- 23 minutes ago
Catch up with all the latest news across the county with Kristin Hawthorne.
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:05KENTONITE LIVE
00:21Good evening and welcome to KENTONITE LIVE on KMTV.
00:25I'm Kristin Hawthorne and here are your top stories on Thursday 7th May.
00:30Bulldozed Boat Club.
00:31Swanscombe settlement destroyed by landowners, leaving a man homeless.
00:35My home is no different than anybody else's.
00:38It was a home.
00:40Delivery out of service.
00:42Yielding Post Office set to close after 126 years of deliveries.
00:46I would like the Post Office to reconsider opening one day a week until the new shop is open.
00:52And ready, set, roll.
00:55Chatham Snow Sports Centre stays confident it still has the UK's longest toboggan run.
01:00It's not going to be competition.
01:02And it's going to be of a different sort to this.
01:14Our top story this evening.
01:16A man living in a boating club in Swanscombe is picking through the debris of his home after it was
01:22torn down by the landowners in an ongoing dispute.
01:24The Broadness Cruising Club saw its sheds, jetties and boats starting to get removed last night, which has left Bob
01:31Thwaites without a place to call home.
01:34Phil McDermott went down to speak to him and see the ruin being left behind.
01:37I feel like I'm crying.
01:42Are you all right then?
01:45It's me home.
01:47He's lived here for more than 30 years but yesterday he got the call he had been dreading.
01:51The company that owned the land, his caravan and boat were kept on had torn it all down.
01:57Bob Thwaites is 79 and has stayed at Broadness Cruising Club on the Swanskin Peninsula since
02:02the 90s and during that time he's had rows with Land Logical about access to the site.
02:08We tried to speak to him but we weren't allowed into the club so we interviewed him through
02:12the fence.
02:13Everything is gone, my home, everything, all my medicines, all my memorabilia, 35 years
02:22of, you know, if you can imagine someone doing that to your home, my home is no different
02:28than anybody else's.
02:30It was a home.
02:32Two wardrobes full of clothes, just everything, all my tools, I can't find it, half my tools,
02:39I've got the key to my car, that's all gone.
02:42I can remember being here back in September of last year behind that fence and then what
02:47I saw was a community that had taken decades to build and now overnight it's been torn down.
02:53I can remember being invited into Bob's home.
02:56I stroked his cat, I think he made me a cup of tea.
02:59Now that home is nothing more than debris.
03:02Yeah, so Land Logic has decided to bulldoze my grandad's home of 30 odd years and we're
03:11down here to help him try and salvage what we can for his well-being.
03:17Broadnest Cruising Club say they've paid their fee to the Port of London Authority that allows
03:22them to remain on the site.
03:23For them it's been a long fight with Land Logical over the deadline they needed to remove their
03:27boats by.
03:28They give us a bit of time, they give us a month and then they give us another month
03:32which we started moving bits and pieces and taking bits down and then the next thing there's
03:39no access at all and then they put this fence up so we couldn't get nothing out if we wanted
03:45to.
03:46Land Logical CEO Mr Katz said that Bob was squatting, there was no occupational right there or any form
03:52of residency on the land.
03:54He added, we have done it the right way.
03:56Clearing is ongoing now until it is completely clear.
03:59Once it is finished I'm going to present them with a bill and that is going to be substantial.
04:04He added he plans to work with Ebbsfleet Development Corporation for a social use of the peninsula.
04:09But Bob's family said they didn't know what would happen next.
04:13With him having no home to return to, he's left picking up the pieces of the last 35 years.
04:19Finn McDermid for KMTV in Swanscombe.
04:23And Finn joins me now to tell us a bit more about the timeline of events.
04:27Finn, this is a story we've been following for a while now, where did it start?
04:31So I'd like to sort of take us back to, I believe it was July in 2025.
04:36That was when we first started hearing about the issues at Broadness Cruising Club in the
04:40Swanscombe Peninsula.
04:41So the club had been there since about 1991 and they'd always had this kind of agreement
04:46that they could come and go as they pleased.
04:48They had access through other people's land into the Boating Club, which you can
04:52see there.
04:52This is back in September of last year.
