27/07/2011 BBC Channel Islands News

Good evening and welcome to the BBC in the Channel Islands. Our

headlines: holiday showdown, will Guernsey get its new, improved

airport runway? The debate begins. Plus, we hear how politicians and

the paying public stopped Jersey Heritage becoming history itself.

And depending to 2012 starts here, we meet the Channel Islanders

Well come to the programme. The great -- ingrate summer getaway is

under way and dock in Guernsey States has turned to the airport.

�80 million of improvements are up for debate. The proposal is to

extend, upgrade and move the runway. It could create a better transport

links for the island. It was one of a number of hot topics on the

political agenda of. No summer holidays for our politicians? Are

busy day-to-day? Yes, it was. But let us start with the �80 million

airport project. The plan is to change the runway to make it comply

with modern safety standards. While most politicians agreed, they have

been arguing about the cost and who should work on it. It was feared

delayed -- delays cost -- caused by this could cost millions. No

decisions were taken and that Fox will go on tomorrow. More on

airport tomorrow, what else was decided to do? A major overhaul of

the benefits system was agreed in principle. It is it aimed at ending

their inequality between learners in privately rented homes and those

living in state housing. At the moment, a couple in a state of

house can be �142 per week better off than a couple who rent

privately. The Minister for Housing says there is still a lot of work

to be done. Departments will meet again and pressure will be put on

the bones of this green paper. We will come back with detailed

proposals later in the year. Finally, the States agreed to spend

millions turning a former school into a brand new centre for

learning. Six p -- St Peter Port primary will be refurbished. Some

of the College of Further Education's lessons will be top

there. In total, �3.7 million will be spent transforming this site.

Thank you. In Jersey the number of people

registered as unemployed has fallen. 1280 people were looking for work

in June, 60 fewer than in me. Year on year, unemployment has risen.

The number of long-term unemployed has almost doubled.

Ack-ack -- a kayaker rescued last night was trying to enter Jersey

illegally. The Channel Islands Air Search and St Catherine's lifeboat

were allowed to buy French coastguard About a man making his

way towards Jersey yesterday evening. He was detained overnight

and into the this morning when he claimed asylum. He is now being

escorted back to France. The future of Jersey Heritage is

looking brighter, according to bosses. The troubled organisation

was forced to cut jobs, reducing museum opening hours and take extra

cash from the Government. There was a funding crisis which left it �1

million a year short. They are Jersey Heritage gems,

shall cap -- showcasing valour's the past but the future has been

uncertain. Over the last 18 months Heritage has been recovering from a

severe funding crisis which saw it �1 million a year assured. Today,

bosses have announced that things are looking brighter. A lot of the

issues have been resolved. We have had help from the States and the

community. But some of those changes have been controversial. To

save cash, heritage closed a these museums in the winter and cut 20

jobs. Certain things are only open in the summer holidays. The plan is

to increase fees through investment. We will build a couple of self-

catering units they are, if they are as successful as are other

self-catering units, we will be able to wash our face financially.

That is the 18th. The organisation is also planning spending to

refresh and renew visitor site. Well there remain some challenges,

the message is positive. Jersey Heritage is back on track and here

to stay. You are watching the BBC in the

Channel Islands. Up next: we are looking ahead to next year's London

Olympics. Coming up in Spotlight, find out why hundreds of dolphins

have been spotted off the Cornish coast.

It is exactly one year until the start of the London 2012 Olympic

Games. Elite athletes in the Channel Islands are training hard,

hoping they will earn a place in the Great Britain team. It will not

be easy, none of our athletes competed at a last Olympics, what

chance do they have this time round? Here is arrogate. -- our

guide. The Olympic Stadium. One year today,

it will hope - a course that opening ceremony. Which of our

athletes will be taking part? Carl Hester is almost certain to be

there, the dressage rider from Sark has appeared at the three previous

Olympics. He won team silver at last year's Team Championship. It

is not just about his performance, an injury to his horse just before

the Beijing Olympics meant he missed the game. If they stay fit,

Sark could have an Olympic medallist.

