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. I'm Oliver, leader the
00:28Saks and here are your top stories on Thursday the 13th of February. A bleak
00:33budget? Kent County Council lays out their financial plans for the year. We
00:38are doing everything we possibly can to ensure that services are delivered
00:42efficiently in a cost-effective way. Kent's queer pioneers. We uncover the
00:49county's LGBTQ plus literary heroes. Some parts of the story that we're telling
00:54would have been illegal during the time of their life and we want to make sure
00:58that we're creating an accurate account. And manning the decks with City Boards
01:03roving viral DJ.
01:18Well first tonight, Kent County Council has agreed to an almost 5% rise for
01:24residents in the coming year in regards to Council Tax. Today they voted on the
01:28budget for 2025 to 2026. It's coming with stark warnings about the future of local
01:34government here in Kent. Council Tax is rising by the maximum allowed. Reserves
01:40have been dipped into again and significant savings are having to be
01:44made all against the backdrop of major reform. So what does this mean for Kent
01:50residents and how bad could things get in the coming years? Thanks so much for joining me in the
01:56studio. Gabriel Morris, our local democracy reporter, who's been covering this today
02:00for us down in Maidstone. Gabriel, KC has managed to set a balanced budget but at what
02:06cost? Yeah so county councillors all gathered today at County Hall for their
02:11annual budget. It's a legal requirement of all councils. Medway will be doing it
02:15in a couple of weeks time. They've got to set this but it is looking bleak for
02:20councils right across the UK. Now they have been able to balance the books as I
02:24said that is a statutory thing they have to do but they've only been able to
02:29achieve this through cuts, savings and also having to dip into reserves. Part of
02:35this today, I think this is what's going to impact most people at home, is a rise
02:38in council tax of 4.99%. That's the maximum they can go without holding a
02:44referendum. Some councils including Medway did ask the government if they
02:48could up it to 10% but KCC said they weren't in that situation. Worth noting
02:53Medway didn't get allowed to rise it to 10% so Medway it will be 5% as well.
02:58Now what does that mean? How much does 5% actually mean for you at home? Now if you
03:02live in a band D household, that's the average home for house price, that will mean
03:08an increase of around about £80 per year per week. That's about £1.54.
03:13So what would that cost? That's probably the equivalent of buying a soda from a
03:19vending machine. I know that because I just checked it on the way into the studio this
03:23evening. They have also found £96 million of savings, there's been some
03:28controversial cuts including in that, meaning some services will be reduced or
03:32lost. They have warned they are close to becoming a provider of only statutory
03:36services, meaning discretionary services could soon disappear and they say their
03:40reserves are running low. So with that 5% cost I think a lot of people at home
03:43will be looking at the state of the roads, potholes increasing and wondering
03:47where that money is going. I spoke to the leader of the council Roger Goff to see
03:51what he had to say about that. We levy a very visible tax. Council tax is a really
03:56really visible tax and at the same time vast amounts of the money that we spend
04:02go on services which are really really important but they are not that visible
04:09to our residents, the bulk of residents, in the way that let's say the state of
04:14the roads is. So quite bleak there. Council needs a warning that this isn't a
04:20long-term fix especially given how other local authorities are struggling to
04:24balance the books as well. How bad could things get for people here in the county
04:29in the future? Well as I say reserves are running low, they are warning
04:33statutory services could become the only thing to be able to offer. They're facing
04:37big rises as the leader was saying there in social care. They've had an £80 million
04:41pound increase this year alone. Now on the cards is local government reform but
04:47that might not necessarily mean any more money for the county council. So without
04:51central government stepping in council taxes could likely rise again this time
04:55next year but the detail on that is quite unclear at the moment. Something
05:00we'll pay a lot of attention to in the coming weeks and months. Gabriel Morris
05:03thanks so much. From council uncertainty to infrastructure uncertainty will the
05:08Eurostar be returning back to Kent? Well maybe. A handful of the county's MPs have
05:15said things are moving in a positive direction after meeting with the rail
05:19minister earlier this week. Eastlander MP Polly Billington, Rochester and Strude
05:24MP Lauren Edwards, Ashford MP Sojan Joseph and Fulton and Hyde MP Tony Vaughan
05:30all met with the government to learn more about the steps being taken
05:33including the prospect of other operators taking on the route in
05:37Eurostar's absence. The Eurostar hasn't stopped in Kent since 2020 but with
05:43Richard Branson and start-up Evelyn both discussing the service, discussing running
05:47services on the line, things could change but nothing is yet set in stone. Now
05:55hopeful news for Sevenoaks punters as plans to rebuild the Green Man pub in
06:00Hodsall Street have been submitted more than three years after it
06:04burnt down in 2021. Locals described the pub as the beating heart of the
06:10community. It was their fundraising and support that saved the building from
06:14being demolished. It was originally ordered by the council. Sevenoaks
