a better result this time around against Torquay.
56:09And I'm afraid that is it for this week's Football Roundup.
56:14Great roundup there from Finn, and more tonight just after this on Invicta.
56:18But for now, you've been watching Kent's Night Live on KMTV.
56:22There's more news made just for Kent throughout the evening.
56:25Don't forget, you can always keep us up to date with the latest news across the county
56:29by logging on to kmtv.co.uk,
56:32and keep us on your social timelines by liking us on Facebook and following us on TikTok.
56:37If you think there's a story we should be covering, please get in touch.
56:41But for now, from me, it's goodnight, and I'll see you later.
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