An Eastenders legend is among those calling on a Kent council to reopen a playing field which residents have used for more than 100 years.
John Altman, who played ‘Nasty’ Nick Cotton in the soap, says he “treasures” the land and that the green space should be preserved.
Also in today's podcast, there are fears for the future of Kent's "music town", with some venue owners saying the town has never been so quiet.
A number of business owners are selling up as the pandemic and the cost of living crisis changes consumer habits.
Hear from a wildlife expert who says a significant fall in Kent’s insect numbers is ‘incredibly concerning’.
Flying insect numbers have plummeted by 89% since 2004 according to a survey, which counts the number of creatures caught on vehicle number plates.
A Kent school has been granted a licence for its annual fireworks display, despite neighbours’ claims the sound is “absolutely insufferable.”
It means the secondary will be able to sell alcohol and more tickets to its show.
And you can find out which Kent Council makes the most out of parking charges.
It comes as new figures show local authorities across the county raked in £50 million was made in just one year.
10 - KENT on lying news News you can trust This is the KENT on lying podcast Kate Faulkner Hello, hope you're okay. Thank you for downloading today's podcast on Wednesday April 24th. Now it's been a busy few days for Kent police, so we've got plenty of crime news for you and concerns have also been raised for the future of Kent's own music town, but first taking a look at our most read story on the website today, and EastEnders Star is among a campaign group calling for bosses in Hern Bay to reopen a playing field. John Altman, who played nasty Nick Cotton in the soap, says he treasures the green space on Beacon Road and that it should be preserved. He comes as council bosses of blocked access to the site. They say it's privately owned by the authority, and there's no record of it being designated as a public open space. Lucy's been looking at this story for the Kent Online Podcast. Lucy, what's been happening? Well, campaigners have been trying to have the playing fields on Beacon Avenue reopened to the public since the local authority put gates up in May last year. Council bosses say the area is unsafe and in a state of disrepair and that's why they've had to block access. A spokesperson also said that just because it's a council asset, that doesn't give the public the right to use it. And so where does nasty Nick fit in? The 72-year-old actor who is now the frontman of the band Heavy Metal Kids is among a group of campaigners who say the site should be reopened. John Altman says he treasures the green space and he has fond memories of playing there when he was a child. He was also among a group of around 150 people who used the land on Easter Monday for an egg hunt. Apparently they gained access by using a neighboring property. He says the fact that so many people turned out to use it for that one event should be evidence enough that it would be an asset to the community. Now residents say they've been holding events there for the last 100 years, but council say they've got no record of it ever being designated as a public space. Where do we go from here? The local authority maintain the site is unsafe. They also say it's a difficult piece of land to do anything with, given its former use as a sports facility and having homes on all sides. They have said they will arrange a meeting with residents to explain the challenges they're facing and also to hear their thoughts on future options for the site. Thanks, Losi. Kent Online News. A suspected stalker has appeared in court following a string of alleged defences against a woman in Dartford. The victim reported being a salted at her place of work, receiving multiple phone calls and seeing the suspect outside her home. 55-year-old Neil Lechford, who has no fixed address, will remain in custody before another court appearance next month. One person has been arrested following an assault in Folkston. The victim was attacked at Bradstone Road. It's believed he was hit over the head with a blunt object. A 41-year-old man has accused of attempted grievous bodily harm. He's been released on conditional bail while inquiries continue. Catapults and more than 60 ball bearings have been seized from two boys in paddock wood. It's believed they were using the weapon to target wildlife and car windows. The boys' parents have been contacted and the investigation is ongoing. A teenager has been charged with burglary. After four homes were targeted in Strewd, the 16-year-old is thought to have attempted to break in to two houses in Clinton Avenue before stealing a handbag from a property in Crispin Road and then later a car from Reed Court Road. The suspect, who's from Essex, remains in custody and will appear in court on Thursday. Three people have been arrested as part of an operation to crack down on drugs in Margate. Uniformed and plain-clothed officers worked in the streets to disrupt the sale and use of illegal substances. In total, 16 people were stopped and searched. Police seized cannabis and spice. A BMW driver has been arrested after crashing into an Ashford roundabout and continuing to drive with sparks flying from the wheel. After a brief police pursuit, the car was pulled over in forge lane in the early hours of Saturday. A 36-year-old man was charged with a drink driving and will appear in court next month. At a spursal order is in place in sheerness. Following reports of anti-social behaviour, police say there's been an increase of callouts to areas including Marine Parade, the Broadway and Trinity Road. The enforcement started at midday yesterday and lasts until midday tomorrow. A person's been treated by paramedics after a fire at a flat in Dover. Emergency crews were called to Roosevelt Road yesterday evening. The cause of the blaze is under investigation. Kent Online News. We're being warned to be careful around cash points after a woman was scammed out of 800 pounds in Ashford. The victim was at a Barclays ATM on the high street with a machine seemingly malfunctioned when she went into the branch to report the problem. Two men managed to take the money from her account. Investigations are ongoing. A search is under way to find two missing teenage girls who are thought to be in Folkston. 