Catch up with all the news across the county with Oliver Leader de Saxe
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00:00Good evening and welcome to Kentonite live on KMTV.
00:27I'm Oliver, leader of the SACs and here are your top stories on Tuesday the 29th of October.
00:33Last orders for Kent, pubs divided over the end of government support ahead of the budget.
00:40If the business rate relief goes that will cost me £2,000 a year.
00:46Life changing, Kent adopters share their stories as national numbers plummet.
00:51It's the best thing that ever happened to us in our world.
00:55And lend a paw, how to keep Kent's canine companions safe during bonfire night.
01:01If you're having a bonfire yourself, obviously just to check your bonfire and make sure nothing's
01:05hedgehogs or anything else like that, I've started to use it.
01:18Well first tonight, with a new Labour government's budget set for tomorrow, pubs across the country
01:24and here in Kent are just one of the types of businesses that are worried for their future.
01:29From the freeze on alcohol duty to the potential loss of business rate relief, it's the uncertainty
01:34that has landlords and owners alike holding their breath ahead of the announcement.
01:39Finn McDermott went down to Raynham to find out more.
01:43The classic British booze are darts, football and of course the pint, but those who enjoy
01:48a quick one might be looking to the future, just in case their local has to close up shop.
01:54Labour are set to announce their first budget in 14 years tomorrow and the Treasury have
01:58pledged to make business rate systems fairer.
02:01But plenty of pubs around the country are worried for the effect it could have on their
02:04profits, with the main concern being around government support being taken away.
02:08The business rates relief system was introduced for pubs after the pandemic and it's currently
02:13set to run out next April.
02:15Losing this support could add more costs onto businesses that serve alcohol, all the
02:19way from large chains to small locals.
02:22With 75% having been taken off their business rates to a maximum of £110,000, it's understandable
02:28why some businesses are cautious.
02:31Well pubs and small retailers are, and small businesses generally, are the least able to
02:36absorb inflationary costs and one of the great problems we have with all governments is we
02:41never get a joined up focus on the cumulative impact of all the policies that they have
02:47on small businesses.
02:48Small businesses just are not able to absorb all these costs and we need to ensure that
02:53this sector thrives, survives and that we've all got the ability to continue to invest.
02:59To get a sense of what the effect could be on the small local pub, I went down to the
03:03Mackland Arms in Raynham to ask the owner Simon about what he thinks ahead of the budget.
03:07I've done a quick bit of math and if the business rate relief goes, that will cost me £2,000
03:16a year.
03:17I'm on the cusp of small business rate relief, so if that was to be nice enough to rise,
03:24it might actually drop, it could drop, but potentially I'm looking at a rise of an increase
03:29of about £2,000 a year and obviously a lot of the bigger operators are going to suffer
03:34a lot more.
03:36The thing that Simon loves the most about running a pub are the people.
03:40But he tells me that with the upcoming budget he's just not sure what financial issues will
03:44come.
03:45He could potentially have nothing or there could be an extra £2,000 added to his overhead
03:50costs.
03:51He just isn't sure and it's that uncertainty that's a tough pill to swallow.
03:56A spokesperson with the government's Treasury Department said we're supporting businesses
04:00like our well-loved pubs through pledges to make the business rate system fairer.
04:04The government is also looking to cut the cap corporation tax at 25% and to publish
04:07a corporate tax roadmap so they have some welcome certainty to plan for the future.
04:13So while the Mackland Arms and customers aren't worried at the moment, ale houses, cocktail
04:17bars, nightclubs, taverns and anywhere that serves alcohol will be holding their breath
04:21ahead of the budget and what it could mean for their livelihoods.
04:25Finn McDermid for KMTV in Raynham.
04:28Well it's not just duty in the budget tomorrow, we're finding out a lot more about the healthcare
04:32system and joining me to discuss that is Dr Julian Spinks, our resident health expert.
04:37Julian, thank you so much for joining me.
04:39I wanted to ask, Labour ministers have referred to the health service as broken but not beaten.
04:45Do you agree with that and what are you expecting to see in the budget tomorrow?
04:49Well I liken it to buying a completely run down house so nothing is really working properly
04:54and you've got to turn it around and turn it into a family home.
