Wake up with Isabelle Miller and Cameron Tucker for all the latest news for Kent!
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00:00it's killing everything that's what one ecologist has said about a sewage spill in Tunbridge Wells
00:25residents and environmental groups are calling for urgent action to save the river Grom alongside
00:31local MP Mike Martin who's described this bill as ridiculous Kristen Hawthorne visited the site
00:36to find out more through Tunbridge Wells runs the river Grom a gentle winding stream that weaves
00:43quietly through the countryside but beneath the surface something is deeply wrong a nearby manhole
00:49is being choked with overgrown tree roots and has therefore been prone to overflowing this means
00:55that it's pushed more than 333 hours worth of sewage into the river since last summer underground sewage
01:02pipes are also failing with leaks spilling untreated waste into the waterway due to hundreds of hours
01:08worth of sewage both being pumped into this river and flowing into it from a nearby manhole the ripple
01:13effect team who tests the water have found that much of it is covered by sewage fungus which both
01:18pollutes the air and kills both the plants and animals funny enough today is actually we think
01:24there's the worst results we've seen the sewage that that's been pumped into the river is actually
01:29killing everything so the water the river is actually dead apart from things that you don't want to see
01:36which are mosquito larvae red worms water louse all animals that will live in really highly polluted river
01:44and we've seen a heck of a lot of them today i'm not an expert in sewage fungus but i would say that
01:51is sewage fungus and that's that's kind of like the end game in a river's health due to the number of
01:57complaints of smells and leaks the problem has sparked political action yeah so in 2024 at southern
02:04water which which deal with the sewage in my patch pumped 300,000 hours of sewage into our waterways and
02:12and and this is ridiculous it's not on it it's indicative of a water industry but also the
02:17government and off what the regulator who've lost a grip on the problem we shouldn't be having a
02:22situation where that much sewage is being pumped into our rivers and killing them like this river
02:26here and so southern water have assured me that we brought it to their attention and they've assured me
02:30that they're going to be sending a robot down that to clear out the tree roots and then they're going
02:35to reline the sewer which should mean that normal flow should go through it to the water treatment
02:40plant we've been entrusted with 50 million pounds of our customers money to work differently in the
02:45catchments to make sure we are building truly sustainable solutions we have a team of the engineers
02:50who will be in the catchment with our supply chains investigating but it's not a simple fix
02:55Mike Martin says part of the challenge is that no one technically owns much of the aging sewage
03:01network some of which dates back centuries there are a number of problems and this is one of them
03:06where it's not clear who owns the sewer and it's something that the government needs to lay down
03:11legislation on to say actually who is it that's going to own all of the sewer network because that
03:15makes it easier for us to repair it and to fix the problems that we have with water bills set to
03:21rise by almost 50 percent in 2025 campaigners hope that this issue will be fixed sooner rather than
03:26later Kristen Hawthorne for KMTV in Tunbridge Wells now plans for a housing estate near Sittingbourne
03:34that would triple a village's population are said to be back on the table after two years of waiting
03:40residents could see 2,500 homes built near bobbing along with a 12 acre sports hub and 125 acre country park
03:50locals largely oppose the plans which they say will put additional pressures on already struggling
03:55local services Joe Crossley has the story plans for a sprawling housing estate that would triple a
04:02village's population are back on the table after more than two years since the last update on the 2,500 home
04:09development the house builders Capsbury Estate and Appin Limited have launched their new look scheme
04:17dubbed fox church which would be built in bobbing near sittingbourne the changes to their proposals include new
04:25provisions such as a 12 acre sports hub and a 125 acre country park but villagers who have formed a group
04:34called communities against bobbing expansion say they will fight the plans which would see the loss of hundreds of acres of
04:42farmland and put pressure on already struggling local infrastructure we'll come from over there on the hill
04:50all the way around as the the vista can see you have actually have a look at this area is it this you want
04:58to see or is it houses bobbing has a long history uh it's a it's a very old uh place to live uh it's a very
05:08quiet place to live it's very nice people are very nice here um and we any any further building
05:16around the area there is not the infrastructure for for it to have the developers will argue the scheme
