Catch up on the latest environmental news from across the county with Sofia Akin.
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00:00 (upbeat music)
00:02 - Hello and welcome to Kent on Climate live on KMTV.
00:21 I'm Sophia Akin and in this show we discuss
00:23 all things related to environmental issues in the county.
00:27 How's climate change impacting Kent?
00:29 What are communities in the county doing to tackle it?
00:32 And how can you help at home?
00:34 Each week we'll be taking a deep dive
00:35 into new environmental issues in the county
00:38 and I'll be joined by expert guests.
00:40 In today's show, we're talking about first of all,
00:42 a Rochester toy shop going plastic free.
00:45 Plus the place in Kent with the most fly tipping
00:48 has been revealed and how wildlife is dealing
00:51 with this awful stormy weather.
00:53 But first tonight, a Rochester toy shop has set itself
00:56 the target of going plastic free by 2025.
01:00 Our little cherub has been operating on the high street
01:02 for more than 30 years.
01:04 Now run by a father and son,
01:06 the owners hope that more people in the county
01:08 will turn to wooden toys as the climate emergency gets worse.
01:12 Oliver Leeder de Sacks reports.
01:14 - After 32 years on Rochester high street,
01:18 our little cherub isn't changing
01:19 from its traditional wooden toys,
01:22 but it is changing with the times.
01:24 - Since Mark Slinsby, a former carpenter,
01:27 took over two years ago, he's been insistent
01:31 that the wooden toys that are produced
01:32 and painted by the shop should help keep the planet clean.
01:36 - Yeah, the angle is try and hopefully get mums and dads,
01:40 aunts and uncles, grandparents to say,
01:43 "Look, woods is the way forward.
01:46 "Plastic isn't very good at all for our environment."
01:49 And that's what we want to carry on.
01:50 In fact, we won an award last year for sustainability.
01:54 - Sean Hutchins is one of the four artists
01:56 that produce bespoke paintings
01:58 that ensure the furniture and toys across the shop
02:01 are passed down through the generations,
02:03 rather than ending up in landfill.
02:06 He says it is rewarding, but challenging work.
02:09 - It's unique, there's no one else doing it.
02:11 And you know, you create something,
02:15 something that's never going to exist again
02:18 or never existed before.
02:19 Not a copy, I mean, they're based on things,
02:23 but they're always unique.
02:24 It's mostly uniqueness of what we do makes it special.
02:27 - As you can see, I'm holding a hand-painted
02:30 bespoke money box.
02:32 It probably took around four to five hours to paint
02:35 based on the level of detail.
02:37 And the owner says that this will help cut back
02:39 on plastic waste, because this will last a lifetime
02:44 if handled properly.
02:46 - I've got grandchildren now, and when I was young,
02:48 we didn't really care about what we was doing
02:50 to the environment.
02:51 But as I've got older and I've realised
02:54 how much we're destroying this planet with plastic.
02:57 And I think because I have the desire to say,
03:02 look, when you come in, you are buying wood.
03:05 You are buying quality products and not plastic.
03:09 And it's the way forward for us.
03:11 - With hopes to go plastic free by next year
03:14 and plans in place to produce even more ambitious toys,
03:18 such as Victorian style rocking horses
03:20 and dollhouses, perhaps Arsley Sherriff demonstrates
03:24 the best way to save the future is to look back to the past.
03:28 Oliver Leeders of SACS reporting for KMTV.
03:31 - Well, Mark Slinsby joins me now
03:34 with quite a remarkable display.
03:36 Thank you so much for bringing all of this in
03:37 for us to take a look at.
03:39 So first of all, just tell me firstly,
03:41 what inspired you and your son to take over this business?
03:44 - Well, we came off a building site
03:46 and there was so much waste on building site
03:48 that we decided that from the skips,
03:52 we could start making stuff.
03:54 And then it led on to a shop in Rochester
03:57 and we were just so fed up of the waste
04:00 that goes into landfill.
04:03 So we decided to branch out a little bit higher level
04:06 and do this sort of stuff that you see here.
04:10 - And some of the toy boxes made in your workshop,
04:13 they're sort of painted in the shop as well, aren't they?
04:15 So it's all sort of done together.
