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Catch up on all the latest news from across the county with Finn Macdiarmid
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01:00Riding accident, we learn about a maidstone inquest into the death of a woman riding a horse near Deal.
01:05She was very helpful, very generous person and I think more than anything, yes, we can't believe that she's not
01:15just going to walk around the corner.
01:18And watering wellness, Canterbury NHS Mental Health Garden transformed ahead of Volunteers Week.
01:25We wouldn't be able to maintain this space without our volunteers and at WEBS we have around 20 volunteers who
01:31are regular committed volunteers who come here every week and look after the space.
01:43But first tonight, a massive solar farm that locals say would have destroyed the natural beauty of new ash green
01:49has been blocked at Sevenoaks District Council.
01:52The planning committee went against officer recommendations to reject the plans.
01:56But developer Evolution Power has said that an appeal to overturn the decision could cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of
02:03pounds.
02:04Our local democracy reporter, Olly Leder, was at the meeting for us.
02:09Celebrations in Sevenoaks as a 235 hectare solar project was rejected at planning committee with 13 councillors going against the
02:20officer recommendation of approval.
02:23It's a decision that nearly passed back in January and was deferred to this week to give officers time to
02:30seek legal advice.
02:31For the local councillors who have lobbied against these new ash green proposals, it's a major win.
02:38Members were really competent and addressed all the really important factors and protected our village.
02:45The proposals put forward by Evolution Power would have seen 70,000 solar panels built on these fields.
02:53For Ian and Claire Furness, whose house overlooks the area, the future of their rural slice of life had been
03:00a major worry.
03:02Around this area, we've lost so much countryside to solar already.
03:06Where do we draw the line?
03:08We need somewhere for recreation, walking, cycling, farming, horses, everything.
03:16It loses so much.
03:18The solar farm would have generated enough energy for more than 17,000 homes.
03:24And Evolution Power is now likely to appeal to get the decision overturned.
03:29Something that could cost taxpayers thousands.
03:32A refusal this evening would therefore have no impact on the project timeline,
03:36but it's highly likely to cost Sevenoaks around £400,000 in appeal costs.
03:41It will not stop the project.
03:43Planning is quasi-judicial.
03:46That means councillors need valid legal reasons to reject applications.
03:51With not a single statutory consultee like the Environment Agency objecting to the plans,
03:59have councillors put public money at risk?
04:01You can't put a price tag on democracy.
04:04You know, local residents in the thousands of this district have objected to this application.
04:08I do think we have very strong grounds for refusal,
04:11and I am confident that we will have a good case to fight it at appeal.
04:15Evolution Power say they're now considering their options.
04:18But if the decision ends up with planning inspectors,
04:22this solar farm saga could have a very different ending.
04:27Oli Leda in Sevenoaks.
04:30A pair of drivers were caught racing on a motorway near Rochester by a Kent police patrol car.
04:35Let's take a look at the moment.
04:37They were spotted and pulled over.
04:39The only place you're currently going is to court where you're going to get a ban.
04:43They're weaving through traffic.
04:44I've just got them on an average, 111.
04:49The patrol car was overtaken by the two along the M2 between junctions 2 and 3 back in September of
04:542025.
04:55They were at first believed to be going at 90 to 100 miles per hour.
04:59The two cars actually went up to speeds of up to 120 miles per hour,
05:03undertaking and using the hard shoulder.
05:05Liam Gammon and Billy Little were given a 30-week suspended sentence,
05:08disqualified from driving for a year and a half,
05:10given more than a £200 fine,
05:12ordered to complete 200 hours unpaid work,
05:15and given points on their licence.
05:21A mother and daughter who committed fraud late last year
05:24have been sentenced at Maidstone Crown Court.
05:26Kathleen and Siobhan Perry stole an elderly woman's bank card
05:30and went on to spend more than £2,000 on things like cigarettes and fast food.
05:34They both pleaded guilty and were sentenced at Maidstone Crown Court on Friday, May 2026.
05:39And Santander reimbursed all the money that had been taken.
05:42Etelie Reynolds has more.
05:44Siobhan, here you come.
05:46This is the moment police found and arrested Siobhan Perry
05:49after her and her mother, Kathleen Perry, committed fraud.
05:54In November 2025, after posing as carers,
05:58the pair stole a bank card of an elderly woman
06:01and went on a spending spree in Maidstone.
06:04In total, more than £2,300 had been spent.
06:08A relative of the elderly victim alerted the police on the 15th of November 2025.
06:14Kathleen was arrested the same day
06:16and was charged with 14 offences of fraud,
06:19burglary and a breach of a criminal behaviour order.
06:23Siobhan was arrested on the 24th of November
06:25and charged with eight counts of fraud.
