Catch up on all the latest news from across the county with Oliver Leader De Saxe.
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00:00Hello and welcome to Kentonite live here on KMTV.
00:28I'm Oliver, leader of the Saks, and here are your top stories on Thursday 6th March.
00:35Kemi comes to Kent conservatively to rally his party ahead of make or break elections.
00:44Never forgotten, five years on from first lockdown, Arlington commemorates those they
00:49lost to the Covid-19 pandemic.
00:54And meeting Medway's bookworms as Kent celebrates World Book Day.
01:02Well first, tonight it's going to be a difficult election to win.
01:05The message from a conservative leader on her visit to Kent today.
01:09Kemi Badenoch has today been meeting apprentices from an Aylesford logistics firm.
01:14With county council elections just two months away and with polls looking poor for her party,
01:20delivering conservative success is looking far from easy as our local democracy reporter
01:27Gabriel Morris has been finding out.
01:31A party leader in Kent, that can only mean one thing.
01:36Elections are coming.
01:37Kemi Badenoch visiting apprentices at this logistics firm in Aylesford.
01:41Is there anything that you would like to see changing when it comes to apprenticeships?
01:46I think schools need to talk about them more.
01:47I didn't know that apprentices were a thing.
01:51She's also banging the drum for her party ahead of county council elections.
01:55Do you think conservatives will still be in charge come the 1st of May?
01:59Well let's wait and see.
02:00I have said that this is going to be a very, very difficult election.
02:03What we're working on now is rebuilding trust with the public.
02:06Kent has long been a conservative stronghold, with the party controlling KCC since 1997.
02:14But a 2024 general election dealt a blow.
02:17Reducing their grip to just six constituencies.
02:21Her visit today, just a stone's throw from Chatham and Aylesford, now Labour territory.
02:28She's got a challenge ahead of her.
02:29I think the Liberal Democrats and Labour are doing a great campaign in Maidstone.
02:34Perhaps that's the reason why she's coming down, because she's worried about losing council
02:39seats, some of which were very safe.
02:42And similarly, across all the mauling seats, we're putting up a massive fight against them.
02:47And the polls don't look good.
02:50The Conservatives trailing in third place, behind Nigel Farage's reform UK.
02:56They're winning by-election after by-election across Kent.
03:00She'll be aware of how challenging the next two months will be, sealing those Kent voters
03:07back.
03:09You talk about roads.
03:10I think a lot of voters are going to be looking at the state of Kent's roads.
03:13They're full of potholes.
03:15Conservatives were in charge for 14 years.
03:17Central Government, KCC, consistently said they didn't have enough money.
03:21I mean, why should a Kent voter choose to vote for Conservatives after those 14 years?
03:26Well, I think the critical thing you said was not having enough money.
03:30We are spending so much money at the moment on welfare, on the state.
03:35And the things that we used to do well, like build roads all across the country, are getting
03:38harder to do.
03:39We're also spending money on things like adult social care at a phenomenal rate.
03:44This was not something that we spent a lot of money on previously.
03:48But with an ageing population, the burdens on social care are actually eating away at
03:52the Budget's four roads.
03:55The Conservative leader might have learned to pack some products today, but come 1st
04:00May, she'll hope to be packing in the voters to the polling stations for her party.
04:06Gabriel Morris, in Aylesford.
04:09Now, a woman accused of stabbing her husband five times in the chest and dumping him in
04:13their Canterbury back garden told the jury it was good riddance to bad rubbish.
04:19That was the emotional outburst that came at the end of a second day of answering questions
04:24from her legal team, with Maureen Rickards also claiming her spouse Jeremy Rickards had
04:30set her up.
04:31It comes as the court was shown CCTV of Mr Rickards in a Canterbury pub in a bruised
04:36and battered state in the weeks before his murder, with Maureen Rickards denying she
04:41ever hit her husband.
04:43The defendant also denies the charge of murder.
04:46The trial continues with more on Kent Online.
