31/10/2013 BBC Channel Islands News

And the 'Ships and Soldiers' bringing to life centuries of

Alderney's unknown military and maritime past.

I eventually finished up with this which is hardly what you would call

late reading. Some breaking news.

After two days of speeches, rows and even a few tears, politicians in

Guernsey have finally voted to close two schools. Deputies stayed in the

Chamber late tonight to debate the Education department's proposals for

St Sampsons Infants and St Andrews Primary. Our reporter Penny

Elderfield has been following proceedings so let's join her now.

As you said, we've heard in the last half an hour both primary schools

will close. The States stayed after hours to finish the debate ` which

in total has lasted the best part of 12 hours. In the case of St Sampsons

Infants, 34 voted in favour of closing it, 11 against. And for St

Andrews Primary, 31 supported it shutting, and 14 against. To give a

comparison, in 2009 when the potential closure was debated

deputies voted to keep both open ` St Sampsons Infants by just one

vote, after seven hours of debate and 32 speeches. Of course, the

outcome tonight was different ` and not the one many parents wanted

Leaving school today parents didn't know at this school would be open

next year. It is sad for them. What we do or say, they decide so it

makes no difference. I don't want them to shut St Sampson 's infants

school. A campaign start `` started from the start. Parents voiced their

concerns at every opportunity. Can you tell me how you can improve on

excellence? All the good do today was wait to see if they had been

listened to. I think it will have a damaging effect. We will have pupils

who have a poor education as a result. But there were reassurances

from those who supported the move that that wouldn't be the case. We

have to point out the fantastic work that is done in this kills the

children will be transferred to and point out that this basis do exist

for their children to be accommodated. The education their

children receive will be at least as good at their new skills. Education

will work with them very closely. And that is what Education will now

do. This skill will close next September and Saint Andrews in 015.

The news is still very raw and there will be a lot of disappointed people

this evening. Emotions were running high all day, with some politicians

near tears in the States Assembly. Already on twitter there's been some

reaction tonight... And we'll have more reaction at 10.25pm this

evening, and again tomorrow. Jersey's moved a step closer to

ridding itself of a mountain of dangerous asbestos which has been

stored above ground for 30 years. Planners look likely to approve a

new application from TTS to bury the toxic waste temporarily ` while a

permanent solution is sought. Tim Robinson reports.

Inhaling the tiniest trace of asbestos dust results in an

agonisnig death years later. Every year, tonnes of it is carefully

removed from buildings in Jersey ` but it isn't removed from the

island. Since the 1980s asbestos has been stored here at La Collette

There's now 200 tonnes of it piled up in these shipping containers and

100 more properties are cleared of asbestos every year. 30 years after

it started piling up here ` and after a three`year wait for planning

` an application to bury the asbestos will finally be granted `

because of a tweak to its wording. It's to use that hole to put the

asbestos into for a temporary period of time while other options are

considererd. We're hoping that that application will be determined in a

matter of weeks now. That means TTS can only bury the problem

temporarily ` so what's the permanent solution, and why isn t it

happening now? This is best at is in shipping containers. We can't just

export toxic materials. Even though we are an autonomous island, we are

not part of the European Union so we have to go through the United

Kingdom for permission to turn ship. We have to contact DEFRA. Everything

has to be done by the book. The minister insisted today said that

jerseys asbestos problem has not been swept under the carpet. TTS

insisted it is on the case. People who pay tax in Jersey could

have to contribute 3% of their income to pay for long`term care by

2019. Jersey's Social Security Minister has revealed more details

of his plans for the long`term care benefit, which'll help cope with a

rise in the number of older islanders. Under the scheme anyone

who pays tax in Jersey will give 1% of their income to fund the benefit

from 2016. But the department isn't ruling out further rises ` as the

costs of caring for an ageing population escalate. The rising cost

of long`term care is something we all have to face up to. We have to

find the money whether it is government or individuals. This is a

savings scheme and it means we are starting to save now.

A 57`year`old man has been jailed for eight years for attempting to

smuggle cannabis worth up to ?150,000 into Guernsey.

Edward Vernon Rees was stopped by customs officers at the White Rock

last month. A sniffer dog was used to search his car ` where officers

found 24 nine`ounce bars of cannabis resin concealed within the panels.

Passing sentence, Judge Russel Finch said UK criminals like Rees weren't

welcome in Guernsey. Later in Spotlight with Natalie and Simon...

