:00:00. > :00:00.Today's main headlines in the South East: Two centuries
:00:00. > :00:08.of military tradition under threat claims an MP as a petition's
:00:09. > :00:11.launched to save a Kent army barracks.
:00:12. > :00:15.We're live at Invicta Barracks in Maidstone.
:00:16. > :00:18.Grammar schools may ask parents for hundreds of pounds a year head
:00:19. > :00:29.teachers warn over concerns about funding changes.
:00:30. > :00:41.It's been foggy and cloudy but it will be brighter tomorrow.
:00:42. > :00:47.The Government's been accused of breaking more than two centuries
:00:48. > :00:50.of military tradition with plans to close a Kent army barracks,
:00:51. > :00:53.as a petition's launched to try save it by a Conservative MP.
:00:54. > :00:57.Helen Grant says shutting Invicta Barracks in Maidstone,
:00:58. > :01:01.would have a detrimental impact on the town.
:01:02. > :01:06.The Government is aiming to build more than 55,000 homes on former
:01:07. > :01:14.Hundreds of years of military history is set to come to an end
:01:15. > :01:17.when the army march out of Maidstone for the final time in
:01:18. > :01:20.Launching a petition against the closure,
:01:21. > :01:23.the local MP says it will have a huge impact,
:01:24. > :01:28.particularly on the Gurkha soldiers who served there.
:01:29. > :01:32.800 soldiers and their families will have to move.
:01:33. > :01:36.There will be a huge impact on the town, not just
:01:37. > :01:41.And there will be a break in 200 years
:01:42. > :01:46.The barracks were first established in Maidstone
:01:47. > :01:50.in around 1797, with the threat of Napoleon across the Channel.
:01:51. > :01:53.The site's been home to the 36 Engineer
:01:54. > :01:56.Regiment since 1959, but it was announced late last year
:01:57. > :02:09.It is inefficient and costs ?2.5 billion a
:02:10. > :02:13.year to maintain and 40% of our built assets are more than
:02:14. > :02:19.In a statement, the Ministry of Defence said the sale forms part of
:02:20. > :02:23.a better defence estate strategy and ensure a modern estate fit for
:02:24. > :02:27.They say there will be better facilities
:02:28. > :02:30.to train Armed Forces and more stability for those in the military
:02:31. > :02:36.In Maidstone, not everyone see the logic.
:02:37. > :02:41.A shame, because it has been here a long time.
:02:42. > :02:44.I haven't got a clue what will happen to the
:02:45. > :02:53.I think the Gurkhas are very decent people and well liked here.
:02:54. > :03:13.The clock is ticking towards closure.
:03:14. > :03:25.Simon, how likely is Helen Grant's campaign to be successful?
:03:26. > :03:31.She says she will fight to the end and she plans to give the petition
:03:32. > :03:36.to the Ministry of Defence by Easter. She doesn't want to see the
:03:37. > :03:42.barracks along the road here turned into thousands of new houses, but
:03:43. > :03:47.there is precedent for this. The barracks in Canterbury has been
:03:48. > :03:51.closed recently and was earmarked for housing. And the barracks in
:03:52. > :03:57.Dover has also been shut down with houses planned for there also. So
:03:58. > :04:01.you can see the direction of travel. Tonight she's been boosted by the
:04:02. > :04:02.former head of barracks here who says the decision to shut it is
:04:03. > :04:04.unsound. The head teacher of a Kent Grammar
:04:05. > :04:07.school says they'll be forced to ask parents for a voluntary contribution
:04:08. > :04:09.of almost ?200 because of Cranbrook School says
:04:10. > :04:13.it s due to consult It comes as the Grammar School Heads
:04:14. > :04:18.Association says the changes which are due to take place in 2018
:04:19. > :04:22.to 2019 will mean 60 grammar schools will gain under the changes,
:04:23. > :04:27.but 103 will lose money, Our education correspondent,
:04:28. > :04:37.Bryony MacKenzie, has more. Held up as an example of educational
:04:38. > :04:39.excellence by the Government, controversially given
:04:40. > :04:41.the money for expansion, but is the financial rug
:04:42. > :04:44.being pulled from underneath some of the best performing
:04:45. > :04:48.schools in the country? We are very perturbed
:04:49. > :04:52.about the scale of what is proposed. Unfortunately, in order to do some
:04:53. > :04:54.of the things we've traditionally offered, particularly
:04:55. > :05:05.on sporting and creative fronts, sometimes in supporting
:05:06. > :05:07.individual students with needs, we will need parents to help us
:05:08. > :05:10.with our annual giving Cranbrook will ask
:05:11. > :05:12.for voluntary amount of According to the Grammar
:05:13. > :05:17.School Heads Association, 103 of the 163 grammar schools
:05:18. > :05:21.nationally will lose funding under Eight will lose out in Kent
:05:22. > :05:25.and four are set to School funding has
:05:26. > :05:31.become a hot issue. Every secondary headteacher
:05:32. > :05:35.in west Sussex wrote to their MP asking for
:05:36. > :05:37.funding shortfalls to be be addressed and warned of shorter
:05:38. > :05:42.school days and bigger classes. It is not fair, because not
:05:43. > :05:45.everyone has that money. People work hard to get into grammar
:05:46. > :05:49.schools and should be Grammar schools have
:05:50. > :06:02.far fewer disadvantaged children, which is all
