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Catch up on all the news from across the county with Kristin Hawthorne.
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00:28Transcription by CastingWords
00:32Hello and welcome to Kentonite Live on KMTV. I'm Kristen Hawthorne and here are your top stories on Monday the
00:3817th of August.
00:40Visit our village. Sherlock residents say new water boss needs to hold meetings locally to discuss issues.
00:46You knew four years ago what was wrong. If it's the same problem, why haven't you sorted it out in
00:51four years?
00:52International rail on track. Virgin trains allowed to run services through the county.
00:56And I'll be outside Eversfleet International with all the details.
01:01Out all night, businesses on Rochester High Street sleep rough to raise awareness of youth homelessness.
01:07Yeah, well the youngsters coming up early, I just didn't want to know you.
01:22First tonight we have some breaking news to bring you.
01:25Three men have been arrested after a teenager was stabbed in Rochester High Street.
01:30Police were called in the early hours of Saturday morning to a young man with serious injuries near the junction
01:35with Star Hill.
01:36Officers later recovered a knife from nearby and a 38-year-old man was arrested.
01:41Two further suspects, men aged 34 and 40, were also taken into custody.
01:46The boy remains in hospital in a stable condition.
01:49Police are asking for anyone with information to contact them.
01:54More than 8,000 homes and businesses across Kent have been hit by water supply issues after pipe bursts and
02:01high demand during the hot weather.
02:03South East Water customers in Shallock, near Ashford, have said they're used to low pressure at this point.
02:08But with some homes getting water after days of outages and have had to choose between flushing toilets and showering.
02:14Phil McDermott has the whole story.
02:16Across the county today it's been from one extreme to another, with multiple water supply issues in areas like Herne
02:22Bay, Canterbury, Cranbrook and villages around Shallock, near Ashford.
02:26Now while some have had their water supplies returned, like those in Herne Bay, issues with critically low storage have
02:31meant flow can be spotty.
02:33In the village of Shallock, they aren't strangers to water issues, with the village seeing problems in previous years and
02:39locals saying they've just had to get used to it.
02:41I got up this morning, turned the tap on, no, yesterday was nothing all day, got up this morning, turned
02:44the tap on, no, still nothing.
02:47Little notes on the WhatsApp group, there was a bit overnight, so we think, right, okay, so the system's filled
02:52up upstairs.
02:53So do you have a shower or save that for the loo upstairs?
02:59So we saved it for the loo thinking that if they're not delivering us any more water here today, then
03:03maybe it's going to come back on, and it has now.
03:05So the first thing when it came back on was put the dishwasher on, put the washing machine on, have
03:10a shower, you know, it's not easy, it's not easy.
03:14Now here in Shallock and the surrounding villages, there have been water issues since Saturday, but as you can see,
03:20it is a bit quieter here today.
03:22But there are still people struggling, and not just here in Shallock and the surrounding villages.
03:26There's also low storage tank supplies in Herne Bay, power issues in Whitstable, and low pressure in the Benenden area.
03:31These are all contributing to the water supply issues.
03:35In fact, there's five different water supply stations currently active.
03:38Shallock Village Hall, the Weald Sports Centre in Cranbrook, the Sainsbury's in Herne Bay at Altera Business Park,
03:43Story Park and Ride in Canterbury, and Winsheep Park and Ride.
03:47Locals have also commented they're unsure of any changes within South East Water, and that to them, it all feels
03:52the same.
03:53I didn't know there was a new bus, really.
03:55So, yeah, nothing's changed, no.
03:59And I just think it's going to get worse.
04:00So, I think this is just the start, personally.
04:03But we'll see.
04:05They've got to put more back into the system, really.
04:09That's what they've got to do.
04:10Less profits and more back in.
04:12The bottled water station in Shallock is set to close at 10pm this evening,
04:16and you should check your local supply station on South East Water's website for more information in your area.
04:21South East Water have said we're very sorry to customers in the Charing, Shallock and Malash areas of Kent,
04:26who have experienced water supply issues throughout the weekend and today.
04:29Due to the prolonged period of hot and dry weather, water levels in our local drinking water storage tanks are
04:34very low,
04:35and this has impacted our ability to pump fresh drinking water to customers in this area.
04:39While some homes, like Geraldine's, have started to get supplies back,
04:43locals say they're living in fear about when their pipes will next pack up.
