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Catch up with all the latest news from across the county with Finn Macdiarmid.
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00:00Hello and welcome to Kent Tonight, live here on KMTV.
00:27I'm Finn McDermott and here are your top stories on Tuesday the 13th of January.
00:32Save our supply. We head down to Maidstone's new bottled water station to hear how the town has been coping with the water issues.
00:39And the annoying thing is that I genuinely feel that South Eastwater are not learning from those lessons.
00:47The worst moment of my life. A sitting-born widow has written a book to help cope with the loss of her husband from Covid.
00:53Everybody who was lost in the pandemic was a person and I wanted to tell my story but I also wanted to tell the real story of the pandemic.
01:05And from suffering to Sevenoaks meet the retriever who's starting a new life in the town after being rescued from a kill shelter.
01:11Hopefully, yeah, we can get it done as soon as possible because he is clearly in pain.
01:16Now with the water crisis here in Kent entering another day, people in the areas around Tunbridge Wells and Maidstone have been hit with supply issues.
01:35No running water means showers, drinking water and flushing toilets aren't accessible to everyone, causing disruption in the county with many filing into bottled water stations to replenish supplies.
01:47Our reporter Maisie Walker is down at Tunbridge Wells where one of the stations has been set up today.
01:53Maisie, what's the atmosphere down there like? Talk to us about it.
01:57Well, cars have been steadily arriving since about 3.30pm this afternoon when this water station first opened.
02:07There's been a constant flow of vehicles coming in and out to collect bottled water and I've spoken to a number of local residents,
02:14many of whom did not want to go on camera but were not shy in expressing their frustration at this outage,
02:21especially considering this is not the first time that it's happened.
02:26Several people told me that they feel let down and are struggling to understand why this disruption has occurred again.
02:32More recently, I spoke to residents who had just finished work and came straight here to collect water
02:36and understandably so, as you can see, many were unhappy.
02:41You know, it's been a long day, it's raining and now they've had to come here to make an additional journey to collect some bottled water.
02:48There's also been loads of confusion between residents,
02:52some not understanding why some of their neighbours have the water and then they don't.
02:57One resident I spoke to described the situation as pure disaster.
03:03It's a pure disaster, it's affecting us a lot, especially if we are from a working class family.
03:09White facilities demand the construction.
03:12It's terrible. What can we do? We just have to put up to it and carry on.
03:18It's been very confusing for a lot of people down there.
03:21South East Wales have said that a number of issues were responsible, including the impact of Storm Gretty,
03:28as well as power cut at one of its pumping stations, which affected the local water supply.
03:34Earlier today, I was joined by Mike Martin, the MP for Tunbridge Wells.
03:38He gave a strong indication that this crisis was far from over.
03:41What I would say to my constituents in Tunbridge Wells is, based on what I know,
03:48and I'm obviously speaking to everyone involved in this,
03:50and based on my experience of dealing with South East Water,
03:54everyone in Tunbridge Wells should really only expect full supplies to come back at the earliest this weekend.
04:00So people should think about that and plan for that.
04:03Now, it sounds like it's quite confusing down there for a lot of people.
04:12You mentioned some people have the water, some people don't.
04:14Tell us, what's the root cause of this, Daisy?
04:16Well, the root cause, as South East Water said earlier, that a number of issues were responsible,
04:25including the impact of Storm Gretty, as well as a power cut off from one of their pumping plants,
04:31which affected the local water supply.
04:35I see. And tell me, what's the atmosphere like down where you are at the moment, at the station?
04:42Yeah, so it's raining pretty heavily where I am.
04:45Obviously, it's started to calm down now, but when we first got here at 3.30,
04:49just as this water station was preparing to open, it was raining very, very heavily.
04:55And the wind was starting to pick up, as you can probably tell from my hair.
04:58Not a great day to wash my hair yesterday, but there you go.
05:01And I'm freezing, and cars are just starting to slow down.
05:05There was a rush period where people were coming straight back from work,
05:07straight to here to collect some bottled water.
05:10But it is starting to slow down, and obviously the volunteers here have been non-stop.
05:14I see. And we can see some of the southeast water workers behind you still giving out that bottled water.
05:23Has there been much frustration talked about by people as they've been coming down?
05:28Obviously, Tunbridge Wells was affected by water issues back in 2025.
05:33So I'm sure people are sort of seeing it as though it's a problem that's re-emerged.
05:37Tell me about some more of that reaction we've been seeing.
05:39Yeah, so local residents, as I've been seeing them come through,
05:45been popping my head in, seeing if they would be available to talk on camera,
05:49many of whom did not want to.
05:50They've been saying that they're just frustrated, angry,
05:53but most of all confused as to why this is happening.
05:56Why Tunbridge Wells? What's going on that is causing this constant outage?
06:00So a lot of negative atmosphere that's going on currently over here, yeah.
06:06Absolutely. And I'm sure with schools being shut as well,
06:10parents must be extremely frustrated.
