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00:00Hello, good evening and welcome to Kentonite live on KMTV.
00:28I'm Abbey Hook, here are your top stories on Wednesday the 25th of September.
00:33Historic markets stalled. Westmoreland businesses say more charges will drive customers away.
00:40I think it will definitely have a negative impact on our business without doubt.
00:44Anchoring education. Council says new Medway Maritime Academy will water down demand.
00:50Using some of that section 106 funding from previous developments, recognising where likely
00:55developments are going to be placed across Medway, but particularly on this side of the
01:00river.
01:01From A-star to Michelin star, what are Kent students making for National Cooking Day?
01:07I've been doing sort of a keto diet since I've been going to university.
01:10Just basic scrambled eggs in the morning.
01:13Chicken Alfredo.
01:14Jell-O fries.
01:15I really like chicken nuggets.
01:26First tonight, an award-winning farmers market that's been running for more than 20 years
01:31could come to a halt if the council keep new parking restrictions, according to local businesses.
01:37They say they need more footfall through the already quiet High Street or they too may
01:41be forced to relocate.
01:43Tunbridge and Morling Borough Council say they won't be making any changes anytime soon
01:47as traders can park elsewhere.
01:49Finn McDermott has more.
01:51Parking's likely the last thing on your mind when you're looking forward to your day out.
01:55It means people can shop and spend money to support local businesses, but it is essential
01:59to the local economy.
02:01In West Morling, new changes to the parking restrictions have local residents concerned,
02:05including new parking meters along the High Street and new restrictions, meaning that
02:09you can't stay at council car parks for more than four hours.
02:13I see it as a backwards move, quite frankly.
02:17So it makes no sense to me whatsoever.
02:21I think the parking situation here and the charges are crazy.
02:25Julie runs an independent menswear store named after her dog, Clay, and she says she's witnessing
02:30the effects of restrictions on her shop and others on the High Street.
02:35Well, with parking charges increasing as well and parking meters being installed along the
02:41High Street, businesses like this one, especially independent ones, say they may struggle to
02:46turn a profit.
02:48Then it's just another restriction.
02:51People can go elsewhere, like Bluewater for the day, and park free.
02:55Here, they have to make the effort to come and support us independent shops, and in doing
03:02so, they've now got to pay to do that.
03:05So it's another level, it's another inconvenience, and yeah, I think it will definitely have
03:10a negative impact on our business, without doubt.
03:13The footfall, the drop, the sort of just pop-in customer is definitely going to dwindle.
03:19West Morling also has a farmer's market that's run for 25 years and become a staple of the
03:24town, even winning at the Kent Food and Drink Awards last year.
03:27With the change in restrictions, local councillors fear for the knock-on effect on the market
03:31and the local economy.
03:33People are extremely upset at the fact that car parking charges for particularly the Sunday
03:40market are coming in.
03:43The traders are allowed four hours, and no extension of four hours, and no return within
03:50three.
03:51Now, they get here, most of them, about seven o'clock in the morning, and they don't leave
03:54for two.
03:55That's seven hours.
03:56So after four hours at 11 o'clock, they've got to go home, so it's not worth it.
04:01According to Tonbridge and Morling councillor Matt Borton, given that traders already have
04:06parking available in the road closure, as they have always done, we will not be making
04:10any changes to this policy immediately.
04:13As with all parking policies, we will review the next year after any new changes have had
04:17a number of months to settle in.
04:19Well, traders, visitors and business owners will be waiting to see if the parking restrictions
04:23are stopped, or if it will remain a charged issue.
04:27Finn McDermott for KMTV in West Morling.
04:31New academic year, new school.
04:33Medway's Maritime Academy is finished and is ready to teach years seven to nine.
04:38After two years at a temporary site in Twiddle, the council say the secondary schools needed
04:42to keep up with demand.
04:44In a staggered approach, a new set of classes will join at a time until all 1,100 students
04:49are back to school.
04:51Our local democracy reporter, Gabriel Morris, has more.
04:55Ten years in the making, and lessons have finally begun at Medway's much-needed new
05:01secondary.
05:02The Maritime Academy set sail last week, welcoming year sevens to nines into its brand
05:07new classrooms.
05:09But now the work's finished, you can see the full scale, including acres of playing fields.