04:57The trouble is you've got to live in it at the same time and this is the great difficulty
05:00we've got in the NHS is that it's in such a mess it's going to take a long time, a lot
05:05of effort to bring it back to something decent.
05:08Obviously we've heard a lot about sin taxes, that they could potentially be going up, things
05:12like alcohol and tobacco duty, do you think, because obviously there is a link between
05:17these different duties and people's health, do you think this could benefit people's health
05:21or do you think that it's not going to have that big an impact, it's just about lining
05:25the public purse?
05:27It's interesting because those duties have been frozen for really quite a long time.
05:32We definitely know with things like smoking, for example, each time the duty goes up and
05:36the price of a packet of cigarettes goes up, fewer people smoke.
05:40Alcohol also is a major problem these days in the UK, we are seeing a lot more alcohol
05:45related things like liver disease and so on.
05:48From a public health point of view it's quite a good idea but I do have a suspicion that
05:52it's also a very good way of raising money.
05:54Of course, and of course it's about raising money, there is a £22 billion black hole
05:59according to the Chancellor and do you think that this budget that's going to be launched
06:03tomorrow, because obviously there are links between poverty as well and people's health,
06:07do you think what you've heard so far about it is filling you with confidence that it
06:12will tackle those kind of root causes around people's health in society?
06:17Well I am suspicious that they're not going to be able to achieve this idea that they
06:21won't hit working people or people who are poor because really almost anything you do
06:27to increase tax will have an effect.
06:29However, I think we've got to raise the money to be able to invest in public services to
06:34improve things, whether it's in the health service, schools, local authorities and so
06:38on.
06:39Well Julian, very quickly, Labour are putting billions of pounds of funding into reducing
06:44waiting lists, that's one of the things we can expect to see tomorrow.
06:47How best do you think it could be done?
06:49What would you like to see as a potential plan perhaps?
06:53Well we may need to actually use the existing buildings for longer periods but that means
06:56finding staff who can work longer hours and being able to pay them, so it's not that easy
07:01to achieve.
07:02Also, they're going to be using the private sector more to do things like operations.
07:07Well Julian, thank you so much for joining us, I'm sure we'll get some more reaction
07:10from you where we know exactly what's going to be announced tomorrow, thank you so much.
07:16Well next tonight, a man charged with the murder of a father in Tunbridge Wells is
07:20expected to stand trial in April.
07:24Stephen Castle appeared at Maidstone Crown Court today over the killing of Wayne Woodgate
07:29after a body was discovered in East Sussex last week.
07:32Mr Woodgate was reported missing earlier this month, leading the police to appeal for CCTV,
07:38dash cam and doorbell camera footage.
07:41His family described him as the face of Tunbridge Wells that everyone knew and everyone will
07:47miss.
07:49Well residents and traders are furious at proposals to increase charges at Canterbury
07:53City Centre's most expensive car parks.
07:56Business owners say they could lose footfall and are urging the council to reconsider.
08:02It follows increased parking charges earlier this year, despite the number of motorists
08:07using the car parks going down by nearly 2%.
08:11But cabinet member for transport Alex Ricketts says the proposals are part of the council's
08:15strategy to cut congestion, boost air quality and combat climate change.
08:22Well is adoption on decline here in Kent?
08:24Well new data shows there are more than 700 children waiting to be matched with a family
08:30across England.
08:32And the South East Adoption Partnership say they're struggling to find those suitable
08:36to adopt their most vulnerable children.
08:39Last week I caught up with some of those whose lives have been changed by the adoption process
08:43during National Adoption Week.
08:46Maidstone on the front line of Kent's adoption decline.
08:50Across the country hundreds of children are facing 18 month waits to be placed with an
08:55adoptive family.
08:57And here at the South East Adoption Partnership, this drop in adopters is hitting the most
09:03vulnerable children hardest.
09:05I do wonder whether people rule themselves out thinking that maybe they don't have enough
09:09money, they're not financially able to take on children through adoption.
09:15It may be that they think that they're too young, that they don't own a house.
09:18So we specifically have a challenge in finding families for our children with more complex
09:24needs.