06:28Detective Sergeant Matt Lynch said,
06:30We take all reports of crime seriously,
06:34particularly where the victim has been targeted
06:36because they are very vulnerable.
06:38This mother and daughter are serial offenders
06:41and officers were able to quickly identify them as suspects.
06:45Hours worth of CCTV footage was examined
06:47to piece together the extent of their crimes
06:50and the pair were tracked down and arrested.
06:52These two women have no regard for who they hurt
06:55and only focus on what they can steal.
06:57In this case, they used money that a pensioner could not afford to lose
07:01on fast food and cigarettes.
07:03They should be thoroughly ashamed of their actions.
07:06Both pleaded guilty and were sentenced at Maidstone Crown Court
07:10on Friday the 29th of May.
07:12Kathleen was sentenced to three years and three months in prison
07:15and Siobhan was sentenced to nine months imprisonment.
07:19Etterley Reynolds for KMTV.
07:22Faversham and Mid-Kent MP Helen Waitley has said
07:25that her constituency doesn't have the infrastructure
07:28to be able to cope with the more than 20,000 homes
07:30planned for the area over the next few years.
07:33She's urging the government to, as she says,
07:35stop the sprawl and today handed a 7,000-strong petition
07:39into Parliament.
07:40Jo Crosley spoke to her earlier.
07:41So 20,000 houses is about the size of two Favershams.
07:46So you think about that as a huge amount of housing planned
07:49for a very rural area.
07:52And the majority of what is in the pipeline is development
07:55on greenfield, on agricultural land, on the countryside.
07:59And this is just going to change the character of the area forever.
08:05On top of that, we just don't have the infrastructure.
08:08So whether it's roads, traffic, clearly doctors,
08:11and most on people's minds at the moment is water,
08:16where there isn't the water for the population
08:18that lives in the area now, let alone for another 20,000 houses.
08:23And Helen Waitley wasn't the only MP making a statement
08:26at Parliament today.
08:27Let's have a listen to Tristan Osborne,
08:29who had some cutting words for reform leader Nigel Farage.
08:33A very distressing case was recently brought to my attention
08:37by a constituent in Waldem, in a village in my constituency,
08:40of a man who could not remember his own words,
08:43even though he said it on television,
08:46that the NHS should not be funded through general taxation.
08:51What can we do to ensure my constituents in Chatham and Aylesford
08:55secure clarity on future Kent and Medway NHS funding,
08:59and what can we do to help the leader of Reform UK?
09:04We reached out to Reform UK for comment about those comments
09:08in the Houses of Parliament, but we did not hear back for a reply.
09:13Now, in some other news,
09:15Kent apparently has an issue with the amount of foster parents.
09:19Now, we have been doing multiple reports about this in recent times,
09:24and one of those you can watch right now.
09:26You can watch all those stories and more on our website,
09:29kmtv.co.uk.
09:31So, you can watch Chloe Brewster's report right now.
09:34After raising her two children,
09:36Joanne and her partner Neil decided to begin fostering.
09:3917 years later, and three foster children raised,
09:43Joanne decided to take a slightly different route,
09:45getting into short-term respite care.
09:48Two years on, she's looked after more than 49 children in Kent.
09:52I'll either have no-one for a couple of weeks, a month,
09:57and then I will have children that come in and out the door,
10:01so revolving doors.
10:02I enjoy it.
10:03I know that when they come in, they're usually in, you know, crisis.
10:09You know, it's not nice to come into foster care,
10:11and I hope that I can bring a little bit of calm in their lives
10:16and also make it not so traumatic.
10:19There's a huge lack of foster placements in Kent.
10:22Kent County Council stated that in 2025,
10:25the region was short of approximately 820 foster carers slash placements,
10:29leaving many children without local homes.
10:32The national picture isn't much brighter.
10:35There are approximately 80,000 children living with foster parents
10:38and 70,000 approved foster families,
10:41but fewer than one in five places are vacant at any time.
10:45I get it.
10:46It's a hard step to take to say you're going to be a foster carer.
10:51It's a big step.
10:53And I think, you know, there's lots of things that could put you off doing it.
10:57But I think a lot of people would be surprised at how much actually,
11:04well, how good they would be.
11:06If you're 21 or over, have a spare bedroom and the legal right to work in the UK.
11:10The company Joanne Foster with's anchor says you can apply to foster.
11:15While fostering a child can apply for years, weeks or just days,
11:18Joanne says the positive impact on vulnerable children can last a lifetime.
11:23Chloe Brewster for KMTV.
11:27Coming up after the break, we'll be hearing from our reporter Maisie Walker,
11:30who's been down to a transformed therapeutic garden
11:33at St Martin's Hospital in Canterbury.
11:35We're taking a further closer look about foster carers here in the county
11:40and what more can be done to encourage younger people to apply to be foster carers.