Jersey's Becky Herbert also missed out for Beijing and she missed out

on the Beijing Olympics. She is a regular for England and is in the

GB squad. Fingers crossed she makes the final team for London. It has

been a fantastic year for her the Watson, she has been climbing the

world tennis rankings and is just outside the top 100. She will need

to keep on climbing, only the top 56 players automatically qualify.

Given her progress this year, do not bet against her. Another

Guernsey hopeful is Lee Merrien, the marathon man needs to finish in

the top 20 in September to qualify. He has been busy training at

altitude and their impending birth of his second child might give him

that extra yards. Elizabeth McCann is the top

badminton player but his out ranked. She is right to just four places

are up off the top person. That is five other hopefuls. I injury

always plays its part in sport, but they will all be hoping their

Here BBC Channel Islands we will be following all our were local

athletes all the way to London. Well they are training, one of

Britain's top Olympic hopefuls has come to Jersey. Lawrence Okoye

broke the British discus record earlier this month. He is now in

Jersey. Our reporter has be finding out why he chose Jersey is a

training base. This was the moment Lawrence Okoye

broke the British discus record. A remarkable achievement for a 19-

year-old. What is even more remarkable is that he only took up

the sport seriously last summer. He is in Jersey to train with his

friend Zane Duquemin. Being around Zane Duquemin, you learn things

every time you throw. Every time I come here I improve. We can come

here any time I want and drain. It is great. They are really well

coming here. I am away from everything back home. I will

continue to come here for the rest of my career. Lawrence Okoye and

Zane Duquemin will compete against each other this weekend. While

Lawrence Okoye is throwing 10 metres further than Zane Duquemin,

they are still benefiting from each other. It is a good partnership or

working together. I will have to stay as close as I can to him. He

learned of me technically. Well all the hard work paid off in time for

the London 2012 Olympics? Lawrence Okoye has a genuine medal chance

and has the desire to be a top- class athlete. I think I can be the

best. As an athlete it is important you have that mentality. It is

about working hard, been around the right people, making the right

decisions. I am sure that one day I will make it to the top. Good luck

to Lawrence Okoye and Zane Duquemin. You may remember from our Island

Games coverage, both Zane Duquemin and his sister got two gold medals

apiece. From Olympic teams to another

sporting challenge, and chairs the man has become the first person to

swim from Sark to Jersey. This was the moment he came ashore or this

afternoon. It took him eight long hours to cover the 14 miles,

struggling against the tide at times. He was congratulated by

family and friends and said he was pleased to have made it at his was

not his first try. It is my second attempt, I am delighted to have

done it. I am not getting any younger. My chances were limited if

I did not do it this time. They were limited after about five hours,

it was a harder swim. Well done, rather you than the! Now, the

There is some sunnier and warmer weather to come later on this week.

Tomorrow looks like a rather cloudy day. Still fairly warm but the

cloud will be brought in due to these weather fronts here. They are

moving in from the West. No wet weather to come. They will push

cloud across us. There is a chance of some brightness later on and

then by Friday lunchtime the high pressure starts to dominate. The

funds disappear under a cloud should break up. For tonight, it

looks rather cloudy. It should be dry overnight and relatively quiet.

It will be 14 Celsius, a minimum overnight. Tomorrow morning will be

fairly cloudy. It should remain dry it with some brightness getting

through at times. There will be light winds coming in from the

north-west. Feeling fairly warm. 21 Celsius is the maximum tomorrow.

The winds from the north and north- west are very light. The weather

should be fair and there should be good visibility. The times of high

Still not huge waves around for the surface but they are generally

quite clean. Tomorrow does look rather cloudy, this cloud should

start to break up quite nicely by the time we get to Friday. It will

feel warmer in the sunshine. Across the weekend it will be quite patchy

with cloud. Temperature starts to pick up. By Sunday most of the club