06:19district councillor Penny Cold has said what it really means to people in the
06:23town. The residents are so keen, desperate to get a pub back in this, on
06:32that location. You know there's a hole where where the building was and you go
06:37walk past it and you just feel it needs to be a pub again and you know it's
06:44it's brilliant that that application has finally come forward, it's taken a long
06:49time. Well from one derelict building to another, Rochester's University of
06:54Creative Arts was shut down in 2023, is set to be rejuvenated into 102 luxury
07:01apartments with rooftop gardens. The building which has fallen into disrepair
07:06in the following years since its closure has become prone to vandalism and rough
07:10sleeping. The 20 million pound investment will supposedly be championing
07:14championing the Brutalist architecture which many view as an eyesore. The
07:19project will take two and a half years to complete, will include an art gallery to
07:22showcase the work of students who attended the University. And while we're
07:27on the topic of Rochester and its future, the past few weeks have seen heated
07:32debate about whether the cathedral town should return to being a city. This
07:37report which we found on our website kntv.co.uk will tell you everything
07:41that you need to know. When does a city cease to be a city? Well in Rochester's
07:48case, when those in charge didn't do the paperwork. Back in 1998 when Medway
07:56Council was being created, Rochester upon Medway City Council didn't appoint the
08:03trustees needed, making it the only place in UK history to lose its city status.
08:10The question remains, more than two decades on, do people here actually care?
08:17Very much so, I think that Rochester should return to Rochester upon Medway a
08:23city and if Medway, if the rest of the towns want to become Medway City that's
08:27fine, but I do believe that Rochester should return to being a city by itself.
08:32Yeah I'd like to see Rochester at least. Definitely bring more tourism in, even
08:36local people would come back to come to see the local events and things. I say I'm
08:44worried about the state, not necessarily the status, I mean it's because we do a
08:49lot of work in the local community and we obviously refer to it as the Medway
08:51towns, but yeah because I know Rochester was a city, but I don't know, it depends
08:57whether or not it's a benefit to the area, it being a city or not. So what makes a
09:02city a city? Well it's not actually one of these. Cathedrals are a common
09:08misconception about what grants a place city status. It's less to do with God and
09:14more to do with the government, who themselves are embarking on a major
09:18shake-up of Kent's local authorities, raising the question of whether this is
09:24the last chance Medway has of getting its city status back on track. It is
09:32about that inward investment, it is about saying actually Medway is proud of its
09:36history but proud of its future as well, but from a practical perspective it's
09:41highly unlikely that Medway as we know it, the 285,000 residents, are going to be
09:47in a position to be able to move that forward because if the rules remain the
09:51same of course it will just be those larger unitary authorities which of
09:54course will be part of but won't be Medway by itself. The leader of Medway
09:59Council has already written to government in a last-ditch bid to regain
10:05city status, but not everyone is happy with the letter. Anything sensitive like
10:11this to do with identity has to be has to be put out to consultation, you have to
10:16have the people with you, you have to win hearts and minds to do something like
10:19this, but unfortunately what's happened over the years with these multiple bids
10:24for city status, it's just been it's just been done to us, it's been done to
10:30the community. The decision now rests with government, but for some Rochester
10:36not Medway will always be a city. There's no one-size-fits-all when it comes to
10:42cities and Rochester has been acknowledged as a city for well over a
10:47thousand years, it's this thing the City of Rochester Society
10:51describe it as a city by ancient prescriptive rights, in other words if
10:56people recognize it as a city it's a city it doesn't matter what anyone else
10:59says. But whatever happens next in this tale of two cities it certainly won't be
11:05a fairy tale ending for everyone here in Medway. Oliver Leader the Saks for KMTV
11:12in Rochester. And now just before the break, a delivery company has come under
11:19fire after one of his drivers been captured on video jumping over a fence
11:23of a customer's garden. Just so you can see it here, he's leaving the garden
11:27rather than just knocking on the front door, he's jumped over the fence. This is
11:31the house of Minjae and Joanna Kim in Canterbury who were expecting delivery of
11:35insulin. They left it in stress and leave the parcel at the front door and
11:38unsurprisingly were absolutely baffled by what they're seeing on screen right
11:43here. When all the happening to me at my house, DPD has apologized but we'll be
11:48with you after the break.
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15:10Welcome back to Kentonite live here on KMTV and February marks LGBTQ plus
15:15history month. At Sittinghurst Castle in Cranbrook, they've opened an exhibition
15:19all about the works of Kentish writer Vita Sackville-West. Known for being the
15:25lover of literary legend Virginia Woolf, the two penned poetic letters to each other
15:30but the exhibition aims to show that Sackville-West was a best-selling author
15:35in her own right, one deserving as much recognition as the acclaimed modernist.
