10/02/2014 BBC Channel Islands News

Thank you. That's all from the BBC News at Six so it's goodbye from me,

Ferries to France are cancelled as Condor's row continues with French

workers. We'll have the latest on union talks from our reporter in St

Malo and hear from island businesses who are affected. It is bad enough

with the weather. If there are going to be continuing problems with the

connection to France, I do not know where the go. Plus, parents protest

at on the spot fines for parking near their children's school. The

rates are busy. Sometimes, you have to drop off your child. And as

Sunday trading comes closer to reality, we ask if shoppers really

want it. It is a good idea, just like the rest of the world. If you

live in London, fair enough, but not here.

The strike by Condor ferry workers is now in its fifth day. There have

been no sailings to France from the Channel Islands since the middle of

last week. French Condor staff want their contracts changed from

Guernsey terms to French ones so they get better pay and social

security benefits Last Thursday the unexpected strike began which left

around 250 passengers bound for the Channel Islands stuck in France

Sailings on Friday and over the weekend were cancelled because of

the strike and bad weather. And today negotiations continue on board

the Condor Vitesse in St Malo between the unions and Condor

management with no end in sight to the dispute. The disruption is now

causing problems for Jersey businesses too as Jen Smith reports.

Destined for the continent. If they could get there. These crab and

lobster would be sold for thousands in Spain, Italy and Portugal. But

they have to get through France first. And with no ferry sailing to

St Malo, it's put Tony Porritt out of pocket. We do not do local. It is

90% plus exports. We have to get into France to distribute on to

Italy and Spain from there. That is where we go every week of the year,

normally, and if it carries on, we have had it. Tony estimates he's

lost around ?20,000 every time a sailing has been cancelled. But it's

not just about money. This French shop has been left bare after an

assistant got stuck in France. She was sailing to St Malo last

Saturday. It was to pick up our next exhibition to display in our shop

windows here. She could not come back. She is in charge to welcome

visitors here and she cannot do that from home will stop there are a lot

of adjustments. There is not much we can do. Condor's boss James Fulford

spent today on the Condor Rapide in St Malo negotiating with workers.

They're now demanding the boat is reregistered in France instead of

Guernsey. We need to persuade the guys these are massive changes they

are demanding. Some may have area it but they cannot be done in the

short`term. They need to go back to work while we negotiate. We resent

having our business and the needs and requirements and businesses of

our customers on the island being jeopardised by this rather reckless

action. And that includes Tony, who says if the walk`out lasts much

longer, his customers will follow suit.

So with negotiations continuing on board today is there any end in

sight to the strike? The striker 's been going on for

five days and it looks like there is no end in sight. They want to have

changes on pensions and unemployment insurance. A union described the

contracts they currently have as well below international standards.

The two sides are talking but there is no sign of a deal yet. It looks

like the boat behind to be will not be going anywhere soon.

Parents in Guernsey could be in for a shock after the launch of a

campaign to crack down on illegal parking around schools. But it's not

just one school that's been identified as a problem. The

campaign will be rolled out across the island in the coming months

No parking, no waiting, no excuses. Parents and children arriving at

this infant School confronted with a clear message. Guernsey police have

teamed up the charity to promote the morning. There are always problems

with parents who want to take their children to the school gate and not

have to walk anywhere at all with them. In fact, even here, just 0

yards down the road, there are plenty of parking spaces and oozes

only a minute or two to walk to the crossing. `` and it is only a minute

or two. This yellow line means no cars are allowed to park on this

road but it is claimed it is being abused and a clamp`down is under

way. What does it mean forbearance? The roads are busy and sometimes you

have to drop off your child, you cannot not. It is poor, there is too

much traffic. There should be a one`way system made available, even

if it is school hours. The environment Department talked about

part of it being there waiting and implementing bays, they need to make

a one`way system. I am a resident and I would not object to it being

one`way. Whether people agree or not, Guernsey police will issue

fines of ?70 for those who choose to break the law.