17-year-old Sherice Broad and Rhianna Montgomery who's 16 disappeared from Rochester on Monday evening. You can see their pictures by following Kent Online on socials. There are also concerns for a 46-year-old woman who's gone missing from Margate. Jacqueline Shahata was last seen heading towards the railway station yesterday morning. We've shared her picture at Kent Online as well. And if Ms Gangster from Dartford, who was the master mind of the Hatton Garden heist, has died at the age of 84. Brian Rita, also known as the Governor, who's thought to have died in September last year, but his family have been keeping a secret. He was the leader of a group called the police. In 2015 they stole gems and gold worth around 14 million pounds from a vault in Hatton Garden. A shopping chat and there was damage when a car crash through the front has reopened for business. The vehicle lost control and smashed into the one stop on Magpie Hall Road last December. No one was injured and no police action was taken. Kent Online News. A panel which looks into the provision of send services in Kent could be scrapped. The sub committee was set up after the county council was found to be failing vulnerable to the city of the city. It's been a while ago. It's been a while ago since it's been a while ago since it's been a while ago since it's been a while ago. It's been a while ago since it's been a while ago since Council was found to be failing vulnerable youngsters in an offstead report back in 2022, but its effectiveness has been questioned and it could be disbanded altogether. Private land owners could be forced to allow access to a collapsed road in Swanscombe. Highways bosses say they'll go to the courts if necessary. To be allowed on to the site of a land slip on the A226 Gallehill Road, it comes after more than a year of legal battles. Between the owners and KCC, Council say they can't complete their investigations until they're allowed on site. Residents are invited to attend a meeting in East Mawling about plans to build 1300 new homes. The project would be on farmland between Kilnbahn Road and Hermitage Lane in Ditten. East Mawling and Larkfield Parish Council has yet to submit its views as he wants to hear from residents first. The meeting is 3pm this Sunday in the village hall. Canterbury has stopped the list of local authorities who make money from parking charges. The City Council made more than 10 million from fees in the last financial year. Medway came in second with 8 million. Tumbrid Wells made up the top three with more than 6 million. It comes as bosses at a clothes shop in Canterbury that was forced to close have blamed a rise in rents. High Street trader Bounce Vintage say rent has climbed to a colossal sum similar to Central London. The site is currently listed for rent for £30,000 per year. Now there are calls for the Kent community to do more to crack down on food waste. Figures out today show nearly a quarter of people here in the southeast admit to throwing away food based solely on the best before date. I spoke to Charlie Lloyd who's from the wrecked and community trust which salvages products in Ashford. Our food rescue project we aim to save as much food that was destined for destruction as possible. We save about 0.75 tons of food a month. Now this is mostly excess food from supermarkets that would have been destined for the bin and we rescue that and we distribute it at the centre. We also work with the Hive environment group who are essentially cleaners that go out onto farms in Hive and it is a surplus food that wouldn't have been farmed and would have just been left in the ground. The cleaners go out for us and they collect this food and give it to us which enable us to distribute it in our food bank or anybody that comes into the centre. With that as well we try and get the community involved to try and get people's ideas on sustainability. So what we've done with this excess food in the summer or the Easter holidays that have just been we've got kids to come in and draw pictures of spring things and then with these food we got local artists to make a big mural and again then the kids could take the food home with them. So it's all trying to find innovative ways of engaging with the community to save food waste. Why are they getting rid of the food? So it can be that it's just coming up to its best before date so they can't sell it from their own practices or if it's slightly damaged but perfectly okay and perfectly safe to eat. Miss Shapen as well you know if you've got a wonky carrot what does it matter but we'll take it and we'll rescue it and we'll distribute it out to our community. So as part of Stop Food Waste Day for this year how can the community get involved? What can the average person do to sort of tackle food waste? So where we've had quite a lot of success in tackling food waste we've just the general people on the street or in the community we've got two community fridges here at the center. So for example if you've done your weekly or monthly shop but you're going away for the weekend or you're going on holiday we'll rather than put that food in the bin whether it be fruit vegetables or you know any ambient tins bring it to us and we can distribute it to around within the community and our community fridges are open for absolutely anybody to use so they're always full of fruit and vegetables to see if they come from the cleaners it's been rescued from the supermarkets or like I say if you know if you're going on holiday just drop it off here and it will you know it will get eaten. In the cost of living crisis obviously everybody's feeling their squeeze a little bit more have you seen an increase in demand for for the surplus food? Yeah probably about a 400% increase on last year. That's massive. It's a bonkers number and when you look at it but it's all of our food services are all tied in so as well as the food rescue project the food that we get rescued goes into the people's pantry community shop it goes into the people's pantry emergency food parcels if people need them and again like I say it goes into the fridge and anybody passing can take it so but