- 16 hours ago
Catch up with all the latest news across the county with Meghan Shaw.
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:26Good evening and welcome to Kent tonight live here on KMTV.
00:30I'm Megan Shaw and here are your top stories on Thursday the 6th of August.
00:35Stations saved as Kent and Medway Fire Authority rejects closure plan.
00:40The service has been putting in an impossible decision where they're trying to increase fire, obviously covering a day without
00:47the funding.
00:48Running out of lives. Cost of living crisis hits RSPA centres across Kent.
00:53Last year we ran at a £30,000 deficit and this year we're heading to a £50,000 deficit.
01:01And Super Steve. Café owner saves children in rough broadstairs seas.
01:16But first our top story tonight.
01:19Plans to scrap four fire stations in rural Kent have been dumped by the Kent and Medway Fire Authority after
01:26a huge backlash.
01:27The proposals put forward by the Fire and Rescue Service would have risked dozens of jobs, particularly around removing on
01:34-call sections from existing stations.
01:37Counselors worried about the risk to the public, but the service has warned it will have to go back to
01:41the drawing board to balance the books and meet demand.
01:45Local democracy reporter Olly Lieder was there for the vote.
01:51And just like that, four fire stations are off the chopping block.
01:56The proposed closures alongside other streamlining measures from Kent Fire and Rescue would have reduced the number of part-time
02:06on-call firefighters who usually work evenings and weekends.
02:10But for councillors who sit on the fire authority, safety fears trumped putting those plans out for public consultation.
02:20I think we all recognise fiscal prudence, but we do realise that this measure here is really putting the lives
02:29of our residents at risk.
02:30You know, we need to find a financial sustainable solution.
02:33We need to find a solution to make sure the right firefighters are in the right place.
02:37But I think trying to deal that all at once, I'd say, was too much.
02:40The cuts and closures were designed to address a £1.3 million grant funding shortfall during a time of rising
02:48costs.
02:49The on-call station in Wye was one of those earmarked for closure.
02:54Feeling in the rural village had been mixed.
02:58Is this vital service for the local community and there's not another one for quite a few miles?
03:04They don't have enough volunteers to man it anyway.
03:06We had a big fire over in the field the other week and they didn't even go out.
03:11Kent Fire and Rescue had hoped reductions from on-call services would have allowed it to divert resources
03:19to responding to emergencies in the daytime where demand is highest.
03:25But the plans were controversial from the get-go.
03:30Hundreds attended protests organised by the Fire Brigade's union who had warned of dozens of job losses.
03:37We believe that this is a central government funding issue.
03:40The service has been putting in an impossible decision where they're trying to increase fire,
03:45obviously covering a day without the funding.
03:47The Fire Authority, like any local authority, still needs to find a way of balancing its books.
03:53Difficult decisions could still be ahead.
03:55I mean, we'll always make sure that people are safe.
03:58It's going to be a bit harder to do that now, but we will always make sure that people are
04:02safe.
04:02So we're just going to have to find different ideas, just different ways.
04:05It makes it a lot harder to go out to date to the public and asking them for their other
04:09ideas.
04:09And we already had some really interesting conversations going.
04:12So it's disappointing, but yes, of course we're going to keep people safe.
04:15The Fire Authority may have seen off-closures and staffing changes for now,
04:20but financial pressures facing the service here in Kent aren't going anywhere
04:25and it doesn't have a lot left to slash or burn.
04:30Olly Lieder in Maidstone.
04:34And Olly Lieder joins me now.
04:36So Olly, you've been covering this for a couple of months now.
04:39This isn't a new story.
04:40So tell me, how did we get here?
04:42Well, originally it was actually going to be five station closures.
04:46Grain, up in the Hoon Peninsula, was taken off the list of proposed station closures
04:52after lots of backlash, particularly given, you know, Grain,
04:56especially one road in, one road out.
04:58They thought it wouldn't necessarily be safe to close that station.
05:02Now, none of them are going to be closed.
05:04All the stations are safe.
05:06Despite the fact that our concern, some of these stations aren't regularly in use.
05:11They are part-time on-call services.
05:15So essentially, if you have these part-time workers, they work full-time jobs in the evening,
05:20they might clock on and help out, go to an emergency with a pager.
05:24So they'll be at home, be called in.
05:26Let's say there's a fire in a field or in a residential property.
05:28They might be called in to help out.
05:31The big problem is more about that daytime cover.
05:34Most road traffic accidents and fires happen during the day.
05:38That's when the fire service needs to be active, ready to go.
05:41That's what the concern was.
05:43Obviously, the fire service needs to find new ways of addressing that gap in demand.
05:48The last few weeks have been absolutely chock-a-block with protests.
05:53The unions were gathering outside County Hall earlier this week.
05:58You can see this on screen.
06:00I've heard about 300 people outside County Hall.
06:03You have politicians from all the different parties, MPs.
06:06You have Helen Waitley there.
06:07She's a shadow Conservative minister.
06:10You have Sojan Joseph in Ashford doing a video with the deputy leader of the Reform UK-led council.