06:12Has it been mainly families you've been seeing coming down or individual people?
06:15Tell me a bit about how many people as well.
06:17Tell me about the scale of this issue.
06:19Whereabouts in Tunbridge Wells are you as well, mate?
06:21I don't think we covered that.
06:25I'm just outside the Odeon in Tunbridge Wells.
06:28Mike Martin was here earlier to meet me too.
06:31Most of all, I'm seeing individual people in their cars.
06:35There have been a few families, but again,
06:37did not want to speak to camera or me at all, in fact.
06:42I see. Thank you so much for your time, Maisie.
06:45Next, we'll be taking a quick look at how the water supply issues
06:52have been affecting people down in Maidstone.
06:55Our reporter Kristen Hawthorne was down across the town,
06:59especially near Moat Park, where a new supply station was set up.
07:03Let's have a look at what Kristen has been finding out.
07:05It's raining, but there's no water,
07:08meaning South East has had to open another water station
07:11at Maidstone Leisure Centre for those with little to no supply in the area.
07:15And as the day continues, the traffic is continuing to build.
07:19The water in the area has been on and off for five days,
07:22but it's a lack of communication and infrastructure investment in particular
07:25that is angering local councillors and MPs.
07:29I've been working with them now for nearly 15 years, showing my age here,
07:33but they're not learning.
07:35The communications with this particular matter have been really, really bad,
07:40too little, too late, too complicated.
07:44At the end of the day, people just want to know when they can boil the kettle again
07:48to make a cup of tea.
07:49When can they take a shower?
07:51So the level of the communications has been overly complex and conflicting.
07:56Yeah, so certainly over the weekend, a lot of people were on that priority list,
08:01were waiting for visits and contacting me,
08:03and we were having to pass those details on to South East Water.
08:07It felt quite chaotic, and certainly the messages that were coming out of South East Water
08:13were pretty awful in terms of being utterly inaccurate at times.
08:18So we are liaising as best we can with South East Water
08:22so that the council can get the right information out to the public.
08:26Local residents didn't seem surprised by the problems,
08:29but they said they didn't expect it to be just as bad as it is.
08:33I was getting past a joke, really, because it's been low pressure for a little while,
08:38and I think it's all the new builds they're putting on,
08:40and they're not putting the water supplies in, are they?
08:42So I don't know.
08:44They've got to do something, and we can't live on bottled water.
08:47We stupidly moved into the area from like a mile away,
08:51and I knew that the water went on and off sometimes,
08:54but we did still move there,
08:56but we didn't know it was going to be as bad as what it is.
09:01South East Water reported at 4.55pm
09:04that pressure problems at its site combined with a burst main
09:08are affecting supplies in Coxheath and Maidstone,
09:11leaving some customers with no water or reduced pressure.
09:15The company apologised for the disruption
09:17and said they are working to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.
09:21In Luce, South East Water said supply should have been restored,
09:25but customers without water can use the water station,
09:28which will remain open until 10pm.
09:30As the calls for David Hinton to resign continue to pour in,
09:34only the taps will tell if it actually makes a difference.
09:38Kristen Hawthorne for KMTV, Maidstone.
09:40That statement at the end of that piece there came to us at about 4pm,
09:48so that is a very recent statement from South East Water's website.
09:52Now, Kristen Hawthorne joins me in this studio.
09:55So, Kristen, tell us, you've been all over Maidstone.
09:58You still have your muddy boots on, as I can see.
10:01Tell me, what have people been saying
10:02and what has the atmosphere been like in Maidstone today?
10:04Well, in the piece you only saw two people that I spoke to,
10:07but, of course, I spoke to upwards of 10 people.
10:11It must have been more than that.
10:12Just going up to cars, seeing how people were feeling.
10:15Some people didn't want to give me an interview
10:17because they were so annoyed at the fact of what was happening.
10:20Like I said in the piece, people didn't really seem surprised.
10:24They seemed, you know, they expected it, I suppose,
10:28due to the recent happenings that had happened over December.
10:32But this month, I mean, yeah, the local reaction was just sort of
10:35maybe they're used to it at this point.
10:38Absolutely.
10:38And from your perspective, coming into it as someone who doesn't live in Maidstone,
10:42what was the scale of it?
10:43How many people were coming into these filling stations?
10:46And this is, for a lot of people, the only way they can get water.
10:48Was it very busy? Was it manageable?
10:50Tell me a bit about that.
10:51So I was there from about 12 until, I think it must have been half three.
10:56And during the morning, during this early afternoon, it wasn't too busy.
11:01But, I mean, towards when I was leaving, the traffic did start to pile in
11:04as people were leaving school, people were leaving work.
11:07And then as I left, there was traffic about a mile and a half,
11:11two miles down the road.
11:13I see.
11:14Well, I think that is all the time we have for this part.
11:17But thank you so much for bringing us this news, Kristen.
11:19Obviously, difficult for the people of Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells.
11:23So hopefully, something can get sorted too.