04:46Finn McDermott for KMTV in Shallock.
04:49Virgin will be allowed to run international rail through Kent in a major shake-up to continental rail in this
04:55country.
04:56Eurostar have had a monopoly on the market since the Eurotunnel opened,
05:00but with the rival operator hot on their heels,
05:02will this mean international rail could return to Kent sooner rather than later?
05:07Local democracy reporter Olly Leader caught up with us outside Ebsfleet International for the full lowdown.
05:12So, Olly, how significant of an announcement is this?
05:17Kristen, this is a big deal.
05:20Eurostar were previously the only operator allowed to run trains through the Eurotunnel to Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels,
05:27from St Pancras in London.
05:30That's all changed.
05:32The rail regulator, the office of Rail and Road,
05:35they've given Virgin Trains the permission to run trains to the continent.
05:40That's Richard Branson's outfit.
05:42They're the new kids on the block.
05:44They've been given permission to run 20 trains a day there and back,
05:49all the way through the county.
05:51Now, that doesn't mean they're necessarily going to stop here in Kent,
05:55but it does open up a lot of possibilities for the return of international rail here in Ebsfleet,
06:01but also in Ashford.
06:02And does it mean that the international rail is going to make a return to Kent
06:06because this has been something that's been discussed for a long, long time in the county?
06:11Not in the short term.
06:13This means, for example, Virgin can run services to the continent from 2030.
06:18They don't currently have the rolling stock.
06:21That's the trains to do so.
06:22They still need to have the train hubs, like Ebsfleet, where I'm stood right now,
06:27open for international rail services.
06:30Same with Ashford.
06:32Virgin, I reached out from today.
06:34They told me their position is unchanged on the issue.
06:38If these stations are open to international rail, they will stop here.
06:42But that's not guaranteed.
06:44It will require a major investment to get them back up and running.
06:48At the moment, Eurostar say they're not interested in stopping here in Kent.
06:54They only want to go to London and then back over to the continent.
06:58So it's a first step, but it's not guaranteed that this will mean trains will stop here in the county.
07:04It's a situation where the monitors are very closely.
07:07All right.
07:08Thank you so much, Olly.
07:09Over in Northfleet, the mum and sister of a deceased teenager have set up a charity in her name.
07:15Blake Gallier from Northfleet died by suicide on October 30th last year, a little more than a month after her
07:2113th birthday.
07:22Her mum, Gemma Best, and older sister, Tayla Gallier, have since decided to start Blake's Pink Promise,
07:29a charity which aims to support young people struggling with their mental health.
07:33It's currently in the process of being registered with the Charity Commission,
07:37but has already funded counselling for 76 pupils across four Gravesend school, as well as two adults.
07:43Blake's sister, Tayla Gallier, had this to say.
07:47She was very funny.
07:49She was like the life of the party.
07:51She, do you know what I mean, you could hear her from a mile away.
07:54She was like completely full of life.
07:58After everything happened with Blake and we got obviously a phone back,
08:00I think we've realised how much social media was such a big part of it.
08:04And I think, do you know what I mean, we were completely unaware of the things that she was seeing
08:07online.
08:08It made it very apparent that no young person should be on social media seeing them things.
08:13I think that a lot of the events we held as a charity, like the Coffee Morning every month,
08:17like that's completely free.
08:19It's just about getting the community together, getting everyone together,
08:22doing things that do not involve your phones,
08:24and having fun and connecting in real life rather than online.
08:29Multiple businesses on Rochester High Street slept rough last night
08:32in a bid to raise awareness of youth homelessness.
08:35Fundraising for the charity Centrepoint, Sanjay Raval, the owner of City Wall Wine Bar,
08:41came up with the idea.
08:42So our reporter, Nayla Mohamed, swapped her bed for a yoga mat
08:46and joined them for the experience to find out what it's like to sleep out all night.
08:50And she'll be joining us just after the package, after the break, to tell us more.
08:54Have a look.
08:56Walking through Rochester Town Centre, it isn't often you see people sleeping out on the street.
09:01Except for last night, where volunteers swapped out their comfy beds for bits of cardboard
09:07and sleeping bags, all to raise awareness of youth homelessness in the country.
09:11We got here about half ten, and the people that's passed us so far,
09:15most of them haven't got eye contact with us.
09:18And it makes you think, do you do that?
09:21It's like, oh my God, where are they going to go to the toilet?