Considering a gull cull ` the seagull summit to discuss what some

see as a modern menace. Our book shop shelves are groaning

with tales of the military history of Jersey and Guernsey but

Alderney's story is just as exciting and deserves to be told, according

to one local author. Brian Bonnard's new book, Ships and Soldiers, aims

to bring to life centuries of military and maritime conflict.

David Earl takes up the story. Living in the shadow of one of

Alderney's Victorian fortifications, Fort Tourgis, Brian Bonnard has

spent the past 25 years in places like the Public Records Office and

the archives of the Alderney Museum digging out all the information he

could find about the island's military and maritime history. I

collected a lot of it together and eventually I finished up with this.

It is hardly what you'd late reading! It weighs about ?7. It has

taken me 25 years to add to it. Brian 's original idea was simply to

catalogue the information but he decided to change it in his new

book. I have taken out about 35 pages, the stuff I think will

interest most people. These are based on what happened with that

militia and the occupying troops, the British troops, while the island

was growing up. And what happened on the sea which was one of the sources

of great prosperity for the island for a number of years. Whilst much

of the content is aimed at those conducting historical research,

Brian hopes all islanders will enjoy his insight into the more colourful

aspects of Alderney's past. Fascinating. Let's get the weather

now. It is going to be quite down. We

will see outbreaks of rain across the islands. There is some rain in

the forecast overnight. This cloud is producing the rain at the moment

this is an area of low pressure that we are keeping a close eye on. The

rain never really clears. Once the low`pressure arrives, it becomes

windy. Also some quite heavy rain. Even when that when moves, another

one replaces it for Saturday. We are in for a spell of windy weather The

rain will peter out for a while overnight before it returns,

overnight temperatures no more than 12 Celsius. By the afternoon

tomorrow there is a chance of intense bursts of rain developing.

It literally northwards during the course of the day, rise of 15

Celsius. That is the coastal waters forecast. These are the times of

high water. Most of the surfing beaches will be usable. The outlook

for Saturday as for us to see fine weather. Late on Saturday we will

see some outbreaks of rain. It is quite a blustery feature so expect

of those winds to increase. Sunday as a breezy day. Father showers

possible as we move into the early part of next week.

Guernsey 's government has voted to close St Sampson 's infants School

and Saint Andrews Chambery and a bit to cut costs. We will have more on

that at 10:25pm. Natalie and Simon are do next.

what extent the girls will recover. Arnold Kassera was also fined ?1000

and banned from driving for five years.

You're watching Spotlight from the BBC with Natalie Cornah and Simon

Clemison. If you've just joined us, welcome to the programme. Still to

come... What's different about these stamps?

Well, they're not actually stamps. But they've still worked in the

post. We will meet the man who duped the Royal Mail.

And could it be fright or flight? The decision over whether one scary

collection stays in Cornwall looms on this Halloween.

We are a region defined by our coastline, and what do you get on

the coast? Seagulls, of course, and quite a few stories about them, as

you may have noticed down the years. But the divide over their status as

nature or nuisance has now been taken to a new level. A seagull

summit is being held in East Devon tonight. Some are calling for a

cull. Here's our Environment correspondent, Adrian Campbell. Some

people love seagulls, but others despise them. One thing is certain

that there are thousands along this coast line.

This can be a hazardous activity in East Devon.

Seagulls love chips, but you're not supposed to feed the birds. Seagulls

leave a mess and they will also your food.

Tell me exactly what happened when you're eating your ice cream?

When I was eating my ice cream, a seagull snatched it off. Were you

scared? Yes. She had only had two lakes. And with that seagull flew

down, grad `` grabbed the ice cream come all over the floor and we had a

very upset to learn the half year old. I am not worried about them but

they are very good at getting on my shoulder and eating the ice cream. I

have lost to this year all ready. At the moment I have learned to keep it

close to my chest and that helps. Jayne Sharp from this hotel

represents the hospitality industry in Plymouth. `` James Sharp.

What can the summit achieve two I think it will give a better

understanding to the locals and some of the professionals in the area. We

will understand how we can deal with this problem locally. I think a cull

is a short`term fix, but with that we also have to look at the

long`term of the gulls. It is not healthy for them to be eating ice

cream and fish and chips on the seafront, knocking it out people's

hands. That is not their natural diet.