11:26Still to come after the break, we'll be joined by our reporter, Naila Mohamed.
11:32He'll be talking us all through some more of your top stories from throughout the day.
11:37We'll also have a brief look at an airport that has just five passengers a year
11:41and losses of £30 million as well as all your latest sports news.
11:46All that and more in just a few minutes.
11:48See you soon.
16:14nowhere near to addressing the losses that have been incurred before Christmas, and so
16:18we continue to call for the government to play a part here to try and actually do something
16:22about bringing in some meaningful compensation for some of these businesses.
16:25I see, and obviously this isn't something that businesses can see coming very easily.
16:31How would you advise businesses to prepare for this kind of thing in future?
16:35Well, I suppose in a first world country, you shouldn't have to have that sort of resilience
16:42plan in place for water supply.
16:44We should be able to make sure that there's adequate backup, and I think what we're seeing
16:47here is the results of a major lack of investment in infrastructure for the water companies for
16:52a very long time, and that's why it's a government issue.
16:55But in terms of the businesses today, I guess it's making sure that you have containers to
17:00which you can go to a place of water provision, make sure they're filled up.
17:06If you've got things like coffee machines, and businesses like you, check to see what
17:11the specification is about taking grey water.
17:14Can you actually use that?
17:16Making sure that you are maintaining the health standards, and getting advice where you can.
17:22But yeah, you need to make sure really you've got the capacity, but as a store water and
17:26utilise it to make sure that you can at least flush toilets and wash hands.
17:29I see.
17:31Moving on, AI, it's been a big topic, not just on the news, but now it's only at our fingertips.
17:36People are using it for all sorts of things, shopping lists, cooking recipes.
17:40We have even started seeing AI-generated search summaries.
17:44Can you tell me a bit about how you might be advising businesses at the Chamber of Commerce
17:49to use AI?
17:51Well, actually we've got an AI conference coming up later in this year, in June, which
17:56we will be exploring the myriad of areas where AI is touching our lives, not just in business,
18:01but as a society as a whole.
18:02So everything from protecting your own intellectual property, of course.
18:08What you do in terms of when you're using information that's actually not correct.
18:13So there's a whole host of aspects.
18:14But what we're encouraging businesses to do is to look at this rather like the arrival
18:18of desktop publishing.
18:19You know, when it arrives, suddenly we're all capable of producing our own business cards
18:22and compliment slips and things like that.
18:24And AI will be the same.
18:26It will become the Swiss army knife of administration tasks and functions.
18:31So I think businesses understandably need to be cautious and have a look about what the
18:35future holds in terms of what it means for their market and their industry sector.
18:39But they should also embrace the functionality and capacity building that AI will bring to
18:44many offices.
18:45And I think this is something that we're trying to work with the business community across
18:48the county to really ensure that staff are fully skilled and all the platforms that
18:52are out there to really make the most of the opportunity for productivity.
18:56I see.
18:57There was a time when the internet was the emerging thing and for businesses, it was imperative
19:01to get to the top of search lists.
19:03Do you foresee that eventually we might get to a stage where businesses will be gunning
19:06for almost the top spot to be recommended by AI as part of that algorithm?
19:11Absolutely.
19:12Already, smart organizations are out there sort of providing advice and guidance to businesses
19:16to how they can make their websites AI friendly, because as you say, many search engines now
19:21will actually do an AI sort of summary.
19:24So it used to be search engine optimization was the buzzword, SEO.
19:28Now of course, it's actually AI summaries, making sure that your website contains the
19:32right type of content to get itself listed itself.
19:36And next, newly published figures have revealed that a local airport in Romney Marsh has recorded
19:41a £1.6 million loss.
19:43Lid Airport, owned by Saudi Arabian billionaires, has attracted almost no commercial passengers
19:49in recent years and is now suffering a huge financial loss as a consequence.
19:53With only five commercial passengers in 2024 and 2018 last year, the airfield owes its survival
19:58to the wealth of its owners.
19:59Total losses now exceed £30 million, but the runway still remains active with almost 29,000
20:04flights a year from private aircrafts and Coast Guard helicopters.
20:09With rival airports expanding, serious questions remain about its future.
20:12Bosses at the airport say they have a strategy to make it a successful, thriving aerodome and
20:17employer in Kent.
20:18They added their strategy centres on turning it into a future-of-flight cluster focused on
20:22drones and unmanned aircraft systems.
20:25Now let's take a look at all your latest sports news.
20:38First of all, we're going to bring you news of a new project from Gillingham FC, their
20:42fan zone that has now begun construction at Priestfield.
20:47The project planned by the club over a year ago sees a 900 capacity area that will be a
20:51place for supporters to eat, drink and relax on match days.
20:54It will also be a venue for other events.
20:56The facility should be done ahead of the start of next season, but hopes are high for the
21:00fan zone to be ready as early as the World Cup this summer.
21:03The club's managing director, Joe Comper, said, we think we're on track and we are excited
21:07about that.
