Catch up with all the news across the county with Bartholomew Hall.
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00:30Welcome to Kent Tonight, live on KMTV. My name is Bartholomew Hall. Today is the 22nd
00:43of November. First this evening, flights cancelled and delayed at Kent's closest airport after
00:50a bomb disposal team was called in for a suspected prohibited item. Thousands were evacuated
00:55from Gatwick's airport's south terminal as a precaution earlier today. The airport says
01:00the safety and security of its passengers and staff is its top priority and urges people
01:05to contact their airline as it now deals with the backlog. Abbey Hook is there at the scene
01:11now. Abbey, a dramatic day at the airport. Now everything is back up and running. What's
01:16the latest you can tell us? Well Bartholomew, there's a lot of work to do for Gatwick now
01:22that many have missed their flights because of cancellations and delays today and into
01:26this evening as well. The airport hopefully not affecting this weekend as well. I'm no
01:31avid plane spotter myself but as I've been standing here for the past couple of hours
01:34or so it seems business as usual on the runway behind me but it was behind that in the south
01:39terminal today where hundreds if not thousands were left outside, waiting outside in the
01:44cold. And of course it is the UK's second busiest airport as well so a lot of people
01:49hoping to get away on what have been a nice winter break, get away from this cold weather
01:54here in the UK. And people will be pleased to know in Kent as well that the train station
01:58at Gatwick has now reopened, a relief to a lot of those who use that as their main way
02:02to get into one of the closest largest airports as well. Inside south terminal it's still
02:08incredibly busy. The public, including us journalists, have been told to stay away,
02:14to come elsewhere. That's why I'm here next to the runway here because it is so busy trying
02:18to get those hundreds, thousands back to their flights or replacement flights. And
02:22to recap why, well it was at 8.20am this morning where police were called because of a suspected
02:27prohibited item in luggage. As a precaution an explosive ordnance disposal team was called
02:33in and then the south terminal was evacuated a couple of hours later about 10.55 this morning.
02:39But the latest we've heard from Gatwick Airport, this was about 2.40pm this afternoon so a
02:43couple of hours ago now, they said the earlier security alert has now been resolved and
02:47cleared by police. Trains will also start calling at Gatwick Airport as I said. They
02:52thanked everyone for their patience and understanding as well and said there are of course as we
02:56know some delays and cancellations to flights but you should contact your airline if you're
03:03concerned about your flight. We have heard from some airlines, EasyJet for example, they've
03:07diverted their flights to the north terminal where they usually operate from anyway. And
03:12in terms of the scale of this today, do you know how many people have actually been affected?
03:18Well that's the key question that we'll be hoping to answer in the coming days as well
03:22but what we do know is that around 300 flights were meant to land at Gatwick today and another
03:27300 meant to take off. That's across both terminals and a total of more than 120,000
03:33passengers. Now that is across the north and the south terminal. We do know this incident
03:37today was just isolated to that one terminal, the south terminal, so we don't exactly know
03:42how many people would have been impacted and when those replacement flights are put in
03:46place and those delays are caught up with as well, just what this backlog could do over
03:49the weekend as well. But for those hundreds who had to wait outside the terminal today
03:53in the cold, not much warmer than it is for me now, about four degrees here in Crawley,
03:58they were given bottled water, foils, blankets and hand warmers as well, plenty of them standing
04:04outside in that cold weather as well. But the advice is, and I've probably never said
04:09this with such pertinence before, to check before you travel, although hopefully it's
04:13a smoother ride now that planes are continuing to take off as you can see in here there.
04:17This weekend the airport are hoping it will run nice and smoothly and it's key to get
04:23in touch with your airline if you have any concerns.
04:25Yeah, hopefully for all of those travellers everything can get back to normal by the end
04:29of the weekend. Thank you very much for those details, Abby.
04:35Tunbridge Wells is set to become the second most expensive place in Kent to hail a taxi
04:40in the coming weeks. A local Hackney carriage company says the introduction of card payments
04:45has eaten into their profits. The Borough Council has set the increase of around 7%
04:50to consent that increase to consultation after agreeing with cabbies' concerns. Local Democracy
04:56reporter Gabriel Morris has this report.
