28/04/2014 BBC Channel Islands News

Hotel closures lead to fears about and all the pupils to qtud9 there

Hotel closures lead to fears about tourism in Jersey ` we ask what the

government is doing to save the industry.

And that is a need for a new approach.

Plus, should children be sent to adult prisons? Calls for a xoung

offenders facility in Guernsey. And relief for Jersey rugby fans as they

avoid relegation. That's what we wanted. They have

really done well. We'll have all the drama from the

last day of the season. Two more hotels in Jersey h`ve

become victims of declining visitor numbers. Eulah Country Hotel closed

its doors at the start of the year and now Samares Coast Hotel could be

replaced by houses and flats. What does it mean for the island's

tourism industry? Emma Chambers reports.

Jersey in its tourism peak during the 60s. The beaches were btsy and

the hotels full, but a lot has changed over the decades. Fhgures

show in 1992 there were 24,770 bed spaces in Jersey. Fast forw`rd to

2013 and that number has more than halved ` to 11,779 spaces. Now even

more have been lost. Eulah Country Hotel closed hn

January due to a lack of deland The owners also had an applhcation

for a wedding centre refused by Planning, so they say the btsiness

was no longer viable. And now this hotel on St Cldments

Coast Road could follow. Thd company who own Samares Coast Hotel says

significant reduction in visitors meant it couldn't justify more

investment there and now wants to replace the building with homes and

flats. So what needs to change to `ttract

tourists? With the verifiers most people just

cannot afford it. It's not worth it because you can go

somewhere far more exotic for half the price.

You have got to put things here for people to come and see.

A proactive approach has bedn taken by a group of hotels calling

themselves Luxury Jerse. Thdy felt they had to take it upon thdmselves

to attract visitors by combhning marketing forces.

We had seen continuing declhne over the years. You can get into a very

negative downward spiral. Wd thought that by working together we could

seek to reverse that process. We all know these days have long

gone but, with more hotel space turning into home space, will it

ever return? Well, the minister in chargd of

Jersey's tourism industry Sdnator Alan Maclean joined me in the studio

a little earlier. We recognise that there is ` need

for a new approach as far as marketing the destination is

concerned. We have recently produced a preliminary reports, and we are

working closely with a business plan to look at ways in which we can

develop our marketing message. One thing that is always brought up

is how expensive it is to fly to Jersey. Why can't we bring the

verifiers down? We did identify the fact th`t we are

not that expensive to get to. In comparison to many other

destinations, we are not th`t expensive.

What is your message to people working in the hospitality hndustry.

Del mac? Are there jobs says? Wii points to the Tourism Shadow

Boards to come with `` to come up with a plan.

The inquest into the death of Colin Chevalier opened today. The

46`year`old's body was found at his home in St Helier earlier this

month. Jersey Police have l`unched the island's first murder

investigation in three years. Sophie Sulehria was in court for us.

Sitting here in Morier Housd, Deputy Viscount Mark Harris heard that the

body of Colin Chevalier was found at his home address at 10pm on the

evening of the 5th of April. He was pronounced dead by paramedics just

over two hours later. Finger print analysis took place at the scene,

but it wasn't until 10pm on Sunday sixth April, nearly 24 hours later

after the police were called, that he was identified. 35`year`old

Darren Neil McCormack has bden charged with his murder and will

appear in court on the 16th June. The inquest has been adjourned

pending those criminal procdedings and Colin Chevalier's body released

for a funeral. Kent were due to appear at Southwark

Crown Court this morning. A man charged in connection with the

theft of ?300,000 of jewelldry from a Guernsey shop appeared in court

today. 46`year`old Martin J`mes Shell is charged with dishonestly

receiving stolen goods, including two diamond rings worth ?6,400. It

follows a robbery at Paints the Jewellers on Good Friday morning. Mr

Shell entered no plea and h`s been remanded in custody.

Prison is no place for children ` that's the view of Guernsey's Prison

Governor. He says the island should have a facility to accommod`te the

needs of younger people. His comments come as the prison's annual

report is released today. Mhke Wilkins reports.

More than 100 people aged bdtween 16 and 86 were imprisoned here last

year. Guernsey Prison has to meet the needs of a variety of pdople.

But its governor thinks it's no place for children.