04:18 Is that right?
04:19 Are you there painting these as well?
04:20 - Yeah, I mean, look, we hand make these clocks.
04:22 - Yeah, that one's gorgeous.
04:23 I love the elephant.
04:24 - It's nice, isn't it?
04:25 And it's an endangered animal.
04:27 So we tried to get it out so we could put the Charles name.
04:30 The coat hooks, we hand paint everything that you see.
04:33 We paint these to be painted.
04:36 There's other stuff in the shop that we make as well.
04:40 - This is such a cute little chair,
04:41 but can anyone actually fit on this?
04:43 Or is it just a display?
04:44 - It starts from around about 18 months
04:46 up to about six years of age.
04:48 - Oh, you could get your cat on here,
04:50 your dog, one of your pets.
04:51 - You can put anything you want on there.
04:52 - It's so cute.
04:53 - As long as they're comfortable.
04:54 - Yeah, absolutely.
04:55 It must be quite technical work though, I imagine.
04:57 Not, I guess, just for anyone to do.
04:59 It's a bit of an art, this, isn't it?
05:01 - The thing is that it's quite a unique shop where we are.
05:04 And we've got professional artists in.
05:08 We have four professional artists in
05:10 that do their own strengths to what they do.
05:12 So someone would do teddy bears,
05:13 someone would do pirates,
05:15 someone would do wild animals.
05:17 And it's the way that we want to progress the business
05:21 into somebody walks through the shop and say,
05:24 I'd like this.
05:24 And we'll have somebody there that can do that subject,
05:28 what they'd like.
05:29 - So do customers often like that sort of climate approach
05:32 that you have to it
05:33 and that sort of sustainable outlook on the business?
05:35 Is that something that customers are looking for?
05:38 - When a customer comes in that hasn't shopped with us before
05:41 I, myself, or one of us explain why we do this.
05:45 And it's so important for us to say,
05:48 look, plastic's no good.
05:50 A way forward is wood.
05:52 It's more durable.
05:53 It lasts longer, would you believe,
05:55 than plastic outside the landfill.
05:57 But when a bit of plastic gets chips,
05:59 where does it end up?
06:00 It ends up in a landfill.
06:01 So we explain that to the customer
06:03 because it's all about educational,
06:04 education, you educate your children,
06:07 educate your grandchildren.
06:08 That's what we do.
06:09 - And what is this one right next to you?
06:12 - This is a height chart.
06:13 - Oh, amazing.
06:14 So bright and colorful.
06:15 - Yeah, so they're hand painted.
06:17 This is for a little chap called Max.
06:19 And then the education is they can grow up
06:22 knowing their numbers with mum and dad
06:24 and then you're not marking the walls
06:25 when you're growing up.
06:26 - Oh yeah, good, that's a very good point as well.
06:29 So what would you say, I guess,
06:32 is first of all your favorite one
06:34 of all the ones you've got?
06:36 Is it one of the chairs
06:37 or this pirate ship's pretty cool as well?
06:38 - Unfortunately, the favorite one is not here,
06:40 but basically it's a black and white animal, white rocker,
06:43 and they're endangering animals on the white rocker.
06:46 So as the child grows up,
06:47 they can see what's still saying
06:49 what's an endangering animal.
06:50 And that's what I've come across
06:52 with that subject for a child.
06:54 But everything that, I have no favorites really,
06:59 apart from when somebody goes out the shop
07:03 and they're happy, if they're happy, then we're happy.
07:05 We never get any disappointed customers ever.
07:08 - So it's not just pictures of animals,
07:11 there are kind of quite significant messages behind it
07:13 and you're trying to sort of teach people
07:15 these big messages, aren't you?
07:15 - Absolutely, you know, we've gone online,
07:18 we do this online now and we go out to people and say,
07:22 look, I mean, we're award winners.
07:24 We won an award last year for sustainability,
07:26 which we were absolutely over the moon with,
07:29 but we're not gonna stop there.
07:30 We want more awards.
07:31 We wanna get it out there to say,
07:33 look, please educate your children.
07:35 Just come to the shop.
07:36 We can actually do, we can say to you,
07:40 look, this is what we do.