04:59Going to the shops, travelling to work or getting home after a night out could be about
05:04to get more expensive. That's if you go by taxi in Tunbridge Wells. The proposed changes
05:11will bring the tariffs in line with other districts in the area, although there's quite
05:16a split in rates. Tunbridge Wells would become the second most expensive area to hail a cab
05:23in Kent. A local Hackney carriage company has requested for rise.
05:28One of the reasons why these cabbies are asking for a tariff increase is because most
05:33of their passengers nowadays, when they open their wallets, they're not paying with cash
05:37but rather reaching for their card. And for the drivers, that means fewer tips and less
05:43profit. 2022 was the last time there was a tariff increase. The council every year has
05:50kept putting their rates up to us by 5, 6%. This year it's only 4.5%. Card fees, the public
06:01wanted us to take cards. We listened to you, we got told we've got to take card machines
06:07and that is a cost that we have swallowed but we can't swallow it anymore. Taxi drivers
06:15themselves can't raise tariffs. It's down to the local licensing committee. I'm not
06:22inclined to accept that card payments are a massive issue here. The cost of card payments
06:31because not everybody pays by card anyway. The cost of living perhaps is. Cars are getting
06:38more expensive. Financing cars is getting a lot more expensive. Gone are the days where
06:44the term free money was bandied around. Councillors voted unanimously for the increase. It'll
06:49now go to consultation. If there are no objections, it'll be implemented later this year.
06:56Gabriel Morris in Tunbridge Wells. Next, a shock result in two North Kent by-elections
07:02means that Reform UK has its first ever Kent County councillor less than a year out from
07:08the local authority's wider 2025 local elections. Thomas Mallon won the Swanscombe and Greenhive
07:14by-election after the previous councillor, Peter Harmon, passed away in August, while
07:18Michael Brown has seized his seat on Dartford Borough Council. Fresh off the Kent Politics
07:23Show, our political producer Oliver Leeders-Sax is here to break down what this means. Oli,
07:27thanks for being here. We saw in the general election that Reform UK had made a lot of
07:32ground here in the county. They didn't take any parliamentary seats but they're definitely
07:37here to stay, aren't they? Absolutely. So they came third in quite a lot of general
07:41election seats, making them a fighting force here in Kent. This shows that they are now
07:46that political force that they promised because they did win two quite contested seats. It
07:52was expected the local residents' association was going to hold on to both of these seats.
07:58Very clearly, not the case because the results show that Thomas Mallon for KCC and the Swanscombe
08:06and Greenhive division got 29% of the vote, beating the next contender, Victoria Akintomide
08:15who only got 25% of the vote. Of course, the turnout was quite low. It was only around
08:2115%. But it does indicate that if they replicated this next year at local elections, they would
08:26be a significant fighting force and may take away a lot of those Conservative seats. So
08:31they currently hold 59 of the 81 seats on KCC. Could this be the reason that they would
08:39lose the overall control? And Olly, obviously a brand new episode of the Kent Politics Show
08:43today. We've already had it, but it will be available on our website and repeating over
08:48the weekend. What can people expect? Well, what people can expect is a lot about that
08:52farmers' protest with Claudine Russell on the programme. Opposition Conservative leader
09:00at Maidstone Borough Council. She actually attended the protest. So lots of quite interesting
09:06debates around that and inheritance tax, of course, you catch that as well as all of the
09:12Kent Messenger's political content on the Kent Online and KNTV website.
09:20While staying with a bit of politics now, the assisted dying bill has been hotly debated
09:24in Westminster at the moment. But it's not just MPs that have been disagreeing on it.
09:28Here at Medway, religious communities have been divided over the piece of legislation
09:32that could let people end their lives if terminally ill and decide that the suffering is just
09:37too much. Xenia Knackville has this report.
09:41Medway's religious minorities are divided over the assisted dying bill, which would
09:45mean adults in Britain could end their life if they're terminally ill. Currently, it's
09:51only legal in a handful of countries, including Canada and Switzerland. But Labour MP Kim
09:57Leadbeater presented the bill to Westminster last month. She says it would allow adults
10:03who are terminally ill, subject to safeguards and protections, to request and be provided
10:09with assistance to end their own life. But not everybody is in favour of the bill. In
10:15fact, its opponents prefer to call it assisted suicide.