Guernsey's government has set out its priorities to try to boost the

economy. It includes supporting new companies, promoting diversity in

the finance industry and growing local business. The plans include

setting up an Angel Fund, which would be part`States funded and give

financial support to new and emerging businesses. Couples

planning to marry in Jersey this year could lose their wedding date

after a computer error at the register office. Those who have

looked a date must reconfirm bookings if they have not been

contacted. It applies to Jersey residents who have booked since the

beginning of this year. You're watching the BBC in the Channel

Islands. Later in Spotlight with Justin and Natalie: Going Dutch New

pumps from Holland are brought in to tackle the Somerset flooding. All

Jersey shops could be open on Sundays this summer, if the States

agrees. A proposal is being made to relax the law, allowing bigger

stores to trade seven days a week for an 18`month trial. The aim is to

get people spending in the island's shops again, after a hike in

internet purchases. Emma Chambers reports. First impressions may

suggest it's spend, spend, spend in St Helier. But latest figures show

that may not be the case. Over 0 shops closed last year and the

amount of parcels arriving into the island from online shopping has

increased by 28%. But could Sunday trading be the answer to boosting

our economy? Currently, shops under 700 square metres can trade. Now a

proposal is being made to allow bigger stores to open. We are

seeking to get more people and more business going to local stores,

rather than off the island through the internet and that is one of the

drivers. If you do not open on a Sunday, which is one day when people

are at home using the internet, local businesses do not have an

opportunity to compete. The proposal is for an 18` month trial starting

in June. So what do shoppers think? It is a good idea, like the rest of

the world. My concern is for the staff who have to work. I would

prefer it, really, stay as it is. This former Constable of St Helier

says he has already tried opening large supermarkets on a Sunday and

it didn't work. We had to stop it in the end, I had so many complaints.

People were saying, we have to put up with lorries delivering six days

a week, because the supermarket although it is close, they have too

stuck it and it goes on from 6am till midnight. Life is hell six days

a week, do not make it seven, and we stopped it. In the end, it will be

the States which decides if seven day shopping is the direction the

island will follow. More than ?200,000 has already been spent

repairing sea defences in Jersey after the recent storms. That sum

could go up once the cost of removing trees and rubble is added

to any final cost. Every year, 1 million is spent on maintaining

Jersey's sea defences but the true cost of recent storms won't be known

until the weather calms down properly. And that brings me onto

David. How's the weather calmed down? Will ever calm down?

Not this week, sadly, perhaps not the strong gusts of wind, but

Wednesday looks violent again with gusts up to 70 mph. Tomorrow it is a

wet start. It will arrive later tonight. Briefly we will have a

quiet spell but by dawn, the rain returns and then sunshine and

showers. It will be a wet morning, but by late morning the sunshine

will be out. The rest of the day will be mainly dry apart from

showers. This is moving steadily. I do not think it will do not think it

will dwell across us. It will move at a steady rate so by the time we

it is clear. The will probably remain till the end of the day,

where there are showers. This is a new area of low pressure we are

worried about. As the isobars squeeze, winds of up to 70 mph

possible, particularly on Wednesday afternoon. Any showers now will fade

away. In the early hours of the morning, showers will turn up ahead

of the main line of rain. There will be freshening southerly wind will

stop by tomorrow morning, they will be about 40, 50 mph. It is a wet

morning. Some of the rain will be briefly happy. As it clears, into

the afternoon, the sunshine will be back out and apart from an isolated

shower, the rest of the day is largely dry, but those showers could

be potent, with the risk of hail, and westerly winds, so wrap up warm.

The forecast of a coastal waters has the winds from the South to start.

There will be rain followed by showers and moderate, improving good

visibility. The tide is not particularly high now.