04:55In July, they found a gate had been put up outside of their club and they were told the
04:59landowners, Land Logical, had removed their access.
05:02The original agreement was, according to the company, purely gratuitous, meaning it wasn't
05:06done through proper channels, they said.
05:08Since then, they had multiple deadlines they put up.
05:11Originally, like I say, I think it was August 31st, where they wanted all the boats removed,
05:16and after that point they said anything else would be considered abandoned.
05:19You can see that's Dave Edwards working on his boat back then.
05:24There was also a fundraiser started to make a legal challenge and there was also that deadline
05:28pushed further and further back.
05:29But for a time there had been almost kind of a stalemate.
05:32Bob Thwaites, who lives on the site, as you saw there, he was given a key and there was
05:36that sort of, like I say, that kind of stalemate.
05:39But now here we are, and as you can see here, this is what remains of Bob's home.
05:44It's no more than debris, and today I was speaking to him as he was picking through the
05:49rubble to find his valuable items.
05:52And tell us about that scene when you were watching him, watching that be destroyed.
05:56It was quite difficult to watch, like you mentioned, this is a story I've been covering
05:59for quite a while.
06:00I've met Bob, he invited me into his home, I probably stroked his cat, had a cup of tea,
06:04that cat is now missing.
06:07What you can see there has changed, it's been torn down, the digger came in.
06:13And yeah, so turning into the scene, you can see on your screens now, I spoke to Bob, he
06:18says he has places he can go, places he can stay, but whether he wants to go to these places,
06:23he really enjoyed living out there.
06:24That's sort of the question.
06:25And very quickly, Finn, what have LandLogical said?
06:28They've said that the clearance today was nothing new or unexpected, and it should have in fact
06:33happened months ago.
06:34They told Cancer Online that Bob has no occupational right for any form of residency on the land,
06:40and they've done everything in the right way, adding that they are going to return the costs.
06:45So essentially they are going to make the Cruising Club members pay for the costs of having the
06:50digger out there today.
06:51Thank you, Finn.
06:54A man has been sent to prison after attacking a stranger in Ashford.
07:00In this body cam footage, you can see him being pulled over and arrested.
07:04It follows an incident at the end of the year, at the end of July last year, when Kemp Police
07:09received multiple calls reporting a disturbance in Hardinge Street.
07:13One witness said he saw the victim being kicked down and pinned down while the attacker waved
07:17a knife.
07:17During the violent attack, the victim was also robbed of his belongings and a small amount
07:22of cash.
07:2327-year-old Amar Bostan was sent to prison for 10 years.
07:27Here is the moment he was arrested.
07:50The family of a teenager killed in a motorbike crash on our country lane has described him
07:55as the kindest of souls.
07:58Oli Tarvat was going out with his friends to get items for a barbecue when he was struck
08:02by an oncoming vehicle in Lower Road near Tenham.
08:05The 17-year-old's devastated mother, Joanne, has urged for steps to be made to make the road
08:10safer as she was also involved in a crash along the same road back in 2014 while pregnant with
08:16Oli's younger brother.
08:17She went on to pay tribute to her son detailing his love for the outdoors, biking, football and
08:22barbecuing, as well as describing him as their real-life BFG.
08:27Yalding's post office is being closed down after 126 years of service.
08:32The current postmasters are set to retire in June, with no new tenants set to take over.
08:37KMTV has been told the post office is in talks with two possible takers, but nothing's been
08:42yet confirmed.
08:43Naila Mohamed went to Yalding to see how residents feel about potentially losing the service.
08:48After 126 years, the future of this post office may be stamped out, as it's set to close after
08:56current postmasters Tim and June retire next month.
09:00And being in rural Maidstone, for many customers, access to nearby post offices may not be so easy.
09:08Now the main concern for the couple is that once this post office closes, the nearest ones
09:12are Maidstone, which is 8 miles away, and Tunbridge Wells, which is 13 miles away. There are other
09:18little villages nearby, but they're not accessible unless you have a car, which is worrying for the
09:23couple because most of their customers are elderly. And so train is the next best option.