21:08It's going to be a very cool space.
21:11And a Tunbridge athlete has won the Kent County Cross Country Championship for the fourth year
21:16in a row.
21:17James Kingston completed the 12,000 metre distance in 38 minutes and 16 seconds, not only two seconds
21:23faster than his time last year, but also more than a minute ahead of second place finishes
21:26time of 39 minutes and 19 seconds.
21:29In the senior women's category, Blackheath and Bromley Harriers AC's Andrea Clement took
21:34the title, her time of 31.7, 10 seconds faster than her clubmate Hannah Clarke.
21:40Now in women's rugby, a crucial comeback has led Medway women to win their NC1 South East
21:45clash with a resounding 24-10 against Horsham women.
21:50In the cold conditions, Medway found themselves stuck in the mud as they conceded two uncontested
21:54tries before half-time.
21:55However, in the downtime, Captain Steph Rukin rallied her players, enabling them to hit the
22:00ground running in the second half, with Esme Conway scoring two rapid-fire touchdowns
22:04assisted by conversions.
22:06Laura Charter followed this aggressive play by breaching through the opposition to a
22:10achieve yet another try.
22:11Finally running out of the game was Medway's Theseen Ali as she scored her first try at
22:16the club.
22:17Next, a Sandwich darts player has received the backing of a well-known pub chain after
22:21pledging her full-time allegiance to the sport.
22:24Dart star and mum Vitti Korteruccio of Sandwich has received sponsorship by Favish and Brace-based
22:29brewery Shepard Neem.
22:32The pub chain stepped in to support her, sponsoring her as a new professional.
22:35She's ranked 43rd in the World Darts Federation and she ran one of the Shepard Neem pubs in
22:41the past, the Fitz Walter Arms near Canterbury.
22:44Korteruccio said her feelings on the matter were that they have a strong relationship with
22:48the brewery and she's always played in pubs so it feels very fitting.
22:52That's all for your sports news.
23:03Now time to take a very quick look at the weather.
23:07It'll be a cold start to the evening, light rain across much of the county, temperatures
23:11reaching highs of around 12 degrees dropping to lows of 7 there in Ashford.
23:14In the morning temperatures falling further reaching lows of 4 in Dartford, highs of 6 along
23:18the coast.
23:19And as we move into the afternoon now, mist is expected in Tunbridge Wells.
23:23Temperatures peaking at around 8 degrees with lows of 6 there in the north of the county.
23:28And here's your outlook.
23:29Thursday will bring some light rain, highs of around 10 degrees.
23:31On Friday there will be a little sunshine breaking through the cloud, highs of 9.
23:35And on Saturday cloud returning, temperatures remaining much the same.
23:40And don't forget you can keep up to date with all your latest stories across Kent by logging
23:43on to our website, that's kmtv.co.uk.
23:45There you'll find all our reports, including this one.
23:49After saving five lions from Ukraine, the Big Cat Sanctuary have set their sights on another
23:53big rescue, but this time for a much smaller cat.
23:57Ursa is a female Eurasian lynx found by Wild Animal Rescue in Kyiv, and the sanctuary are
24:02fundraising for £100,000 towards her rescue.
24:06Ursa's background is really sad.
24:08She was originally discovered as an illegal pet in Ukraine, and then she was taken after
24:15being confiscated from the owner to Natalia at Wild Animal Rescue as a temporary holding
24:21space.
24:23Now with that she had an infection in her stomach, she was riddled with parasites, she was malnourished,
24:28underdeveloped, far smaller than any lynx her age should be.
24:32She didn't have the right nutrients or care or diet. She'd never been outside before as
24:36well, and she still hasn't. So that's why it's pretty urgent, not only because she's
24:40not in the right environment, but also bombs are falling all around her space.
24:45The money would go towards Ursa's transport to Kent, as well as any emergency care she might
24:49need, with any extra funds also going towards her long-term care.
24:53Now the Big Cat Sanctuary are mainly known for their big animal rescues, whether it's the
24:57five Ukrainian lions or tigers like Luca here. But they also have smaller cats as well. Just
25:03like Ursa, they have Reece, the Eurasian lynx, as well as the Asiatic golden cat, Frank.
25:09But what are the differences when caring for a big cat versus a smaller one?
25:13Most of the big guys are quite hardy, whereas smaller animals, smaller cats can be much
25:18more sensitive, more shy. So as keepers we'll just have to be quite aware of our volume when
25:22we're talking, when we're working around the unit, our body language around her, making
25:26sure it's just nice and soft, nice and slow, nice and quiet to help her settle as best she
25:31can. So where she'll be moving into our small cat rescue centre has been an enclosure on site
25:37for many years. We're just doing some adjustments with the amount of planting, adding in extra
25:41CCTV. It's historically housed leopards and pumas, so actually it's a nice 3D space for lynx
25:50to use. Behind the scenes, a lot of work goes into
25:53finding, transporting and caring for these animals. So for those at the sanctuary, when
25:57they rescued the five lions, it was a moment that was very emotional but really showed the
26:01importance of what they do. I just remember bursting into tears, giving
26:06a lot of the team a big hug. It was really emotional, and it was, it is an emotional rollercoaster.
