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Catch up with all your latest news from across the county with Chloe Brewster.
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00:36Hello and welcome to Kent Tonight live on KMTV.
00:39I'm Chloe Brewster and here are your top stories on Wednesday the 23rd of September.
00:44Access denied. Kent's wheelchair users say much of the countryside remains out of reach.
00:50I'm doing it for people that I know are no longer able to get out.
00:55Parking nightmare. Sit and warm residents worried that paid parking will force cars onto their streets.
01:01So to get off here and turn right I have to edge out and edge out and I can't see.
01:06And growing futures. The local vineyard where adults with learning disabilities are thriving.
01:12They feel part of something. They feel part of the team. They feel normalcy.
01:27Kent's wheelchair users say getting out into the county's rural areas continues to be a major challenge.
01:33From gates they can't get through to land they can't get across.
01:37Many parts of the countryside remain inaccessible.
01:40But they say this shouldn't be the case and they want change to happen.
01:45Sophie Denny has the story.
01:47With the sun shining many of us are looking to get outside.
01:52But for those in wheelchairs this isn't as simple.
01:55Joanne Dello has been living with a neurological condition for four years.
01:59And she's now taking on a wheelchair challenge to raise awareness about accessibility.
02:04For me personally I'm doing it for people that I know are no longer able to get out.
02:11So for us it's very very important to actually get out and embrace the nature.
02:17Just embrace people and society.
02:20But there's a lot of people that can no longer do that.
02:23And that's the cruelty of neurological disease.
02:26Heading along the Great Starr Way the group want to show that many parts of the countryside remain inaccessible.
02:34Kissing gates like this one are a common feature on countryside walks.
02:39But for people in wheelchairs, especially if they're out by themselves,
02:43these gates can be a real barrier to accessing more rural areas.
02:48They can be opened with a radar key.
02:50A universal key which unlocks public disabled toilets and sometimes kissing gates.
02:56But the group say obstacles like these don't start in the countryside.
03:00But actually from the moment wheelchair users leave their houses.
03:05It's not just the connection in the countryside.
03:08It's how you actually get there as well.
03:10So it's thinking about what amenities are there.
03:13Is there disabled toilets, disabled parking?
03:15Is it easy to actually get from people's homes out into these green spaces?
03:20However, they say that some of the measures put in place to improve accessibility
03:25don't necessarily work.
03:27People tend to put slopes in for accessibility,
03:32but they don't actually take into account that certain chairs can only do a certain level of gradient.
03:39So it actually becomes more hazardous than not having one at all.
03:44Despite these challenges, the group still wants to empower others to get outside.
03:49You can do things just as well as others.
03:53Yes, it can be a challenge, but take it up.
03:57It's well worth it.
03:59They're fundraising for the Kent Neurotherapy Centre,
04:02a charity which supports people with various neurological conditions.
04:06And as they make their way along the banks of the River Starr,
04:10the group are keen to show that the Garden of England should be accessible to everyone.
04:16Sophie Denny for KMTV in Canterbury.
04:20And Sophie joins me now in the studio here.
04:24Sophie, how can the countryside actually be made more accessible?
04:27Yeah, so it's anything to combat things like steep hills,
04:31which are obviously difficult to get up in wheelchairs,
04:33but also we saw a lot in that report about gates.
04:36So those kissing gates just aren't really accessible
04:39because of the tight turn that the wheelchair's having to make around them.
04:42So they did say that there was another gate, which we should be about to see on screen,
04:47which is potentially more accessible.
04:48So there's the kissing gate.
04:50The other gate is kind of this double gate.
04:52And so you kind of go through it first,
04:54and then you can see there that you would close that one
04:57before going through to the next one.
04:59It's spacious enough to fit a wheelchair in,
05:02but also it's keeping the livestock safe so that you can go through
05:06and the livestock aren't going to escape because you've got that double gate.
05:09So it's kind of this double security.
05:12And then Ginny Mitchell, she works with the Cabinet Office
05:14to make things more accessible.
05:16And she was saying it's about changing policy,
05:18not changing the existing paths that already exist,
05:22but finding alternative routes alongside those
05:25that wheelchair users and other disabled people can use.
05:28Great. Thank you so much for joining me, Sophie.
05:32A man from Gillingham has been put in prison
05:35for sharing graphic terrorist videos online.
05:38The court heard that Mohamed Malik operated across several social media channels
05:42where he shared footage produced by Islamist groups.
05:46Maisie Walker, our reporter, joined me earlier.
05:48And please note that the following report contains graphic references
05:51to terrorism and to violence.