05:15Inside, the school says they'll have access to A-star amenities like roomy classrooms
05:21and state-of-the-art equipment.
05:23But of course, some things never change.
05:27So we've got everything here that a student could want with their education.
05:30So we have our beautiful hall for theatre, for drama, so we'll be able to offer our school
05:35productions so that we can get our families and our community involved with the plays
05:40and musical performances in our school.
05:43We've also got the lovely sports hall facilities that, again, we can open up to our community.
05:48But to get to today, the build hasn't been without its challenges.
05:53Delays to the project meant pupils were being taught at Twiddle Primary School for the last
05:57two years.
05:59But this summer, construction was complete.
06:02We were walking around, and I was in that swan-like moment, grinning, and I thought,
06:06yes, it'll be fine, as wires were descending down and bits and pieces weren't finished
06:11and what have you, and thinking, oh my goodness, is it going to be ready for the children?
06:14But again, the contractors and our central team, what have you, worked unbelievably hard,
06:19you know, weekends, evenings, everything, to make sure that the school is ship-shaped
06:24and Bristol-fashioned.
06:25The school is welcoming year groups in a staggered approach, and by 2027, they'll be top of the
06:31class, catering to Year 7s through to 13, with a capacity of more than 1,100 pupils.
06:38Medway Council will soon have to follow a quota to build 1,700 homes a year across its
06:43district.
06:44The council says this school is vital.
06:47We need that infrastructure in place.
06:49So actually, the Maritime Trust School that we're here at today, the Maritime Academy,
06:54is a great example of where, using some of that Section 106 funding from previous developments,
06:59recognising where likely developments are going to be placed across Medway, but particularly
07:05on this side of the river.
07:07As the school starts its first ever academic year, the Maritime Academy hopes it's not
07:11just making the grade, but setting the course for Medway's next generation.
07:16Gabriel Morris, in Stroud.
07:20Now, it's been 30 years since charities have been asking us here in Kent and across the UK
07:25to be organ donors.
07:26It's been four years since the new opt-out system began, meaning almost everyone is an
07:31organ donor unless they choose otherwise.
07:33In the three decades since the donation register was set up, almost 13,000 lives in the south-east
07:39alone have been saved, but more than 800 patients are still waiting for a transplant.
07:44We've been speaking to university students on the Medway campus about Organ Donation Week.
07:49I think the opt-out system is probably better, because I think a lot of the time people won't
07:56realise, oh I should probably register for the organ donation register, so then if they
08:03unfortunately pass away, then they're just going to get cremated or whatever and their
08:07organs won't end up actually helping someone, it could save somebody's lives.
08:11I think it's quite important to educate people about it first, and then they can make the
08:16choice based on if they are convinced or not.
08:18I feel like the more they know about it, the more they lean into it.
08:22I think no one can force you to donate one of your organs or any part of your body, but
08:29if you are, as I said, willing to save a life, that's in your hands, that's your decision.
08:38I think a lot of people that I have ever spoke to about it are all in agreement with it,
08:44but just never quite like the idea of actually ticking that box to say, yeah I would, almost
08:49a bit like tempting fate.
08:50I do think that it should be more educated, like educating people from a younger age about
08:56how to do the process, but also the benefits of it, because it is so important.
09:01CAME TV's health expert Dr Julian Spinks joins me now.
09:05Julian, I was quite surprised earlier to hear that you told me nine lives can be saved for
09:10every one person if all their organs were donated.
09:13Absolutely, if you go on the organ transplant register, you can tick to say you want any
09:19organ that they feel they can use transplanted, or you can pick individual ones, but if you
09:24go for all of them, because you've got two kidneys, two lungs and so on, you can end
09:29up with nine people whose lives you can possibly save.
09:32Why might someone want to only donate certain organs and not others?
09:37The middle picture here of an eye, and perhaps that's maybe one that's disputed a bit because
09:42it feels maybe more personal, because it's one of the only ones we can actually see.
09:46You can't see your heart and lungs, maybe that's the difference.
09:49Yes, and sometimes with relatives as well, they'll say, oh the first thing that attracted
09:53me to my husband was his eyes, and so they don't like that idea.