26:13And especially with this sort of rescue, where you do not know what could happen, that the
26:20stakes are much higher, as it is a war zone. Once Ursa arrives in Kent, she'll be housed
26:25with Blob, the resident bobcat, where the sanctuary will give her more medical care and a better
26:30life in her new forever home.
26:37Coming up after the break, we'll be speaking to Jonathan Hawker, who's a Tunbridge Wells resident,
26:42who's particularly annoyed about all these water issues he's been seeing in his town.
26:47All that and more after the break.
26:48All that and more after the break.
30:23Hello and welcome to Kent Tonight, live here on KMTV. I'm Finn McDermott and here are
30:28your top stories on Tuesday, the 13th of January.
30:31Save our supply. We head down to Maidstone's new bottled water station to hear how the town
30:36has been coping with the water issues.
30:38And the annoying thing is that I genuinely feel that Southeast Water are not learning from
30:45those lessons.
30:46The worst moment of my life. A sitting-born widow has written a book to help cope with the loss
30:51of her husband from COVID.
30:54Everybody who was lost in the pandemic was a person and I wanted to tell my story but I also wanted to tell the real story of the pandemic.
31:04And from suffering to Sevenoaks meet the retriever who's starting a new life in the town after being rescued from a kill shelter.
31:10Hopefully, yeah, we can get it done as soon as possible because he is clearly in pain.
31:25Near the end of last year, residents of Tunbridge Wells struggled with their water, with many people's taps running dry for a period of many days.
31:34Now, these issues have returned, as many will know, but not just to the area of Tunbridge Wells but to Maidstone and areas of East Sussex as well.
31:43With more supply stations cropping up across the county, we sent our reporter Kristin Hawthorne down to one in Maidstone to find out more about these issues.
31:52It's raining but there's no water, meaning Southeast has had to open another water station at Maidstone Leisure Centre for those with little to no supply in the area.
32:01And as the day continues, the traffic is continuing to build.
32:05The water in the area has been on and off for five days, but it's a lack of communication and infrastructure investment in particular that is angering local councillors and MPs.
32:15I've been working with them now for nearly 15 years, showing my age here, but they're not learning.
32:21The communications with this particular matter have been really, really bad, too little, too late, too complicated.
32:31At the end of the day, people just want to know when they can boil the kettle again to make a cup of tea.
32:36When can they take a shower?
32:38So the level of the communications has been overly complex and conflicting.
32:43Yeah, so certainly over the weekend, a lot of people were on that priority list were waiting for visits and contacting me
32:50and we were having to pass those details on to Southeast Water.
32:54It felt quite chaotic and certainly the messages that were coming out of Southeast Water were pretty awful in terms of being utterly inaccurate at times.
33:04So we are liaising as best we can with Southeast Water so that the council can get the right information out to the public.
33:13Local residents didn't seem surprised by the problems, but they said they didn't expect it to be just as bad as it is.
33:20I was getting past a joke, really, because it's just not, it's been low pressure for a little while
33:24and I think it's all the new builds they're putting on and they're not putting the water supplies in, are they?
33:29So, I don't know, they've got to do something and we can't live on bottled water.
33:33We stupidly moved into the area from like a mile away and I knew that the water went on and off sometimes,
33:40but we did still move there, but I actually didn't, it was, we didn't know it was going to be as bad as what it is.
33:47Southeast Water reported at 4.55pm that pressure problems at its site combined with a burst main
33:54are affecting supplies in Coxheath and Maidstone, leaving some customers with no water or reduced pressure.
34:01The company apologised for the disruption and said they are working to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.
34:07In Luce, Southeast Water said supply should have been restored, but customers without water can use the water station,
34:14which will remain open until 10pm.
34:16As the calls for David Hinton to resign continue to pour in, only the taps will tell if it actually makes a difference.
34:23Kristen Hawthorne for KMTV, Maidstone.
34:30Now, Maidstone isn't the only area affected by these water issues, with Tunbridge Wells also seeing their supply affected.
34:37One resident has a background in crisis management and communications and says he isn't pleased with the handling of the issue.
34:44I spoke with him earlier for more detail.
34:47Well, thank you so much for joining us, Jonathan.
34:49I suppose, first of all, can you give us a rundown of how you and your household have been impacted by this water loss?
34:54Give us a run through of it.
34:57Well, the situation today is probably a pretty good indication, really.
35:01We haven't had any running water in our home since Sunday morning.
35:08Before that, we had a couple of hours of water delivered to the property each morning and then the water was switched off.
35:18We feel that that probably was a ruse in order to circumvent the compensation requirement that would be placed on Southeast Water
35:27if they fail to provide water to a property for 12 continuous hours.
