Catch up with all the latest news from across the county with Oliver Leader de Saxe.
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00:00Good evening and welcome to Kentonite, live here on KMTV.
00:29I'm Oliver Leader-the-Sax and here are your top stories on Friday the 14th of February.
00:36Premier Inn problems, Gravesham Council investigating, potential planning regulation breach.
00:43What about living in a Premier Inn permanently?
00:46Breaking the stigma, City-born MP announces he's HIV positive during National Testing
00:53Week.
00:54And there should be no stigma.
00:57You won't pass this disease on when you're treated.
01:00You won't actually suffer and honestly it's boring on Monday.
01:04And Cupid comes to Rochester as we find out Medway's Valentine's plans.
01:10I've got my husband a card and some nice vegan chocolate.
01:12We're having our Valentine's breakfast in the morning as well.
01:15It's nice, it's lovely that people care and do things.
01:25Well, first tonight, the Council says it's looking into a potential breach of planning
01:31regulations after rooms were advertised for rent at a former Premier Inn hotel in Gravesend.
01:38The property developer has been marketing rooms to rent despite explicitly stating
01:43that the site is not being used for private dwellings.
01:46But the developer states the location will provide much needed affordable housing and
01:51that they're redoing the planning application.
01:54Local Democracy reporter Gable Morris has the story.
01:58It's the hotel chain famous for guaranteeing a good night's sleep, usually attracting business
02:03clients or those looking for budget accommodation.
02:07But what about living in a Premier Inn permanently?
02:10Converted studio apartments with a minimum rental term of 12 months have been advertised
02:15at one of the chain's former sites in Gravesend.
02:18Progression Borough Council is looking into the legality of this.
02:22Whipbread sold the hotel to a private developer last November.
02:26Since then, Older Design & Build has lodged a planning application to extend the building
02:30by 16 rooms.
02:32Typically, planning permission is required to convert a hotel into residential lettings.
02:38In planning documents, the applicant states that the building's current use is still a
02:42hotel.
02:43It holds a licence appropriate for that business and explicitly asserts that the site is not
02:48being used for private dwellings.
02:50However, late last year, rooms were advertised for rent without any evidence of a change
02:55of use.
02:57Documents state that these rooms would be ready for occupancy before the end of January.
03:02Gravesend Borough Council has now confirmed that it is looking into a potential breach
03:06of planning regulations at the site.
03:09The developer claims it's originally intended for the site to remain a hotel, but that the
03:14previous owner had cancelled all bookings over Christmas.
03:17Regarding the advertisements, they have now admitted that this was slightly premature
03:21and the rooms weren't available.
03:24They said it was a form of advanced marketing to gauge demand.
03:28On the licence to rent out rooms, the developer says that their planning consultant had given
03:32them bad advice.
03:34They now say they understand they need a HMO licence for this building and they're in active
03:39discussions with the council.
03:41If permission is granted, they say the rooms will provide much-needed affordable housing
03:46for the local community.
03:47Gabriel Morris, in Gravesend.
03:51Well, off the back of his report, Gabriel Morris joins me in the studio now.
03:55Very complex, hard to get your head around.
03:57Why is it so important to understand a story like this?
04:01Well, this used to be a hotel, premier A&C restaurant, had been for a number of years,
04:05sold last November to a private developer.
04:09Then rooms went up for rent.
04:11We saw them on Rightmove, on Openrent.
04:13You can move there.
04:15They were originally offering it for £790 a month.
04:18It went down to £750.
04:20What we couldn't find is any evidence of a change of use.
04:23Now, this has a hotel licence because that's what it was.
04:26It's allowed to operate as a hotel.
04:30For this to be a private dwelling, we couldn't see any evidence for this.
04:34And what's furthermore is that we found a planning application which was submitted by
04:38the new property developers to extend the building by 16 rooms.
04:42As you saw in my report, in that document, it explicitly stated a couple of things.
04:46First of all, this was only going to be used for private dwellings.
04:49Secondly, that it was still going to be a hotel.
04:54So, sort of raised alarm bells there, some issues.
04:59We went to the council and they had confirmed to us that they are looking into this,
05:04investigating it, and they are looking at a possible breach of planning.