09:25So those children that have disabilities, those children that are slightly older, so
09:30aged four and over, and also for our brothers and sisters who we want to place together.
09:36Lucas and Lloyd are two adopters with very different experiences, united by the positive
09:42change it's had on their lives.
09:45Lloyd adopted a sibling pair about a decade ago when there was less support, though we
09:51can't show any pictures for safeguarding reasons.
09:55To him, misconceptions around adoption is what is holding people back.
10:00Because there was no support when we were first new adopters, you did feel a little
10:06bit isolated and a bit trying to fight your own battles.
10:09But now that the service offers so much more in the way of adoption support, it just makes
10:15you feel like you're being supported all the way through and that that support is there
10:21no matter what you're going through as a family.
10:24Lucas adopted his son when he was in his late 20s.
10:29He says the joys of adopting a slightly older, vulnerable toddler has massively outweighed
10:36the challenges.
10:37So my son was a complete mute up until the age of three and a half.
10:41So he didn't talk, he didn't do much, he was quite, well obviously a very quiet child.
10:46And to see him grow and he's now reading, writing, doesn't stop talking, and he's really
10:51grown into the person that he's become, it's the best thing that ever happened to us in
10:55our world.
10:57Yeah, you get to be a parent of a beautiful child that's, you know, wonderful.
11:02With demand increasing for adoption services, the stories of Lloyd and Lucas have never
11:07been more important in showcasing the challenges of adoption, but also the joys.
11:14Oliver, leader of the Saks for KMTV in Maidstone.
11:21Incredible to see what adoption can achieve here in Kent.
11:24We have a quick break now, but coming up, we'll be talking about the millions of pounds
11:28of investment by BA Systems into Rochester, a field torn up by quad bikes days before
11:33a football match, and how to keep your dog safe and happy during Bonfire Night and Halloween.
11:39All that and more coming up just after the break.
11:42I'll see you in a few minutes.
14:54Hello and welcome back to Kentonite Live here on KMTV.
15:18But first, an Isle of Grain sports club has been left devastated after finding their playing
15:23fields ruined by quad bikers days before their first ever home match.
15:28Grain veterans FC's manager Lee Malone and his wife Sarah were left gutted after spending
15:34a whole year getting St James' playing fields ready for kick-off.
15:38But now, whether the game against Bredhurst junior veterans is going to go ahead is in
15:42the balance with the grass turfed up by huge tyre tracks.
15:47A referee from the FA is due to make a pitch inspection to determine if it is safe to proceed
15:52or whether they must postpone it for it to be repaired.
15:56Animal droppings and meat at room temperature.
15:59That's what has earned one supermarket in Margate a one-star health rating.
16:04Nazar Bydronka, a Polish-inspired supermarket in Cliftonville, received the second worst
16:10possible score from Thanet District Council.
16:13However, in another inspection just a month later, improvements have already been made,
16:19with no visible signs of pests and meat being stored correctly and safely.
16:24The business owners were unavailable for comment.
16:29Next tonight, aerospace and defence giant BAA Systems is investing more than £200 million
16:35to transform its Rochester base into one of its largest UK projects in 25 years.
16:43With construction set to begin early next year, it's hoped around 300 jobs could be
16:47created for highly skilled workers in the area, as Kristen Hawthorne has been looking
16:53into.
16:55Aerospace and defence giant BAA Systems is putting £220 million into its Rochester base
17:03to transform the area and bring in hundreds of new jobs.
17:07BAA staff specialised in advanced technology for civil and military aircraft, providing
17:12kit for Boeing, Airbus and NATO for fighter jets.
17:16And this investment is one of the largest it has made in its 25-year history.
17:22The business has been really founded on, say, high-integrity controls, so primary flight
17:25controls, electronic fly-by-wire systems that sit at the heart of an aircraft, but also
17:30head-up displays that pilots look through for situational awareness and weapon systems
17:35and things like helmet-mounted displays as well.
17:37The funds will go towards replacing outdated buildings and a new factory and car parks.
17:42The expected 36,000-square-metre facility will contain manufacturing, engineering and
17:48office space inside.
17:49Effectively, what we're doing is building a brand new factory on our back car park here.