05:22which will cover 305 football pitches does have the necessary amenities for 10 000 new expected
05:30residents they can point to a 200 bed care home a free-form primary school and a mixed-use center
05:38where there would be retailers calves flexible workspaces health provisions and a nursery plans
05:45will be decided on by swale council joining us now on the line is chair of bobbing parish council gareth
05:53randall gareth thank you so much for joining us this morning there uh on site in the background um just
05:59give us a little bit of an overview of the backstory of this how long is this um uh development being
06:06proposed and uh and the kind of the situation how has it evolved in over that time i think it's been
06:14around for a number of years um i think the the farmers land has been so-called optioned for quite a few
06:24years as well um it's uh i forget exactly how many years but um um um yeah obviously with the uh
06:36increase in population in the country um that's something that's putting more and more pressure on
06:45how's the reaction been like especially having to wait two years and then now it's uh it's back again
06:51yeah i mean obviously you know residents were sort of hoping this would quietly go away um it's not
07:01just residents here that this would affect and it actually would affect the whole of sitting born
07:07because anybody trying to get to work in the morning um in nearby towns uh anyone um using
07:17uh facilities facilities in sitting born will find that they've suddenly got a bit more of a struggle
07:24so you know i've i've heard from people saying that they they came to they wanted to live in a nearby
07:33town and work in sitting born or vice versa and then they came along in the morning with the rush hour
07:40traffic and it was basically impossible to uh get to work on time and so this estate will be uh well
07:50it would be close to one of the main roads but but going through lots of smaller uh roads and it's going
07:58to be uh an issue that will affect i suppose effectively the the productivity of everyone trying to get to
08:06work in sitting born it could be hundreds of acres of farmland how is that going to impact the area
08:14um i mean obviously uh well i mean one of the things that's on the the agenda at the moment is is food
08:24production i mean we are i think there are genuine concerns about losing uh food production capacity
08:33um this is obviously sort of cereal crops and things like that so everyone who has their breakfast in
08:41the morning uh is probably eating british grown cereal crops um do we want to be in a situation where
08:51we're so dependent on imported food all the time and give us an idea of the the backlash with this we know
09:00that local residents have formed a campaign group communities against bobbing expansion um what you
09:06know talking to your um your neighbors and other you know other peers in in the area um what's the general
09:14you know what's the general feedback you're getting
09:18um i think people don't want it they are i suppose to be honest somewhat resigned to
09:27the the the government situation that they they suspect that it might be forced through anyway
09:35um so i mean we do have uh an issue in planning in general as you all know not just in kent but
09:44across the country where basically residents just well actually people can be elected as councillors
09:54they take a vote on behalf of residents uh and then you get these planning inspectors who can just walk in
10:02and overrule that uh and even um then award costs against council for having the temerity to uh uh to disagree
10:15um so um we we do have uh an issue with uh a lack of local democracy in this country
10:24and um yeah so i think the the uh probably the general view among residents is uh that this would get
10:35forced on them regardless um must be a time to enjoy their countryside while they can which is
10:44a bit sad well going going forward like um like you said there are there you know we've heard from
10:51the developers we um heard um from yourself and the communities against bobbing expansion going
10:56forward what are the next steps um of this uh that we can expect
11:03um certainly it's obviously going to be going to swear for a council
11:08um there'll obviously be uh a debate there um i suppose the my my obviously i i can't uh i can't speak
11:20for the councillors concerned my my guess is it would probably be uh rejected and then of course if that
11:29were to happen um then it would go into this appeals process uh or i suppose conceivably it could get
11:38called in by the secretary of state um but yeah that's that's what i see
11:47uh gareth randall there from bobbing parish council thank you very much for joining us
11:51on the line this morning
12:06brands hatch the racing circuit has become the site for a weekend of speed as it held the season opener
12:12for the 750 motor club the club which recently celebrated its 85th anniversary aims to give
12:18enthusiasts a cheaper and more accessible way of entering motor racing the club is home to many
12:23different racing series including the famous 750 formula which is the longest running championship in