05:08Now, just to add in what the developers have said, they have said that it was
05:12a premature listing.
05:13It was advanced marketing to gauge the market to see what was out there.
05:19Although, worth noting, on that right move advertisement, it said you could move in
05:23from mid-January, despite them saying that.
05:26So, worth noting that there.
05:28But they have said they did have misguidance.
05:30They thought they'd be able to operate it on the hotel licence, but they said that
05:34was bad guidance from their planning consultants, and they are now amending it
05:37and putting in a HMO licence.
05:42Now, City Board and Sheerness MP Kevin McKenna has revealed that he's living
05:46with HIV earlier this week in Parliament.
05:49During a Westminster Hall debate raising awareness of HIV testing, the former nurse
05:54revealed he's been positive since the 90s and made the information public in the hopes
05:59of breaking down the stigma.
06:01He made it in this moving speech.
06:04I was 11 when I realised I was gay.
06:06That was in 1985.
06:08It was just as everything was hotting up around the AIDS pandemic.
06:12It wasn't a very...
06:14It was a pretty scary world to step into.
06:16By the time I was properly coming out in the early 90s, I met lots and lots of friends,
06:22but friends and lovers who had AIDS or HIV, and, of course, by the time I was finally
06:26diagnosed with HIV, it had changed again.
06:29But that's still 20 years on, so I've lived a long time as an HIV-positive man.
06:33I've lived a long time in my life, you know, starting off with friends taking tablets that
06:38did have quite severe side effects, some side effects that actually were very unpleasant
06:44and actually led to them still suffering from HIV and then AIDS.
06:49But at the same time now, it's whittled down to one tablet a day.
06:52Honestly, just everyone just get tested.
06:54Get tested.
06:55Everyone do it.
06:56It's absolutely fine.
06:57It is just a little scratch on the finger, and there should be no stigma.
07:00You won't pass this disease on when you're treated.
07:04You won't actually suffer, and honestly, it's boring and mundane.
07:07Kevin McKenna announced the news during National HIV Testing Week, encouraging people from
07:12across Kent and beyond to get a free and confidential test.
07:16To explain more about the importance of this, why there's so many misconceptions around
07:21testing, I'm joined by Eugene Lynch from the Terence Higgins Trust, a leading sexual health
07:26and HIV charity.
07:28Eugene, thank you so much for joining me.
07:31I just wanted to kind of ask you to start with, it's such an important week this for
07:35us here in the county and beyond HIV, a major issue.
07:39Can you explain what this week is all about and how we can get tested at home?
07:44Yeah, National HIV Testing Week runs from the 10th to the 16th of February, although
07:48test kits will be available for a time after that.
07:51It's the one time a year when anybody anywhere in England can get a free at-home HIV test
07:56posted to them.
07:57It's really straightforward.
07:58You go to startswithme.org.uk and put in your details.
08:02You'll get a test sent to you in the post that you can do yourself at home.
08:05It's really important to know your HIV status.
08:07There are about 4,700 people in England who have undiagnosed HIV.
08:13So they're living with HIV and they don't yet know it.
08:15If we can find those people, get them tested and get them onto treatment, not only will
08:18HIV be no longer attacking their immune system, they will live a long and healthy life, but
08:23also on effective HIV treatment, you can't pass the virus on to your sexual partners.
08:28And that's really important.
08:29That will help us get to the goal of ending new cases of HIV by 2030, which is what we're
08:33working towards.
08:34So Kevin McKenna making that statement really helps with raising awareness for people around
08:41Kent and around England.
08:43Because just to break it down for us, there's been so many misconceptions over the years
08:47surrounding HIV.
08:49I think we all remember the panic of the AIDS crisis.
08:53And I'm kind of wondering, can you explain what HIV is and what some of the misconceptions
08:58are currently surrounding it?
09:00You've mentioned that treatment has become so much more effective today.
09:04Yeah, absolutely.
09:05So I've been living with HIV since I was diagnosed in 2013.
09:09HIV is a virus.
09:11It attacks the immune system.
09:12It lives in a part of the immune system called the CD4 cells.
09:15What it does is it depletes those cells over time.
09:18And you need those cells to be able to identify and attack pathogens, viruses, bacteria, that
09:22sort of thing.