:06:03. > :06:04.funding is formulated. The Department for Education
:06:05. > :06:08.says the new formula is based on need rather than postcode
:06:09. > :06:14.and is fairer for all. Claudia Sermbezis has
:06:15. > :06:16.been following this Claudia, it's difficult to argue
:06:17. > :06:19.grammar schools need more money if you're comparing them to schools
:06:20. > :06:32.in disadvantaged areas. And especially because there's only
:06:33. > :06:36.one pot of money so if grammars want to take more, will they take it from
:06:37. > :06:40.schools where there may be poorer pupils? Both grammars and
:06:41. > :06:47.nonselective schools are funded in the same way. The grammar schools
:06:48. > :06:51.heads Association says there should be minimum funding for everyone. But
:06:52. > :06:56.many grammar schools are not getting this. Today we spoke to several
:06:57. > :07:02.headteachers and they say they're getting mixed messages. A lot of
:07:03. > :07:07.support from Theresa May's government, but when it comes to
:07:08. > :07:09.core funding, selective and nonselective schools are in the same
:07:10. > :07:10.boat. Four Kent councils have confirmed
:07:11. > :07:13.they are to move ahead with a merger plan under what has been hailed
:07:14. > :07:16.as one of the biggest shake-ups At a specially-convened meeting,
:07:17. > :07:19.Dover, Canterbury, Thanet and Shepway councils said the merger
:07:20. > :07:23.would help improve services Critics of the proposal
:07:24. > :07:29.say council tax bills for some in the new combined
:07:30. > :07:34.authority could increase. Southeastern train services
:07:35. > :07:36.will not return to normal for the rest of this week
:07:37. > :07:38.following yesterday's The track was damaged and around
:07:39. > :07:43.50 metres of railway Passengers delayed by 30 minutes
:07:44. > :07:49.or more as a result of the incident can claim double the normal amount
:07:50. > :07:56.under Delay Repay. Outside of science fiction, time
:07:57. > :07:59.travel is, of course, impossible - Because photographer
:08:00. > :08:02.Jonathan Bolland has teamed up with local historian Ed Langridge
:08:03. > :08:04.to capture a series of startling images that match up pictures
:08:05. > :08:07.of the town taken 100 years ago A time travel tour
:08:08. > :08:33.of Tunbridge Wells with early 20th-century photographs
:08:34. > :08:42.merged with modern day. A couple of my photographs
:08:43. > :08:45.will show people in Edwardian times, for instance,
:08:46. > :08:47.walking down the high street and walking past some
:08:48. > :08:50.cars in modern day. So, it's in the context
:08:51. > :08:53.of how people's lives have changed in terms of,
:08:54. > :08:56.say, Only possible because
:08:57. > :09:06.so much of the town's What resonates is the fact
:09:07. > :09:09.he hasn't changed. You put that picture
:09:10. > :09:14.against 100 years ago You've got advertising
:09:15. > :09:16.signs, yes, but After receiving positive
:09:17. > :09:19.feedback from the few that were posted online,
:09:20. > :09:22.Jonathan decided to explore further. You go out and take
:09:23. > :09:28.the equivalent photograph the site you are and it is a bit of
:09:29. > :09:33.a transposition in our photographic software to layer the
:09:34. > :09:36.photographs together. And you take elements out of one
:09:37. > :09:40.photo and put them on the other. Wandering round the streets
:09:41. > :09:43.of Tunbridge Wells, it's a chance to You look at the buildings and wonder
:09:44. > :09:50.who's walked through here. It's gentry who used
:09:51. > :09:52.to live here, isn't it? And now, you know,
:09:53. > :09:54.you just can't quite picture it, but to seeit like that,
:09:55. > :09:58.you can actually see what it was Over 100 years may have
:09:59. > :10:06.passed since the original photos were taken, but with a little
:10:07. > :10:09.help, the town's rich heritage has We'll have the national
:10:10. > :10:17.weather in a moment. First, here's the forecast
:10:18. > :10:33.for the south-east with Rachel. Good evening. Problems with dense
:10:34. > :10:37.fog over the last couple of days. Tonight, bitterly cold winds from
:10:38. > :10:45.the south-east so blustery tonight. Temperatures fall well below
:10:46. > :10:52.freezing. We should stay fog free. Heading through the day, it will be
:10:53. > :10:54.blustery. A good deal of sunshine but it stays bitterly cold. Here's
:10:55. > :10:59.the outlook: take a look at the Outlook towards
:11:00. > :11:10.the weekend. Good evening. If you think it was
:11:11. > :11:14.cold today, for many it will be colder still tomorrow. Cold even
:11:15. > :11:17.when we have the sunshine today. This was one of the wonderful
:11:18. > :11:22.weather watcher pictures we had sent in from Cornwall. It contrasts with
:11:23. > :11:27.a cloudy and foggy eastern half of the country, and a bank of cloud.
:11:28. > :11:31.Still foggy, but it is starting to lift. It is being pushed north and
:11:32. > :11:34.west, this bank of cloud. That will continue through the night. We will
:11:35. > :11:40.still have some fog sitting on the hills. Even with the cloud, it will
:11:41. > :11:44.be a cold night, with temperatures away from the far north and west
:11:45. > :11:45.falling to freezing. In the countryside,