17:54We're going to demolish the current buildings and also update those at the same time.
17:57So virtually every building on the site here is going to be modernised through the next
18:00five years.
18:01It'll be a significant investment for the local area.
18:03So we're already creating a huge number of jobs here on the site.
18:07We've grown from a number of about 1,250 jobs in just a few years back to over 1,600,
18:12near 1,800 I think by the end of this year.
18:15And we're planning to get up to about 2,100 jobs on the site here, all high-value jobs
18:20as well.
18:21Demolishing of the previous sites has begun and construction is expected to begin at the
18:26start of the new year.
18:28This is what the old factory used to look like and this is what it is expected to look
18:32like after construction.
18:34Obviously the foundation of the business is our engineering capability, but we have our
18:37own operations team here who build the equipment.
18:40We've got our own finance and commercial and HR and procurement teams as well, so a whole
18:43range of experiences that people can have with us.
18:46Once construction is finished, it will add around 300 jobs, hoping to draw in highly
18:51skilled workers to the area.
18:54Kristin Hawthorne for KMTV.
19:00Now, not quite the sunrise we saw yesterday.
19:03Today has brought more cloudy skies, but it gave way to these dynamic views that were
19:08captured at the Margate Harbour earlier today.
19:12Look at those clouds.
19:13And talking of clouds, let's see what the next few days have to look like here in Kent.
19:23Tonight, we'll start to feel that October cold here in Kent, temperatures as low as
19:2712 in Tunbridge Wells and into tomorrow morning, some sun will come out, temperatures staying
19:32roughly the same with those of 14 degrees in coastal areas like Margate and Dover and
19:38into the afternoon, some cloud and sunshine and also temperatures around 15 degrees in
19:43the north of the county for the rest of the week.
19:45Cloudy through Thursday to Saturday, 11 degrees and seven on Saturday.
19:51Now, don't forget, you can keep us all up to date with all your latest stories across
20:05Kent by logging on to our KMTV website, KMTV.co.uk, there you'll find all our reports, including
20:12this one about Medway's brand new archives, what it means for the history of the five
20:17towns.
20:18When the internet was new and relatively unexplored territory, most archive centres
20:22had to search for specific documents, pages and words by hand, except for one.
20:27Twenty-five years ago this weekend, the Medway Archive Centre published CityArc, an online
20:32database that allowed for anyone around the world to search for specific articles they
20:37had at the centre.
20:38And because of the sheer amount of documents, it was definitely needed.
20:42If you were to take all of the paper, all of the documents down here in the Medway Archive
20:46strongroom and lay it out piece by piece, document by document, and you started at
20:51Chatham, you'd be able to reach Rochester.
20:54There's two kilometres of paper down here.
20:57That can be a lot to search through, and CityArc was the first database that could do this
21:02specific search, beating even the National Archives to the punch.
21:06On its anniversary, I spoke to the database's creator to get a better sense of its origins.
21:11We were the first to commit to using the internet and internet technology to put our finding
21:20aid online.
21:21I believe we were the first in local government to do this, and I think possibly the first
21:26in central government.
21:27There were various central government offices as well in the UK, and although they all had
21:32internal query tools and search engines or databases, I don't recall they were available
21:40until about 2000, so we were the first by a few months, as I recall.
21:45The event kicked off with a speech from the Head of Culture and Libraries, and allowed
21:48visitors a guided tour of the environmentally controlled strongroom that houses the Medway
21:53Archives themselves.
21:54There was also a selection of their most interesting items, like a document confirming the gravesite
21:59of Pocahontas in Gravesham, a limited edition Gillingham FC annual, and a top-secret map
22:05showing the Chatham garrison's plans if the town was invaded during World War II.
22:10I spoke to the portfolio holder for Heritage, Culture and Leisure about what the database
22:14and the Archives Centre means for Medway and the world's history enthusiasts.
22:18I have spoken to our archivists and the team members, and they tell me that people are
22:26searching about Medway and the history and the connections and the families' stories
22:32by contacting us, and they are guided as to how they can find those stories.