05:55Maisie, you join us from the street where Malik actually lived there in Gillingham.
06:00What can you tell us about him?
06:04Yes, this is Burnt Oak Terrace, which is where Mohamed Malik lived
06:08before he was jailed for sharing Dimesh beheading videos online,
06:13which is an extremist group.
06:15He used to be a pharmacy student,
06:17but that was before he was sentenced to eight years imprisonment
06:21at a hearing in Winchester Crown Court on the 21st of September.
06:25So just about two days ago now.
06:27It was an investigation led by the South East
06:31Counterterrorism Policing Department,
06:33which found the 24-year-old guilty of two accounts
06:36of decimating a terrorist publication
06:39and two accounts of expressing support
06:42for the proscribed organisation following a trial
06:45at the same court, which concluded on the 10th of April.
06:49So Malik received a nine-year extended sentence,
06:52meaning he will also serve an additional one-year licence period.
06:56And what did we find out about what he actually did during that trial?
07:03Well, during the trial, the court heard that Malik operated
07:06across a number of social media channels
07:08and shared footage from Islamist groups,
07:11including graphic videos,
07:13some of which were produced by the media wing of Dalmesh.
07:16He also edited some videos which featured footage of executions and beheadings.
07:23So a warrant that was executed last year in January allowed officers to enter his home
07:28and search it just on this road here,
07:32where they seized a phone, computer, hard drives, swords, knives and a homemade Dinesh flag.
07:39Detective Chief Superintendent Oliver Wright said Malik shared extreme Dinesh content online with others
07:47while claiming these videos, which included beheadings and executions,
07:51were artistic and of editorial value,
07:55but instead they posed a risk of radicalising others
07:58and encouraging them to adopt extreme views.
08:03Well, residents near the Memorial Hospital in Sittingbourne
08:06fear a new paid parking scheme could force drivers to park on their streets.
08:11But patients at the hospital say they struggle to find a space
08:14as non-users fill it up.
08:16Nayla Mohamed reports.
08:18For years, finding a parking space at the Memorial Hospital in Sittingbourne
08:22has been a struggle.
08:24And soon, ANPR cameras are being installed.
08:26And with it, parking charges.
08:28Over 21,000 patients already use the site.
08:32And another surgery is due to move here.
08:35And with students from the nearby Scrammer School not parking on school premises,
08:39nearby roads are busier than usual.
08:41So it's pretty quiet at the moment.
08:43But residents say this is actually quite an unusual experience.
08:47It's not just at 8 o'clock in the morning for the school run
08:49and it's not just during pickup time,
08:51but throughout the day that this road particularly
08:54is absolutely packed with cars parked on either side,
08:57making it really difficult for any vehicle to come through.
09:01They park across the drive,
09:03particularly in the morning and at night time.
09:05I've got pictures of lorries that can't get through.
09:08We have to go out and help the lorries get through
09:10because they use this road.
09:11He's completely off the road on the pavement.
09:15I think it was the day before yesterday.
09:17There's an elderly couple.
09:19He's pushing her in a wheelchair.
09:20They're both very frail.
09:22There was a car parked on the pavement.
09:24The width, the thorny hedge and this car could only have been about this wide
09:29and they just managed to squeeze through.
09:30I was so appalled by it.
09:32The problem we have is that the girls who get cars once they reach 17
09:38that are at high school, I don't think are allowed to park on school premises.
09:43The other problem is the hospital
09:46because chestnut surgery is moving on that site
09:50and there is basically no parking available.
09:54It's dangerous.
09:55I mean, you can see we've got a van parked here at the moment
09:57that you can't see through.
10:00So to get off here and turn right,
10:02I have to edge out and edge out and I can't see.
10:04Some residents have taken their parking concerns to the council
10:07who have implemented double yellow lines and a white line
10:11preventing drivers from parking their cars in front of driveways.
10:14But residents on the road closest to the hospital are yet to see any changes.
10:18The NHS says the scheme is intended to enable an appropriate balance
10:22in the use of limited on-site parking spaces for staff, patients and visitors
10:27and will be introduced later this year.
10:29And with residents' concerns of how students park,
10:32Highstead Grammar School said,
10:34there were lots of conversations with our students
10:36about the need to ensure they park respectfully and legally.
10:39While there is the odd occasion they don't get this right,
10:42it's important to acknowledge that problems with local parking
10:44go beyond the impact of our students.
10:47Kent County Council have not responded to my request for a comment.
10:50But for residents, the question is whether charging will solve the parking problem
10:54or simply move it a few streets away.