The surf is likely to be messed up. You can see the change on the wind

direction. We are concerned about what is happening on Wednesday. It

could cause further travel disruption. Keep up`to`date on BBC

Guernsey and BBC Jersey websites. Quieter on Thursday, but more wet

weather and windy again on Friday. That is how it is looking. Stay with

us, for the rest of spotlight. damage to the economy might already

be done. Earlier I spoke to the businessman Chris Dawson, who owns

the Range chain of stores. I asked him what impact the disruption to

the rail links was having on business in the region. I have had

people cancelling meetings and asking if they could have them in

Bristol or halfway to London. The impact is on hotels and restaurants

and so on. Sometimes, my staff would take people out to various

functions. It is a lot. What message do you think it sends out to the

rest of the UK and the world at the moment about doing business in the

south`west? It is a wake`up time. It is very pretty but it is not

practical. It is time frame you read. We are always repairing but we

are doing nothing for the future. We will patch that over, that will be

fine. They need to invest long`term. Is a perception that the south`west

is not open for business? There is this belief that it is cut off? It

is not worth considering? Yes, because people, even well educated

as this people, they ask me those questions, they really do not know,

what business is there? I think they are convinced that there was nothing

after Bristol. I believe that the big as this industry, I do not sit

ignored, but they take it for granted we are not here in the first

place. How worried is the business community? Going back to what I said

previously, one of the best industries is tourism and

caravanning. It actually affects ourselves because they flourish and

go to the store is and do this and that so I would say, it does not

keep me awake at night but you really need to keep on to the

government. We have had enough of all of these repair jobs. They have

to take us seriously. The answer is, come on, wake up. We need a

motorway. And you can throw us an airport in for good measure! Thank

you. The rain has held off over the Somerset levels for the past 24

hours, but work continues to get the water off the moors. New pumps which

can deal with high volumes of water have been ferried across from

Holland. Dams are also being built but there are concerns about whether

they will hold. Scott Ellis reports. These are the giant Dutch pumps it

is hoped will ease the flooding on the Somerset Levels. They will work

by taking water away from the swollen river. It will be pumped

north to the water drain and out to sea. It means that opening the

sluice gate on the River. They still fail to appreciate the flow of the

water. That worries some residents. Micron Smith. His house has studied

four times since Christmas and he is worried that when the Environment

Agency opens the sluice, the water will spill on land, perilously ``

perilously close to his house. We are sacrificial lambs. We have to

have a guarantee that of the outcome goes wrong, they will underwrite the

value of the property. They can do what they like but they must give me

that guarantee in writing. A dam is being built to protect homes from

the threat of floods but there are no guarantees. It is an uncertain

business but we will do our best to protect these homes and properties.

Is he right to be worried? Yes, I would be the same myself. We would

all be worried. The Environment Agency says it will open the sluice

gate slowly and the water will be constantly monitored. But they say

they need to ease the pressure on the River to prevent flooding in

Bridgwater. We spoke to one former who cannot wait for the pumping to

start. Unless the water goes rapidly, this will not be grassland,

it'll be a blog and you cannot format. The film Braveheart is

reckoned it would take 26 days to pump the drive. But once again, it

is another wet week ahead on the Somerset Levels. South West Water

has announced ?160 million will be spent on improvements next year.

This includes work to upgrade sewers across the region to try to

alleviate flooding. 13 areas across the South West have been earmarked

for improvements. ?1.4 million is being spent at Colebrook, which has

suffered from flooding for many years. Our issue is that our servers

are designed for carrying sewage and when they get these intense

rainstorms, water gets into the sewers and it overwhelms them. We

have to put in some engineering and new ideas about how to stop that

water getting into those sewers. Spotlight has learned that a

hospital Chief Executive has been suspended today while fellow board

members carry out an investigation of her behaviour. Paula

Vasco`Knight, who heads the trust which runs Torbay Hospital, was

criticised by an employment tribunal last month over her treatment of two

whistle`blowers who'd accused her of nepotism. Sally Mountjoy is with me

now. What has happened? The nonexecutive directors held a

meeting and decided to suspend the Chief Executive Wiley examined the

circumstances that prompted the tribunal last month. Remind us of

what happened. It was brought to women who accused the Chief

Executive, Paula Vasco`Knight, of and favouritism when she recruited

her daughter's why friend to a job at the hospital trust and the

tribunal found they had been victimised as a result of

whistle`blowing and they said the trust behaved in an astonishing way

and had been dishonest in suppressing a report about what

happened. There has been a resignation already? Yes, the

chairman of the trust has resigned. But over the weekend the local NHS

only, the clinical commissioning group, said it felt that the Chief

Executive should be suspended while the investigation was going on and

as a result of that, the trust feels that they should actually do that

and should suspend her. It said it was fundamental to good patient care

that whistle`blowers feel able to raise concerns without fear of

retribution and I think it was as a result of that that the trust said

today that they thought it was in the best interests of everybody to

actually suspend the Chief Executive. Thank you very much

indeed. Some sports news now and it was a weekend to remember for the

Exeter Chiefs' Jack Nowell as he played his second game for his

national side. The 20`year`old Cornish winger really held his own

and helped England to victory over Scotland. Earlier, former Exeter

player Chris Bentley, who now works for the Chiefs, came to the studio

to look back at Jack's solid performance. Jack did really well,

after his first test in France he could do no wetter. He is capable of

playing test match rugby. He had a fantastic few minutes in the second

half? Yes. The ball got kicked, he's always looking the threat. Later on,

in one moment, he gets his hand onto the ball and you can see the threat

he can provide. That injection of pace. Very powerful. He just keeps

the impetus for the England team. And one moment later, he said at the

second try? It was magnificent. I was fortunate enough to play with

them when he was younger. There was nothing on there, quick step and

then the awareness. He possibly could have done it himself. Humble

to the last minute. He could have scored that himself? I reckon so. It

might have been 50`50. But he is just a great performer. How is this

put him in great stead and we shall see him making his debut at

Twickenham in a few weeks? I think so. The triple Crown is still very

much on and he will be their star performer. You must be really

proud? Of course but it is not just him, the Academy is producing a huge

amount of players, Ford team`mates won the World Cup for the under 20s.