12:29the world and i don't know if you know knew this is it it's older than formula one i actually did not
12:34know that there you go there's a fact of the day yes and tim forster went down to brands hatch
12:39over the weekend to speak with some of the drivers and organizers behind the event
12:43the roar of engines and the smell of petrol filled the air at brands hatch as the 750 motor club arrived
12:51for their season opener the club designed as a low-cost entry into motorsports has been running for over
12:5785 years and shows no signs of stopping priding itself as the home of affordable motorsport the club runs
13:04several series including the famous 750 formula which has run for over 75 years but where did it all start
13:11origins of the club go back to 1939 when you know motorsport was a you know a kind of rarefied
13:17pursuit for the with the very rich and the 750 motor club was formed as a kind of route to give sort of
13:24enthusiasts with kind of more modest ambitions a sort of route to actually participate in in organized
13:30motorsport events the ethos around 750 is always to keep it low cost to allow people to come in on a tight
13:37budget to be able to come out and do racing on slicks and wings which i think is the best value for
13:42money you can you can get in in racing in the uk founded in 1949 the 750 formula is the longest
13:49continuously running motor racing championship in the world famous names like colin chapman golden
13:54murray and eric broadley have all passed through its doors and it really stands as a home for designers
13:59and racers who want to get interested in motor racing at a low cost level cars like this race gets
14:04falcon behind me costs just upwards of five thousand pounds to buy and then race here with the 750 motor
14:10club i'm just a everyday working person i haven't got sponsors of hundreds of thousands to do other
14:16things even though everyone probably here would like to do that but this is this is what we've got and
14:21this is for what we're paying this is top probably better than some of the people that are paying top
14:27money you won't find any slick slicks and wings racing cheaper than the 750 formula the 750 formula is
14:35not the only racing series offered by the club but is unique for both its history and the fact that so
14:40many of its drivers have family connections to the formula my dad raced my granddad raced in fact my
14:46granddad designed and built the car behind me so yeah it's been my life basically when my dad used to
14:52race uh about 89 so i would just turn up and clean the wheels and do all the rubbish jobs so then i
15:00started karting when i was eight my granddad has done it for 50 odd years and his dad done it as
15:06well and then i've just been coming ever since i was a little boy really my dad used to be in motorsport
15:11he used to be a navigator rally driving and it's not just the drivers many of the cars also have long
15:17connections with the club with names like simpson and cowley being synonymous with the 750 formula
15:22this is the fourth car that my granddad's built it was i think this one was built in 1991 and then
15:30in 2004 i think we switched engines and the first ever one to win the championship with the new engine
15:35in especially winning the car this car's first ever race after 40 odd years um that was quite a tearful
15:43moment for me and my dad but it was very special that even the club itself has developed a family
15:48atmosphere as rivalries on track quickly turn into camaraderie off the circuit everyone's really
15:53friendly it's it's a brilliant atmosphere you know any issues with their cars or whatever then
15:58people always chip in and help it's it's it is that kind of formula the club has a you know a rich
16:03history and it's sort of a privilege to sort of um be part of that and um keep it uh keep its legacy
16:10going with a bright history and a promising future it doesn't look like the checkered flag will be
16:14coming down on this racing series anytime soon tim forster kmtv
16:21now each wednesday we'll be looking at the impactful research that goes on right here in kent and
16:26joining us today is computer scientist giovanni masala thank you very much for coming on to the show i
16:32can see you've got company behind you tell us what they specifically do well uh you can see that
16:39the uh both of them they have a tablet and they are without are kind of humanoid in particular you can
16:48see one of them is pepper that with uh with arms and essentially the other one is a amy and is a robot
16:59kiosk where you can ask information both of them are conversational robots so you can write software
17:08that random robot and the robot can interact the difference between this kind of robot and alexa
17:15for example is that robot can have a kind of a personality can have a can move the body can have
17:24some kind of expression and so they are called social robots essential robots that are built designed
17:31to work with humans and the kind of application that we can run on those robots have no links because