09:57Most people actually donate all of their organs or none, and in fact the problem we've got
10:03is even though it's now an opt-out system, relatives can still say that they don't want
10:09the organs donated, and often it's because that person hasn't spoken to them or made
10:13it really clear that they want it donated.
10:16So what we'd like people to do is still sign up for the register and talk to your relatives
10:20and say, this is really my wish because I want to save a life after I die.
10:24And that's the point of Organ Donation Week, to raise that awareness, to continue that.
10:29Now who can't be an organ donor?
10:31What's the sort of checklist?
10:33Surprisingly, very few people can't donate anything.
10:38Some people with some infections and other diseases, the organ may not be in a good condition
10:43and so they can't donate.
10:45Likewise, actually it has to be someone who can have their heart kept beating and they're
10:50still breathing with a machine to keep the organs alive before the organ is donated.
10:57So you can't have somebody who's died several days ago with the exception of the cornea,
11:03the front part of the eye, which actually can be removed from people who have stopped
11:07breathing and their heart has stopped.
11:09It's really interesting.
11:10And we had there 800 people in the South East still waiting on the list.
11:15What's the sort of most in-demand organ to be transplanted?
11:18What's really hard to get hold of?
11:20There's a massive range and it's more to do with tissue type.
11:24So if you are somebody who's got an unusual pattern of tissue, then it may be difficult.
11:30The other one that's a big, big problem is children because of course you've got to have
11:34the right size organ, although to some extent things like livers you can actually reduce
11:38the size to transplant it.
11:40It's fascinating.
11:41Definitely something for everybody to look into this week in particular.
11:45Julian, thank you very much.
11:47So we've got time for now.
11:48I'll see you in just a few minutes' time with more news from right across Kent.
15:04Hello and welcome back to Kent Tonight live on KMTV.
15:16Now, an investigation has been launched after fly-tipping forced a road to close in Thanet.
15:22Bags of cladding, insulation and furniture were found left across Park Road in Birchington
15:26on Tuesday evening.
15:28The route was then shut for Thanet District Council to clear away the mess and the authority
15:33appealed to anyone who has recently had building work done to recognise the items and get in
15:38touch.
15:39You can see it there covering pretty much that whole road.
15:40It's actually not the first time it's happened.
15:42Earlier this month, a farmer near Faversham paid thousands of pounds to clear up fly-tipping
15:47on his land.
15:48He said he'd seen sofas, windows and even metal discarded on the roads, just like in
15:53those pictures there.
15:55Now a mum in Herne Bay has been left horrified after finding a blade in her son's food.
16:00Ingrid Beforth took her son and his friends out for a day when they bought chips and were
16:04shocked to find this metal item in the food.
16:07After discovering the sharp object, she immediately returned the chips to the Vue Fish and Chips
16:12Hut in Herne Bay and complained.
16:14She was told she had found a piece of machinery used to slice the chips.
16:19In a message to Miss Beforth, the food spot apologised, saying it's never actually happened
16:24before and the Vue has been contacted for further comment.
16:29A man has appeared in Medway Magistrates' Court accused of killing two women on the
16:32M20.
16:33Dr Habiba Hajjali and Lisa Webber had stopped on the hard shoulder near Swanley when a car
16:38crashed into them.
16:39They both died at the scene.
16:40Dr Hajjali worked at Eleanor Hospice in Gravesend and was described as a hero.
16:45Miss Webber's father shared thanks on social media to the surgeons who tried to save her
16:49life.
16:50Mehima Abedin joined me earlier in the studio with more.
16:53Well, Abedin, two women, Dr Habiba Hajjali and Lisa Webber, died in a crash on the M20
16:59in Swanley.
17:00Now, the latest update on that is that the motorist, who's 27 years old, Bilal Tahir,
17:05who was accused of killing them both, appeared at Medway Magistrates' Court on Tuesday.
17:09But before I get into that, I just want to give you some context about what really happened.
17:13Now, the incident happened on the 28th of October in 2022 at around 8 in the morning.
17:19Dr Hajjali was driving her car when it started sliding, and she then hit the barrier on the
17:24coastbound carriageway and damaged her vehicle.
17:27That's when Lisa Webber saw the incident, and she pulled over on the hard shoulder to
17:30try and help Dr Hajjali.
17:32And that's when a third vehicle then left the carriageway and hit them both.
17:35That's said to be Bilal Tahir.