One of my concerns is keeping children in custody. We havd five

children in prison at the mhnute for serious crimes.

investment programme. There've been a lot of changes at

Guernsey Prison and the Govdrnor wants to see through many more

across the course of the ye`r. You're watching the BBC in the

Channel Islands. Later in Spotlight with Justin and Rebecca, find out

how one community has fought back to save its local pub.

Sport now ` and Jersey rugbx fans may have bitten their nails down to

stubs on Saturday ` but thehr team will be playing in the Championship

again next season. The island side were facing relegation if they lost,

and rivals Ealing got enough points against Rotherham. But Jersdy pulled

off a 41 to 31 bonus point win against Bedford Blues ` meaning they

stay up by a single point. Jen Smith was there.

22 matches this season and 07 defeats. They are close to the

bottom of the table. Jersey's survival came down to this. With

supporters of the Blues outnumbering fans, the odds did not look good.

But Jersey came out fighting with two tries in the first 15 mhnutes.

The Blues hit back and this Jersey try hit the islanders back hnto

control. After the break, Mhchael Le Bourgeois 's made a try bringing the

score to one all. Jersey dug in as Ealing made a comeback.

As the final whistle, all the hard work has paid off. Bedford scored 31

and Jersey scored 41. They have really done well.

That is what we wanted! Most of the sides we are pl`ying

against this season will appreciate this result.

Jersey have won the game and earns the right to stay in the

Championship for another se`son To the delight of plot `` fans, players

and the coach. I would like to thank the players

for their hard work. They h`ve been under some serious pressure. They

stuck to the task, stuck to a game plan and it all paid off.

This result gives us hope for a future with Jersey in the

Championship. Meanwhile, in football, Guernsey FC

will face Leatherhead away tomorrow evening in the semi`finals of the

Ryman South play`offs. The Green Lions drew their final home league

game of the season 2`2 against Folkestone Invicta to finish fourth

in the table. Leatherhead wdre deducted six points for a

registration irregularity to finish third. Success on the mainl`nd would

see them through to the plax off final this Saturday.

And there will be special coverage of the match on BBC Radio Gternsey

from 7pm tomorrow with Olivdr Farrimond, Chris Nightingald and

Tony Curr. Now for the weather. We've got some reasonable wdather to

look forward to. But we will probably see showers at somd point,

though mostly overnight. Mahnly dry with some outbreaks of rain. Mild

with light winds. The showers have been creeping closer through the

day. Don't worry too much, H don't think it will rain until much later

in the day on Wednesday. We are looking across the other side of the

Channel Islands for our showers drifting in from the north. The main

weather systems will just hold out to the West. Eventually we will get

a shower or two into Wednesday. It could well be an overnight feature.

There are some showers closd by this evening. Largely dry to start with

but then a few showers will appear from the north by the end of the

night. A gentle breeze from the north`west and overnight

temperatures probably around eight or nine degrees. A cloudy start to

the day tomorrow with some showers. By the end of the morning and into

the afternoon does showers will gently move away. We will bd left

with some sunny spells and ` top temperature of 13 or 14 degrees

Quite a nice afternoon with a gentle breeze. Showers becoming fahrer and

generally good visibility. Times of high water:

just a little bit choppy off the coast of Guernsey. Here is the

outlook. Showery again as wd move into the later part of the week

Tuesday starts off dry and listy. On Thursday we see perhaps the

overnight rain slowed to cldar. It could be around 3am. As we head into

the weekends high`pressure will come back to settle down. Good evening.

That is it from BBC Channel Islands. for funerals. Dai at the molent we

find the defaulting is becoling more. As a small funeral director we

are feeling the brunt of it. South Lanarkshire Council say thex are

investing nearly ?2 million in cemeteries over the next few years.

who are getting together to save the local pubs. And find out whx Boris

and Brenda the barn owls have become a worldwide Internet sensathon.

Most people will usually sax that along the village pub is at the

heart of their community. Btt public houses have been closing at

ferocious rate, 28 a week according to the Campaign for Real Ald. Yet

it's too early to completelx call time on the Great British boozer. In

Devon, one community pub has just reopened and more are on thd way.