10:57Nayla Mahamud for KMTV in Sittingbourne.
11:01Well, I've got some very bad, very sad news to bring you now
11:06before we head to the break.
11:08Gladys Banks, affectionately known as the Queen of Borough Green,
11:12has died at home aged 109.
11:15Gladys was a well-loved member of the community in Borough Green
11:18and is described by family as glamorous and full of fun.
11:22Born on Christmas Day in 1916,
11:25Gladys often appeared in local newspapers
11:27as she reached birthdays a few people get to celebrate.
11:31Once asked by a reporter,
11:33Gladys' advice for a happy life
11:35was be kind to each other
11:37and do what you can for others.
11:47Well, now it's time for us to take a short break,
11:50but don't go anywhere
11:51because after the break we've got plenty more news from across the county,
11:54including an update on the Grand Burst and Hotel fire at the weekend.
11:58All that and more.
11:59See you soon.
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22:30degrees. Temperatures will warm up into the afternoon with Dartford reaching highs of 22
22:34degrees and most other areas hovering around that 20 degree mark. Going towards your outlook for
22:40the rest of the week, Friday is set to be a warm day with temperatures reaching highs of 24 degrees
22:44under clear skies. Temperatures will dip slightly over the weekend with today's Saturday reaching
22:49highs of 20. Canterbury's Marlowe Theatre will soon host a musical but it won't have a band.
22:59The theatre has been transformed for the arrival of Barnum the Circus Musical which tells the story
23:05of legendary showman P.T. Barnum. There will be no pit orchestra, instead the cast play more than 150
23:11instruments live on stage. They'll be joined by professional circus performers including acrobatics
23:16and a giant elephant puppet. The musical will be in the Canterbury Theatre until Saturday.
23:24A Kent vineyard is helping adults with learning disabilities to develop essential life skills
23:29and grow in confidence. Nestled in the Ellum Valley, the Fifth Trust is taking its students
23:33out of the classroom and into the vine rows to learn. As part of a recently launched Kentish
23:38Wineway campaign, students there have been enjoying the harvest season. Justine Lutter reports.
23:44Grapes aren't the only thing growing at this vineyard in Ellum. So are the students at the Fifth Trust.
23:51Around 2,000 vines here are tended to by the many students that come to the charity.
23:57One of the main things that the students get involved with is keeping the vineyard tidy so
24:02the grass needs cutting between the rows pretty much every week and streaming. The leaves also
24:08need, occasionally there need to be some leaf removal so that more sun and air can get through
24:12to the grapes. The vineyard here at the Fifth Trust is incredibly valuable for the students.
24:17It gives them a chance to get out of the classroom and to get stuck in with the year round
24:23job
24:23of tending to the vines. What's your favourite part about helping
24:27out with the vineyard? I like, I did mowing here. Mowed it all. I mowed, yeah.
24:34Training the vines, erm, working in the cafe and that. And working the rose walks, you know.
24:48It's, it's so amazing to be part of a charity, to be part of a charity and it's amazing. It's
24:59fantastic. I love it here. What's your favourite part of being part of the Fifth Trust?
25:04Helping out, encouraging people and also like, like to help other students when they enrol.
25:16This vineyard serves an important purpose for the students. It gives them essential life
25:22skills and more confidence. Research from 2025 showed that around 5% of adults with learning
25:29disabilities known to their local authority in England were in employment. As part of the
25:35Kentish Wine Way campaign launched in August, the vineyard here is showing just how diverse
25:41Kent vineyards can be. Our students see that when they're looking at their social media and
25:46it fulfils them with, with value and purpose is that they're contributing to this. And it's an amazing project.
25:53And the team here say that being outdoors is essential for the students' wellbeing.
25:59Whether we're up the woods, whether we're out delivering logs, whether we're doing a garden maintenance job,
26:02they feel part of something. They feel part of a team. They feel normalcy almost as they see what everyone
26:09else is doing.
26:09There's no reason why they can't do that.
26:11Now this year's harvest is over, the students here will begin the growing process all over again, ready for next
26:18year.
26:18Justine Latter for KMTV in Elam.
26:24Tonight live on KMTV. There's more news made just for Kent throughout the evening.
26:29Don't forget you can always keep up to date with the latest news across your county by logging on to
26:34KMTV.co.uk.
26:37You can keep us on your social timelines by liking us on Facebook and following us on Instagram and TikTok.
26:43We're at KMTV Kent if you don't already follow us.
26:46And if you have a story you think we should be covering, then please do get in touch.
26:51But from me, for now, have a very good evening. See you soon.