Catch up with all the latest news from across the county with Finn Macdiarmid.
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00:00Hello and welcome to Kent Tonight live on KMTV.
00:28I'm Finn McDermott and here are your top stories on Tuesday the 24th of December.
00:33It's absolutely shocking, 1,000 bedway homes without water on Christmas Eve after burst
00:39water main.
00:40In the evening, 11 o'clock last night they turned up with water for this road but they
00:44were running out quite frequently.
00:47Coalition collapse, sitting born MP intervention sparks new mega development row.
00:53Don't interfere with the local government, local government deal with local events, it's
00:57as simple as that.
00:59And festive fundraiser, Kent students put on their Santa hats and running shoes in support
01:05of cancer care.
01:06We've been supporting them now for 12 years and we feel like we need to carry on supporting
01:09them to carry on their brilliant work.
01:19First tonight, parts of Strood Inn Medway have been without water for more than 30 hours
01:24after a burst main pipe cut off the supply.
01:27According to Southern Water, up to 1,000 properties could be affected.
01:32Residents have been given bottled water by Southern Water for their essential needs but
01:36are worried ahead of Christmas Day that they might still be without it.
01:40It's now been more than 30 hours since up to 1,000 homes in Strood and Rochester have
01:44been without running water and as the day goes on, many residents are worried they won't
01:49have water in time for their Christmas celebrations.
01:52It's Christmas Eve, today families should be looking forward to opening their presents
01:56tomorrow but many families are looking to tomorrow with worry.
02:01That's because here on Bryant Road, they don't have any running water.
02:05Southern Water have come down in a searching street by street for the burst pipe but until
02:09then the street is without the use of their taps.
02:13Southern Water have been handing out bottled water for them to use for their essentials,
02:17brushing their teeth and obviously drinking but many are worried that this won't be solved.
02:23Residents of areas like Bryant Road in Strood have been getting deliveries of bottled water
02:27from Southern Water throughout the day.
02:29We're just sort of like neighbourly people do, give each other bottles of water and in
02:35the evening, 11 o'clock last night, they turned up with water for this road but they were
02:39running out quite frequently.
02:42And do you know who's supplying the water?
02:44I don't know, I think it's coming from Southern Water themselves, well they've arranged it,
02:49I mean they're not coming in Southern Water trucks as you can see but they're all sort
02:55of, all the neighbours are pulling together here at the moment so it's all going quite well.
02:59But other residents said they were worried as they had vulnerable family members making
03:03the situation more difficult.
03:05One councillor believed the cause could be linked to gasworks in the area several months ago.
03:09People are frustrated and especially the particular people who are being, well I was talking to
03:16them earlier about the airstrategic gas networks, about the way they were going through the
03:20area, this is back in the summer.
03:22When a utility goes through the area, like the gas company, it does undoubtedly disturb
03:27the ground and that's undoubtedly the knock-on effect this time is that Southern Water now
03:32found there's a crack in their pipe.
03:35So yes, the local residents are frustrated.
03:38A spokesman for Southern Water said we're sorry to customers in Strood who are without
03:42water or are experiencing low pressure this morning.
03:45Our teams have been working through the night to find and fix the burst main which is causing
03:49the issue.
03:50As Southern Water continue their efforts to find the source of the burst pipe, they've
03:53also started a water station which will be open until 10pm tonight and have been using
03:57tankers to pump water directly into the network.
04:01Many in the town will hope that come Christmas morning there'll be presents under the tree
04:05and water in the taps.
04:07Finn McDermid for KMTV in Strood.
04:10Next tonight, controversial proposals to build thousands of homes in Swale.
04:14Of course, the council's coalition to collapse.
04:17Last week it emerged the Sittingbourne and Sheppey MP had personally asked the government
04:21to pull the decision-making of Highstead Park out of the local planning committee's hands.
04:26A decision that's caused the Independent and Green councillors to pull out of the governing
04:30body at Swale Borough Council.
04:33As local democracy reporter Gabriel Morris reports, it leaves Labour running a minority
04:37administration.
04:40Controversial proposals for thousands of homes and Labour's plan to ramp up house-building
04:45have seen the Green party and the Independent stepping out of Swale Borough Council's coalition.
04:52The announcement last week, Labour's revisions to the national planning policy framework
04:57have just made us feel that it's no longer compatible with our views as a party and as
05:02a group.
05:03There's too much prioritisation of profit for developers, not enough thought given to
05:10affordable, genuinely affordable housing, social rented housing.
05:15The decision this week heightened by controversy surrounding plans to build more than 8,000
05:20homes on these fields.
05:23The council were set to refuse the Highstead Park development to the east of Sittingbourne,
05:27but just three hours before the meeting, the government called it in, putting the decision
05:32into their hands.
05:33It emerged the newly elected MP personally requested it.
05:38He's defended his position by saying he won't apologise.
05:41All the Labour groups stood up for him, said, don't believe what you read in the press.
05:46You know, he's only saying what...
05:48Then we find out he actually called it in and they knew, and that left a very sour taste.
05:56Kevin McKenna has a majority of around 350 votes, one of the smallest in the country.
06:02How popular is he now with his constituents?
06:05He can't interfere with the local government.
06:08Local government deal with local events, it's as simple as that.