22:37The point of an Archives Centre is to make sure that everyone has equal access to their
22:41local history, and thanks to CityArc, Medway's archives are that much easier to access, even
22:4625 years on.
22:48Finn McDermid for KMTV in Medway.
22:51And finally, as we near the 5th of November, the county's skies will be lit with flashing
22:56lights and loud bangs.
22:58But while we gather together to enjoy a bonfire and firework night, for many of our pets the
23:02evening is full of fear.
23:05What can we do this spooky season to help our dogs, cats and beloved wildlife?
23:09Well joining me on the sofa now is Daisy Page and KMTV's chaotic newsroom pet Luna the dog.
23:17And Daisy, you are quite an animal lover, you have pets as well.
23:22What did you do to keep your animals safe and well during bonfire night?
23:26Yeah, well so growing up I grew up with a staffy, usually known to be quite a brave
23:31breed, however he hated firework night.
23:34And for us as a family we ended up never going out to celebrate it and it was a dreaded night
23:38for us really because we knew that he was just so scared.
23:42So there was a couple of things that we tried to do.
23:44We created a safe space for him and we also put him in a t-shirt because we learnt that
23:47was to help reduce anxiety.
23:50But Luna, our friend here, is also unfortunately afraid of fireworks and loud bangs.
23:55So a few things that help her, because obviously every dog is different, is that we like to
24:00take her for a walk during the day.
24:02Taking her in daylight also helps avoid any fireworks or avoids her darting off if she
24:08does get scared.
24:09Again, she likes to be with her toys here as well.
24:13We bring them on the sofa with us as well because she likes to be near them.
24:16We also like to close the windows because that muffles out the noise and we close the
24:20curtains as well to hide any bright lights.
24:22And another thing you can do is turn on the TV, it's quite nice because you can watch
24:26the TV yourself, or if you are going out put on some music for them.
24:29We hear her whimpering there, she's a bit scared of TV as much as the fireworks.
24:33But it's not just our dogs and cats though, it is other wildlife here in Kent.
24:37Yeah, so I went down to Kent Wildlife Trust, one of their nature reserves today, to talk
24:42to James there to find out what we can do to help them.
24:46One of the easy ones is obviously if you're having a bonfire yourself, obviously just
24:50to check your bonfire, make sure nothing's, you know, hedgehogs or anything else like
24:54that have started to use it, especially if it's been there for a little while.
24:57One of the big things is actually go to an organised display, you know, rather than buying
25:02your own fireworks and obviously the potential impact that has on local neighbours and wildlife.
25:10It's also, say you're reducing the amount of emissions that go into the atmosphere,
25:14so if everybody went to an organised firework display rather than having their own ones,
25:18you know, it's one small thing that people could do to help.
25:23Yeah, so as you can see, there's lots that we can do.
25:26I think what James said, one of the big things is checking through the bonfires because a
25:30lot of people set them up earlier before.
25:32So just making sure that we're checking for hedgehogs and that we're not causing any issues.
25:37Hello there, what do you have to say?
25:39She says it's very important to check for other wildlife as well.
25:42Yeah, silent partner there.
25:45It's not just bonfire night though.
25:47We have Halloween coming up this week.
25:48Do you want to be mindful of that as well very quickly?
25:51Yeah, so Halloween is this Thursday.
25:54We need to make sure that our pets are safe because obviously they're not used to this
25:56event either.
25:58As you can see, she's not used to this event.
26:00And also be mindful of anything like different decorations, make sure we're using recycling
26:05and pumpkins.
26:06Make sure that we're not chucking them on the ground because things like hedgehogs can
26:09get really ill if they eat that.
26:11Yes, of course.
26:12You've got to be super mindful this Halloween, but thanks so much, Daisy, for all those tips
26:15and tricks.
26:16I'm sure Luna will really appreciate it when the evening rolls around.
26:21But you have been watching Kentonite Live here on KMTV.
26:25There's more news made just for Kent throughout the evening.
26:28Don't forget, you can keep up to date with us with your latest stories by logging on
26:32to the KMTV website, kmtv.co.uk, as well as going through our social timelines, Facebook,
26:40TikTok and of course, Instagram.
26:43But for me, for now, good night.
26:46♪♪