09:23Somebody who goes with untreated HIV for a long period of time has their immune system
09:27weakened over time.
09:29And then opportunistic infections can take hold.
09:31And that's what we saw in the 1980s in particular, during the height of the AIDS crisis, where
09:35people were dying with AIDS after having their immune systems depleted by HIV over a long
09:42period of time.
09:43We're now in a stage since 1996, we've had very effective treatment.
09:47You can take as little as one pill a day.
09:50You can live a long, normal lifespan.
09:52And you won't be able to pass HIV on to your sexual partners.
09:55That's what treatment does.
09:56So I take my treatment with my breakfast every morning.
09:58It's a relatively straightforward and as Kevin McKenna said, a relatively mundane and boring
10:02thing for those of us living with HIV.
10:04It's just like any other condition that you might need to take medication for.
10:08But the big difference with HIV is there's a lot of stigma associated with it.
10:12That fear from the 1980s around the AIDS crisis still persists.
10:16And it means that people are afraid of a test, they're afraid of getting a result.
10:21And that stigma is something that those of us living with HIV have to sort of battle
10:24with every day.
10:25So standing up and kind of being public about your HIV status is a very important thing
10:29and it's a very difficult thing to do.
10:32But hopefully that will help to break down the stigma and to really raise awareness about
10:35the issues.
10:36It was a very moving and powerful speech that Kevin gave.
10:39And I was wondering, do you think it's going to change how HIV is perceived by the general
10:45public, having such a public advocate in parliament like this?
10:48Do you think it's going to really break down these barriers?
10:52I think so.
10:53I think it's really important to have role models out there.
10:56There are lots of people who are living with HIV who live quite an isolated life, live
11:00in fear.
11:01I mean, when I was first diagnosed with HIV, for five years I didn't really tell many people.
11:05I kept it to myself.
11:06I was living with a lot of shame.
11:09And that's something that, you know, society's response to HIV really creates.
11:15When we have people who are open and public and living with HIV, it really helps to break
11:18down those barriers.
11:20And for those of us living with HIV, it gives us sort of role models to look up to.
11:23It's amazing to think that, you know, every day in parliament, there's an MP who is living
11:29openly with HIV.
11:30It's just one aspect of his life.
11:33And you know, he's going into parliament every day, serving Kent and really helping people
11:40all over the county.
11:42And being that kind of role model and advocate for people living with HIV all around the
11:47country and around the world, it's really, really important.
11:51Powerful stuff there.
11:52See you after the break.
15:12Welcome back to Kent tonight.
15:14Now police have launched a probe as footage emerges of damaged cars on a residential street
15:18in Ramsgate.
15:20The video captured this morning shows the extent of the damage to the vehicles on Prestedge
15:25Avenue.
15:26You can see the smashed windows there, while another car is damaged and covered in tape
15:31on the other side of the road.
15:33Police say they are aware of two reports of vandalism.
15:36There could possibly be more.
15:38So they're carrying out inquiries to establish the full circumstances of what happened.
15:45Now the number of patients forced to endure long waits in A&E corridors has reached an
15:50all time high at three of Kent's hospital trusts.
15:54New figures show more than 2,800 patients were waiting at least 12 hours for a bed in
15:59January.
16:01Just five years ago, that figure was just five patients.
16:04On our morning show, we spoke to Ken Rogers, a long time campaigner for Concern for Health
16:09in East Sussex, about this issue.
16:12Well, unfortunately, it's not surprising, this has been on the cards from early next
16:18year.
16:19In fact, from probably years ago, it's a build up.
16:23The worst crisis before in East Kent was 2017, when we had bad times then.
16:31But the fact that people are waiting in corridors, and believe me, I was one of those some time
16:37ago, probably 2001, 2002, I spent three days in a corridor in one of the hospitals, nothing's
16:43changed and nothing will get better until something radically is done about some finance
16:50in East Kent.
16:51Well, obviously, it goes beyond money, but I mean, I have to say we have some fantastic
16:56staff in all the hospitals in East Kent.
17:01They have been brilliant, and I've personally seen it.