17:38And they both sadly died at the scene.
17:40Now, there was also a third person that was hit, 55-year-old—it was a 55-year-old man
17:45called Mark Heap, who also went to help Dr Hajjali.
17:50He stopped to help, but sadly he suffered some injuries.
17:53He had a broken bone in his back and one of his legs after he was pushed against the barrier.
17:58But yesterday afternoon, Bilal Tahir from the Bexleyheath area, which is just outside
18:02of Kent, appeared in court in connection to these very sad and unfortunate deaths.
18:08And what do we know from what was said in court?
18:11So, Bilal Tahir was charged with two counts of causing death by dangerous driving and
18:16one count of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.
18:19But when he appeared at magistrates' court yesterday, he didn't enter any pleas in relation
18:24to the charges, and he didn't give any indication about what his plea was either.
18:29The cases were then sent to Woolwich Crown Court to be dealt with, and Tahir will appear
18:33in Woolwich Crown Court for a preliminary hearing on 22 October, but until then, he's
18:39been granted bail until that hearing.
18:42But Dr Hajjali has been described by her family as a true NHS hero.
18:46She worked throughout COVID, and she's said to have selflessly sacrificed, and Lisa Webber's
18:53father also took to social media to thank the team of surgeons that helped his daughter
18:57at the scene.
18:58Mahima Abedin there reporting on those details from court.
19:02Now, a Sheppey prison has been slammed in a new report by the prison inspectorate, who
19:07say there are still concerns about safety and drug use behind bars.
19:11Campaigners say the problems being felt at HMP Swellside reflect pressures being felt
19:16across the entire prison system up and down the country.
19:20While the Ministry of Justice says their security measures are fit for purpose, Oliver Leader
19:24de Sacks has more.
19:27Still not safe enough.
19:29That is the verdict of a new report into HMP Swellside from the chief inspector of prisons.
19:36Located on the Isle of Sheppey, the recent inspection was the sixth to have taken place
19:42since 2016.
19:44Key findings include the fact 14 deaths have occurred behind bars in the last two years,
19:51seven of which were self-inflicted.
19:55With violence still too high, drug use on the rise, and prisoners locked in their cells
20:01due to staff shortages.
20:03What we are seeing here are problems that are replicated in prisons across England and
20:09Wales.
20:10It is far from a problem specific to Swellside.
20:13Of course, it is concerning that the inspectorate have done numerous reports and not found the
20:18progress that they require, and I am sure that there are questions that managers and
20:23staff at Swellside will want to address.
20:25It does not let them entirely off the hook, but they are far from alone in facing these
20:30problems.
20:31Ultimately, that is why we need to see action from central government to ease the pressures
20:36in the system as a whole, so that hard-working staff and managers can get on top of the issues
20:41that they face, and so that Swellside can start to do a better job of preparing people
20:46for release, and hopefully turning their lives away from crime.
20:50A Ministry of Justice spokesperson says the new government has inherited a justice system
20:56in crisis, and has been forced to take action across the prison estate.
21:02They say they have a zero-tolerance approach to drugs, and the security measures, such
21:07as x-ray body scanners and anti-drone no-fly zones, stop drugs and mobile phones from entering
21:15our prisons.
21:16But with so many areas of concern still unresolved, there is more work to be done.
21:22Oliver Leader of the SACs reporting for KMTV.
21:27Now, brace yourself for heavy rain as the Met Office have issued a yellow weather alert
21:31for the entire county.
21:34From 5pm tomorrow until Friday morning, Kent face a risk of power cuts and flooding, with
21:38worries of up to 60mm of rain could fall in just six hours, and if you're a commuter,
21:43be aware there may be delays or cancellations to trains and bus services, with difficult
21:48driving conditions also expected.
21:50But what does the forecast look like where you are?
21:58A slightly windy night this evening, rain and cloud across the county, temperatures
22:01reaching 14 degrees in Dover, 13 across the rest of Kent.
22:05Going into Thursday morning, a north-easterly wind picking up, patches of rain and cloud,
22:10a few rays of sunshine there.
22:12Thursday afternoon, rain continuing right across the county, temperatures between 16
22:16and 17.
22:18And here's your outlook for Kent Friday, much of the same, but enjoy a nice dry and sunny
22:23Saturday.