17:40we have a student for example that design application for uh all the others or to give information or to
17:50work in a airport and provide for example the information about the next flight
17:55and in terms of this interaction between robots and humans how is this improving considering you
18:01know um you know it's using care homes maybe in the future people's homes hospitals these are vulnerable
18:06people they're working with how are they going to be friendly essentially all our work is to have a
18:15friend robot means that they should act like humans in terms of emotional recognition but also expression
18:25their body the body language should mimic our human behavior in a way that we can look at them as something
18:36familiar this is the reason why we prefer to work with humanoid rather than talk with a washing machine okay
18:45and naturally if our robot will increase their essentially ability to understand our needs and answer
18:57uh without error with a language that is our natural language is simple okay we will be willing to use them
19:05it is a reason why we do experiment of human robot interaction trying to uh measure the trust of people
19:15towards emerging technologies giving them a simple experiment observing them
19:21uh with medicine but not only with that for example also testing the ability of a video call with also other
19:30emerging technology like augmented reality how common are um robot assistants going to become where are we going to see them
19:38for example this year is the explosion of the uh in the market of the humanoid robots some of them
19:49uh are interesting because they are uh essentially passing several challenges like uh uh walking the stairs or uh running or
20:01uh make some uh uh acrobatic movements uh and they are impressive from this side
20:07from the other side uh from the other side uh there are uh some industrial application where uh essentially people are thinking to use uh uh humanoid to work uh uh side by side with humans well uh from one side is
20:27interesting is amazing but still is not uh what is uh it's more of what we want to see for the future
20:36but this is still not available uh but in some areas uh in particular when
20:43a robot can offer uh essentially the ability the conversational ability uh can offer assistance
20:51by the voice robots can provide a lot of information and probably soon we will see this kind of assistance
21:00in uh for example even in uh in our healthcare but we are starting to work in a care homes where a robot can
21:09be a good a good assistant for uh including the shortage of people that we have currently now a
21:17protester was asked to leave a recent dover district council meeting after a clash broke out over concerns for
21:23public safety that's right the meeting was held to discuss an application of 17 homes in a village near
21:29canterbury well joining us to tell us more is daisy page so the protester was actually his name is mark
21:37harvard and he was told to leave the drama unfolded when the discussion turned to concerns about
21:42pedestrian crossing on the preston hill near a busy a257 we can actually see um the road behind us
21:50where they're planning and the location of the proposed pedestrian crossing obviously here we
21:56can see the high street and then that is the crossing that it'd be coming out of um what the
22:02map doesn't show as we go up this hill it's actually a 50 that's where you're leading actually
22:07to wing and wildlife park that area and down here the high street is actually 20 miles per hour
22:12so it's quite a speed change within that distance um but just to reflect on the actual speed um
22:19changing through that road um the protester argued that the position of the crossing is dangerous
22:26believing nearby hedge would block the view between pedestrians and drivers but as a legal advisor told
22:33councillors they could not justify rejecting the scheme mark harvard stood up from the crowded public
22:39gallery to interrupt as he argued in the chamber about the issue surrounding road safety planning
22:45committee chairman michael knee finally told him guess how will you please remove yourself from the
22:50chamber you're embarrassing yourself and he walked out um he later then said to us outside um a 12 year
22:59old boy would say that it's dangerous and he added i'm just telling the truth people will get killed there
23:05and that's why people are emotional about it in the kent um online report and they actually said that it was
23:11very emotional um seen at the time um but despite lengthy discussions in the chamber and evidence
23:18presented that the proposed position of lacrosse was safe counselors voted five to one to reject the
23:24application excuse me um planning officers had recommended approval of the application at the meeting
23:31last thursday evening counselors were told that four expert reports including from kent county council and
23:37independent auditors examined the site and deemed the planned crossing safe enough um ahead of the decision
23:44244 letters to the scheme had been submitted um objecting the plans um which is just quite a sheer amount
23:53for a small village