15:41Just as a warning, this package does contain some flashing images but our
15:45reporter Finn McDermott went down to find out why she's become so forgotten
15:49here in the county. With Valentine's Day fast approaching, many people might be
15:54trying to emulate some iconic power couples, David and Victoria Beckham,
15:58Emily Blunt and John Krasinski, but for Kent's historians, the answer is obvious.
16:03Writers and lovers Virginia Woolf and Vita Sackville-West. So during
16:07LGBTQ history month, a new exhibition at Sittinghurst Castle in Cranbrook to
16:11honour the love, life and literature of Vita has opened to the public.
16:15Throughout the annals of history, Vita Sackville-West was mostly known for
16:19her relationship with the writer Virginia Woolf but this exhibition aims to show
16:23that she was a writer, a best-selling one in her own right, a gardener and an
16:27icon of LGBTQ history. The exhibition, called Between the Covers, has been in
16:32the works for many years and includes a visual collaboration with artist
16:36Sarah Talat-Jones to bring their story to life.
16:40When visitors visit Sittinghurst today, they can expect a very well-known
16:44garden, which was created by Vita and her husband Harold. However, Vita's
16:50story extends much more beyond that. Vita was a very prolific writer herself
16:58and we wanted to create an exhibition that would celebrate her writing, which
17:04is how this exhibition came about.
17:06The display shows the versatility of Vita's writing. It wasn't just novels
17:10like Portrait of a Marriage or Family History that she wrote. She also created
17:14poetry, semi-autobiographical works, plays and even a crime novel, Devil at
17:18Westies, which she never published and this is the first time it's ever been
17:22on display. But it wasn't just her literary work. Objects that were
17:26important to her were also on display.
17:28Now this here is Minerva. It was the printing press used in the Hogarth
17:32Press to print works by Virginia Woolf, Sigmund Freud, T.S. Eliot and it was
17:36originally owned by Virginia Woolf but was later bought by Vita, which is why
17:40they have it here at the exhibition.
17:42The exhibition was created with LGBT history in mind and they wanted to make
17:46sure that it promoted that with accuracy and care.
17:49Some parts of the story that we're telling would have been illegal during
17:52the time of their life and we want to make sure that we're creating an
17:56accurate account that resembles both the intricacies of the story but also
18:01making sure it's relatable to a contemporary audience and in that sense
18:05there is quite a lot of difficult navigation in making sure
18:09that it tells the story truthfully
18:13while taking into consideration the
18:17balances that you get between narrating a story that's almost
18:21100 years old and telling that to an audience today.
18:25Vita's sexuality was a core part of who she was and she once wrote
18:29that in the future it will be recognised that many more people of my type to exist
18:33than under the present day system. If she was alive today she would probably
18:37be happy to see the LGBTQ pride flag flying at her castle home.
18:41Finn McDermid for KMTV in Cranbrook.
18:47What a poignant piece by Finn there but it also highlights
18:51some of the amazing work done by our apprentices here at KMTV.
18:55Finn like many of our producers, presenters and reporters is currently
18:59working towards professional qualifications while delivering news and entertainment
19:03to your screens here in Kent including yours
19:07truly and recognising how businesses are combining learning opportunities
19:11for employment has never been so
19:15important in this National Apprenticeship Week this year
19:19especially given how recent changes mean that more than 10,000
19:23apprentices can qualify each year now but will these changes
19:27encourage less people to go to university? Well this is what people in Rochester
19:31make of this route into employment.
19:35I think apprenticeships are good obviously for the younger generation of people
19:39people want to be more active in doing stuff
19:43education for me didn't necessarily work so
19:47I guess yeah it's good. I came up for an apprenticeship so for me
19:51it works you know I started with a business
19:55from a young age earning money and yeah it just tended
19:59to work for me yeah. I think it is very case by case and it
20:03will depend on what you want to do and what skills you want to develop rather than
20:07saying everyone should go into this or everyone should go into that.
20:11It depends on who the employer of the apprenticeship is I had a son who got an apprenticeship
20:15and it seemed the apprenticeship he got within Brick Lane it seemed that he was looking
20:19more towards a cheap labour than actually getting a proper apprenticeship
20:23there are my other son though got an apprenticeship an advanced apprenticeship
20:27and he's gone on and got degrees and they're looking for him to go for his masters now so
20:31he's had a successful one so if I've had one successful one not and it varies.