10:20An imam from a mosque here in Gillingham thinks we should prioritise putting more funding
10:25into NHS end-of-life care instead of introducing bills like this.
10:30Life has been mentioned as something that is a gift from God, that is sacred and that
10:35needs to be protected. What they need at that time is not to end their life, what they need
10:41is help and support. And this is what we should be focusing on because we have issues in the
10:46NHS where NHS is crumbling, there's a lot of strain on it. The quality of palliative
10:54care, end-of-life care should be improved as well. People who are suffering, people
11:00who are elderly, better care and better compassion.
11:05Meanwhile, a trustee of the Chatham Memorial Synagogue thinks the bill could have benefited
11:09some of her late friends who suffered with terminal illnesses.
11:13The Jewish law is very clear that to take a life is wrong, only God is allowed to take
11:18a life. I've had friends where they have been at end of life and they have been in a huge
11:24amount of pain and actually assisted dying would have been what they wanted. I would
11:31find it difficult to say at that point that that would be wrong. If it was your pet, would
11:36you do that? Would you allow your pet to suffer like that?
11:39Zinni Nakvi for KMTV in Medway.
11:43Time for a quick break now, but when we get back, the Apprentice winner Tim Campbell will
11:48be giving us advice on entering the world of business, plus we'll be looking ahead to
11:52Kent's Christmas season. See you in a moment.
14:52Hello and welcome back to Kentonite live on KMTV. Now, works on a multi-million pound
15:18revamp of a junction near Sittingbourne will begin in January. It follows delays to the
15:23upgrade of Quay Street roundabout in Bobbing earlier this year due to a door mouse nest
15:27that was discovered. Well, the roundabout, which is used by thousands of drivers daily,
15:31is set to see a dramatic change, which Kent County Council says will increase its capacity,
15:36improve safety and ease congestion. Well, works will begin on the 13th of January with
15:41closures to the A249 made stone bound entry slip lane set to be closed.
15:46Now, have you ever dreamed of being your own boss or starting your own business? Well,
15:51according to official figures, you might have just considered it. That's because
15:54more new businesses have been established here in Kent over the last couple of years,
15:58with the total number risen to an all time high of more than 133,000. Well,
16:04to give his top tips for becoming an entrepreneur here in Kent, I was joined by the Apprentice
16:09winner Tim Campbell and began by asking where is the best place to start when entering the
16:15world of business? Well, I think the ones who are thinking about it don't know where to start out.
16:20Just know your onions was a phrase I always kept to, which is do something that you love and you
16:25have a passion about and you've got experience. If you're going to start in a very competitive
16:29world of business, you better give yourself an edge by knowing what you're talking about rather
16:33than thinking about brain surgery and you didn't like biology. This is good advice, definitely.
16:39And of course, as a local channel here in Kent, I know there'll be lots of people
16:42watching who have maybe considered starting a business, but they're not thinking they're
16:47maybe wondering about where they should be located, obviously, where we are. It's very
16:50close to the capital, close to London. How important is it to follow the money or is
16:54it possible to still start something up and be successful maybe down by the coast here?
17:00Oh, listen, Kent's a beautiful place with lots of opportunities. And if you go down any one of
17:05the lovely high streets, you'll see a number of small to medium sized businesses that definitely
17:10serving the community. And those businesses I've got a huge respect for because they have to know
17:14the local appetite for business really, really clear. They have to have a clear proposition
17:19that is competing with those big national chains and people traveling down to the capital. But they
17:24also they really have to know the community around the actual area. So for those businesses doing
17:30locally, I think stick to what you're doing and that you also you're making sure that you're
17:35keeping the customers front of mind. Very good advice there. And of course,
17:39lots of people are thinking about the economy. We heard this week about that
17:42six month high inflation rise. Is now the best time to be thinking about starting a business?