09:23And actually, like, especially for young girls when they're on the period,
09:27it is awful, like, having a period in itself is not a nice thing,
09:32so where are they going to go?
09:33Where are they going to change?
09:34Where do they get their products from?
09:36Doing it one night is not an experience, but having to do it day in, day out, for years on
09:42end,
09:43it must be really, really hard.
09:45And I'll be taking part in the sleep out tonight as well.
09:48In fact, I'll be sleeping right here on this yoga mat.
09:51But one night on the streets, rough sleeping does not equate to what a lot of people go through,
09:56sleeping rough almost every single night.
09:58And that's exactly what Sanjay wants to raise awareness of.
10:01I've got some friends, staff that all volunteers help,
10:05and there's a couple of businesses involved.
10:06I think we've got a few more people coming yet.
10:08So, yeah, the plan is to sleep out for the night just to bring awareness.
10:11It's almost one o'clock in the morning, and we were just about to settle in for the night,
10:15and then it started raining, and my mat is now actually soaking wet.
10:19So I'm going to have to turn the mat over and hope that it doesn't rain again tonight.
10:26So we were just tucked up, ready to sleep, and it started torrential downpour.
10:32We're absolutely soaked.
10:33And as the rain started to settle, we too tried to get some sleep.
10:38So it's currently about 5.30 in the morning now.
10:42I didn't sleep at all, really.
10:44Last night, maybe an hour, I'd say, and even that was incredibly uncomfortable.
10:49You just become super aware of your surroundings,
10:52whether it's a bird walking past or a car driving by,
10:56and we'll see how everybody else got on last night.
10:58Shocking.
10:58Terrible.
10:59Oh, shit, terrible. I don't know how anybody could do it.
11:02Makes you appreciate lots of things we take for granted.
11:06It was better than I thought it would be, but it was quite warm, apart from the rain.
11:11I can't imagine what this would be like when it's cold.
11:14Going into the sleep out, we knew that this was only for one night.
11:18But for young people facing homelessness across the county,
11:22the night doesn't end when the sun comes up.
11:24Nayla Mohamed for KMTV in Rochester.
11:27And like I said, Nayla's going to be joining us shortly after the break,
11:30which is going to be coming up in about 30 seconds.
11:33And she's going to be telling us a bit more about her experience
11:35and what it was like to actually be there throughout the night.
11:38She hasn't been feeling very well today,
11:40so I'm sure she'll give us all the details when she's here.
11:42We'll also be taking a look at how a hedgehog got rescued
11:45off the side of the road in Herne Bay after it maybe walked into slime
11:49and how people are spreading awareness on World Honey Bee Day,
11:52which was on Saturday.
11:54All of that and more to come after this short break.
11:56See you soon.
12:15.
19:56After multiple baths and a few days of rest, Sparkle is now slime-free and will stay at
20:01Doddy's until she reaches an adult size where she'll be released into a hedgehog-friendly
20:06garden, hopefully without anymore slime.
20:10A bizarre collection of effigies have appeared on a Canterby roadside following a civil dispute
20:15prompting complaints from villagers. Stevie Lowe moved onto the land alongside Court Hill
20:21in Lidingbourne owned by agricultural business E.H. Holdstock and Son about two years ago.
20:28The business said she did so without permission and refuses to leave despite being issued
20:32official notices. Miss Lowe says the display is intended to draw attention to a long-running
20:37disagreement over material found near the site which she claims contains asbestos. She says
20:43she has refused to leave it to leave while it remains there. Canterbury City Council says that
20:48the authority has no involvement in the dispute or the rubbish there. And let's take a look at
20:55the weather forecast for the coming days. Well if we're having a look at this we have
21:04got lows there of 19 degrees, highs of 21, wind speeds of 6 miles per hour. The clouds are
21:10staying into tomorrow morning. Then we have highs of 21 degrees across most of the county.
21:15Wind speeds picking up ever so slightly. The temperatures pick up into the afternoon as well.
21:20We've got 26 degrees over there in Maidstone. Nothing that we're not used to. 23 on Wednesday,
21:2622 on Thursday, 21 on Friday. Cloudy skies all the way through just getting cooler.