07:42 And it's the way forward for no plastic.
07:45 - What's next then?
07:46 I guess we'll see more businesses
07:48 taking this kind of climate approach, won't we?
07:50 So what do you think is next, I guess,
07:53 for businesses more generally,
07:54 as customers are looking for more to be concerned
07:57 about the climate and the environment?
08:00 - Well, first of all, it's education.
08:02 And secondly, it's maybe just so many businesses
08:05 trying to get together and actually doing more
08:09 than we can actually do.
08:10 We are always looking at,
08:12 I mean, we look at our plastic wrapping.
08:15 Can we do something with that?
08:16 Yes, we can.
08:17 Our bubble wrap, we now can put that in a compost heap
08:21 and it will rot down.
08:22 So we pay over the odds for the packaging.
08:24 However, we know it's gonna be safely taken away
08:28 and disposed of.
08:30 - With wood, where are you kind of getting,
08:34 where are you getting the wood from?
08:35 Is that from sort of local trees
08:37 or where do you kind of get your stock from?
08:38 - Right, so most of our toy chests are made in Great Britain.
08:42 We do follow the companies that we do buy from,
08:47 where they're actually sourcing their wood from.
08:50 But you lose a little bit of track
08:52 where we can more or less improve in that area.
08:57 We're aware that some of the stuff does come from China.
09:01 When it comes from China,
09:02 we don't want to reorder off that company
09:05 'cause we don't know where it's come from.
09:06 But more or less to say that we know
09:09 where 85% of our wood comes from.
09:13 - Does it cost more to be more aware of kind of the climate
09:17 and to be more sustainable in that way?
09:18 - Yes, it does.
09:19 But for me, it's worth it 'cause you know,
09:22 okay, there's a little bit more extra money involved
09:25 with that, but at least you know
09:27 that it's coming in the right areas
09:28 and it's going to the right people.
09:33 - So it's a bit of an investment then, isn't it?
09:35 - To be honest with you, this is an investment.
09:38 That you know, you'll have that chair,
09:40 that child would have that chair maybe for their children
09:43 'cause we have three generations, four generations,
09:45 we've been there 32 years.
09:47 So we have generations after generations come back to me
09:49 and say, "My grandmother bought me this,
09:52 now I want to buy one for my children."
09:55 - What are you going to be doing next with your son?
09:58 Where do you want to take this business next?
10:00 - That's a good question.
10:01 What we want to do is grow bigger.
10:05 - How are you going to go bigger?
10:07 - Well, what we'd like to do is we want to go
10:09 and get a bigger factory.
10:11 We have a small workshop that we work out of,
10:13 but we want to go and get a bigger factory,
10:15 employ more people, bring more people in,
10:18 have a studio, have a nursery and just say,
10:20 when they come in to say, "Look, this is what we do."
10:23 Have a bigger workshop so we can actually make more stuff
10:26 and not buy in.
10:28 That's what we want to do.
10:29 - Would you like to see more businesses taking
10:32 this sort of approach and being more aware of the climate
10:35 and concerned about the environment and the world we live in
10:39 and the animals you mentioned as well?
10:41 - Absolutely, because it's frightening, isn't it?
10:44 I don't know how many metric tons of plastic
10:46 go into the ocean every year,
10:47 but somebody told me just recently,
10:49 there's 94 million metric tons going into the ocean
10:51 and it's just killing everything.
10:53 It's just killing the ocean world.
10:55 It's just getting destroyed by plastic
10:58 as well as everywhere else.
11:00 Indonesia is a terrible one for it.
11:02 - It's a concern, isn't it?
11:04 Well, thank you so much for joining us today
11:06 to tell us a little bit more about this
11:09 and to find out a little bit more about your business.
11:12 - Thank you very much.
11:12 - Thank you so much. - Thanks for having me.
11:14 - You're welcome.
11:14 Best of luck to you and your son as well.
11:17 - Thank you so much.
11:17 - Thank you. - Thank you.
11:19 - Now, coming up after the break,
11:21 the worst area in Kent for fly tipping has been revealed
11:24 with more than 4,000 incidents reported in Medway last year.
11:28 And we'll be discussing the impacts
11:30 of stormy weather across Kent,
11:32 from drinking water to wildlife.