17:49Definitely. The difficulty for most people is that they're thinking that when times are difficult,
17:55that may not be the best time to start a business. But actually offering a proposition to somebody
17:59who's also going through difficult times could be the best way to start and grow a business,
18:03getting down to the bare basics of why would a customer want to engage with me
18:08and why is my product and service better than my nearest competitors? And if you can do that
18:11and align that with what you're trying to do, I think you're on to a winner.
18:15Fantastic. And of course, we couldn't have you here without asking you quickly about The
18:19Apprentice. Thinking about inflation as well, I think we could go back to was it 2011, I believe.
18:24That was when Lord Sugar started to implement this kind of investment as the prize, this 250,000.
18:32I think if we were to to maybe scale that to today in terms of inflation, that would be up
18:37I think it's almost 400,000. So that's kind of stayed the same. Do you think that
18:40that that initial investment of 250,000 is a good, is that still a good number? Or maybe
18:46maybe do you think Lord Sugar should be upping that a little bit?
18:49No, I think if I was to give you 250,000 pounds, you'd be jumping up and down and your orange tire
18:54would be ecstatically happy, right? So I think the reality is that 250,000 pounds is not really
19:00the key focus. The reality is the focus is on the mentorship that Lord Sugar gives alongside
19:06that investment, because that's an invaluable prize.
19:08Yeah, I think you're right. I would be jumping up and down if you offered me that, definitely.
19:12I think just just finally, I mean, we've had a fair few contestants from Kent over the years
19:17taking on The Apprentice and taking on that that huge challenge. What is it that's brought you
19:21back for another season? What are you most looking forward to?
19:25See, I'm really looking for people who are really authentic and true to the idea that
19:30they're going to get support from one of the UK's most prolific and successful entrepreneurs. I
19:35think what the differentiate of all the successful winners, people like Harpreet, the people like
19:39Scarlett, people like Tom, those individuals have come with authenticity that's helped them to
19:45continue on and create really successful businesses. And we want more of those, right?
19:50Absolutely. Thank you very much for joining us today.
19:54Great to talk there with Tim Campbell. Now, don't forget, you can keep up to date with
19:58all your latest stories across Kent by logging on to our website, kmtv.co.uk,
20:03there you'll find all of our reports, including this one from when our
20:06reporter Kristen Hawthorne joined Canterbury's River Cleaners.
20:13Although Canterbury's River is known for being rich in biodiversity,
20:18volunteers weren't banking on withdrawing £5 from its water.
20:22We just found an old buried Asda trolley with a £5 note.
20:30We find these littered up and down the Stour. I think it should be the supermarket's
20:37responsibility to keep these trolleys over there and not in here.
20:44This was the amount of litter that was gathered, about 13 bags full.
20:48But this was not all that was found. For instance, there was an eel found trapped in a bottle,
20:54a bed frame and even a bicycle, among many other large items.
20:59So if you see, it's like a net and a mesh and lots of animals will get caught in that,
21:05so better out here. Canterbury City Council
21:09charge supermarkets to collect trolleys if they're dumped wherever they collect them,
21:15and there's a collection fee, a storage fee and a fee to take them back to the supermarket.
21:20I don't think that fee's been updated and a lot of councils around England charge more
21:26and Canterbury City Council should be charging more.
21:29But it's not just litter and fly-tipping that is a cause of concern for the water.
21:34You think it should be cleaner because you feel that the pollution should be diluted,
21:39but actually there's a much bigger load going in. Also quite often sewage releases,
21:46raw sewage into the river after heavy rainfall. We've got the data, there's various sewage plants
21:52along the River Stour and hundreds of hours, last year, hundreds of hours of raw sewage
22:01spillages into the River Stour.
22:03With ideas for new housing developments in the area and the growing threat of climate change,
22:08the future of the river is unpredictable.
22:11Little by little, the impact we're having on our natural environment, on our wildlife,
22:19and we just don't perceive it until we compare it with the baseline from 20, 30, 40 years ago.
22:28Both humans and animals are affected by the depleting quality of the river
22:32as enjoying what it has to offer is getting harder and harder.
22:36But volunteers say it's never too late to help out and to put rubbish in the bin.
22:49Now, let's take a look at the weather over the coming days.
22:58You can expect a cold evening tonight, just as we've been experiencing all week.
