00:42Hello and welcome to Kent Tonight, live here on KMTV.
00:46I'm Chloe Brewster and here are your top stories on Friday the 10th of April.
00:50At a cliff edge, Swanscombe residents lament as three years passed since catastrophic cliff collapse.
00:57It's quite nice, three years on.
01:00We should have at least a plan.
01:02In Cliftonville goes green, votes counted for Kent County Council by-election.
01:07Robert Michael Yates, Green Party candidates, 2068.
01:12And finally, under the sea, Chatham Historic Dockyard has launched an ocean exhibition
01:17to shine a light on the threats facing our seas.
01:20Here in Kent, we're obviously surrounded by the sea, so it's incredibly important to our heritage and to our community.
01:37There's anger and disappointment in Swanscombe, three years following the collapse of a cliff there.
01:42Three years ago today, a chalk cliff catastrophically collapsed, taking out a huge chunk of Galley Hill Road in Swanscombe.
01:50The closure has caused huge disruption to the lives of local people who still face a road closure at the
01:55site.
01:56Residents face the prospect of yet more years before they'll see it fixed.
02:00Local democracy reporter Olly Leder went down to find out more.
02:03A birthday here in Swanscombe that no-one wants to celebrate.
02:08Back in 2023, the town's main A-road partially collapsed after a burst pipe caused a landslip,
02:17leaving a vital cut-through between Dartford and Gravesend out of action.
02:24Three years later, all the signs indicate that misery's not letting up any time soon.
02:31Try and go anywhere in and out of Swanscombe.
02:34The morning is completely gridlocked, the evening is completely gridlocked.
02:37By now, it's three years on.
02:39We should have at least a plan, but there is no plan, as far as I can tell.
02:44With Galley Hill Road still closed, the town's narrow streets have become a wrapped run for heavy lorries
02:50and commuter traffic, which is causing chaos in the town centre.
02:55The traffic here is a bottleneck, and it's all day, every day.
03:01We've got traffic, especially in the evenings.
03:04You make the appointments, and they're turning up 20 minutes.
03:07Half an hour later, we even get clients phone in and saying,
03:11I'm driving around, where can we park?
03:14We get lorries come down the road, and they get blocked,
03:18and they have to reverse and go all the way back.
03:20So it's a nightmare, especially at peak times.
03:23Our deliveries are taking so much longer to get to our clients.
03:29Yeah, it's just really bad.
03:31I mean, it's three years too long.
03:33Solutions to the road closure are few and far between,
03:37with two options on the table to reopen Galley Hill Road.
03:41The first is to build a bridge spanning the affected area,
03:46while the second is to reinforce the chalk spine the road was built on in the first place.
03:54But either option will cost tens of millions of pounds,
03:58and patience here is wearing thin.
04:02It's a pooling situation.
04:04It takes a mental toll on everybody,
04:07and people do feel abandoned.
04:09That's the feedback that I'm getting.
04:11They're abandoned, and no-one cares.
04:14Kent County Council says they're working to mitigate traffic impacts in the area,
04:19and are working on solutions to reopen the road when it's safe to do so.
04:25But with no end in sight,
04:27this is an anniversary that will be commiserated on for years to come.
04:32Olly Leader on Galley Hill Road.
04:37A triumph for hope.
04:39That's what the Green Party have labelled a huge win at Kent County Council by election today.
04:44Turning the electoral tides against Reform UK nearly a year on from their landslide win in the local elections.
04:51But is this simply a protest vote against the right-wing populists,
04:55or do the Greens now have Kent in their sights?
04:58Local Democracy reporter Olly Leader and Megan Shaw join me from Cliftonville now.
05:03Hi, guys. What was it like there today?
05:08Well, Chloe, first of all, it was an early start for us.
05:11Quite a long drive as well to Cliftonville.
05:13And when we got there, the hall was busy.
05:15It was in a sports hall.
05:17We got there around half past nine.
05:19The votes were being verified from the night before.
05:22Around half ten, they started counting,
05:24and the piles were getting higher and higher,
05:26particularly for Greens, of course, wasn't it, Olly?
05:28Look, Chloe, Meg, this was an extraordinary day in Kent's politics.
05:34A lot of gloomy Reform UK faces.
05:37Senior figures, Linda Cam Caron, the KCC Council leader, was in the room.
05:43I think she was probably hoping for a slightly better result.
05:45The Greens beat Reform UK by 301 votes.
05:51It's a major upset.
05:52We're in a windy day here in Cliftonville,
05:54but the real wins that are changing are the political wins.
05:58I mean, you see that moment as it happened in the hall.
06:03Robert Michael Yanks, Green Party candidate, 2068.
06:09There were eight spoiled papers.
06:12A huge result in a fan-it by-election
06:15touted as a referendum on Reform UK's first year
06:20at Kent County Council,
06:22with the Green Party Cliftonville candidate Rob Yates
06:26securing 2,068 votes.
06:29That's a 301-vote lead on the right-wing populist party.
06:36Called after the previous Reform UK councillor for the area
06:40was put behind bars for domestic abuse,
06:43the by-election was hotly contested.
06:46But political opponents say this was no sign
06:50of a deep local love for the Greens.
06:53This is, at the moment, this is a protest vote.
06:56I mean, the scary thing is the rising of the far left
06:58is obviously coming up.
07:01But obviously, as said, it's democracy.
07:03And if that's what people want, that's what people will get.
07:06It was an unusual campaign
07:08that felt more parliamentary than local authority.