21:38Now don't forget you can keep up to date with all our latest stories across our website by logging on
21:43to our website kmtv.co.uk. There you'll find all our reports including this one about two girls from
21:49Gillingham fundraising for a holiday after their dad's death in October last year. We've managed,
21:54with your help to be able to fundraise twice the amount for them, about £2,000. So take a look
22:00at where their journey began. Meet Honor and Ruby. Their front garden has become their very own shop
22:07with sunglasses, drinks and biscuits for sale. The money is going towards a family holiday.
22:12They've already raised more than £900 through the stall Anna GoFundMe set up by someone in the community.
22:19But there's a much bigger reason behind their fundraising. Their dad, Benjamin Woods,
22:23died in October. He had been terminally ill with cancer and other illnesses for around 18 months.
22:30So we was meant to go to Disneyland Paris before Ben died with the girls and sadly he was too
22:37ill. He
22:37wouldn't have made it there. Obviously he couldn't even make a journey to the end of the road and back.
22:42So the girls were like, oh we really want to go on holiday. They didn't have a passport and I
22:46thought,
22:46right now's the time. So I've got mine and the girls passports and we were looking and we decided to
22:51go to Tunisia. And then the girls wanted to like do something themselves. It's summer holidays. They
22:57said, oh can we sell some sunglasses? So we purchased a bulk loads of sunglasses and we started to sell
23:04them
23:04for a pound each. And then the girls decided with some of the money that they made on the first
23:09day
23:10that they wanted to go up to Tesco's and then to sell drinks in order to make their own money
23:16to
23:17spend on holiday because their words were, I do enough for them and they want to pay for me to
23:22do
23:23something. The bargain warehouse in Rainham donated more things for them to sell, helping them raise
23:28even more. And Marley says she couldn't be more proud of the pair. He got encylopathy as well and onset
23:34dementia, which was quite hard because sometimes he'd forget who he was. So obviously the girls, they've
23:40been so brave and so strong throughout everything. And for kids their age, they've seen things that they
23:45shouldn't have seen. And you know what, as a mum, I'm so, so proud of them. Like I couldn't be
23:50any prouder.
23:51They told me some of their favourite memories of their dad. He was lovely. He was kind.
23:57He smelled nice. He was salty. And he had a bear. He had a grey beard. He had blonde hair
24:07and then it
24:08turned brown when he shaved it off. This is the trio's first summer without Benjamin. But surrounded
24:14by their community, Honor, Ruby and their mum are making memories of their own. This stall does more
24:20than just raise money. It helps them face grief together, support each other and slowly find their
24:25way forward. So if you see the stall, pop by and say hello. Kristin Hawthorne for KMTV, Gillingham.
24:33Saturday marked World Honey Bee Day, which raises awareness of their importance to the food,
24:38the local environment and the local beekeepers who maintain them. One beekeepers association in Kent
24:44says there are ways people can also help honey bees survive the ongoing drought and heat waves that are
24:49happening constantly. Our community reporter Henry Luck has been down to find out more.
24:55World Honey Bee Day is about recognising their hard work and the local beekeepers who keep them buzzing.
25:03The Mid-Kent branch of the Kent Beekeepers Association meet up to help boost the population.
25:10Even I got involved in the process to see how it works. That process was called inspecting,
25:17which checks the bees population and makes sure they've got enough food to eat. Despite their small
25:23size, honey bees play a vital part in pollination and food production. But how are they coping during
25:32the ongoing drought? If you look at a hive, a hive will always be about 35, 36 degrees inside because
25:38they maintain their own temperature through fanning. However, it's really important that you have a
25:43water source nearby for bees, honey bees. Anyone that's keeping bees, you really need to be near a river
25:49or a lake or if not, then put water out for them because they desperately need water. The experts from
25:54this beekeepers association gave more tips on maintaining their population.
26:01Well, obviously you're thinking of your gardens and planting pollinator friendly plants and also
26:08letting your lawns, maybe if you've got a patch of grass that you can let go to seed. So don't
26:17mow it,
26:18let the wild flowers which come, they'll develop over a period of time over the years if you
26:24just regularly mow and don't fertilise. With this hot weather, these actions can help ensure that bees
26:31can keep doing their work, keep us fed and support the environment. Henry Luck for KMTV in East Mauling.
26:42Well then, maybe after the show you can put out a little bowl of water for the honey bees. But
26:46you've been watching Kent Tonight Live on KMTV. Thank you so much for watching. We'll see you at 8pm. Bye
26:51bye.
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