09:28There are a lot of people who don't drive and the public transport from here is negligible,
09:34to say the least. So I was rather hoping we would transfer everything over to a new premises
09:40so the service wouldn't be cut, but it's not looking like that's happening.
09:46In this transition time, they've got nothing planned at all. So they're quite happy to have
09:52the risk closed, then nothing, and maybe open another one in six months' time.
09:57Or nine months' time. Or whatever. No, there's no guaranteed time.
10:01The Youlding Post Office also sells locally sourced products and acts as a community hub.
10:07I think Youlding itself is a fantastic community where we're working. And it will be a big, big loss
10:13if there is no post office in the intervening period of time before it actually reopens somewhere else.
10:19How are these people going to be able to survive?
10:21The couple reached out to Post Office one year ago, announcing their retirement,
10:25but say they are disappointed that no replacement has been found.
10:30They also asked if a temporary outreach for one day a week in the same building could be established,
10:35but have been told that this is not possible due to having too many customers.
10:40In a recent statement, a spokesperson for Post Office said,
10:44We know how important a post office is to a community. The vacancy has been advertised and we are in
10:50talks with two interested retailers
10:52and are working hard to keep any period of closure to a minimum.
10:55We apologise for any inconvenience that may be caused to our customers in Youlding.
11:00I would like the post office to reconsider opening one day a week until the new shop is open.
11:07And not take everything away before then. We could just open one day a week until they take it over.
11:12Then at least we've given a little bit of a service.
11:15So now, after 126 years of service and no one yet to replace Tim and June,
11:22is the fate of this post office signed, sealed and delivered?
11:26Now, it's time for a quick break, but don't go anywhere because we have lots more exciting news coming up.
11:35We'll be seeing how Maisie handled the UK's longest toboggan track where Winter Olympians train to take on the slopes.
11:41We'll also take a look in a shopping centre in Sittingbourne that's bucking the trend and has every single store
11:47filled.
11:48All that and more to come. See you then.
15:11Hello and welcome back to Kent Tonight Live here on KMTV.
15:14The Forum Shopping Centre in Sittingbourne is celebrating being at full occupancy for the first time in years.
15:21The centre is full to the brim a year on from being taken over at rock bottom.
15:26Kamal Farid is one of the directors of the firm that owns the centre and discussed the success.
15:32Remember a year and a half ago, if you drop a coin here, you're here to the other side.
15:36That's how quiet it was.
15:37Seeing it now, the doors keep coming in every second.
15:41It's just making us over the world so happy that we have achieved our vision by buying a dead asset
15:49that was not performing and actually making it once this day.
15:53So for us that's, I mean like it's a milestone that's very important for us and hopefully that's one of
15:58many.
15:58We had a lot of plans and hopes to get it full but I will tell you that the timelines
16:03have exceeded our expectation.
16:05So as a team, we all worked together very well and we were able to attract local, national and regional
16:10bands.
16:11I mean the place has completely transformed as you can see.
16:14The place is now at 100% occupancy.
16:16We have no vacant shops.
16:18We have some amazing tenants that moved in.
16:20We have a lot of F&B, a lot of national, regional and local tenants, which I think this is
16:26the mix that Stingborn really wanted.
16:29Cutting-edge baby saving equipment will be installed in Medway Hospital thanks to massive fundraising efforts.
16:38The Oliver Fisher Special Care Baby Trust, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, has raised £250,000.
16:45The money will upgrade Medway Marantines Hospital's intensive care and neonatal ward.
16:51Hannah Grout, the Trust's PR manager, said everyone at the charity has been in awe of the variety of ways
16:56the community has fund-raised.
17:06For years, Chatham's Snow Sports Centre has stood out as home to the UK's longest toboggan track.
17:13The 750-metre ride carries visitors uphill before handing them full control, allowing riders to pick up speed or slow
17:21down using a simple ham lever.
17:23However, its title as the longest could soon face a challenge, as proposals in Scotland aim to create a new
17:29toboggan attraction billed as both the country's longest and tallest.
17:33Maisie Walker reports.
17:34For decades, Chatham's Snow Sports Centre has been sledding ahead of the competition with the UK's longest toboggan run.