07:12Two, three, yay!
07:14With senior figures like Reform UK's Robert Jenrick
07:18hitting the doorstep.
07:20And it was Green Party leader Zach Polanski
07:23that received the real rockstar reception
07:26on the eve of election day.
07:29And we'll win in Cliftonville
07:31as we elect Rob Yates as your next.
07:35Turning out hundreds at a grassroots venue
07:38to put last-minute jitters at ease.
07:41With a turnout of 37%
07:44and more than 5,000 votes cast,
07:47this was not a small win.
07:50Hope is the Green Party's motto.
07:53How high are those hopes
07:54for further electoral success in the county?
07:5811 years ago,
07:59Nigel Farage was walking down
08:00Cliftonville High Street.
08:02And now that's a green Cliftonville High Street.
08:04So, 100%,
08:06it's now Greens versus Reform in Kent.
08:09For Labour, this was a more bruising defeat.
08:12They came fourth in the contest.
08:16Concerns downplayed at the count.
08:18I'm actually really thrilled
08:21that we now don't have a reform representative
08:24in Cliftonville.
08:26I think it's brilliant.
08:27Cliftonville have spoken.
08:29They've had enough of chaos and neglect.
08:31They've had enough of division and hate.
08:34Victory here will bring the number of Green councillors
08:38at County Hall to six.
08:40That means they're still the fourth party in the chamber.
08:44But symbolically,
08:45this election will be a wake-up call for Reform UK
08:48and the previous political establishment.
08:52Olly Leader in Cliftonville.
08:57And tell us about the reaction there.
08:59What were residents feeling?
09:04Absolutely.
09:05So, as you can imagine,
09:06the Greens were elated.
09:07But for Reform,
09:08they left quite soon after.
09:10But, I mean, for us,
09:11we're still going to be around in Margate
09:13because Zach Polanski is set to come
09:16and congratulate Rob Yates.
09:17Yes, well, he came down
09:20on the evening of election day.
09:23Eleventh hour visit.
09:24The room was electric where he's in.
09:26It's a real rock star entrance
09:28for the Green Leader.
09:30Hundreds of people crammed in there.
09:33Maybe he'll be replicating
09:34that same sort of rally
09:36on the beach of Margate this evening.
09:40He's going to be on the steps.
09:41We'll be trying to get a word with him,
09:43finding out what this means
09:44for people here in Kent.
09:46But he ran off quite quickly last time.
09:50Maybe we won't be able to catch him
09:51this time around.
09:54Thank you so much for joining us, guys.
09:59Now, the owners of a new restaurant
10:01in Folkestone say they were left deflated
10:03after someone smashed the window
10:05of their venue just days after opening.
10:09Friends, James Bicker,
10:11Holly Cottingham and Josh Cottingham
10:13welcomed their first customers
10:14to their business ahead of the Easter weekend.
10:17But just days into trading,
10:19a rock was hurled through the bar's front window
10:21in the early hours,
10:23causing £5,000 worth of damage.
10:26Kent Police confirmed it received reports
10:28of criminal damage at a business
10:30in Church Street Folkestone,
10:31and an investigation is now underway.
10:36Former partners of a carer
10:38who manipulated three men
10:39before falsely accusing them of crimes
10:42have now spoken out.
10:43Lauren Kinraid, 35,
10:45from Sittingbourne,
10:46has been put in prison for four years
10:48after making false criminal reports
10:50about previous partners,
10:51with one receiving 20 separate reports.
10:55Accusations included coercive
10:57and controlling behaviour and harassment,
10:59with Lauren sending herself
11:00fake rape and murder threats,
11:02pretending to be the aggressor.
11:03This is Peter Brown's account
11:05of his relationship with Lauren.
11:07After about six months,
11:09we started getting a bit romantic.
11:13She wanted to get married
11:16before she's 25.
11:18Like an idiot,
11:19I went,
11:20OK.
11:21And we got married.
11:23Everything was rosy,
11:24she was working,
11:26having a decent wage,
11:28putting money in the house.
11:30Then she just turned around one day
11:32and said,
11:32you should move out.
11:33Until I was saying,
11:34no,
11:35I paid for everything in this house.
11:37And the next thing I knew,
11:38police were there,
11:39arresting me
11:40for controlling towards her behaviour,
11:43her soul,
11:43she said,
11:44et cetera, et cetera.
11:50That's all we have time for.
11:51But now,
11:52don't go anywhere.
11:53We had the chance to explore
11:54the wonders of the ocean
11:56at the Ocean Photography
11:57of the Year exhibition,
11:58as well as look at
11:59the various events
12:00held over the Easter.
12:01We'll also learn about
12:02the future of Bradley Dack
12:04at Gillingham FC
12:05and we'll take a look
12:06at the weather.
12:07Let's hope it's as sunny
12:08as it was earlier in the week.
12:10I will also be speaking
12:11with Lily to delve
12:13into how spring
12:14affects mental health
12:15and how staying inside
12:17may cause issues
12:19with mental health
12:20as well as different
12:21Easter events.
12:22We'll also be meeting
12:23veterans who are celebrating
12:24the first anniversary
12:25as Wigmore and Parkwood
12:27Armed Forces Veterans
12:29Breakfast Club
12:30in Gillingham
12:30held a birthday celebration.
12:32Thank you so much for watching.
12:34Come back after the break.
22:56Thank you so much.
22:58And finally,
23:48thank you.
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