yeah that there has been a demand an increase here about 400% on last year to this year. Kent online news. A Ramsgate mum says she feels like she's living in a social experiment due to the violence, noise and anti-social behavior at her high rise block of flats. Grace Palmer was moved into stanna court with her toddler patty by fannet district council in january after being on the housing register for 13 months the 22 year old says constant noise fighting and barking dogs are keeping her family up at night. It does feel like a social experiment it feels like they're all everything feels like there's a reason lower class people are kept in places like this and a lot of people believe the towel blocks shouldn't be used for living anymore because I shouldn't I don't think they're fit for purpose at all they're horrible the smells out there I can't go out there he has to put the rubbish out because it literally I'm nearly puking that the smell is that bad yeah I'm gonna ask you this because I can see what people in the what people will say yeah is that you know a lot of people wait a long time on the housing register and there will be people that say you know you've got a flat yes that's another thing I placed 13 from this yeah and they gave it to me on the basis that it not all of them through fannet council go to the highest bidder and it's like there's 12 other people in front of me that were probably far more suitable than I was so I'm so grateful that I've got housing but it's just it's not suitable at all really really isn't I sort of what are your options it's the absolute weight meeting nothing I'm on an introductory tendency which was all brought in because of this purpose because people will be an anti-social so until I've got a secure tendency then I can swap for someone else other than other than that I'll stop here yeah can you support no else no no you know has it affected your mental health yes my mental health has calamity since I've been in yeah I'm gonna have to change medication now I'm gonna at least I caught it now I'm gonna have to change something else but I've had complete rages that's a common thing with borderline personality sorry the rages at her um I thought I'm gonna be sectioned at some point because it's not it and council were literally ignoring me I'm passing these emails on these letters from my GP can you pass it on to your housing officer haven't heard anything a spokesperson from fannet district council said all reports of anti-social behavior are taken seriously as they understand the effect it can have on tenants and neighboring properties they're not able to comment on individual cases but can confirm they consider all requests from tenants to be transferred from their current home and your report has found obesity mental health issues and domestic violence are all on the rise in Kent the integrated care strategies carried out a study with data from councils and the NHS it's highlighted serious social and health challenges with people living shorter and healthier lives a secondary school near made stone has been granted a license to serve alcohol and play music at their annual fireworks display it comes despite claims from neighbors that sound from the event at Cornwallis Academy in loose is insufferable the school will also be allowed to sell more tickets to the show which was previously capped at 500 plans for new McDonald's in Dover have sparked backlash from those who say the project will spoil views of the castle the fast-view giant wants to build a 24-hour restaurant on the vacant leisure centre site close to the port over 100 people have objected to the proposal highways bosses are urging council to think about the impacts it would have on traffic residents in part of sitting born say overgrowing trees are making their lives a misery hybrid black poplars have reached 50 foot high in Sonora fields blocking light from people's homes council bosses say they're assessing the situation to see what work is needed kent online news our studies found a drop in insect levels in Kent which experts have described as incredibly concerning the number of bugs found splattered on number plates has gone down by nearly 90% over the last two decades dr Lawrence ball is from the Kent wildlife trust there's obviously variability in how the data is collected each year people driving in different places people driving different vehicles different people taking part different weather conditions this sort of thing but we are collecting sort of five or six thousand journeys each year covering over a sort of hundred twenty thousand miles so we're thinking the data set now is big enough to sort of cancel out a lot of this noise so that decline does reflect to an extent change in insect abundance over time and it could be due to the weird weather we've been having over the last few years so in 2022 we had that really hot summer and then in spring last year it was very warm and then very wet again in May and this can affect insect life cycles so you've got those sort of stochastic factors each year but then longer term there's a background rate of insect decline that's been shown not just by our study but by other studies as well and that's caused by factors such as habitat change pesticides and pollution in waterways where a lot of insect life cycles start and climate change of course as well does affect insects and their distributions why are insects so important so insects and all invertebrates underpin food chains they underpin the functioning of ecosystems so their decomposes their pollinators their food for a wide range of other birds and amphibians reptiles and other insects which sort of are then fed on by other wildlife up the food chain um without insects a lot of our crops wouldn't be pollinated um a lot of sort of dead matter um dead animals that sort of thing wouldn't be decomposed um so they're sort of fundamental to the whole ecosystem and if they were to all disappear we'd be yeah it wouldn't be a pretty site really I think we'd really struggle what can people do to help boost insect numbers is there anything people can maybe do in their own garden yes of course there's so much we can do individually um there's lots of little things you can do in your gardens bugs hotels