17:42Stretching 750 metres, riders are pulled to the top before taking the controls themselves, pushing the lever forward to speed
17:49up or pulling back to brake.
17:51But could Chatham's Crown be starting to slip downhill, with plans underway for a new longest and highest toboggan run
17:58in Scotland?
18:00It's all done by gravity, so once you reach the top of the run, then you get released from the
18:05cable and then you just release the brakes from the track and then you control the speed.
18:11If you want to go slower, you just pull the brakes back a little bit and that slows you down.
18:15The centre opened in 1986, but the company that owns it now bought it in 1991, so we've operated it
18:22for the last 35 years.
18:23There are other toboggan runs in the country, but they aren't of this particular type, so I'd be really surprised
18:29if there was another one being opened of this type really.
18:32It's not going to be competition, and it's going to be of a different sort to this.
18:36So we've just heard all about the toboggan, so I think it's only right that now I get a 10.
18:47Now here's something I didn't tell anybody at the centre. I'm terrified of heights.
18:53I think you can probably see me trying and failing to keep my nerves from going off the rails.
18:58Once I reached the top of the hill, my nerves disappeared almost instantly.
19:03Sporting little bunnies definitely helped as well.
19:11It felt strange but exciting being able to control the speed myself.
19:15But with the Snow Sports Centre confident its title is still on track, it remains one of Kent's hidden gems.
19:23Maisie Walker for KMTV, Chatham.
19:27And keeping with the theme of sports, here's all your sports news from across the county with Tim Forster.
19:41First tonight, Gilliam's Gareth Ainsworth has vowed to rebuild his squad the right way,
19:46insisting the club will not be drawn into reckless spending.
19:49Following a poor campaign which saw the club finish 17th at the end of the League 2 season,
19:53a post-season cull has left the jewels with just 13 senior pros.
19:57However, Ainsworth has made it clear that any recruitment will be built on sustainability,
20:02rather than trying to compete financially with bigger spending rivals.
20:06Ainsworth admitted there will be some bigger clubs than us, even in the conference, that can pay big money.
20:11We're going to do this sustainably. I think that's one of the reasons I was targeted as manager,
20:15because we don't overspend. I want to get bang for my buck. That's going to be important in the summer.
20:20Next, Smith and Brabham FC managed to come from behind to achieve a 4-3 victory over FC Greenwich
20:26in the Kent Junior A Cup Final.
20:28At Magistone United's Gallagher Stadium, the Foxes managed to overcome an early Greenwich goal
20:33to take the lead by half-time.
20:35A fast-paced second half saw four goals scored in 14 minutes, as Greenwich tried unsuccessfully
20:40to break Smith's stride, leaving the Foxes to claim their first county cup.
20:44Smith manager James Wilmer gave full credit to the players, claiming,
20:48As much as I can motivate them, they motivate themselves.
20:51They've wanted this so much for the whole season, and I'm proud of them.
20:54This is the first Kent Cup Smith have ever won, and to do it in the A Cup, there's no
20:58better feeling.
20:59And finally, the British Touring Car Championship is set to return to Browns Hatch for round two of the season
21:04this weekend.
21:05The weekend will feature three races, along with the new Race to Pole qualifying session.
21:09Napa Racing's Ashley Sutton will be looking to extend his title lead following round one at Donington Park,
21:15while newcomers Plato Racing will be hoping for a change in fortunes.
21:19After Daniel Rowbottom's pole failed to result in the podium finish,
21:22that team owner Jason Plato had been hoping for.
21:25The weekend will also see the circuit hosting the second round of the British Formula 4 Championship,
21:29as well as the Porsche Carrera Cup and the Caterham 7 Championship.
21:33And that's all for your Sports Bulletin.
21:44Two Kent towns have been named in time out as some of the best 16 seaside spots in the country.
21:51Folkestone came fourth, with the judges loving the Creative Quarter and the Harbour Arm for their art galleries and indie
21:57music.
21:58They also drew attention to the Sea Scrub Sauna, the UK's largest beach spa.
22:03The Lifestyles publication experts placed Whitstable in 14th place,
22:07praising the town's beach and independent shops, eagerly anticipating its annual Oyster Festival in September.
