Catch up with all the latest news from across the county with Abby Hook.
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00:00Hello, good evening and welcome to Kentonite live on KMTV. I'm Abbey Hook, here are your
00:26top stories on Thursday the 30th of January.
00:30Rising water. Bills are only going up for Kent residents, but suppliers say it's to
00:35improve services.
00:37They had invested in the infrastructure before the prices started going up. When things started
00:43going wrong, then maybe they wouldn't have to put the prices up in the first place.
00:46Last ditch attempt. Council could still save Sheppey and Bannett children's centres.
00:51Arguments that were put forward were so good and so clear, that at the end of the day all
00:56the members of the committee simply had to.
00:59And hired or fired. Deal Apprentice candidate tells us what it's really like to work for
01:05Lord Sugar.
01:06Do you know what, really he is quite a scary man, but genuinely he is a really nice guy.
01:22Kent residents are amongst those hit the hardest by rising water bills, and in particular Southern
01:27Water customers will be paying nearly 50% more every year.
01:31Regulator Ofwan outlined these plans back in December for the next five years, but didn't
01:35include inflation.
01:37Water companies say the extra money will be spent improving pipe leaks, reducing sewage
01:41discharge and building new reservoirs.
01:44But is it all worth the extra hundreds of pounds?
01:46Phil McDermott has been finding out.
01:49Growth will not come without a fight, without a government willing to take the right decisions
01:54now to change our country's future for the better.
01:59One of those changes is a £7.9 million investment into the country's water infrastructure,
02:04including new reservoirs, the repair of pipe networks and reduction of sewage discharges.
02:09But this comes with a reported average 10% rise in annual water bills across England
02:13and Wales, said to be in full effect by this April.
02:17But nowhere in the country is the water bill going to be as high as some parts of Kent,
02:21with Southern Water's average annual price rising to £703, an increase of £200 from
02:27its last annual price.
02:29Now you can use online tools to find out who your water supplier is, and there are some
02:33overlaps between Southern and South East Water, but areas like the Medway towns are exclusively
02:38supplied by Southern Water, who have a higher planned increase than other water suppliers.
02:42They should have been doing this all over the years and they wouldn't have to put our
02:45bills up if they did this the last 20, 30 years, which they have not been doing and
02:49maintaining anything.
02:51And which is why we're having all the burst water mains, due to the cold and the frost.
02:55Because they failed to invest in the infrastructure, which obviously was part of their remit, they
03:03failed to do that and now we have to pay.
03:06I think if they had invested in the infrastructure before the prices started going up, when things
03:12started going wrong, then maybe they wouldn't have to put the prices up in the first place.
03:15Some businesses in the Rochester area say they've come to expect rising bills, and split
03:20across the year it will be more manageable.
03:22But some businesses say that it's just another one of these bills that they have to pay and
03:25the number isn't going down on any of them, making them worried for their future.
03:30I think when you say £200 a year, in itself it doesn't sound like a lot for a business.
03:35However, when you reflect on all of the other additions that we've got in 2025 planned,
03:40it's just another thing that adds to a burden of what, as business owners, we have to face.
03:44And also as a homeowner, not just as a business owner.
03:48They comment that they haven't invested enough in infrastructure over the last number of
03:53years, but that actually isn't our burden.
03:56That's poor planning, for whatever reason.
03:59Southern Water say we understand an increase in bills is never welcome.
04:03Customers will see the sharpest rise this spring to allow us to front-load investment
04:06into major infrastructure projects, with future annual increases falling for the rest
04:10of the 2025-30 spending period.
04:14While some people have questioned why the cost of infrastructure is being pushed onto
04:17the consumer, water companies say that they aren't in control of the investment, and that
04:21it lies with the regulator.
04:23Many in Medway say that during the cost-of-living crisis, further increases to their bills will
04:27only hurt them further.
04:29Finn McDermid for KMTV in Rochester.
04:35Finn joins me in the studio now.
04:37What about some of these other areas in Kent?
04:40Obviously you were looking in Medway today, but are they going to be hit as hard?
04:44Well as we can see on the graph here, Kent is a bit of a jigsaw when it comes to our
04:48water suppliers.
04:49If you're based more in Dartford, it's going to cost you around £150 more.
04:53In this big purple block here, that's South East Water, only about £49 more to your annual
04:58bill, and the same for Affinity Water down here in Dover.
05:01So it really depends where you live.