ponds water sources are just brilliant in your garden for a wildlife especially if we keep having these hot summers compost heaps uh wormeries all these things are great um in terms of sort of individual things we can we can buy plants from from garden centers that are sort of approved to be pesticide-free we can avoid using things like slug and snail pellets and insecticides on our gardens and try and seek out biological alternatives so yeah there's a lot we can do we can also sort of lobby obviously to local uh politicians and lobby as much as we can about the the avoidance of pesticide use when it's not needed um about improving conservation and funding for conservation as well now the owner of a music bar and folkston says he fears for the town's future as a hub of live music five years ago folkston was named as the world's first music town a title that means the district is formally recognized music as an asset of value capable of boosting economic growth tourism and health and well-being but following the recent closure of two venues renowned for hosting live bands long-time owner of the chambers says we're in a critical moment for the future of the town's live music scene christopher has run the coffee shop come bar and restaurant which has a music at the heart of everything they do for the last 25 years christopher has run the coffee shop come bar and restaurant which has music at the heart of everything they do for the last 25 years but he says the pandemic has changed people's habits and the cost of living crisis has put a squeeze on disposable income villages are one step closer to winning their battle to save a windmill in meppem killick mill in south street was one of eight that were at risk of being sold off by council as a way of raising money it's now been made an asset of community value and the community will have the time to raise the money to buy it if council continue with their plans to sell it the work of guide dogs in kent is being celebrated as part of an international day to raise awareness since the charity started in 1931 the lives of 36,000 people with sight loss have been changed stacey donnaly is a guide dog trainer in maidstone always wanted to work with dogs so i went to as a college doing animal management always wanted to work with dogs never really quite sure in what way job offer came up for guide dogs i live in medway so the job was in redbridge and so say oh we could go for it to see straight out of college give it a while again and got the job and went from there and just said always really enjoyed it my dad also has partial blindness so it's always quite interesting kind of learning about his sight loss and kind of what we do it all kind of links together in the end i always like to have a dog that can be it's going to be a really good pet so if it can be at home and it's settled in home for the client or whoever that is has it the recall of the dogs really nice and general sort of soundness and overall temperament you want that dog that's quite easy go in quite happy to go out and work and enjoy what they're doing we want the dogs to put the harness on and enjoy going out but can also go home and just relax at the same time and not have to kind of be on the go all the time and so it's just finding that fine fine balance with them you enjoy the job yeah absolutely love it as i said that it's not i love being outside anyway a lot and absolutely love the dogs i love the challenge that each one brings every day is different because each dog is different they all give you a different problem to solve or different experience and i just love having having all that kind of difference happening all the time what's the best bit about it it's always the end result when you you see the dog that you've come in with and you know they're full of life full of beings and then you see the dog that goes out when they've matured and they're doing their job and they're guiding someone and then you generally have changed someone's life you know and knowing that you've kind of been a bit of a part of that as calling as it sounds it's just it's so nice to see people going oh this is my guide dog and we go here now and we can we can do this now where before potentially those things aren't an option and just seeing the dogs learn and progress for me that that's always a winner it costs around 10 000 pounds to train a guide dog with cash coming from donations. Ken's online sports. Football now when a Kent champion is spoken in the house of comments about the importance of FA Cup replays. I represent Gilliam which has amazing football club the Jill's you know who went nearly who were in administration in 1995 or were bought for one pound by the then chairman Paul Scaly and now they're they're doing exceptionally well going up the lead but they're a small club and they rely on FA replays and it'd be a really passionate about sporting smaller clubs and ensuring FA do the right thing in supporting smaller clubs we need the governor to work with the FA to make sure we get this right we're seriously intending in supporting smaller football clubs and community. Raymond Chisty is among those calling for a rethink of plans by the FA to scrap all replays in the competition and you regulator could be given the power to let clubs vote and potentially change the decision. Staying with football and the Maidstone United boss is urging fans to bring the noise for their playoff match tonight they're hosting Avelie at the Gallagher Stadium after finishing fourth in the table the winners will face Worthy next Sunday kickoff is at 745 and briefly to cricket Kent bosses have given the green light for upgrades to one of the world's oldest cricket clubs Leeds and Broomfield cricket club was founded in 1762 and now Maidstone council have given permission for a replacement one-story building the existing club pavilion was built in 1999 it'll be demolished after the new one is built that's all from us today thanks ever so much for listening don't forget you can follow us on Facebook X Instagram tick tock and threads you can also get the details on the top stories direct to your email each morning via the briefing to sign up just head to kentonline.co.uk news you can trust this is the kent online podcast [BLANK_AUDIO]