20:35I think so because I think you know apprenticeships
20:39now I think it's better that the youngsters learn on the hoof
20:43you know everyone can sit at a desk and do a paperwork but you can't
20:47go out and build a wall. I guess it kind of depends on what sector you're going into because some
20:51sectors it will just require the education stuff whereas with others apprenticeships learning on the job
20:55a lot better sometimes depending on what you're doing. Well Finn joins
20:59me in the studio we're both apprentices here and it's divided
21:03opinions here in Rochester so what's the big difference you've done a degree
21:07as well what's the difference between doing an apprenticeship and doing a degree because there are a few
21:11small things to kind of make it worthwhile in both directions. Yeah well there's
21:15pros and cons for both obviously I think the main difference that people
21:19like me who've done both and like yourself is the fact that you're getting
21:23paid rather than paying. Personally I studied journalism here
21:27at the University of Kent and like most people I had to pay for student loans and that
21:31sort of thing and the transition from doing that to then making money as an apprentice
21:35is certainly a very different experience and
21:39it makes it very different for employability as well you know learning in a classroom
21:43versus learning on the job there's a sort of clear difference there as well. So did you ever
21:47see yourself becoming an apprentice because you started out doing this journalism degree do you
21:51ever think you'd be doing this what you're doing right now? Not at all no I really thought that I'd
21:55get my degree and then I'd just kind of see whatever happened maybe I'd get
21:59a part time job or I'd move back home or all sorts of things but
22:03no I really didn't expect to get an apprenticeship of all things to be honest I wasn't really aware
22:07that there were these higher level apprenticeships you know I assumed apprenticeships
22:11and degrees were kind of a flat plain or equal across both halves but
22:15in actuality you know there's different levels to them. Because obviously you're working towards a qualification
22:19right now you even have the textbook for the law exam coming up in a couple of weeks time
22:23do you think apprenticeships offer a way to path into employment
22:27and to get more skills you wouldn't necessarily get in a traditional degree?
22:31I think so I think a lot of the time you can do a degree and there's not
22:35really there are obviously student support and career counselling
22:39but I think it just
22:43provides almost a more seamless way into it where you go from
22:47classroom and work rather than just classroom and now you're
22:51kind of in the world of work I mean we've got some data here apprenticeships are
22:55becoming more popular apprenticeships start were up by 1.3% to
22:59132,000 compared to 130,000 reported
23:03the previous year so they're increasing as they kind of go along and under 19's
23:07accounted for 31% of those starts so it's very much
23:11a thing for the young people nowadays. Yeah lots of young people here in the county getting
23:15involved in this route into employment particularly during this National Apprenticeship Week
23:19thanks so much for joining me here on the sofa. Well it's time quickly for
23:23the weather now let's see what the forecast looks like.
23:31Tonight will be cloudy across Kent an average temperature of 4 degrees
23:35with a high of 5 down in Maidstone and into tomorrow
23:39morning lows of 1-2 degrees cloudy with some sun
23:43peeking through and into the afternoon that sun disappearing
23:47the clouds getting actually it is looking cloudy and sunny
23:51at the same time my apologies there that sun peeking through till Saturday
23:55as well cloudy on Sunday and Monday 6-7 degrees
23:59throughout.
24:05And finally how often do you
24:09spend outdoors? Well a new study has found that 1 in
24:135 of us feel disconnected from nature and spend an average of just 2
24:17hours and 45 minutes per month outdoors.
24:21Hope to rekindle our love with our environment a DJ from Sydney born
24:25known for his antics taking his beats around in public
24:29has created a new track made up of real natural landscapes
24:33with some smooth beats to go with it.
24:37Here's what inspired him to swap the chaos for something a tiny bit
24:41calmer.
25:03He didn't know we were going to do that did he?
25:15The sounds of nature they've always inspired me they've always
25:19inspired what I do at the SUAT project and when the campaign
25:23kind of came along where I can make a track out of the sounds of nature to make people
25:27feel more connected by it I was ready to go I was the perfect
25:31candidate so Clipper T have done some research and found that actually 20% of
25:35all Brits feel a disconnect from nature and a further
25:3963% of people say they could spend more time in it and me I'm
25:43someone that's always said to my friends my family like if you're feeling down get outside
25:47breathe the air touch the leaves and whatever so yeah this
25:51campaign was perfect and hopefully when you listen to the track you can close your
25:55eyes and it will take you to a place and it will make you feel more connected with nature.
26:01Going to add that one to my gym rotation.
26:05DJ SUAT there bringing some quite calming
26:09beats this Thursday evening. But that's everything from
26:13KMTV or Kent tonight this evening. There's more news made just for
26:17Kent throughout the evening. Don't forget you can always keep up to date with the latest
26:21news by logging on to the website kmtv.co.uk
26:25and I'll see you next time.
26:31And we can find all our special programs including the Kent Politics show
26:35back tomorrow at 9.30 as well as the Kent Morning Show at 7am
26:39I'll see you then. Thanks so much. Take care.