05:04What else have the suppliers said, and I suppose in their way of support for customers?
05:09Well, the companies themselves have defended themselves by saying that it's not them that
05:12sets their investment quota, it's Ofwat, the water regulator, and that's set every five
05:17years, so that's just come around this year.
05:20The chief executive of Ofwat, he's quoted as saying that they've pushed companies to
05:23double the amount of support over that next five-year period where we're seeing these
05:27higher bills.
05:28That kind of support from Southern Water includes them adding more customers to a discount scheme,
05:34but it's yet to be seen how much that's actually going to help people who might be struggling
05:37with this increase.
05:38Finn, thank you very much for those details.
05:42Next this evening, a man's been due to appear in court today, charged with attempted murder
05:46following a suspected assault on a dual carriageway near Canterbury.
05:50Two men were reportedly assaulted in the morning of the 14th December, one of which remains
05:54in a serious condition in hospital.
05:56The incident left the A2 between Bridge and Winship closed all day.
06:0128-year-old Dawood Khan from North London is also accused of having two offensive weapons
06:06and causing grievous bodily harm.
06:09Another man, aged 27, was also arrested but has since been released on bail.
06:14There's been a last chance attempt to stop funding cuts to two children's centres in
06:21Margate in Sheerness.
06:23Kent County Council were to end their Family Hub contracts with Millmead and Seashells
06:27at the end of March.
06:28But councillors have now voted for that decision to be made by the full council in the coming
06:33weeks.
06:34Will this make any difference though?
06:35Local Democracy reporter Gabriel Morris was at the meeting.
06:38It's where families come for advice and support when bringing up their children.
06:43Users say it's a lifeline.
06:45But two of these centres in Margate and Sheerness are set to have their Family Hub services
06:50decommissioned at the end of March from Kent County Council.
06:54The authority says the loss of Seashells and Millmead could take nearly half a million
06:58pounds off its budget and with services remaining in-house nearby at other centres.
07:03That decision by the councillor in charge has now been stalled but this has now been
07:07questioned at scrutiny this week with new data coming to light.
07:12The arguments that were put forward were so good and so clear that at the end of the day
07:16all the members of the committee simply had to vote to take it to the floor.
07:21So we've won this little battle, there's one more battle to take when we take it to
07:25full council.
07:26I'm absolutely delighted.
07:28It shows very categorically that the committee and actually the full council and the decision
07:34maker didn't have all the information that they needed, unanimous, absolutely unanimous.
07:39A consultation took place last year to gather views of users at the services and alongside
07:44that campaign groups amassed more than 2,000 signatures.
07:48So now the final decision will be in the hands of the full council in the coming weeks.
07:52It's thought this vote will be unwhipped.
07:55It'd be unusual if they reversed the decisions of three meetings.
08:02So I'm very confident but time will tell but I doubt whether we're going to get there.
08:09Despite a unanimous vote, the lead councillor still backs her decision.
08:13At the moment I will stand by that decision.
08:16However, there is clearly a process within council which allows scrutiny and members
08:20to ask me to reconsider.
08:24I'm not going to speculate on what full council may do, we'll provide the evidence, I'll provide
08:28the explanations and we'll see what the outcome is.
08:32A date still needs to be set for this extraordinary full council, although some members are speculating
08:38that a U-turn could happen before this.
08:41Gabriel Morris at County Hall.
08:44Now Kent is celebrating Chinese New Year with festivals, food and parades to highlight the
08:49rich diversity across the county.
08:51Despite the negative connotations people may often associate with the animal, the Year
08:55of the Snake is meant to bring calmness.
08:572025 is all about living life with wisdom, grace and resilience, something Nucleus Arts
09:02who run a wide range of community projects here in Medway are hoping to spread.
09:06Well David Stokes joins me in the studio now.
09:09Some incredible pictures of last year here.
09:12Yes, it's beautiful.
09:13So tell me, why is it so important to host these events?
09:15Is there a big community that will be celebrating Chinese New Year here in Medway?
09:19Yes, yeah, we have a really big Chinese community here in Medway.
09:23In particular, we work with the Kato Society, so they come from a particular region of Fushan
09:27in China called Kato.
09:29And they've been running the event for about 20 years until Covid made it stop for a little
09:34while.
09:35It's a shame, they've impacted so many events, of course, but making up for it now with all
09:39the beautiful colours and celebrations, how will it be different this year?
09:43It's the Year of the Snake, so that will be the feature of the year.