11:45As always, we'll have your weather forecast for the coming days as well,
11:49as well as some news about an inquest relating to a woman who was injured
11:54and later passed away from her injuries after riding a horse.
11:57We'll have all that and more after this short break.
12:00See you in just a few minutes.
12:29We'll see you in just a few minutes.
12:59We'll see you in just a few minutes.
13:29We'll see you in just a few minutes.
13:59We'll see you in just a few minutes.
14:29We'll see you in just a few minutes.
14:59We'll see you in just a few minutes.
15:25Now, we heard a bit about foster parents before the break there,
15:28but what does it take to become a foster parent?
15:31I think many parents out there might feel that they're underqualified,
15:34but that might not be the case.
15:36And with there being a bit of a gap between the need for the amount of foster carers
15:40and the amount of foster carers there actually are, well, there's currently quite a drive for more young people to
15:47become them.
15:48I spoke to Farai from Anka Foster Care earlier.
16:08I spoke to Farai from Anka Foster Care earlier.
16:18We'll see you in just a few minutes.
16:29We'll see you in just a few minutes.
16:36We'll see you in just a few minutes.
16:39That's the first criteria for you to foster and there isn't really any qualification because most of it is training
16:49that you get from us as an agency.
16:52As Anka, we provide quite a lot of training and so is any other provider out there.
16:57So you need to be 21.
16:59You need to have a heart for fostering.
17:02You need to be patient.
17:03You need lots of patience.
17:04And just be caring about making a difference in young people's lives that come from various backgrounds and in various
17:13very tricky situations.
17:15And tell us a bit about the benefits.
17:18I mean, what does it mean to these young people?
17:20Tell me a bit about the kind of things that foster parents could expect.
17:27Well, the benefits would be obviously to do with, I'll start with probably the less, well, probably the more controversial,
17:34which could probably be controversial sometimes, is to pay.
17:38You've got to earn money to run a home because the young people and children need a safe, warm and
17:46caring home.
17:47And you need money to do that.
17:48So you need to be paid to do it.
17:51But like I said, in terms of criteria, not a lot in terms of training because we offer it.
18:01But it's good to have, obviously, experience, which is very valuable in terms of parenting skills.
18:07You would have raised your own children.
18:10That is good.
18:11You would have interacted with your nieces and nephews.
18:16That is good.
18:17So any parenting skills that you would have over time, that is taken into account.
18:24I see.
18:25And tell us a bit about, I feel a lot of parents that might be watching or those that could
18:31be foster parents might feel inadequate or ill-equipped to be foster parents.
18:35What would you say to them to encourage them to apply?
18:39Well, I would say you don't have to be perfect.
18:43All you've got to do is be willing to be able to open your home, which most parents will not
18:51do.
18:51They've got a big heart up in their home to these young people that so desperately need a safe place
18:58and a warm place and a loving home.
19:02You don't have to be perfect.
19:03You just have to be willing to come along and learn on the job, bring your experience that you've got
19:09with you, which is translatable in most cases.
19:13Like I said, parenting skills are a big part of that.
19:17Well, that's all they're doing.
19:17They're just parenting these young people.
19:19It's nothing complicated.
19:21So, not a lot of specialists are training.
19:24We provide a lot of specialist training, 24-7 support, and we'll be with you along the journey.
19:32Today, drivers in Ashford have been facing a three-mile diversion following the closure of Boyd's Hall Road.
19:38The closure comes after contractors from UK Power Networks dug a hole to carry out excavation works.
19:43This has resulted in a diversion through the Ashford Orbital Park, Bad Munster-Eifel Road and Hythe Road to access
19:49Highfield and South Willsborough.
19:51A statement from Kent County Council has said the closure is required for the safety of the public and workforce
19:56while excavation works are undertaken by UK Power Networks.
19:59The closure comes at the same time the SGN chiefs confirmed their work in Ashford Town Centre is set to
20:05be extended by a week.
20:08Let's have a look at your weather forecast.
20:16And for your weather today, it's looking quite mild, or at least milder than we've seen, 16 and 17 degrees.
20:22This is this evening.
20:24Tomorrow morning, however, we're getting a light bit of drizzle, slightly cooler temperatures as well, 15 in Royal Tumbridge Wells
20:29and Ashford, and into tomorrow afternoon.
20:33It's staying pretty much the same, only rising a little bit up there in Margate, Canterbury and Dover.
20:38And here's your outlook for the coming days.
20:40Friday, 18 degrees, a little bit of cloud, but we're going to have a nice sunny Saturday, 19 degrees, getting
20:45a little bit warmer into Sunday and that cloud returning for our weekend.
20:57At an inquest at Maidstone, a Maidstone inquest today, many have spoken about the moment that a horse ride near
21:04Deal turned into tragedy.