22:32Now don't forget, you can keep up to date with all your latest stories across Kent by
22:35logging onto our website, kmtv.co.uk, there you'll find all our reports, including this
22:40one about volunteers wading through 20 bags worth of litter in the River Stour.
22:46Traffic cones, wine bottles, trolleys and even a World War II helmet, just a few of
22:52the items found in Kent's longest river.
22:55Volunteers have been wading through the Great Stour as part of Canterbury's River Fest.
22:59Over 20 bags of rubbish were collected, but locals say litter all over the city is a common
23:05problem.
23:06Well you've got so much rubbish in this river here, bikes, shopping trolleys, so much rubbish
23:14dumped in grass, foliage, yeah I think it could be looked after a lot better from probably
23:19the council as well.
23:20I don't think they spend a lot of time on the outskirts of Canterbury, it's all spent
23:24on the inside.
23:25Yeah, so especially around the river I do see quite a lot of rubbish, but there's lots
23:30of bins, but I don't think they get emptied very often because they're always overflowing.
23:33We could perhaps help ourselves a little better, I mean just behind you now madam, there's
23:37a bag just laying there, there's bags there everywhere, and it's like, this is a very
23:42important part of Canterbury, the River Stour is so important to us.
23:47These volunteers say the clean is important because of the wildlife that lives there.
23:50Earlier this year, a wild beaver was even spotted swimming in the river.
23:54We have beavers, as you probably well know, just living a bit further, well both downstream
24:01from here and upstream from here, very close.
24:04We want to make sure that those, it's the only city in the country where you can see
24:09beavers so easily, and we want those beavers to survive and thrive here on the River Stour.
24:16We're very proud of our River Stour, we're very proud of living in a place, as I say,
24:21with the Chalk Stream River, and we want it to be here and be better for generations to
24:28come.
24:29I've been in the river for just five minutes and I've already found this traffic cone,
24:33which has clearly been here for a while, as well as this wine bottle, which apparently
24:37lots of animals can get trapped in.
24:38Obviously we all like to recycle and eat cleanly as much as we can, but we can actually get
24:44out and do some cleaning up, I think that's really, really beneficial for the community
24:47and I think we don't even, we don't really notice it unless it's either really bad or
24:52it's really clean, and I wish we could just not notice it at all.
24:56After two hours, volunteers were only able to complete half of the stretch they'd planned
25:01as part of this year's river festival.
25:03This is because of the sheer amount of litter that was found.
25:06They say that although the city is good at bringing tourists in, the message to take
25:10home is to put rubbish in the bin.
25:13Kristen Hawthorne for KMTV in Canterbury.
25:19And finally this evening, September brings with it the new school year, and for many
25:22of Kent's university students, the first time away from home.
25:26Freshers may be facing a few challenges, like the washing, cleaning, but today we're talking
25:30about cooking.
25:31Known for their culinary skills, we've been asking students how they're settling into
25:35whipping up a dish of their own, and on National Cooking Day.
25:40I've been doing sort of a keto diet since I've been going to university.
25:43Obviously now that I'm more independent, I'm allowed to pick sort of what meals I can have.
25:47Well, at the risk of sounding a little stereotypical, my mother did teach me how to cook a rather
25:51mean chicken curry, and I enjoy making it a little bit spicy since it helps me with
25:55the week.
25:56So I'll say I've got two.
25:58Firstly, just basic scrambled eggs in the morning, something quick and easy just to
26:02get the day started, and then probably like a tuna baked pasta, something nice, just easy.
26:09Usually I would put like a chicken alfredo, just something simple like that.
26:14So mine would probably be avocado on toast with bacon, that's just quick and easy.
26:18Yeah, beans on toast, with a bit of cheese on the top, that's my go-to.
26:22Spaghetti bolognese with cheese on top, obviously.
26:24Okay, my best dish is jello fries.
26:28I really like chicken nuggets, especially like the dino nuggets, right?
26:33I had them when I was a kid, so they slap them.
26:36Yeah, they're quite good then.
26:38Yeah, easy to make, right?
26:39You just slap them and that'll be it.
26:41Well, dinner round his house then.
26:43Chicken nuggets sound good.
26:45That's all from us here on Gents Tonight.
26:47Goodbye.
26:58you