09:45Last year was Dragon, so everything was Dragon based.
09:48So it's going to be really colourful.
09:50We've got the Kato Society, we've got acrobats and dancers actually coming from China.
09:56And we've got a whole group of communities from around Medway taking part in the event.
10:00So it's actually not just the Chinese community, but all of Medway coming together to celebrate
10:05this.
10:06We can see some pictures on the screen now of some of the previous events as well last
10:10year.
10:11How important is it to celebrate a range of cultures in Chatham?
10:14Because it is quite a diverse area.
10:16It is.
10:17We are really lucky here in Medway that we are so diverse.
10:20We've got so many different ideas and people from around the world coming and making a
10:24home here in Medway.
10:26So it's brilliant to celebrate that.
10:27And I think it just makes us all happy to go out and just have a party in the streets.
10:32Now from Nucleus Arts' perspective, where does the funding for this kind of event come
10:36from?
10:37How are you sponsored?
10:38And what's the backing behind Nucleus Arts putting this event on?
10:42So we got the funding for this event from something called the UK Share Prosperity Fund.
10:47So lots of areas around the country were given an allocated amount of money from the government
10:51to encourage more activities in the high street.
10:54Medway Council were brilliant because they offered charities and organisations the opportunity
10:58to apply for the funding to do something really interesting with it.
11:02And we were very lucky to get funding for this.
11:03And does it?
11:04Does it bring more people to the high street?
11:05What was business like last year this time?
11:07It was a huge amount of people came down last year.
11:10It was wonderful.
11:11I think we almost had several thousand additional people come down to the high street, all spending
11:16money, all enjoying themselves.
11:17And it's not just the parade.
11:18I mean, we have market stalls, we've got food stalls, the Pentagon are putting on a market
11:24as well.
11:25So it's going to be a full fun day of day of fun.
11:28Amazing.
11:29David, thank you so much for coming in.
11:30Thank you very much.
11:31It's really important to celebrate all those diverse cultures here in Medway.
11:33That's all we've got time for now, but I'll see you in a few minutes time with more news
11:37from right across Kent.
11:38Bye bye for now.
14:37Hello and welcome back to Kent Tonight live on KMTV.
15:05Now, an academy in Ashford has been awarded a Global Inclusion Award for their positive
15:09impact on children after making pupils lock up their phones during school hours.
15:14From the start of the day, children at the John Wallace Church of England Academy have
15:18to put their phones away in specially made pouches you can see on screen now, which has
15:22since seen a 40 percent drop in serious behaviour issues.
15:27The school also noticed a reduction in online bullying with a rise in classroom engagement
15:32since last January when it was first introduced.
15:35Bosses say that its impact has been transformative both at school and at home.
15:42Now, the victim of a Whitstable fraudster who stole tens of thousands of pounds has
15:46spoken out.
15:46Seventy four year old Sue Cashman was one of 89 people targeted by the window shutter
15:51installer, Lewis Blake.
15:53He was sentenced to Canterbury Crown Court earlier this month.
15:56Well, our reporter Oliver Leder de Saxe has been following the story.
16:00Oliver, can you give us a bit of an idea about the fraud that Blake actually committed?
16:05We hear about fraud cases all the time, but this one was particularly egregious.
16:10Lewis Blake appears to everyone to be this friendly, honest tradesman, but he was anything
16:15but. Between August 2020 and May 2021, Blake took £64,000, £774 from victims across the
16:26county, making up a range of excuses from work never done due to the pandemic to
16:33shipping. And in the process, he would take up half the money up front as a deposit and
16:38pocketed it.
16:39In fact, between 2019 and 2022, the court heard that Blake ordered just 14 shutters
16:46while splashing out more than £100,000 on gambling and £14,000 on adult websites.
16:53We caught up and he was only caught really after those affected joined together on social
16:58media to share their experiences.
17:01And luckily for those defrauded by Blake, he pled guilty to fraud earlier this month, was
17:06sentenced to 18 months in prison, though it was still quite a traumatic experience for many of
17:11them.
17:12And we've got on the screen here, as well as Blake, of course, we've got Sue, who was
17:15actually one of the victims.
17:16Yeah, we caught up with Sue recently and she's one of 89 victims.
17:21She's a 74 year old retired primary school teacher.
17:24You probably never imagined being caught in a case like this.
17:29No one really ever does.