21:06Eva Anderson was out riding in Ripple last August when the dogs nearby to her horse spooked it, causing one
21:12to bolt.
21:13She was dragged along the road and later died in hospital.
21:16A jury at that inquest has now reached its conclusion after hearing three days of evidence at the inquest.
21:22Kristen Hawthorne has the story.
21:23This is the police body cam footage showing Eva Larson receiving critical care in Deal after she was kicked and
21:31dragged by a horse after it was spooked by dogs and bolted.
21:34She was initially walking alongside it when she was going back to the riding school, when dogs started barking and
21:40coming towards them.
21:41She later died on the 13th of October, 2025, just seven weeks after the accident.
21:47After three days of deliberation into the cause of Eva's death, the jury has decided that it was misadventure.
21:53We spoke to your close friend Nick afterwards, who gave us a tribute for her life and his views on
21:58the case.
21:59She was a hard worker.
22:01She worked over 80 hours a week and had done for 20 years.
22:08She was very helpful, very generous person and I think more than anything, yes, we can't believe that she's not
22:18just going to walk around the corner.
22:21We found out soon after Eva's death that her granddaughter, who's 11 years old, who rides regularly and lives in
22:34Sweden, she has to wear a body, carbon body protector.
22:41I'm in the belief that this would have saved her life.
22:45She would have sustained many injuries, but this would have not been so catastrophic on the liver.
22:51While the tragic incident is rare, horses being spooked isn't and is becoming more common.
22:57Yeah, over since January of 2021 to 2025, we've had nearly 1,700 incidents of dog and horse related and
23:08with that 12 fatalities over that four or five year period.
23:14In Kent itself, we have had 79 incidents, again, recorded to us, which is the second highest county in the
23:22UK.
23:23So, yeah, it's just creating a little bit of awareness and sharing that space together so everyone can get on
23:29with their business and get home safely.
23:31Eva Larson was getting ready to retire before the tragic accident that led to her death.
23:35Her friends and family now reflect on the time they had with her and what changes could be made in
23:40the future to prevent it from happening again.
23:42Kristen Hawthorne, KMTV, Midstone.
23:47Before that piece, I wrongly used her name as Anderson.
23:50Her name is Eva Larson, so apologies for that.
23:53Next, to celebrate National Volunteers Week, locals from the community in Canterbury have come together to help transform a therapeutic
24:01garden at St. Martin's Hospital.
24:03It's being used as part of Kent and Medway Mental Health NHS Trust's mental health recovery programme, carrying out planting,
24:10landscaping and maintenance work to help enhance the peaceful outdoor space for patients, staff, volunteers and families.
24:16Our reporter, Maisie Walker, has the story.
24:18St. Martin's Hospital in Canterbury is marking National Volunteers Week by celebrating the volunteers who have helped create and maintain
24:26Webb's Garden, which is a therapeutic space that supports people's mental health.
24:31The garden helps support mental health recovery by giving people the opportunity to come outdoors, connect with others and participate
24:38in gardening activities.
24:40The garden provides year-round access and forms an important part of the wellbeing support available at the hospital, offering
24:47a calm environment where people can reflect, relax and focus on their recovery.
24:52It's completely essential that we have volunteers here at Webb's Garden.
24:56So our garden is around two acres. We only have 20 regular volunteers who are looking after the space and
25:03their roles are really to make the space what it is.
25:06While volunteers have helped shape the garden, staff say the space plays an important role in supporting patients' wellbeing, particularly
25:14for those that may not otherwise have access to green outdoor spaces.
25:18Having spent a lot of time in mental health, you know, as a nurse, there's certainly different mental health stress
25:25that I've worked in where there's a real lack of outdoor space or the opportunity to experience outdoor space.
25:32And I would certainly say what it does do is it stops someone being able to just have a break.
25:43The project has also been supported by a local house builder, Red Row South East.
25:48Last year, they donated £10,000 towards the creation of a new summer house, which patients now have the option
25:54to use for therapy sessions.
25:56So at Red Row, it allows our staff to give back through volunteering and their time to donate towards charities
26:05and organisations that matter for the community and the wider audience.
26:15The garden may be filled with plants and flowers, but those involved say it's the sense of community from the
26:21volunteers that's really helped it bloom.
26:23Maisie Walker for KMTV, Canterbury.
26:28And just before we go, the former Canterbury home of the co-creator of the children's TV character Bagpuss has
26:33been put up for sale.
26:35Hillside Farm was the family home of the late artist and puppeteer Peter Furman, who was one of the minds
26:40behind the iconic cat.
26:41Bagpuss was made in a disused cow shed and went on to star in all 13 episodes of the show,
26:45considered one of the most popular of the late 90s.
26:48The historic home has gone on the market for £1.2 million.
26:52That's all the time we have. Thank you so much for watching and we'll see you soon. Goodbye.
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