East Devon district Council's seagull summit will `` advise people

on seagull lifestyles, waste control and also the legal situation, and

that is important because they have quite a lot of protection. If it is

a real public health and safety issue, DEFRA will get permission. If

it is a rift to aircraft, DEFRA will grant permission. But you cannot be

issued a licence because gulls are a nuisance. `` if it is a risk to

aircraft. Seagulls are a nuisance, but you can take your own

precautions. What a very wise man.

And there's more on the issue of seagulls on Sunday Politics on BBC

One this Sunday at 11am. Politicians will discuss whether the law should

change to make it either easier to cull gulls or harder to feed them.

The family of the Devon man who died in a fatal collision on the M5 on

Tuesday have paid tribute to him. 53`year`old Trevor Knight was from

Sandford near Crediton. He had been a lorry driver for more than 20

years ` a job his family said he loved to do. Police are appealing

for witnesses to the accident. Nine out of ten trains will have be

on time under new Government targets. Our biggest operator, First

Great Western, will have to achieve that by 2019 for all services. But

it has been set a lower target for its long distance routes between

London, wales and the South West. Plans to cut nearly 100 jobs from

two Devon councils have moved a step closer. South Hams District Council

has voted for it and West Devon to shed around a quarter of their

staff. The move will save ?3.8 million a year. The councils plan to

investment in IT services. A Government scheme to provide more

homes has been criticised by an influential committee of MPs. The

Public Accounts Committee says the New Homes Bonus has helped areas

with low housing need, while those with the greatest need have been the

biggest losers. A father and son from Somerset have

been fined after admitting trying to kill badgers and interfering with

their setts. David and Philip Bown, who are both cattle farmers, pleaded

guilty to the offences which took place in April this year. Zoe Gough

reports from Yeovil Magistrate's Court.

Father and son David and Philip Bown appeared before magistrates today,

both cattle farmers who farmed near Shepton Mallet, which the court

heard had suffered an outbreak of TB in 2011 which resulted in 54 of the

dairy cows being put down. The case itself was brought by the RSPCA.

Both men admitted joint charges of wilfully killing a badger and

interfering with a badger setts. The court ordered them both to pay ?1370

each. Following that verdict, RSPCA officer Alan Barnes gave me this

reaction. I don't think the defendants are bad

people. They have been foolish in blocking the setts and putting a

hosepipe down it. But we are sympathetic to the fact that they

have had TB. They were desperate, so, yes, overall I'm happy with the

sentence the magistrate has given out.

Mr Barnes also told me this had been a very difficult case for the RSPCA

in deciding how to proceed. But that, because of the serious nature

of the charges, they did decide to bring it to court. He also pointed

out that, with the following badger cull that happened in Somerset after

this case he gave credit to the two farmers for not having used that as

an excuse, but simply saying it was down to their concerns for their own

herd. Now, what do you do for a pastime?

Hatch a cunning plan to slip under the radar of the Royal Mail by

putting your own face on fake stamps? Well, collecting them is so

last year, isn't it? But it is true ` one man from

Somerset has been quietly slipping through Royal Mail's net for years.

Jules Hyam reports on an architect with a mysterious hobby.

This is a face that is now well`known to Royal mail. For the

past three years this phase has been passing through sorting offices and

franking machines around the UK and around the world. Because, since

2010, this man has not been using the Queen's head to ensure his post

gets delivered. Angus McDonagh has been using his own.

He said he has sent 250 letters with meaningless self designed stamps and

postmarks around the world. Only one was not delivered for free.

My letters should not get through and they have been sent to various

parts of the world, not just the UK.

They have been sent to Switzerland, Italy, Spain, France, North America,

Australia, New Zealand, South Africa.

Mr McDonagh has created 50 stamp designs altogether. Most feature

himself and contain a joke or two. All of them, he says, are done with

a wry smile and a hint of mint sheet `` mystery.

The envelopes are also tearfully created and it can take a whole day

to perfect the prank. I have to admit I have had a lot of

fun doing it. Now is time to call a halt and if possible I would like

work with Royal mail in order to try and resolve this obvious flaw in the

system. It is perhaps important to point out that you probably don't

want to try this at home. Not so much because it is time consuming,

more because Royal mail says it is against the law to create or use

counterfeit stamps. Mr McDonagh says his stamps are not counterfeit but

are originals and he has sent money to the Royal mail. Royal mail Serie

A looking at how these stamps got through the system.

`` Royal mail says they are looking. Tonight of course is Halloween,

usually one of the busiest days for one of Cornwall's scariest museums.