22:15Lovely weather there in those pictures, but now for a look at the weather forecast.
22:25This evening we have a range of 13 to 14 degrees, highs in Maidstone and Dartford.
22:31Wind speeds staying relatively low into the morning.
22:34We have highs of 11 degrees towards the east of the county in Dover and Margate.
22:38Cloudy skies as well. Cloudy skies continuing into the afternoon.
22:41Wind speeds at 6 and 7. We've got highs of 18 degrees.
22:4519 degrees on Saturday, cloudy skies. 16 on Sunday, cloudy skies.
22:50And then sun peaking through on Monday, but cooler with 15 degrees.
23:02And airing after Kent tonight this evening is KMTV's latest series of Generation Cyber.
23:07It investigates whether the virtual world is safe enough for young people
23:11and how technology will change society as we know it.
23:14Henley and Eleanor team up with researchers to ask people across the South East about gaming, social media, AI and
23:20ethics.
23:21Here it is.
23:22We'll be exploring all of this in...
23:24Generation Cyber.
23:26We're going to look at why people act the way to do online.
23:29And how to stay safe.
23:31Cyber attacks can even affect NHS appointments or disrupt travel.
23:35Do you like gaming?
23:37You do.
23:38You do.
23:38We're here to play and there's no hate involved.
23:41My hat is sweet.
23:43I think it should matter that you were an appropriate kid in a game.
23:46That really messed me up for a couple of days because I was just so angry.
23:50How is these companies not doing anything?
23:52He takes the innocence out of people.
23:54It really does.
23:54It does.
23:55There's no shame in being victimised online and really the best thing that young people can do
24:00is have these open and honest conversations like we're having today.
24:04I think a lot of the time in my mind I'm exposed to a lot of racist, misogynistic or homicidal
24:07content.
24:08They like themselves so much better from social media.
24:11So do you say the government's blinded by all the negative instead of looking at the positive?
24:16Yeah.
24:16Yeah.
24:17You're essentially trying to make young people be blind to what's happening.
24:21AI is like a creative psychic.
24:23My opinion on AI will never change.
24:25I'll see a different side of it.
24:27I don't know.
24:27Senior enough, it's all we're going to talk to.
24:29That's not the point of living if you're being judged by computers.
24:33So AI ethics isn't simple, but if you use it for good, you might be able to save the world
24:37or just finish your homework quicker.
24:39What can policy makers do? What can you do as the next generation?
24:44Yeah.
24:44What we can control is how people use us, humans.
24:50A generation of people who don't see hope, who don't see themselves in the world is about the most dangerous
24:58thing that we can do.
25:01Sounds like I'm watching Love Island.
25:06I think it'll be local MP.
25:09What does the government do to keep young people safe online?
25:12We're doing a number of things. First of all, the online safety app, which means that we're restricting content.
25:18I've been subject to racial abuse, people saying the worst of the worst.
25:22But what really helped me was being surrounded by amazing black women and having that strong sense of self within
25:28who I am as a person.
25:29Should we be worried about AI? Should we be excited?
25:33And what's your question for us today? Why should we trust AI?
25:36Majority of the time, it's just not to be trusted.
25:39Do you think you have enough of a say in what happens to do in the parliament?
25:43I don't think our voices would be heard more than people older than us.
25:47I think when you're younger, you're not really taken seriously.
25:51There's a lot of like misogyny everywhere.
25:53And it's just really sad to know that people are just spiteful like that.
25:58I don't see AI technically like as the problem. I'm more like the person using it.
26:02I think they should teach us the dangers of using it because not many people understand the dangers of using
26:07AI.
26:11So episode two will be premiering after the programme tonight.
26:14The presenters Adele and Eleanor explore what young people think of AI.
26:19They then visit a youth group to create music and talk about the importance of creativity.
26:24And then finally, Eleanor visits Westminster to ask what government and companies are doing to protect the next generation.
26:31Watch all this in Generation Cyber after this break.
26:34But you've been watching Kent tonight live here on KMTV and there's more news made just for you throughout the
26:39evening.
26:40So we'll see you then after the show. Bye bye.
27:01Bye bye.
Comments