17:05But unfortunately, because of the way that the service is designed in the three hospitals,
17:11and they've been long waiting some transformation, I think that's one of the problems.
17:17You hear a lot about, you know, the term, there used to be bed blockers, that's now
17:21called delayed discharge.
17:24That's not going to go away.
17:25And we all seem to blame it.
17:27We keep saying, oh, there's these many people in hospital that can't go home because there's
17:31no better home.
17:32Well, there isn't.
17:33The fact is that in 2016, they tried to remove 200 beds from the hospitals around here.
17:42We fought that, they didn't do it.
17:44Now I think they are quite happy to say that they need more beds, and we just need more
17:51beds.
17:52A delayed discharge, whatever you like to say, will not go away.
17:57We need more beds in East Kent, and we need the investment for that to come forward.
18:02Around back in 1996, when we started campaigning, we asked all of the members of our group and
18:09others, would they be happy to pay 20p extra national insurance per week to build a new
18:16hospital to provide better health care?
18:19And everybody said yes.
18:21That's the problem.
18:22You need the investment.
18:24The one thing that's missing from the NHS is the commerciality.
18:27All right, we know there's some problems there, and things are money wasted some places, but
18:33we don't seem to get that in the right place.
18:36We're always trying to save money, and this is what results in poor patient care.
18:42We try to save money, but we don't save money in the right places.
18:46The government have pledged major NHS reform, but with the NHS being so overstretched, paramedics
18:53are facing additional abuse from frustrated members of the public.
18:57Our investigation, which we found like all our reports on our website, kmtv.co.uk, can
19:03reveal the full extent of physical and sexual assaults over the past 10 years against South
19:08East Coast ambulance employees.
19:11More abuse than ever before.
19:14This is the reality for ambulance crews across Kent, Surrey and Sussex, as data exclusively
19:20obtained by KMTV shows that both physical and sexual assaults against frontline staff
19:28working for the South East Coast Ambulance Service have doubled over the last decade.
19:34And it's no different here for staff at the Services Operational Centre in Gillingham.
19:41With Kent Ambulance staff facing 470 incidents in 2024 alone.
19:49And actually in 2024 we had 330 assaults on staff, so it's almost getting to one a day.
19:58I think the staff are more confident in reporting incidents because of the process we have set
20:05up to support them when those incidents occur.
20:09But I think also, as you've seen nationally, incidents are rising, which is not acceptable.
20:15But it's not just physical abuse against ambulance staff that's on the rise.
20:21For the dozens of 999 call takers here in Gillingham, verbal harassment is becoming
20:28a problem in everyday life.
20:31Every day probably every call taker will have some form of abuse, maybe several times throughout
20:36the day in their shift.
20:38And you can kind of hear it going on around the room as well.
20:40We can hear from the abuse that we're getting on that side, and then knowing that a crew
20:43has to go out to that and face that, it's not nice.
20:47We've heard cases where they've been attacked, maybe spat on, verbally abused, it's not nice
20:52to hear.
20:53Between 2022 and 2024, there were nearly 1,000 incidents involving call handlers, more than
21:01300 of which happened last year.
21:05For Nicole and her team, the onslaught is demoralising.
21:09You know, we just kind of end that call, start another call, and it kind of just becomes
21:13sort of commonplace, really, which is not nice, but as we're just trying to do our job,
21:18it's just like, oh, we've come to expect it, I think.
21:22The ambulance service say they offer extensive support to staff impacted by abuse, as well
21:29as preparing frontline workers with conflict resolution training, as well as body cams.
21:36But with harassment being increasingly felt, both on the scene and down the phone, an end
21:44to this level of abuse is still uncertain.
21:48Oliver leads the sacks for KNTV in Gillingham.
21:52And now, the weather.
21:59A chilly night tonight.
22:01Temperatures staying around two for the rest of the evening, Canterbury being a little
22:05colder.
22:06Tomorrow morning, things raising slightly to three degrees, except Margate dropping
22:11to around two.
22:13Cloud persistent throughout the day.
22:14Some sunshine breaking through on the coast, four degrees all over the place.
22:19And then for Sunday and the beginning of next week, sun and cloud.
22:24Temperatures slowly rising to nine degrees on Tuesday.
