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Catch up with the latest news from across the county with Chloe Brewster.
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00:28Transcription by CastingWords
00:32Hello and welcome to Kent Tonight Live on KMTV.
00:36I'm Chloe Brewster and here are your top stories on Thursday the 12th of November.
00:41It's disgusting. Locals enraged as HMP Rochester plan to house male sex offenders only.
00:48I've got a young granddaughter staying with me and I wouldn't like the idea of them being over there.
00:53Save Our Sources. Condiment Shop in Rochester fights back against hefty council tax bill.
01:01It's a way of raising awareness because I think it's hypocritical for us to on one hand be like we're
01:07saving the high street and on the other hand slap a small business with loads of extra council tax bills.
01:11And finally, fishing for their futures. Charities teach young people patience through reeling in fish at Tunbridge Lakes.
01:20They can sometimes talk to us about things that they can't talk to their teachers about or they can't talk
01:26to their parents about.
01:37HMP Rochester is to be transformed into a prison exclusively for sex offenders under major changes which have raised concerns
01:46about public safety.
01:48As of next month, the prison will hold only men convicted of offences like rape.
01:53There are also plans to merge it with neighbouring HMP Cookham Wood to create a single establishment.
02:00Nayla Mohamed reports.
02:02What is now a resettlement prison for young and adult male offenders will soon become exclusive to sex offenders, including
02:10men convicted of rape.
02:12From next month, HMP Rochester will house only male prisoners convicted of sexual offences.
02:18The prison began accepting sexual offenders as of March last year, keeping them separated from the rest of the prison
02:24population.
02:24But the Ministry of Justice plans to take this one step further by creating a single establishment dedicated entirely to
02:32this group of prisoners,
02:33who plans to even merge with another local prison, HMP Cookham Wood.
02:37The announcement has raised questions from some members of the local community,
02:41particularly about the prison's proximity to residential areas and nearby schools.
02:45Well, I don't agree that all male offenders need to go into one segregated prison, especially when you've got schools
02:52around here.
02:53If you've got the school kids come, when they all get released in the morning, they're walking past all these
02:56schools that are next door to the prison.
02:58Literally, obviously there's one right there, there's one there.
03:01Yeah, you've got all these young girls walking down the road, going to school in the morning, and you've got
03:05sex offenders.
03:05I'm not particularly happy about it at all.
03:09Like I said, I've got a young granddaughter staying with me and I wouldn't like the idea of them being
03:15over there.
03:16But the Ministry of Justice says that the changes are designed to create a more stable environment for both staff
03:22and prisoners.
03:22In a letter, the Minister of State said that this transition to a prison holding only male sex offenders is
03:29part of ongoing work
03:30to ensure prison accommodation is used in the most effective way to meet operational needs.
03:35A prison focused on a single cohort will provide a more stable operating environment,
03:41allowing staff to focus services and interventions on the needs of that population.
03:45And despite the change, Rochester will remain a closed Category C prison with the same security arrangements in place.
03:53A Category C prison is a standard, secure, enclosed facility where prisoners are deemed unlikely to escape.
04:00They often have high walls, fencing with wires on and extreme perimeter control security.
04:06The changes come as Rochester already faces scrutiny over conditions inside the prison.
04:10A recent report highlighted concerns about illegal drugs, violence, bullying and declining opportunities for education.
04:18However, the report did say that the prison adapted well to the introduction of sex offenders last year.
04:24The Ministry of Justice has been approached for comment.
04:27And with the changes due to take effect next month,
04:29questions remain over how the plans will affect the prison and the local community.
04:34Naila Mahamud for KMTV in Rochester.
04:37Well, the trial continues for two men accused of murdering a Wittstable teenager.
04:44It follows the death of Ashton Harrington after he was stabbed on Good Friday this year.
04:50One of the two accused is 20-year-old Kieran Barnes,
04:53who is now alleging his co-accused, Tobias Agbaje, seen here purchasing knives,
04:58was responsible for the fatal wound to Harrington's chest.
05:02Barnes also told the jury that although he was responsible for inflicting a less serious knife wound,
05:08he was acting in self-defence.
05:10He told the court he never meant to hurt the teenager.
05:13The trial continues.
05:20Kent County Council has no plans to remove David Walliam's books from libraries,
05:25despite the recent allegations of sexual misconduct against him.
05:29When asked about their decision, a spokesperson for KCC said that books should be available to readers
05:34unless their content is unlawful.
05:37Regardless, some primary schools in the county have made the choice to remove Walliam's books from their libraries.
05:43Stephen Chalk, head of Oasis Academies, said that children hearing about the author's conduct
05:47while continuing to see his books could be very traumatising.
05:52Walliam's denies all the allegations against him and says he has not broken the law.
05:58A shop owner in Rochester says it's hypocritical of the council to charge him a 300% council tax increase.