35:33The impact for us is pretty extreme, really.
35:36You know, we can't flush the toilet.
35:38We can't wash the dishes.
35:39Can't wash ourselves unless you get a sink of cold water or try and top it up a bit with a kettle using bottled water.
35:48We can't wash any clothes.
35:50It's pretty grim.
35:52But, you know, we don't have it too bad.
35:55Others are having it much worse.
35:57And that's because the impact of this goes beyond the home.
36:02Schools are closed currently still in some parts of Tunbridge Wells.
36:07And that has a massive impact on working parents who are having to try and manage children at home.
36:14I was talking yesterday to a consultant surgeon within the NHS who was having to stay home from his hospital as a consequence of having two kids sent home.
36:26And then there are the vulnerable, vulnerable people are supposed to have bottled water delivered to their homes by Southeast Water.
36:34And I'm getting persistent reports of people who are being missed out.
36:38And these are people who have no mode of transport to get to a bottled water distribution station.
36:45And even if they do get there, there is absolutely no guarantee whatsoever that Southeast Water will be holding that place open.
36:55Yesterday they were shut without any notice whatsoever.
36:58And today they've been difficulties since 11.30.
37:02I see. And there were issues last year around November, December time.
37:06Is there a kind of a feeling among people here in Tunbridge Wells of this is back and this is now a recurring problem rather than just a one off?
37:14Look, you know, we started we started off feeling fairly stoical about this.
37:19But, you know, we're now basically enraged because, you know, this isn't the first time, you know, a few years ago we had problems right across Christmas.
37:28We've had intermittent issues ever since.
37:31And then, you know, at the end of November, beginning of December, we had a period of five days without water, five days where we had to boil water, you know, before we used it from the tap.
37:44Then on the very day when the chief executive of Southeast Water, the man we like to call Hopeless Hinton, gave evidence to the parliamentary select committee in which he said that the performance of Southeast Water in the handling of this crisis was eight out of ten.
38:01That very same day, the company once again shut off water supply to thousands of homes in Tunbridge Wells.
38:09And yesterday, of course, the situation has escalated with property as far away as Headcorn, Maidstone and East Grinstead in Sussex also suffering difficulties.
38:19Parts of Tunbridge Wells, I gather, are starting to get some water, but nobody knows for how long and it isn't arriving here.
38:27Next, a suspected arson attack has caused thousands of pounds worth of damage at a nature reserve in Maidstone.
38:34A fire broke out at FANT Wildlife Nature Reserve yesterday afternoon, destroying vital equipment used by volunteers and visiting school children.
38:42Our reporter, Nayla Mohamed, joins me in the studio now.
38:45So, Nayla, talk to us about where this all started.
38:48So, it started around 3pm yesterday afternoon at the FANT Natural Reserve in Maidstone.
38:54And it was in the tall reserve shed that they have in the area and firefighters arrived quickly on scene with two fire engines and quickly disposed of the fire.
39:03But then the damage was already done.
39:05And trustees say there was nothing inside the shed that could have ignited the fire.
39:09And given that and the previous vandalism that has occurred at the site, police are treating it as suspicious and as arson.
39:16And they've remained on scene until 7pm.
39:18I see. We can see some photos now of that damage.
39:21Tell us a bit about how serious was the impact for the people.
39:25It was quite serious.
39:26I mean, the trustees of the site said it was devastating.
39:28I mean, you can see on the screen right next to us just how much of it has been burned and the damage it's done to the wildlife and to the area surrounding.
39:36So, around £5,000 worth of equipment has been damaged and destroyed, including tools used by volunteers for the activities and events that they do, especially for children.
39:48I mean, I think this is an area that the host scouts quite often.
39:51And they host all these kind of activities, including bug hunting and identifying insects.
39:56And the book they used to identify has been burned as well.
39:59Absolutely.
40:00I mean, definitely an area where the wildlife is so important to what they do there.
40:05So, I suppose for such a natural area to be hit by a fire, what happens next?
40:10Well, like I said, police are treating it as suspected arson.
40:14And as such, they're considering it an ongoing investigation.
40:17And they're appealing for anyone who's around 3pm around the area yesterday to come forward with any information on anything they may have seen that could help them with their investigation.
40:26But the trustees are determined to keep activities ongoing.
40:29Volunteers have been asked to bring in their own tools to make sure no activities are stopped or suspended.
40:35And they're very much determined to making sure that none of the wildlife is further damaged in their reparations.
40:42I see.
40:43Well, thank you so much for bringing us more details on this story.
40:47Fingers crossed that everyone at FANT Wildlife Reserve can get things back up and running.
40:52Thank you for your time.
40:54Now, it is time for a very short break, but we'll be bringing you more news from across the county.
41:02One story where our reporter Chloe Brewster met a four-year-old rescue dog from Sevenoaks.
41:07That dog is in need of a hip replacement.
41:10But in the meantime, you can also check out our socials.