One of them has been turning out for England under 20s. There is a

conveyor belt coming through Exeter Chiefs. How is it coming together?

Being in the Premiership makes a great difference. Players might have

traditionally left to play elsewhere but with Phil Vickery, Barnstable

boy, the pinnacle is with the Exeter Chiefs and they can aspire to be

from boy to man. 2015, great year as well? The World Cup is on its way,

the stadium development is taking place and we have the tarmac for the

bottom edges. More seats for next season and following the World Cup,

the third biggest sporting event in the world at Sandy Park. Say well

done to him from us. Thank you. Back now to our top story and the Prime

Minister's visit to storm`damaged parts of the South West. David

Cameron ended today's visit in Newquay. David George is there for

us now. David? The Prime Minister arrived here at 5:30pm this

afternoon having flown here from Kingsand on the tarmac meeting

senior executives from Friday. They announced they have doubled the

number of flights from Newquay to Gatwick. He met them in front of an

aircraft, the bigger jet they have brought in, borrowed from Belfast,

in order to operate the service. It means about 600 people every day can

fly to Gatwick and vice versa with this new service that starts on

Wednesday. He went inside to meet the senior people from the council,

the Chief Executive and their leader. They emphasise that Cornwall

was very much open for business, despite the terrible damage that has

happened and ?21 million worth of repairs is needed to places like 10

cents and Newland and Newquay itself. The surf centre has been

undermined. They say they are happy the Prime Minister understood the

problems here and they pointed out to him that they did not want to

have two compete with other areas for money. They also announced that

Cornwall will actually give up, will suspend its much `` much disliked

airport fee. They are getting a grant to cover that. ?5 for every

passenger for the next two weeks only. Passengers leaving from here

on these flights will not have to pay that. Thank you very much

indeed. Time for the weather forecast. We have had some respite

from the storms but there is more bad weather on the way?

More on the way. Here is some sunshine. Our cameraman had a

glimpse of fine weather. Similar seven joined a reasonable day today.

It has been rather cold but some sunshine and calmer seas. But it is

only for one day. And there is quite a big change happening later tonight

with more wet weather heading our way. Still very unsettled with more

rain in the forecast, three batches this week. Tonight, Wednesday and

possibly Friday. And gale force winds reach earns. The warning we

have for most of this week is for heavy rain. Several of our areas

have already put flood warnings in place. This is a stripe of clear

skies but already there is a lot of cloud either. The wind will be

strong but not the strength that we saw over the weekend. It is a

blustery night with outbreaks of rain and will be just touching gale

force for a short time but it is moving steadily and through this

afternoon `` tomorrow afternoon it is brighter. Then this new area of

low pressure races across the Atlantic and that develops close to

our shores. This is another very windy spell for Wednesday. It will

probably happen during daylight hours. We have gusts potentially at

80 mph. Particularly on the south coast. Tonight, not overly windy,

showers dotted around but they will move out of the way with some dry

weather and temperatures close to freezing. There is the possibility

of a touch of frost. First thing tomorrow, the rain comes back.

Coastal locations start at six degrees. The rain moves quite fast.

By the afternoon, the sunshine returns. Blown in with scattered

showers and those showers will turn increasingly wintry through the

afternoon, even to quite low levels. Temperatures at seven or eight

degrees. Lauding through the afternoon. And for the Scilly Isles,

breezy with a few showers. Getting away with a largely dry day. The

high what times... `` watcher times. `` high water times. It remains

quite dangerous on the coastline. The outlook for coastal waters is

for the wind to pick up tomorrow night into Wednesday but for

tomorrow, south`westerly and veering Westerly. Warnings for everyday this

week. The strength of wind on Wednesday and further I'd weeks of

rain. Very windy start to Thursday but the wind drops and more rain

turning up on Friday. Stay tuned to your local radio station for more

updates. Thank you very much indeed. There is a special report on the

impact the storms have had on the south`west on Inside Out in half an

hour. We are back tomorrow evening. Good night.

# I tremble I tremble