17:31And Ms Cashman was contacted by Blake in September 2020 after looking through a national
17:37website and found that what the rate he was offering was much cheaper than the going rate.
17:43But after Blake disappeared with half the money, this was how she felt.
17:48Very annoyed and extremely angry that someone dare come in my house and purport to be doing
17:53something so useful and actually just blatantly taking my money.
17:58It was very pleasant, very friendly, very nice.
18:01And I paid half of the money, which was 450 pounds.
18:05And he said that they would come in December.
18:08They didn't come in December.
18:09I emailed and asked about them and got an increasingly bizarre range of excuses that I got
18:15more suspicious of.
18:16And some of us got our money back.
18:18I did. A lot didn't.
18:20A lot had paid a lot more than me.
18:22And after a very long, drawn out process, he's finally been charged and sentenced and
18:28gone to prison.
18:32Oliver, thank you very much for those details.
18:40Now, it's time to take a very quick look at the weather forecast.
18:43Tonight, it's going to be cool, tame evening with clouds scattered across the sky,
18:47temperatures as low as one over in Ashford into tomorrow morning.
18:51Lots of rain to be expected with temperatures around five and six.
18:54Wind speeds reaching around 10 miles an hour to in the afternoon, it'll warm up just
18:58slightly, reaching highs of eight in Dartford, six and seven elsewhere with clouds right
19:02across the board, but should be staying dry now for the outlook.
19:05It looks like similar weather, but a mixture of sunshine and a little bit of rain.
19:09Should be staying dry now for the outlook.
19:11Looks like similar weather, but a mixture of some sunshine coming in.
19:15Should be staying nice and dry for this weekend.
19:25Now, don't forget, you can keep up to date with all your latest stories across Kent by
19:28logging on to our website.
19:30It's, of course, KMTV.co.uk.
19:32There you'll find all our latest reports, including this one about a roller dance club
19:37in Medway, who've been campaigning for a bigger haul for more than a decade.
19:43One of the oldest of its kind in Kent, Medway Roller Dance Club have been skating
19:49since 1949.
19:51Groups of all abilities and ages are currently in training, some for the 2025
19:56national competitions and some for the British championships.
20:00But a battle with Medway Council about space to practice in has taken centre
20:06stage. Medway Park has got a fantastic facilities there, which we have used their
20:11smaller hall before, which they've now recoated.
20:14But it's not suitable for us because it's too sticky.
20:18But their larger hall, which I know they have some fantastic events on in there, we've
20:22tried to use since 2012, but we've never been able to use it, unfortunately, and
20:29without really a reason.
20:30This is only four courts and we really struggle to get everything on, especially for
20:35championships because they have huge floors I have to skate on.
20:39In a statement, Medway Council said, unfortunately, the large hall at Medway Park is
20:44not suitable for skating, which the club have been advised of.
20:47We have discussed the possibility of the club using the smaller hall, which has
20:51recently been upgraded and can be used for skating.
20:54However, the club did not find the surface suitable.
20:57They feel that we're damaging it, but they haven't actually seen the skates and that
21:02they wouldn't actually damage the floor at all.
21:06I mean, these equipment is £500 plus they spend on these skates.
21:12They just wouldn't, they wouldn't ruin the floor.
21:14While the search for a bigger hall continues, the skaters have another challenge to
21:18face, too, in getting their sport more widely recognised by authorities here in the
21:24UK.
21:25Ice skating is so big and it is the equivalent, like we are just doing the same
21:29thing and so many of the rules are aligned as well now.
21:31Post-Covid, we've seen a real increase in skaters all the way through, like people
21:36just coming in and just trying it one day and staying with us.
21:39So I think there's definitely a space for it to grow, but it's quite big in this part
21:43of the country. So we're just a small part of that, but quite a big club.
21:47So do they have any room for one more?
21:54So I managed to find these at the back of the cupboard, blown off the dust.
21:57I've skated a few times in my life, but not quite to the level that these guys are at.
22:02So Sam and Nathan are going to give me a bit of a lesson.
22:05Wish me luck.
22:08So the instructors would have put me around a level one, even with that
22:12performance. But when you compare my work to that of the competitors.
22:16Elegance, elegance.
22:18You can see why they train for months.
22:24I spoke too soon.
22:26So no medals for me, but this club will continue to keep their eyes on the prize
22:31and on a bigger haul.
22:34Abbey Hook for KMTV in Gellingham.