41:14You can follow our TikTok and you can also take a look at our Facebook for all the latest news where you are.
41:21We'll also be taking a look at a woman who has written, I believe she's from Sittingbourne.
41:27She's written a book all about her husband's death during COVID.
41:31And we'll be talking with her about how writing the book helped her through her grief and exactly why she chose to do it.
41:39And really the impact that it had on her and what the message she wants to share is all about.
41:45Rather than reducing people to numbers during the pandemic, but highlighting that there are people behind those statistics.
41:50We'll have all that and more after this short break.
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45:35Thank you so much for joining me, Emma.
45:38I suppose my first question is tell me about the moment that spurred you on to start writing
45:44the book and that journey that you've taken on.
45:47Yeah, well, thank you for having me.
45:50So I decided to write the book because I felt that we focused a lot on the numbers or the
45:56media focused a lot on numbers in the pandemic.
45:59But everybody who was lost in the pandemic was a person and I wanted to tell my story but I also wanted to tell the real story of the pandemic whilst also making sure my husband was never a statistic of the pandemic.
46:14So I always wanted him to be more than just a number and so I decided to write my story and write my family's story.
46:23I see. And tell me about the books. I believe the book's titled Is Daddy Going to Be OK? Tell me about the emotion behind that and your lived experience of what it was like to go through that and how writing the book has really helped you on your process.
46:38Yeah, so the book is titled, as you say, Is Daddy Going to Be OK? And that is the question that my daughter asked me after my husband had been taken by ambulance to Medway Maritime Hospital.
46:51So he walked downstairs to the ambulance and then we didn't see him again.
46:54And she looked at me and she said, Is Daddy Going to Be OK? And I didn't have the answers for her.
47:01It was so early on in the pandemic. None of us knew what was really going to happen.
47:04And so I just had to look at her and say, I don't know.
47:08And as a mum, saying that to your child is one of the hardest things I've ever had to do.
47:12But I just decided to be honest with her. So that's that that's the meaning behind the title.
47:18It's a genuine question that was asked of me. So so writing, I found really cathartic.
47:23So before I wrote the book, I launched a blog in 2021 called Life is a Roller Coaster.
47:27And again, that was just my way of actually trying to make sense of everything that was happening to us.
47:32So I would write predominantly of an evening before I went to bed to try and get things out of my head.
47:36But then and that's what led to people saying, are you going to write a book to talk about your experience?
47:40But I found it a really cathartic process. It was a really tough process.
47:44So putting myself back into 2020 and 2021, which was obviously when we were in lockdown, we were very isolated.
47:52It was during it was when my husband first died, was actually really tough.
47:57And I did. It did result in me going back into therapy.
48:00But actually, that then resulted in a really positive experience for me.
48:03So overall, I view the whole writing process as a really cathartic and a really worthwhile thing for me to have done.
48:09I see. For anyone who may have also lost someone during the pandemic, is it something that you'd recommend they do not even to publish it, but just to to get through this?
48:20And I'm also curious, the span of the book. Tell me a bit about that.
48:26Yeah, so I think writing is really cathartic.
48:29And I know so many other people who have been bereaved that actually find it really beneficial to just put things down on paper.
48:35It just helps to get it out of your head. And I think so the book spans so it tells a little bit of our life pre pandemic.
48:42So you get to know a bit about my husband and about me and my daughter pre pandemic.
48:46But then it's the first 15 months. So it finishes in July 2021, which was I don't want to spoil the book for anybody, but that was a pivotal moment in our journey.
48:57And so that felt like the right natural end for that one.
49:00And so it's the 15 months. So it tells the story of his illness, his time in hospital, his subsequent death, and then how we started rebuilding our lives and how we started just trying to find a new normal for want of a better phrase.
49:15I see. And tell me, what do you hope people take away from the book about your husband and about the experience?
49:21I would like people to just just think about the fact that there were people behind those numbers and to realize the impact that the pandemic had on ordinary people.
49:33And I'd like also people to realize that it's it's a story of hope.
49:38So it's not just a widow story. It's not just someone telling the story.
49:43It's actually, you know, this story of hope that we went through the most horrific experience, but we slowly started to grow around that grief.
49:50And it might just help someone who's in a particularly dark point right now, if they were to pick it up and read it, it may just be that little bit of hope that that that things do start to change over time that that they need at that point in time.
50:05Now, don't forget, you can keep up to date with all your latest stories across Kent by logging on to our website, cametv.co.uk.
50:12There you'll find all our reports, including this one about a virtual dementia tour that came to Strood last week.
50:17With the use of sensory equipment like spiked insoles, flashing lights, loud sounds and gloves, the experience was aimed at giving attendees a glimpse into the lives of those diagnosed with dementia.
50:27A warning for the upcoming segment, it does contain flashing images.
50:31I felt like I knew a lot about dementia, but this is a good eye opener.
50:35By partnering with Training2Care, charity Carers First have been able to bring the virtual dementia tour to Medway in an aim to help carers, professionals and staff better understand and support those with dementia.