11:34 We'll be back in just a few minutes.
11:36 See you then, you don't want to miss it.
11:38 Hello, and welcome back to Kent on Climate Live on KMTV.
11:52 Next night, when will Kent stop fly tipping?
11:55 Residents in Medway are concerned
11:57 about the level of waste dumping
11:59 as the local authority is ranked highest in the county
12:02 for the environmental crime.
12:03 Data from the Department of Environment,
12:05 Food and Rural Affairs shows more than 4,000
12:09 reported incidents of fly tipping in Medway last year.
12:13 Medway Council say increased fines
12:14 and free bulky waste collection
12:16 will help bring these figures down.
12:18 Miriam Bergussa reports.
12:19 - There is a growing environmental concern
12:23 right here in Kent.
12:24 Medway has a fly tipping problem.
12:27 It's the worst in Kent
12:28 and the third worst in the southeast of England.
12:31 As we can see, there were 4,664 incidents
12:35 of fly tipping in Medway last year.
12:38 It is a huge issue that authorities have struggled to stop.
12:41 Fly tipping is leaving residents
12:43 and council taxpayers high and dry,
12:45 as they are the ones who have to foot the bill
12:47 for the cleanup.
12:49 - I think fly tipping is terrible at the moment.
12:50 I think people don't care.
12:52 I think people just chuck rubbish wherever they want to.
12:54 And I think that possibly because the tips have changed
12:58 where you can actually take the rubbish to
13:00 and the way that we do recycling these days,
13:02 I think it's gone wrong.
13:03 And that's why we actually get a lot more fly tipping.
13:06 - I think it's just people being lazy
13:07 and it's just disappointing, really.
13:09 I think more police are on the roads.
13:11 Maybe people report and if you see it, report it.
13:13 But by the time anyone does anything about it,
13:15 the people doing the fly tipping have long gone.
13:17 - I don't agree with it,
13:18 but I'm not surprised people fly tip
13:20 because it's not easily accessible to get up to the tip.
13:23 - I'm currently in Raynham at a popular fly tipping spot.
13:26 Right behind me is Seymour Road.
13:28 And as we can see, there's an abandoned sofa,
13:31 abandoned mattresses, abandoned car parts.
13:33 And this is causing huge areas of concern
13:36 to the residents of Raynham and residents of Kent.
13:38 - We're talking about something that is very costly
13:43 to everybody who's a council taxpayer in Medway.
13:48 It costs a lot of money to get all this mess cleared up.
13:52 And that's money that could be spent on much better things.
13:55 I'd rather be spending it on our parks, open spaces,
13:58 our children's services, adult services,
14:00 or anything you think of,
14:02 than paying a huge sums out for these people
14:07 to go and collect it.
14:08 And certainly it hasn't improved any since
14:11 with the new administration.
14:14 - So what's being done to combat this rise in fly tipping?
14:18 - Our ambition is to prevent fly tipping
14:21 through introducing free bulky waste,
14:23 working with landlords and increasing fines,
14:26 but also actually to look at ways
14:29 where we can make sure that Norse is responding
14:31 more quickly to fly tipping, our contractors,
14:34 and the people are educated around fly tipping as well.
14:36 I think most people are aware now
14:38 that we have free bulky waste collection.
14:39 That was a manifesto pledge.
14:41 And actually we've seen thousands of people
14:44 take advantage of that manifesto pledge
14:46 over the last 12 months.
14:47 And it's been a very successful initiative.
14:50 We now actually currently have a waiting list
14:52 for free bulky waste collection.
14:53 So we can see that that is a very, very popular initiative.
14:56 - It will be interesting to see whether the new initiatives
14:59 set by Medway Council to tackle fly tipping
15:01 will reduce the levels by next year.
15:04 Miriam Bogosa for KMTV.
15:06 - Now more than a hundred Cranbrook residents
15:10 have been without water today.
15:12 Southeast Waters say this is as a result of storm Aisha
15:15 and bursts caused by recent sharp changes in temperatures.
15:19 The water has since been restored in most parts,
15:21 but for one business in particular,
15:23 this has caused significant disruption.