22:29Now, in business news, ZipWire, a ZipWire experience is set to open tomorrow near Strood.
22:39The ZipZone based at St Andrew's Lakes will offer a unique experience by taking people
22:44high above the natural reserve.
22:46Starting at a 33 foot tower, wouldn't want to do it myself, the zip line then allows
22:50people to take in the full natural beauty of the area.
22:53And it's been in the works since 2019, because there were initial concerns over the effects
22:59the attraction may have on wildlife in the area, though an assessment has concluded
23:03the zip wires would have no harmful effects.
23:08And finally, today is a day of love.
23:10Over at Kent Online, our reporters have been speaking to couples across the county about
23:14how they got together.
23:15You can read that report on the website, but from us, we're hearing from Rochester shoppers
23:21with their messages of love.
23:23I just like to wish everyone a happy Valentine's Day.
23:27At least people make the effort, don't they?
23:30I've got a Valentine's card waiting to be opened, I'm not allowed to open it until tomorrow.
23:36Don't know what that's got in it, probably not very romantic.
23:40It's our first Valentine's together, I've come up to Rochester to see Hayley.
23:45We're actually out today for our Valentine's lunch.
23:47Yeah, early.
23:48Because both of us are working tomorrow, working from home.
23:51I've got my husband a card and some nice vegan chocolate and a couple of special beers from
23:56Rustin's just there, and some nice chutney from the cheese room.
24:00So I'll surprise him with that and he's going to make a special meal for me tonight.
24:04I'm not doing much, I'm going shopping, but I live alone, but it's nice, it's lovely that
24:10people care and do things, you know, on that day.
24:14Yeah, so really, it's kind of like an early one.
24:16We're having our Valentine's breakfast in the morning as well, and then I'll be heading
24:19back to where I live down in East Sussex.
24:22Tomorrow my sister's coming and we're going to see the David Bowie tribute at the cathedral.
24:27It's candlelit service, so I'll be spending the evening actually with my sister.
24:31Have I got any special ones?
24:34I'm too old to remember them all now.
24:37But yeah, it's nice.
24:39It's nice for couples I suppose, or people, even if you're single, yeah, it's just nice.
24:48But it's not all about romance on Valentine's Day.
24:50Finn Rederva joins me now to talk to me about this new trend of the ick, which is giving
24:56me the ick to talk about right now.
24:58Finn, tell me all about it.
24:59Yeah, well, I think if you're of a certain age, you're using TikTok and Instagram, you've
25:03definitely heard of the ick.
25:05The basic idea is it's this kind of immediate disgust or lack of attraction towards someone
25:11based on a particular behaviour.
25:12And it can go from being madly in love to someone and they do this, just one thing,
25:15and it depends on the person, and it's all just gone.
25:18It's become so popular, in fact, the word is now being recognised by the Cambridge Dictionary.
25:24Some of those common icks, the most common ones, include talking too loudly, doing a
25:29baby voice, wearing skinny jeans, so it can be a variety of different things.
25:33So Finn, what are your big icks?
25:36Personally, if I'm on a date with someone and they are impatient, maybe they're kind
25:41of rude to retail or to wait staff, anything like that, that's kind of a big thing for
25:46me to be like, not sure this is going to go to a second date.
25:49But I try and give people a chance, or at least I think I do.
25:52Because obviously, there are some quite common icks out and about.
25:57What are some of the most common you might see in the county if you're on a date?
26:00Well, I think it really depends where you are and what you're doing.
26:03So in fact, on TikTok and Instagram, there's these viral lists.
26:07Some people have them in the hundreds of different icks that people display.
26:11Some of them are really specific, like chasing after a ping pong ball or something like that.
26:16We spoke to Lewis Cox, who's a counselling officer, who said even if you do give or get
26:20the ick, it's not exactly the end of the world.
26:23Of course.
26:24I mean, it is a really common thing nowadays, and I'm sure everyone at home has heard of
26:31the ick.
26:32Thanks so much, Finn, for joining me in the studio.
26:34Now, just before we go, you can check out all our news on our website, kmtv.co.uk.
26:40This is us done for the week.
26:42We'll see you at 7 a.m. on Monday.
26:44Take care.
26:45Happy Valentines.