50:47This piece of training allows the carer and any professional that's working with someone who has dementia to experience what it's like to have dementia and how it affects their senses.
50:58Quite often when people hear the word dementia, they think about memory loss, but what they don't necessarily consider are the sensory changes that happen, things like vision and sounds, being able to hold things with their hands, colour changes.
51:13So what this experience does, it allows, with some tools and with sights and sounds, to feel like you're having those same experiences that person's having.
51:24And what that will then enable professionals and also carers to understand is why people with dementia might have certain behaviours.
51:32With dementia currently affecting more than 900,000 people in the UK alone, carers first say that one in three people will become a carer at some point in their lives.
51:43This makes the virtual experience a stepping stone in raising awareness of the syndrome and its effects.
51:49It was really amazing to understand what it is to be inside the shoes of somebody with dementia.
51:55So it's really a good eye-opener, really is amazing, really good. It was not what I expected at all.
52:00Going through that experience, it's a real eye-opener. I mean, that feeling of not being able to see what you're doing, seeing where things are, and that noise.
52:12I mean, that constant noise must just be absolutely awful for the person going through it.
52:18So I've been told by people who've already taken part in the turret that it's nothing like they expected it to be.
52:23So I thought I'd try it out for myself.
52:33We had to put insoles in our feet that were spiky, so you kind of feel how they feel when they're walking.
52:39You had to put gloves on, glasses on, wear the headphones, and there was all kinds of stuff going on.
52:45Sirens in your ear.
52:48Although the virtual experience looks just as strange as it feels, it gives a sneak peek into the lives of those with dementia,
52:58helping carers and staff better support each other and those that they care for.
53:02Kristen Hawthorne for KMTV in Strood.
53:05Now, hip replacements are usually reserved for people, but this four-year-old golden retriever from Sevenoaks is in great need of one.
53:16Having been taken from a kill shelter in Turkey, Barney took a road trip to the UK alongside six other pups where he was put in a foster home here in Kent.
53:24But since his rescue, suspicions have arisen that Barney may be in need of a little bit more than just care and love.
53:32Our reporter Chloe Brewster travelled to Item in Sevenoaks to meet him.
53:35From suffering to Sevenoaks, Barney, the golden retriever, is one of six dogs to make the 2,000-mile journey from Turkey to the UK just before Christmas.
53:45He's ended up here in Kent in the good hands of Foster Nicola and her daughter Lily May.
53:50I saw him on Facebook. It was a post that Angels for Animals put up and we absolutely love golden retrievers.
53:59We've been obsessed with them for about a year.
54:01And I saw him and I don't know why.
54:04They asked for a medical foster and I thought I could do this because of my experience.
54:08So I applied and I had a video call with the charity and a couple of weeks later, here he is.
54:16We think that at some point he was owned in Turkey, so he comes from Turkey, and that he was born with hip dysplasia.
54:25And it looks like from his x-rays that he has been probably hit by a car.
54:30He's also got one of his canine teeth is snapped off as well.
54:34They did some x-rays in Turkey, and you can see with this x-ray, both hips aren't good, but one particularly, you know, the bone looks like it's come away.
54:45It's not where it should be.
54:47In order to live a life without pain, Barney needs a double hip replacement, a surgery costing £10,000.
54:54Hopefully, yeah, we can get it done as soon as possible because he is clearly in pain.
54:59And I think if you see his x-rays, you'd know that he's going to be in pain with those sorts of injuries.
55:06Seeing like a little one like that in so much pain and knowing that he should have all this energy and he should be able to run around and go on long walks, it's so heartbreaking.
55:16And so being able to get this money for him to get these surgeries done, it will just give him a complete piece of life.
55:24We've had this year, I think, well, last year, I should say actually now, I think we would have had five broken hips that we've needed to be fixed.
55:34And they're very expensive.
55:35We've still got one dog over in Turkey that we're looking for a medical foster for, just because it's very hard to find homes that we've been able to find for Barney.
55:44So we're incredibly grateful that he's been able to make this great trip and we're able to fundraise.
55:49Now he's here and he's able to get that good veterinary care.
55:53Seeing these dogs that we are able to get out, save, rehab and to bring over, it just means everything to see them live in like a truly kind of free, happy life.
56:05Nicola has created a Just Giving page to help raise the money for the surgery.
56:09She hopes it will help Barney finally live a pain-free life here.
56:12Chloe Brewster for KMTV, an item.
56:15You've been watching Kent Tonight live here on KMTV.
56:20There's more news made just for Kent throughout the evening.
56:23And don't forget, you can always keep up to date with the latest news across your county by logging on to our website, kmtv.co.uk.
56:30You can also keep us on your social timelines by liking us on Facebook and following our TikTok.
56:35And if you think you have a story we should be covering, please don't hesitate and get in touch.
56:40But that is all the time we have.
56:42Thank you so much for watching and I'll see you soon.
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