15:26 Bella, you can hear from Bella Bela from Candlewise now.
15:29 - My studio is at home.
15:31 So everything went really chaotic, let's say,
15:36 but as a business, because I rely on water sometimes to wash
15:40 sometimes I do need the water to make my recipes
15:43 for my products and without water, so cannot work.
15:49 And it happens all the time.
15:51 And then it seems like last year happened in January as well.
15:55 And that's my busiest period where I need to produce.
16:00 So I need to make stuff ahead for the year.
16:03 - And if you enjoyed those stories,
16:06 you can find plenty more episodes of Kent on Climate
16:09 on our website, kmtv.co.uk.
16:12 There you can find stories and chats like this one
16:14 about urban green spaces in the county,
16:17 such as Turkey Mill Business Park in Maidstone
16:19 and how it can have benefits for our health.
16:24 - So this is Turkey Mill.
16:25 So Turkey Mill is the original home to Whatman Paper,
16:28 which is well-famous.
16:30 In fact, it's the paper that the Declaration
16:31 of Independence was signed on.
16:33 It's no longer a working mill, clearly.
16:35 But what it is, is it's home to 75 tenants,
16:38 businesses that work in this amazing environment.
16:42 And of course it's incredibly sustainable
16:45 because the habitats are looked after.
16:47 There's loads of wildlife, the gardens,
16:50 all 20 acres of them are award-winning.
16:52 And it's really special, I think,
16:54 to have something like this in Kent,
16:56 which really underpins the county's garden moniker
17:01 and its sustainability credentials overall
17:04 as a clear part of the Southeast of the UK,
17:07 focusing on looking after natural habitats
17:10 and enriching wildlife, as well as being home
17:13 to some really cool businesses as well.
17:15 - And you mentioned there, sort of the surprise
17:18 that you would see such a haven in such a business-led place.
17:23 So it must take a lot to keep all of it,
17:26 all those acres looked after and kept.
17:28 How difficult is it to maintain the scenery
17:31 to look like this?
17:33 - Well, there's a gardening team.
17:36 Richard Gere, who is incredible, he spends all his time,
17:40 in fact, he took this picture, he wasn't even a photographer.
17:42 He absolutely loves this job.
17:44 He curates everything, he knows gardening and wildflowers
17:48 and nature and biodiversity off by heart.
17:52 He plants for the seasons in advance,
17:54 so preserving local wild species of flowers and habitats
17:59 and ensures that it's always within season
18:01 so that we get the best from the gardens.
18:04 - How easy is this to replicate right across Kent?
18:06 Is it possible or does it need a huge amount of funding
18:10 and a team behind it?
18:12 - Well, so the owners of Turkey Mill bought it,
18:14 I think some 20 years ago and have built it bit piece by piece
18:19 so it has taken a decent amount of time
18:22 to get to where it is today,
18:23 but it has been beautiful for a very long time.
18:25 And it's so beautiful,
18:26 it's been used as a wedding venue as well.
18:28 So that's pretty special for the people that work there.
18:31 But the team do work pretty much full-time curating,
18:33 looking after everything, as you can imagine.
18:35 Otherwise, as you say, it wouldn't be kept to this condition.
18:38 It is unusual to have 20 acres of ostensibly countryside
18:42 right off the A20 and right by Maidstone train stations
18:47 and the town centre,
18:48 but you can only work with what you've given
18:51 and haven't they done a fantastic job?
18:52 - And I suppose, what does it do
18:53 for the local wildlife in the area?
18:55 Many people might work near a river or near a forest,
18:59 but they might not see the wildlife living there
19:01 because it's not as well looked after perhaps.
19:04 So what do you sort of see out the office window?
19:07 - Well, I think they tend to look out for the kingfisher,
19:10 which is a rare sighting, it's very quick.
19:13 There's herons, there's ducks,
19:14 and all sorts of tiny creatures, wildlife.
19:19 - What sort of little steps, I suppose,
19:22 can businesses take if they're watching now
19:24 and thinking, "I want to be more green,
19:25 "I want to really harness an urban green space
19:29 "for where we work."
19:30 How can they do it?
19:31 What's the first step?
19:32 - Well, bringing in plants.