22:42Well, I said it earlier on Monday in Invicta Sport, I need practice and I will say it again
22:47for sure. But finally, this evening here on Kent Tonight, the founder of a tutoring
22:51business from Deal is in the running to win two hundred and fifty thousand pounds and
22:56become Lord Alan Sugar's newest business partner.
22:59Twenty three year old Johnny Hever, who started his company whilst at university, is up
23:02against 17 other candidates in the brand new season, which starts tonight.
23:07Well, our reporter Bartholomew Hall, very keen apprentice fan as well, joins me now.
23:12Johnny's been speaking with Robin Newman, the KMFM breakfast show.
23:15That's right. He was on the breakfast show this morning.
23:17We'll hear from him in just a second.
23:19But just a reminder, if anyone's not aware, The Apprentice, where it's been going on 19
23:22seasons, you can't really avoid it when it is on.
23:24So I'm surprised if anyone hasn't heard of it.
23:26But you've got contestants. They're all entrepreneurs going up against each other for the
23:29grand prize of two hundred and fifty thousand pounds investment and a 50 50 partnership
23:34with Lord Alan Sugar.
23:35There was a US version of the show as well, hosted by the current United States president,
23:39Donald Trump, which obviously had its own spin on the format.
23:44The show is known for having its quite silly moments and it's almost come under fire in the
23:48past for some of how difficult the tasks are for the contestants.
23:52It's almost like they're set up to fail.
23:53But it's always a bit of fun. It's always good fun and some serious businesses in there as
23:57well. But let's hear from our Kent hopeful about what things are really like behind the
24:02scenes.
24:03What is Alan Sugar like in person?
24:06Really?
24:07Do you know what? Really, he is quite a scary man.
24:12Genuinely, he is a really nice guy and he's got a passion for investing in young people
24:16going into business.
24:17So why would I not be a fan?
24:19So jokes aside, even though there are a few scary moments with him in the boardroom, I
24:23you know, I'm a big fan.
24:24He's great.
24:25Well, obviously, there's going to be things that we can't talk about because it's on the
24:27show tonight.
24:29But one of the things I always find it quite interesting from a geeky point of view is
24:33how long have you had to keep this a secret?
24:35When did filming wrap?
24:37Honestly, while it was filmed about April time.
24:41But the applications I applied early January of twenty twenty four.
24:45So over a year ago now, it's such a long process.
24:49And I don't think people understand that.
24:50And you have to keep it secret for so long because it gets more exciting, more kind of
24:54far down the application process you get.
24:57But you just can't tell anyone.
24:59And very hard to keep it a secret.
25:01So it's so nice to actually tell everyone now that I want it.
25:05Always fascinating getting a little bit of an insight into behind these big TV shows
25:09we watch all the time.
25:11What do we know about our Kent hopeful?
25:13Well, you just heard him there.
25:14He's a lovely guy. Very, very chirpy chap.
25:17I mean, there was a great interview.
25:18Actually, I would go and listen to the rest of it.
25:20The rest is on the KMFM socials.
25:23But yeah, I mean, Johnny, he's originally from Kent.
25:25He now lives in Liverpool.
25:27He's only 23 years old, started his business up whilst he was at university, like you
25:31said. And he's made his goal to add more heart back into the world of business.
25:36And he says that he's a friendly guy and his biggest success is obviously his business.
25:41He manages over 20 people.
25:42He's very keen to get that message across and he wants to expand his business by
25:48bringing it into new locations.
25:49And that's what he thinks Alan Sugar could help him do.
25:52He's not the only one to be standing up for the whole county.
25:55We have some other Kent connections from seasons gone by from The Apprentice.
25:59That's right. We've had a few contestants from Kent before.
26:02We've also had a few features of some locations, some businesses that have actually
26:06featured in the programme.
26:07You have to go back to 2015.
26:09Kent appeared in an episode where candidates had to source items from some of them
26:13were in Dover.
26:15Some of them went to Whitstable.
26:16They were given a list of items that to try and get for the cheapest and go back to
26:192009. There was an entire episode focused on the rebranding of Margate.
26:23Wow. Well, we'll see if they end up in anywhere in the county in this new season.
26:27Of course, that starts this evening.
26:29Bartholomew, thank you very much and best of luck to our Kent hopeful.
26:32So we've got time for this evening here on Kent Tonight Live on KMTV.
26:36There's, of course, more news made for Kent throughout the evening.
26:38Bye bye.