23:02Temperatures as low as minus two in Ashford, generally clear skies.
23:05Moving into tomorrow morning, those temperatures rising to highs of seven degrees,
23:09but rain across most of the county and a yellow wind warning.
23:13Little change in the afternoon as temperatures rise slightly,
23:15but that yellow warning remaining as the winds pick up.
23:18And a wet end to the week, but a sunny start to next week,
23:22with temperatures dropping from 15 to 10.
23:34And finally this evening, as the end of November is just a week away,
23:38many of us are getting into the full swing of Christmas.
23:41Places all over the county have begun switching on their lights and opening Christmas markets.
23:46And this year seems quite exciting for those looking to celebrate.
23:49And Kristen has finished river cleaning today.
23:52She's been checking out what is going on in the Christmas season.
23:55And she's here with me now.
23:56Kristen, what can you tell us?
23:58We've seen a few Christmas light switch ons already, but there's still lots more to expect.
24:02Yeah, we've got through about half of them.
24:04So do not worry if you think that you've missed them.
24:06You absolutely haven't.
24:07There are so many.
24:09Like these people.
24:10They're currently, this is a snow machine that they are in the midst of.
24:14Quite exciting.
24:15So that is happening in Dale.
24:17So there'll be a snow machine in Dale tomorrow at 6.30pm for the switch on.
24:22I think we need a bit of a snow machine at the moment.
24:24I mean, they've been experiencing so much snow up north.
24:26We've had none of it down here.
24:27Unless, of course, you're not a fan of the snow.
24:29Unlike me.
24:30So that's definitely one that I'll be thinking about this weekend.
24:33Exactly.
24:34And in Dover, on the 7th of December, they're going to have a snowman film.
24:39Yes.
24:39They're going to have a simulator of that.
24:41They'll have a winter-themed food village, Dover Wildlife Lantern Trail.
24:46So it's quite exciting.
24:47Lots happening there.
24:50Yeah.
24:51In Faversham, there's live entertainment throughout the day,
24:53a night food market that starts, I believe, at 10pm.
24:58So that's quite exciting.
24:58Very nice.
24:59And we're seeing on the screen now, this was from this week,
25:02this is the Maidstone light switch on, which was hosted by our sister station, KMFM.
25:06They're popping up all over the county at different versions
25:11of these events.
25:12What more have you got on your list there?
25:13Yeah.
25:14So quite exciting.
25:16In regards to the markets, this year, there's so much.
25:19In Tenderdon, there is over 100 stalls.
25:23I believe that's the same in Rochester as well.
25:25And then, obviously, over in Canterbury,
25:26we've got the first cathedral Christmas market in 200 years.
25:31So there's so much happening.
25:33There's raffles going on on the 24th of November in Paddock Wood.
25:37And Tunbridge, Ramsgate, Westgate-on-Sea, Borough Green,
25:41all these places still have their lights to be switched on,
25:44so you haven't missed out anything at all.
25:45Fantastic.
25:47No, it's all looking really good.
25:48And there's lots of different displays as well.
25:50I know that Hever Castle, Leeds Castle have all got their events,
25:54as well as Bedgebury, all those different events
25:56that people can pay to go along to.
25:58Yeah.
25:58So Leeds Castle, on the 22nd of November to the 1st of January,
26:02they're going to have glowing reeds, colour-changing lights,
26:07colour-changing lilies on a lake, sparkling trees.
26:09And then on the 23rd of November,
26:13they're also going to have a nutcracker
26:14where you can go through the rooms of the castle.
26:16And it's like the nutcracker has come to life.
26:19So that, I mean, even I would love to do that.
26:21Very, very exciting.
26:22I think one thing we know is that Kent definitely knows
26:23how to put on the Christmas,
26:27embrace that Christmas spirit.
26:28One question I've got for you.
26:29Have you bought your KMTV Secret Santa yet?
26:33I haven't.
26:33You haven't yet?
26:34I haven't.
26:34I have a small plan, but I'm not 100% sure.
26:38And you've got to keep it a secret as well.
26:40Kristen, thank you for those details.
26:41Very fun.
26:42That is it from us tonight.
26:43We'll be back with a brand new Kentonite on Monday.