04:49Now, one of Kent's longest running farmers markets is under threat, all because of new
04:55parking restrictions.
04:57That's according to campaigners in West Morling, who say the new four hour limit will make
05:01operating the market near impossible.
05:05West Morling farmers market is opening the town on the fourth Sunday of every month and
05:10has been for the past 25 years.
05:13More than 2,000 people have signed a petition calling on Tunbridge and Morling Borough Council
05:17to U-turn on its decision, including a local councillor we spoke to earlier today on our
05:23morning show.
05:24Well, we felt that the Borough Council needed more of a push to agree what we wanted to
05:29do.
05:30We feel it's a complete no brainer.
05:33The market stallholders need a period of eight hours of parking in order to set up
05:40their stalls, trade, and then pack up afterwards.
05:43And the Borough Council has put in a limit of four hours maximum, and that just means
05:48they can't trade.
05:49Trudy, good morning.
05:50It's Gabriel here.
05:51Now, this market runs once a month on the last, well, the fourth Sunday of the month.
05:56That probably could be the last Sunday of the month, but it seems to be very well known
05:59in West Morling.
06:01For people maybe not familiar to West Morling, paint a picture.
06:03How important is this to the local community, and how important is it also to those traders?
06:07Well, it's very important to the local community, as you can see from the number of people who
06:12signed the petition very, very quickly.
06:15It's become very much a social event for people locally.
06:18People go to meet friends and buy some of the fast food that's on sale.
06:25We have special people invited occasionally for promoting local charities and so on.
06:35Our local councillors do surgeries wandering around the market so that people could come
06:40up and ask us questions as well.
06:42We have a really wide range of stalls.
06:45It's one of the largest in Kent, nearly 40 stalls totally.
06:51Well, to explain how important it is, it actually continued to run the whole time, right throughout
06:57Covid. So whilst all the shops were closed, the supermarkets and so on were closed, the
07:02market traders remained loyal to West Morling and carried on.
07:06And to my knowledge, never, ever missed the market.
07:09They're there, rain or shine, right through all kinds of weather.
07:14And just take us through what these new restrictions will mean for traders.
07:18You haven't actually had a market yet since they came into force.
07:22The council says that there are other places that traders can park and that people can
07:26park up. But you're saying it's not enough.
07:30Well, if there are, we haven't found them yet.
07:32And by God, we've looked.
07:34We need we need about 40 mountains parked up, either very close to the market or within
07:42the market itself. If we if we try to park all of the vehicles within the market itself,
07:47we haven't got room for them all.
07:49And therefore, the market would have to shrink to about half its size.
07:54We think it's very important that the market takes place in our 12th century market
08:00square. It's what it was meant for.
08:02And it's quite a restricted area there for it to open.
08:06And we like the look of the market, which is that it's wholly market stalls, not
08:12something that looks like a boot there, you know.
08:16And therefore, we need it to be central in the town.
08:21And that's what the stallholders like.
08:23That's what customers like.
08:25It is a market in a marketplace.
08:28So it feels very much like a rural country market.
08:32And it has a very, very wide range of produce available.
08:38Stallholders like those we heard about there aren't the only ones that face challenges
08:43here in the county.
08:44And that's why at the Kent Messenger, we put on the Kent Food and Drink Awards every
08:48year to recognise Kent's food heroes.
08:52So who won this year?
08:53Well, here's Bartholomew Hall's report, which you can find on our website,
08:56KMTV.co.uk.
09:00The awards are ready, the finalists are arriving, and in just a few moments time, this
09:04room will be filled with those culinary experts and unsung food heroes from across the
09:10county. And just a select few will be lucky enough to come up on the stage and collect
09:14one of the Kent and Medway Food and Drink Awards for 2025.
09:17After hundreds of nominations from readers, viewers and listeners of the KM Group, the
09:43winners across 11 categories were announced at the Chilston Park Hotel in Maidstone by
09:48KMTV's very own Abbey Hook.