But visitors to the the Museum of Witchcraft in Boscastle, have been

told that the owner of the museum is hanging up his broomstick and

retiring. So will the collection stay in

Cornwall? Spotlight's Eleanor Parkinson has been to find out.

Witches, dolls for nasty spells, potions and monkeys goals come all

packed into one of Cornwallscariest museums. `` monkey skulls.

This museum at Boscastle is particularly busy today.

This family were looking at one of the chairs used for docking people

suspected of being a witch. What would happen to the which?

They would die. What is the attraction of this

museum? I just think the fact it is so dark and scary looking, lots of

interesting artefacts which appealed to all of my children, old and

young. This is called a wondrous candle,

and it is believed the candle is made from human and tallow.

When it is lit, whoever is carrying it can be invisible to others.

But Graham King, the owner of the museum, wants to retire. He says he

will miss the magic and witchcraft. We all do magic, it is everywhere.

Walk through any Cornish village and look at the doors and you will see a

horse shoe. They are people that believe in magic. The collection is

being handed over to the Museum of British folklore, but they said the

artefacts will stay in Cornwall for the time being.

This is the most important collection of witchcraft created

objects in the country, within the world, I should imagine.

It is enormously important, but it is not just witchcraft related.

There is also lots of other charms and spells and objects.

So, whether they are frightened or just fascinated, this collection

looks safe for future Halloween is. `` for future Halloweens.

Lots of weird and wonderful stories tonight ` well, it is Halloween.

What is happening tonight. Take that mask of!

I walked into that one! Good evening. It will be damp for

those trick or treating in the forecast. Tomorrow the rain gets

more intense, so if you are ready tonight to take your umbrella and

waterproofs. It is not called but it will be fairly damp. `` it is not

cold. We have a wet night and even wetter tomorrow. This lump of cloud

developing in the Atlantic is in new area of low pressure. That is racing

towards us and will arrive on our shores around the middle of the data

model. Lots of heavy rain around that, strengthening winds, too. ``

around the middle of the day tomorrow. That moves quite fast, it

moves from us right up towards Norway by the middle of the day on

Saturday, very quickly replaced by another area of low pressure. That

has some strong winds, gusts up to 60 mph possible. After a brighter

start to the day on Saturday some rain from lunchtime onwards. There

have been some breaks in the cloud today and a lot of the cloud has

been medium and high level. This was earlier today in Sidmouth when it

was not raining. Here we have had some brightness in the sky. Just

enough waves for some of the surfers to enjoy, as well. The sea

temperature has come down, all of the Stormont `` store Minas has

mixed the cold in the water. `` all of the storms have mixed the cold.

There is the dampness overnight tonight, rain off and on throughout,

not particularly heavy. We keep a lot of cloud, winds from the

south`west, not overly strong, and night`time temperatures down to

single figures at nine or 10 Celsius. Tomorrow we will wake up to

a lot of cloud and outbreaks of rain, the heavy rain at the end of

the day, particularly in South Devon and Dorset. The brighter colours

illustrating where the heavier bands of rain will come in in the evening.

It will also be windy. Along the south coast we have a strengthening

southeasterly breeze, quite gusty by the early evening, easterly winds

bringing the temperature down somewhat. 13 or 14 Celsius the

highest we can expect tomorrow, feeling cold, too, because of the

rain. For the Isles of Scilly, the wind is quickly becoming a strong

easterly and changing direction as the low pressure moves away from us.

Also, outbreaks of rain off and on through the day. For that kind of

high water... `` the times of high water...

The north coast will have the cleanest surf, big waves, very

unpleasant conclusions along the south coast once the southeasterly

winds get going. They will start from the South or Southeast, Force

five, I'd to see increasing to force seven, then becoming cyclonic deal

force eight as the low`pressure moves us. Rain at times reducing

visibility. On Saturday this rain and cloud will

come in, swirling around the low`pressure, windy on Saturday and

specially in the afternoon and evening. The forecast for Sunday is

a mixture of sunshine and blustery showers, quieter by Monday. For many

of the fireworks and bonfire displays this weekend it will be

quite windy. Good evening. That is it for now. If you are

celebrating Halloween tonight take care. We believe you now with some

pictures of Halloween parades of lanterns. Good night.

Come with me! Hubble, bubble, Boyle and trouble!

Fire burn and cauldron bubble!