19:34 You know, there's tons of research
19:37 that show that greenery within the office,
19:39 outside of the office,
19:40 basically interspersed with where you work
19:43 brings levels of positivity up and levels of stress down.
19:46 I think the University of Michigan says that,
19:48 there's some universities in Australia that have said that.
19:51 I mean, if you look on the internet,
19:52 there's tons of research that all supports this.
19:55 So that's an easy first step.
19:56 And of course, that also helps with the sustainability
19:58 and the energy efficiency of the office too.
20:01 Other than that, running water is supposed
20:03 to be a really good support to mental health.
20:07 It also contributes to air quality.
20:09 We've actually been out testing the air quality
20:11 at Turkeyman and it's some of the best in Kent.
20:13 And yet a mile away, you've got the town centre,
20:16 which has some of the worst of Kent.
20:17 So it's perfectly possible within a short space of time
20:20 to create good air quality.
20:22 - I suppose the next barrier you face,
20:25 if you don't have the space, it's the money.
20:27 Things like this, how much does it cost?
20:29 Is it a real expense?
20:31 Or would you say that that's where funding needs to be put?
20:34 - I think funding of open spaces
20:36 is a few different things to unpick there,
20:38 but funding of open space is absolutely crucial
20:41 for the UK in general.
20:43 Open spaces is so key to workers' morale.
20:45 It's so key to everybody's morale.
20:46 It's so key to keep sustainability
20:49 and climate change in check
20:50 and to preserve the bio net diversity,
20:54 sorry, biodiversity and natural habitats
20:58 that we find across the UK.
20:59 - Are there any other business centres in Kent
21:01 that are doing something similar to Turkeyman?
21:04 - So I also work with Royal Tumbridge Wells together,
21:06 which is the business improvement district for Tumbridge Wells
21:09 voted for by local businesses to promote the town centre.
21:14 And they are focusing heavily on sustainability.
21:16 So Tumbridge Wells is very lucky in that it has
21:18 about 106 open green spaces in and around the town.
21:22 And that lends itself to people who want to be based
21:25 in Tumbridge Wells and work there, who like open spaces.
21:28 And as we said with Turkey Mill, since COVID,
21:31 so many people have wanted to work locally.
21:34 And we surveyed the businesses of Tumbridge Wells
21:37 and over a third of them site the open spaces
21:41 within the town as one of their key reasons,
21:43 if not the key reason for working locally.
21:46 So that's really cool.
21:47 And in turn with that, what you've got is a number
21:50 of really cool businesses grouping together
21:54 for sustainability initiatives.
21:56 So there's two corporates, Crips Law,
21:59 a big law firm, top 100 law firm,
22:02 and Yayo Design, a global media company
22:04 that have co-founded Amplify, which is initiative
22:07 to share best practice sustainability
22:09 and to club together and pool resources
22:12 through the local business of Tumbridge Wells,
22:15 the local business community to do better
22:17 for the environment.
22:18 And that's so cool to hear about because it shows
22:20 that business community is really strong,
22:22 but they're placing sustainability
22:23 at the top of their agenda.
22:25 - Time now to take a look at the weather,
22:28 see what the forecast is looking like
22:30 for the next few days and find out if any of that wind
22:33 and if the storms are dying down anytime soon.
22:36 (upbeat music)
22:38 Looks like it's going to be a dry evening,
22:43 but cloudy across the board,
22:45 nine degrees up in North Kent.
22:47 And it looks like it's going to be another cloudy one
22:49 tomorrow morning, slightly warmer with light winds,
22:53 10 degrees in Margate and a little,
22:56 slight showers down in Folkestone as the afternoon goes on.
23:00 And here's the outlook for the rest of the week.
23:02 Some sunshine on Friday finally and through to the weekend,
23:06 but some cloud too.
23:07 (upbeat music)
23:10 Well, that's all we've got time for tonight
23:13 on Kent on Climate.
23:14 Thank you very much for watching us this evening.
23:16 We'll be back next week with another episode
23:19 discussing more matters relevant
23:21 to environmental issues in the county.
23:23 In the meantime, though, you can keep up to date
23:24 on all other things climate related at kmtv.co.uk.
23:28 But good night from me.
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