09:51The judges were looking for excellent food, drink, service and ambience, and they found
09:56it in Drove's.
09:57Literally just myself in the kitchen.
09:58So we change our menu every six weeks.
10:01We do a lunch and dinner menu.
10:02Everything we source locally from all our suppliers, like fish, meat, veg, everything's
10:08got to be local. It's all cooked to order, nothing's frozen.
10:12That's what we strive on, is giving the customer the best, best produce in front of them on
10:15the plate.
10:16And of course, it's the customers that have voted for you to be here in the first place.
10:19So, I mean, what do you have to say to them?
10:21Just a massive thank you.
10:22I'm very shocked. There's so many places in Kent that do this.
10:26We love eating out.
10:28So, yeah, I'm just very shocked at it.
10:31A huge privilege.
10:33We can't thank the people enough for nominating us and thinking of us.
10:37Thanks very much. Thanks for believing in some of the more challenging
10:41elements.
10:41I'm happy to be here for the first time and to take this back to the team.
10:45We love our customers. We like having a good chat with them.
10:48And, yeah, we're very lucky.
10:50It's brilliant. It's good that everybody realises how much effort and how much time we put
10:54into our product.
10:56But it really is about more than just an award on the night.
11:00From independent sellers to names of international recognition.
11:03It's also a chance for Kent's hospitality industry to lean back and celebrate their
11:07success, even during a tough economic climate.
11:11You want to support your local business and you want your local business to do well.
11:15And if your local business is tuned in to the local customers, it's a win-win.
11:19The community backing them, supporting them and voting for them shows them that
11:23everything they've done is rewarded and pays off.
11:26You see businesses, despite what's happening outside in the economy, just wanting
11:31and willing to succeed, thrive and helping each other.
11:34I think that makes Kent, Kent.
11:37So with less than 12 months until next year's awards, our culinary heroes will be
11:42busy cooking up a storm for 2026.
11:45Bartholomew Hall for KMTV at the Kent and Medway Food and Drink Awards.
11:51Great package there. We'll see you after the break with more news.
15:07Hello and welcome back to Kentonite Live here on KMTV, and this month commemorates
15:12the fifth anniversary that the UK went into lockdown because of Covid-19
15:17and the pandemic.
15:19And in Arlington, Maidstone Borough Council has invited residents to plant more than
15:24600 trees, one for each person that died in the area.
15:29Henry Luck has the details.
15:32To remember those who lost their lives to the virus, Maidstone Borough Council
15:36invited residents to plant trees in this open space in Arlington.
15:42Each tree represents a lost life in Arlington, and each tree represents
15:47a lost life in the community.
15:49The trees represent the lives of those who died in the pandemic, and each tree
15:54represents the lives of those who died in the pandemic.
15:58Each tree represents a lost life in Maidstone, and 633 are being planted.
16:06Covid was the worst peacetime disaster that the world's had since World War Two, really.
16:1720 million or so people died globally.
16:21Many, many more people bereaved and still people suffering with long Covid.
16:27It was an appalling pandemic, and it's good to remember, particularly the people
16:33who died, but also the people who put their lives at risk to help save the lives of others.
16:39Speaking to a few of the residents taking part, they reflected on the challenges
16:44they faced during lockdown.
16:46I thought I'd come down, like, yeah, I lost my mum during Covid.
16:50It wasn't to coronavirus, but she was just very poorly at the time.
16:54Due to the circumstances, we couldn't really get to visit her in the hospital, which then
16:59later, obviously, come funeral time, we had limited numbers on the funeral.
17:03So it made the whole experience just a little bit more challenging than probably what it
17:07should have been. But what better way to come down and plant some trees on a sunny day?
17:13I didn't have any friends directly affected or die, but I had relatives who were badly
17:19affected by Covid and also knew of friends who lost relatives.
17:23So it's important to remember their lives.
17:26Trees are great for the environment.