06:16This is not the sort of thing that would normally lead to people coming together.
06:22But clearly, people are very passionate about their local community and the impact that this could have.
06:28Thanks so much, Ollie.
06:29Of course, there'll be plenty more to come, so you'll be following that one closely as well.
06:34Next, a van driver has a meeting causing the death of a highway worker from Kent by driving dangerously on
06:41the M23.
06:42Emergency services were called to the fatal collision on the southbound carriageway of the M23 in Crawley
06:48just before 1am on the 8th of July, where Anthony Ho was pronounced dead at the scene.
06:53The van driver, Vilius DeMarcus, of no fixed address, was arrested and charged the same day with causing death by
07:00dangerous driving in connection with the incident.
07:02He pleaded guilty at Hove Crown Court and is set to be sentenced on the 28th of September.
07:08And a quick warning, this one does contain disturbing imagery.
07:12A violent abuser has been sentenced to prison after attempting to suffocate his girlfriend in a home bay flat after
07:19she threw him out.
07:20Lewis Baker threatened to annihilate his partner and flew into a rage, holding his partner under her duvet until she
07:26bit his hand hard enough to draw blood.
07:29The former builder blocked her attempts to call the emergency services and cut his own neck, threatening to tell the
07:34police she'd attacked him.
07:35Judge Edmund Fowler told Mr Baker his abuse had exacerbated the victim's epilepsy, saying she has nightmares, poor sleep and
07:42her seizures have increased.
07:44She felt she was going to be killed and remains deeply affected.
07:47He pleaded guilty to intentional suffocation, actual bodily harm and possession of cannabis and was sentenced to 27 months in
07:54prison at Canterbury Crown Court.
07:57Ashford Garden Cattery Rescue is facing closure within months after rising vet bills, urgent building repairs and falling income left
08:05the small RSPA branch £30,000 out of pocket last year, as our reporter Maisie Walker has been finding out.
08:12A lifeline for animals is under threat. Ashford Garden Cattery faces an uncertain future, with losses of up to £50
08:20,000 this year, putting it at risk of closure.
08:23So for cats like this one, the Cattery gives them safety, security and a place to stay until they find
08:29a new home.
08:30But with things like the cost of living crisis and rising vet bills, charities are struggling to keep up with
08:37demands.
08:38The RSPCA takes in 42% more animals than it re-homes, meaning without emergency fostering or adoption, these cats
08:46could be left without a safe place to go.
08:49It's not been great because over the last few years, the cost of living crisis, everything, all the costs of
08:56everything have risen, vet costs, utilities, pet food and it's just risen so much.
09:07And we're having cats in with more complicated, you know, illnesses and medical problems, which is costing more.
09:15So last year, we ran at a £30,000 deficit and this year we're heading to a £50,000 deficit.
09:24The branch has raised almost £12,000 through a GoFundMe appeal, which is enough to keep the Cattery open until
09:30next year.
09:31But Ashford isn't alone. At the Labour and Animal Centre, rising demand has forced staff to transfer small animals like
09:38guinea pigs to other branches.
09:40At the moment, the demand we have, the pressure for space is higher than ever.
09:45And we are at a point where we're almost at that kind of bursting point where what do you do
09:50next other than close your doors, which we can't do.
09:52But what's driving these growing struggles that charities across Kent and Medway are facing?
09:58We've seen a 10 to 15 percent drop in the amount of donations being given to charities.
10:02We also, of course, have a real pullback in state funding.
10:07So lots of charities, I know, here in Kent and Medway, in particular, receive grants from Kent County Council, Medway
10:14Council.
10:15And whilst those bodies have tried to maintain some sort of giving and funding, actually that has dropped significantly.
10:23And we see charities now having to compete far more aggressively to try and get what little funding there is
10:28left.
10:29With demand continuing to rise and the cost of living showing little sign of easing, the pressure is only growing
10:35for these charities.
10:36Without more support through donations, fostering and adoption, many fear the challenges will only get worse.
10:43Maisie Walker for KMTV, Ashford.
10:46It's been revealed that Howlet's World Animal Park and Portland Reserve have begun a formal workforce consultation,
10:53butting jobs at risk amid rising operating costs.
10:57The parks currently employ more than 550 staff alongside around 100 seasonal workers.
11:03Bosses say it's too early to know how many jobs could be lost or which departments may be affected,
11:09but say they need to respond to the current economic climate and rising costs.
11:14A spokesperson for Howlet's and Portland says they're committed to keeping any necessary redundancies to an absolute minimum.
11:22Angry traders have called out a council's plans to close its historic market.
11:26Maystone market traders in Lock Meadow who use the platform to raise money for charities have created a 500-person
11:32petition
11:32calling for the tradition to stay open and plan to present it to the Borough Council's Overview and Scrutiny Committee
11:38on August 10th.
11:39Petition organiser June Bix said,
11:41I'm shocked they could shut the market that has been at Lock Meadow forever without holding a public consultation.
11:51And I'm afraid that's all we've got time for this part, but stay tuned. We'll be back soon. See you
11:55then.
Comments