06:08Keir Kemp and Jen Dreer, who own House of Condiments, have to pay an additional tax on their shop
06:14because of the upstairs floors being vacant.
06:16But they say this limits their opportunity to refurbish the building and expand their business.
06:22Sophie Denny has more.
06:23This shop in Rochester is gearing up for the festive season, but its upstairs isn't quite so sparkly.
06:31Owners Keir Kemp and Jen Dreyer moved their saw shop into this vacant 17th century building in Rochester back in
06:38May.
06:39Keir and Jen spent three months renovating the downstairs to look how it does today,
06:45but upstairs is quite the contrast. Let's go take a look.
06:49The couple are in a dispute with Medway Council, who are charging them a 300% council tax premium on
06:56the building.
06:56The attraction of the building was to take a beautiful grade one listed building and kind of slowly bring it
07:03back to life.
07:04But I guess our argument is that them slapping this extra council tax is just taking money away from what
07:11we could spend on renovating the building.
07:13Councils are entitled to charge a discretionary fee of 200% on properties which have been unoccupied or substantially unfurnished
07:21for at least a year,
07:23meaning the couple's council tax is now about £5,000 a year rather than £2,000.
07:29This place that we're standing now, I don't think anyone's been in here since at least the early 2000s, maybe
07:33the 90s,
07:34because it's like crumbling, it's not inhabitable, like a human couldn't live there because it doesn't have water and it
07:42doesn't have heating.
07:43Keir and Jen asked the council for a one-year exception from this extra fee to help them to carry
07:48out repair work to the upstairs,
07:50which the council has refused.
07:52In a statement, Medway Council said premiums are discretionary and councils can choose whether or not to adopt them,
07:58but they can't decide to pick and choose which properties the premium would apply to.
08:03They said that the discretionary element is whether they choose to charge the premium and this can only be altered
08:09prior to the start of a financial year.
08:13Now, in a latest attempt to change the council's minds, Keir has put the flat up for rent.
08:18It's a way of raising awareness because I think it's hypocritical for us to on one hand be like,
08:24we're saving the high street, on the other hand, slap a small business with loads of extra council tax bills,
08:29taking money away from a renovation that we want to do to bring a beautiful building back to life and
08:36allow it to serve the community again.
08:38And Keir says the couple have big plans for the shop's future.
08:42We've got plans to make that into what we're calling a sorcery, which is think of it like a tap
08:47room, but for condiments.
08:49That's the plan. So, you know, we've got like a lot of plans to bring interesting stuff into the community
08:55and hopefully like grow the business within like the Rochester area, but we're being held back.
09:03For now, Keir says the sorcery will have to wait until discussions with the council begin to flow.
09:10Sophie Denny for KMTV in Rochester.
09:12That was Sophie Denny's report into the 300% tax premium given to the House of Condiments store in Rochester.
09:21Now, moving on, witnesses are being asked to come forward after a report of BBs being fired in the centre
09:26of Tunbridge Wells.
09:27At about 1am on Saturday, the 7th of November, a 4x4 stopped outside a nightclub on Church Road.
09:34The ball bearings were fired at the building with a security guard being struck in the chest,
09:39although no injuries were reported. Anyone who might have seen it is being urged to call West Kent Appeals' line.
09:47Kent and Canterbury Hospital's possible downgrade will be a final nail in the coffin, warns one of the consultants there.
09:55Dr Howard Dent, who has worked for East Kent Hospitals Trust since 1994,
10:00has chosen to speak out against any further cutbacks and fears services will be transferred to sites with a history
10:07of failure.
10:07He fears even more services, including vascular surgery, will be soon to go.
10:13Trainee journalist Harry Smith reports.
10:15It's already been cut back a lot and this will be the final nail in the coffin.
10:20A senior consultant at Kent Canterbury Hospital has spoken out against cuts to the hospital's services.
10:29Kent Canterbury Hospital has a history of cuts being without an A&E department since 2005.
10:37A direct effect on the quality of patient care.
10:41I think the current services work well within the geography of Kent and Canterbury Hospital because it's a compact site
10:48and services are quite well co-located.
10:52They may not function as smoothly if they've moved into more cramped accommodation on the larger site at the William
10:59Harvey Hospital.
11:01The results might not be as good as they are achieving at the current moment.
11:06Of particular concern is the relocation of the high-performing and nationally recognised stroke unit,
11:14which is already set to move to the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford.
11:19Yes, I'd like them to step back and look at what's good about the current system
11:22and maybe invest in that rather than spending money just needlessly moving services across the patch
11:31to another site where they might not be provided as well.
11:33NHS Foundation Trust claims that the decision to close services are still under consideration.
11:42So, the future of the hospital still remains uncertain.
11:46Harry Smith, KMTV.
11:50Now, we're halfway through the show, meaning it's time for a short break.
11:54But don't go anywhere because we have many more stories to come.
11:57See you in a bit.
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