17:28And this memorial here in the middle of Allington will act as something which we can all
17:34think about when we walk past as to what happened in those strange days.
17:39Sunday, the 9th of March, will be the day of reflection, which will see Kent and the
17:45rest of the country remember the sacrifices made by many during the unprecedented times
17:51of the past.
17:52This right here is one of the trees that will one day grow and serve as a powerful
17:58reminder for the residents of Maidstone of the challenges, losses and sacrifices the
18:05county and the world faced during the Covid-19 pandemic.
18:10Henry Duck for CAME TV in Allington.
18:15Powerful piece there by Henry.
18:17But now it's been revealed that more than £4 million worth of taxpayers' money has been
18:21spent on seafront development in Folkestone, but without a single brick ever being laid.
18:28Well, the Prince's Parade would have seen 150 new homes, a revamped promenade and a
18:33new leisure centre.
18:34But last year, the new administration of the district council there axed the scheme.
18:40So we caught up with the leader of the council, Jim Martin, to find out what the plans
18:45are for the area now.
18:48You're now in charge.
18:49You have got a large site on the seafront.
18:52Last time I was down there I had the white boards, although I believe they were being
18:55taken off last I heard.
18:56But what's going to happen to the site now?
18:58What can happen to this land?
19:00You say it's contaminated.
19:01What would you like to see being put on that land, if anything at all?
19:06For sure. Well, it's very interesting, Gabriel.
19:09You're quite right. All of the white holdings have gone.
19:13They've all been moved up to be repurposed up at Otterpool.
19:20And the site has now been given an open palisade fence so people can see it again and
19:30see as the wildlife is returning to it.
19:33People can enjoy the site.
19:36On the graphic that you're showing there, you can see the white line.
19:40That's the holdings that were up there.
19:43Now, we just concluded a consultation, an online consultation or public engagement, we're
19:53calling it. Now, this was really just to canvass local people's views about what they
20:00feel should happen to the site.
20:03I know this is an unusual thing for a politician to do, to actually ask local people what
20:10should happen. But that's what I intend to do.
20:14So over the next few weeks, there'll be face to face consultation held locally, likely,
20:23I would guess, to be in Hyde Town Hall.
20:25And we will be presenting what we have as the most popular suggestions for the site.
20:37Now, we've got something like 2,000 responses.
20:42Now, if the majority of those want to see the site developed, we'll go down that road.
20:49But my feeling is, is that most people will want to see the play equipment renewed.
20:58They would like to see more public access across the site, maybe an east to west footpath.
21:05They will want to see greater protection for the badgers that live there.
21:11Well, now, today saw some absolutely lovely weather here in Medway.
21:16Here's the question. Will it hold for the rest of the week and the weekend?
21:21Let's find out together, shall we?
21:28Well, tonight is looking quite warm, temperatures around 9 and 10 degrees, combined with
21:32partly cloudy weather into tomorrow, the cloud continuing, some sunshine peeking through,
21:38temperatures around 11 and 10 degrees into the afternoon, 13 to 14, heating up slightly,
21:45those clouds persisting as well.
21:48And the outlook for the rest of the week, 16 degrees on Saturday, slightly cooling off
21:52towards the beginning of next week.
21:53Cloud on Monday with 12 degrees.
22:03And finally, like many across Kent and the country, the school run might have looked
22:08a little different earlier today, with thousands of children dressed up for World Book Day,
22:14all in aid of getting more children more excited about reading.
22:18But what do those on the streets of Rochester think about reading?
22:21And what costumes have they been wearing?
22:23Let's find out, shall we?
22:25For World Book Day, what's your favourite book?
22:27I have a strong guess, but what is it?
22:30Caterpillars.
22:31The Hungry Caterpillar.
22:32Well, the most recent book I've read, or I'm reading, is about the Heart Sutra, which
22:41has been written by the Dalai Lama but translated.
22:45What's your favourite book?
22:46The Singing Mammoth, Tabby McTart and Slinky Malinky.