06:12Because what's the next thing he's going to do if he decides to overstep the council and
06:16overstep local people who have lived here for many years?
06:19In the end, I think, you know, there's a lot of resistance to housing, but unfortunately
06:24it's got to come and I don't like it any more than anybody else.
06:29The Labour MP defended his decision on the latest Kent Politics podcast.
06:34Because it's such a big strategic decision, I felt actually it needed to be looked at
06:39by the Flanagan Inspectorate nationally, particularly because locally in Swale Borough Council,
06:46there's been a lot of debate about it, but to be honest, a lot of that, it's not coming
06:52to a conclusion.
06:53However, for the Borough Council, Labour will be challenged to run in the minority.
06:58The authority runs on a committee model, with a broad consensus needed for decisions
07:03to pass.
07:05Gabriel Morris in Citybourne.
07:10Now the trial of a man accused of trying to stab a uniformed soldier in Gillingham has
07:14been delayed by at least two months.
07:17Anthony Assane is accused of attempting to murder Lieutenant Colonel Mark Teton near
07:22Brompton Barracks on the 23rd of July.
07:25He was due to stand trial in January, however, following a hearing earlier this week, that
07:30date was postponed, and it's understood further updates will be made in April.
07:34The soldier, who was in his 40s, was discharged from hospital four weeks after the incident,
07:39with almost £50,000 raised by the public to support him and his family.
07:45And now it's time for the weather.
07:51Tonight, expect overcast skies across the county, misty in Canterbury, temperatures
07:56averaging around 10 and 11 degrees.
07:58Tomorrow morning, here's your Christmas Day forecast, staying cloudy across the county,
08:02highs of 10, lows of 9.
08:05In the afternoon, it's going to stay overcast with low winds, highs of 11 in Dartford, lows
08:09of 10 in Margate.
08:12And here's the outlook over the coming days, skies staying covered, expect temperatures
08:15around 10 degrees on Boxing Day, lows of 9 on Saturday.
08:22Well, with the hours counting down until the big day, we thought we'd take a moment to
08:31see where Father Christmas has got himself so far.
08:35Here is the NORAD Santa Tracker, developed by the North American Aerospace Defence Command.
08:40These are live pictures from the website, which shows the man in the big red suit is
08:44currently flying over Turkmenistan, and no doubt will be arriving here in Kent in just
08:48a few hours' time.
08:52Well back here, hundreds of school children have been running through Rochester to raise
08:55money for cancer support, dressed as Father Christmas himself.
08:59St Thomas Aveling School have put on their best red suits and tied their laces before
09:03running a mile in their local area.
09:05They helped money to raise Macmillan, sorry, they raised money to help Macmillan Cancer
09:08Support, as it supports people living with cancer and their loved ones.
09:12Daisy Page went down to see how they all got on.
09:16Santas have filled the streets of Rochester as the Thomas Aveling School host its annual
09:22festive fundraiser.
09:24Students put on their best red bobble hats and walk or run to raise money for Macmillan
09:28Cancer Support.
09:29We've raised thousands of pounds over 12 years for Macmillan Cancer Support, and we've been
09:34supporting them now for 12 years, and we feel like we need to carry on supporting them to
09:37carry on their brilliant work.
09:39We've had 85 students run this today, and they've done such an amazing job, and like
09:44I said earlier, this is a charity that's really close to our heart, Macmillan, and
09:48a lot of our families have been supported by that.
09:50The Santas behind me are walking and running through Rochester to raise awareness for the
09:54charity that supports people living with cancer and their loved ones.
09:58And their work doesn't stop there.
10:01They provide a vast range of information and campaign to influence decision makers on cancer-related
10:06policies.
10:07The Santa Fun Run supports the work that they do, and each student taking part is helping
10:12to make a difference one step at a time.
10:15Students get so much out of this.
10:16It's one of the biggest events that we do at Thomas Avelin for Resolute House, and it
10:22really connects with some of them because a lot of their maybe parents or grandparents
10:26have had help from the charity Macmillan, and they really love to support it, and they get
10:32really excited about it as well.
10:34After filling the streets with Christmas spirit and sprinting to the finish line, how do the
10:38students feel?
10:39Tired.
10:40Very tired.
10:41We walked.
10:42We did a bit of both really.
10:43We walked mostly.
10:44But what does it really mean to the students to support the chosen charity?
10:48It's important because there's people suffering out there that this money would help to go
10:53towards because it will help them, and it's easier for us just to go out running where
10:58it's not easy for them to get better with a click of the fingers, so the money helps
11:02them get better.
11:03Doing something that you like whilst doing something to help others as well, is that
11:07really nice?
11:08It's good.
11:09Cancer affects so many people.
11:10It's really good.
11:11It's very good, and I think it's like, because we're raising money for charity, so it's very
11:19heartwarming.
11:20Well, it's just, it helps.
11:22It's really important that we should be supporting into these things, and I think we should do
11:27a bunch more.
11:28What will you be doing to share Christmas cheer this season?
11:33Daisy Page for KMTV.
11:38Well, that's it from us this evening on KMTV.
11:41In the meantime, you can check out our special programmes by visiting our website, kmtv.co.uk.
11:46There you'll see the likes of Kent on Climate, the Kent Politics Show, and Made in Kent.
11:50Well, thank you so much for watching, and have a very Merry Christmas.