22:51Tabby McTart and Slinky Malinky.
22:53And what's your favourite book? Do you have one?
22:55My favourite book is probably Jilly Cooper, Our Rivals.
23:00Some fantastic costumes there.
23:03With so many of our youngsters glued to their screens and not to the page, could films help
23:08bridge the gap?
23:09Well, ahead of another episode of Kent Film Club, I caught up with presenter Chris Deasy
23:13to get his take.
23:15Reading is a big thing here in the county.
23:18Lots of kids dressing up today for World Book Day.
23:22And I'm kind of wondering, you were a lecturer for many, many years.
23:27How useful were books to try and get your students and stuff engaged in the subject
23:32matter?
23:33They're a little bit older at the University of Kent, but obviously it is a big way to
23:36kind of get people involved in education and understanding the world around them.
23:40Absolutely.
23:41And this would happen a lot because I would teach on film, but often I'd be teaching about
23:45the sources behind those films.
23:48In other words, a lot of the films, and we see many of them spread out on the table here,
23:51wouldn't have been made if it wasn't for Stephen King.
23:55I mean, there's a Stephen King adaptation in the cinema at the moment, which is The
23:58Monkey, based on one of his short films by Osgood Perkins.
24:02But he wrote that short and the film was made as a result of that.
24:07So I think sometimes the exciting part is seeing almost like not just the film in isolation
24:13as if it appeared in a vacuum, it dropped out of the sky.
24:16It happened.
24:17Bridget Jones is a classic example.
24:19It was serialised.
24:20It was independent for many years.
24:24And then Helen Fielding made it into a novel.
24:27And then, of course, the films had life.
24:29People may not always realise that there is a source material behind them.
24:32I'm kind of curious, from your perspective, as a film lover and a book lover, there's
24:37this big fear, right, that children, they'll just watch the film adaption, the TV show.
24:43They won't necessarily engage with the great selection, the original text and all the complexity
24:49within that.
24:50Do you kind of worry that film can take away from these books or can actually enhance them?
24:53I think it works both ways because I think in the same way, I always encourage my students
24:59to read film reviews.
25:01And I'm somebody, I may be unusual, I'd be interested to see what our audience think,
25:04because I tend to read reviews before I see the film as well.
25:09Because it's not just, you know, what happens at the end of the film or don't give away
25:12the plot.
25:13Sometimes I want to know the context.
25:14You know, nothing appears randomly.
25:18And some of the books that we have here have been significantly modified in their journey
25:23to the big screen.
25:24I read, while I was at Sundance, I was in a queue for many hours and I read Sleeping
25:29with the Enemy and A Single White Female as well.
25:33And I was surprised that they'd taken some of the characters out, conflated others, there
25:37were some big twists.
25:38And it made me see the film, which I then subsequently watched, in a whole new light.
25:42So I think it's very important to read and watch and see them as a sort of symbiosis.
25:48So I'm wondering, you have a big selection of books here, Chris.
25:53Which is your favourite?
25:54Oh, that is, OK, I'll be honest with you, I'm a bit of a sucker for those 90s psychological
25:59thrillers.
26:00So I see, like, Sleeping with the Enemy.
26:01Also, I mean, John Wayne's last film was The Shootist and that was by Brandon Stewart.
26:07So I read that.
26:08I mean, I loved Bridget Jones, I'm not going to deny.
26:10But to be honest, and particularly in the light of the death of Gene Hattman, he was
26:15in the film.
26:16I think he gave utter gravitas to that film, we were talking about that last week.
26:19So I'm not going to deny my guilty pleasure is reading a John Grisham thriller.
26:26The real question is then, what have you been reading on World Book Day?
26:30Well, let us know on social media, phone in, call in, let us know.
26:34And that is everything from us on Kent tonight, this evening.
26:38We'll be back at 7am tomorrow with all the news and views from across the county.
26:42We'll see you very, very soon.
26:45Goodbye.