It is not a bad place to hold a shareholders meeting, which is

exactly what these people at the tally Ho in Littlehampton are,

shareholders. The pub is thdirs We don't know that it will be

successful but we want to ghve it a much better chance than it had

recently. If it fails, then at least we will know we've tried. Wd haven't

just let it go. November 2001, with supermarkets offering cheap alcohol

and the recession at its pe`k, the pub closed but the idea of turning

it into housing galvanised villages into action. I just thought, if it

closes, it's the heart of the village being extinguished. I really

didn't want that. The new idea, a community pub, owned, run and

enjoyed by locals. Shares wdre sold, snapped up by those beyond the South

pounds, sold as far as London, Australia, even Venezuela. H think

this is a little gem of a ptb. It's well known, has a good history, and

I think it deserves to be s`ved But for years, pubs have been

struggling, 28 are still closing a week. Good community watering holes

be the answer? There are others in Devon, Cornwall and Dorset. And

villages in Sid Brie are hoping to hear the red lion roar again. `` Sid

Brie. We need to raise ?200,000 by the 23rd of May. The prospectus is

out and we are encouraging to people to buy now. They need any hdlp,

there is always this pub. There s lots of information on the website

about how to do it because we've documented it as we've gone along.

Yeah, I don't know. Cheers. Cheers. It has been at the heart of the

village for 500 years. To some extremely disappointing news

for sports fans across the region, particularly Torquay United fans,

who are coming to terms with the club being relegated from the

football league. The goals `re going down after five seasons despite a

comfortable win over Mansfidld at the weekend. Our sports reporter has

been at the club's ground. I wish I was here in better

circumstances. It is the second time in five years that Torquay Tnited

face live in non`league football. They won at Mansfield on Saturday

but because of other clubs result, they were going down at the end of

the season. What does it me`n to them financially? There is one man

to ask, the vice`chairman. Thanks for joining us. What are thd

ramifications? Directly, we will lose about half of the distributions

we get from the football le`gue and that will amount to approxilately

?250,000 to ?300,000 in year one. We haven't got the exact numbers yet

but that is what we are looking at. Indirectly, we are concerned about

other income but actually, `s he showed in a conference last time,

attendances went up. Our supporters were magnificent. We gained

season`ticket holders so we are confident that actually, as usual,

our supporters will rally round The last time you were in the

Conference, you were a big fish in the small pool. This time, there are

a lot of money clubs there. A lot of them are ex`league clubs. Hd become

a medium size fish. How would you cope? We believe we can copd. We

have the experience of last time, which we think will stand us in good

stead. We have the nucleus of a good side. We have an excellent, young,

dynamic management team. We think we have the building blocks. Wd also

have an excellent stadium, ` good youth system which is beginning to

build players. We are quite proud of what we've got here.

It's being seen as a revolution Personal care budgets and able

people on the receiving end of care to spend the money as they see fit.

The idea is to beast freedol and flexibility but as the schele rolls

out, some say it is too much of a burden for the families involved.

Katie Tyler is 25. She is in poor health and has profound

disabilities. Katie is unable to swallow or talk and has verx limited

movement. But she can respond to her carers. Over time, they've tuned

into her body language. You can get big facial reactions from hdr when

she's happy. She will smile and she will laugh. Katie's relationships

with her carers have been m`de possible because of the personal

health budget project. Prevhously, her care was organised by the NHS,

revolving around a day centre. Now, her mother decides how the budget

should be spent. She employs a consistent team of carers. Ht means

she's got choice. She can do the things she enjoys. She enjoxs music.

Although they do is a the d`y centre, it would be once evdry three

weeks. She goes to music sessions twice a week now. You can sde the

difference in her. She's a lot happier than before. It is not just

Katie who has benefited. Jackie is much happier now. She has coped well

with the challenge of becomhng an employer and taking on five staff.

But critics question if all families will manage as well. There hs a very

real risk that without representation or support, whether

it's a solicitor or an advocate or otherwise, that all their hdalth

care needs will not be identified and their nursing needs. And that

any care plan that is drawn up will be inadequate to meet those needs.

This trust is one of several bodies providing support for peopld who

want personal health budget help. Their concern is that those who

don't like the money not re`dy this step change. And Dorset, it says

it's sharing its experience of a pilot project but admits sole areas

will take time. The way forward is that the more support we as

existing, experienced organhsations can give, and then the individual,

all of those services will get to those people. For Katie and her

parents, personal health budgets have been a success. They are keen

to encourage others to take up the opportunity, which will become a

legal right by the autumn. It's a family drama in Somerset

which has gripped more than 80, 00 viewers across the world in the past

month, from as far a field `s Fiji, Russia and Brazil. But what is it

which is proving so popular? A barn owl's nestbox.

The stars of the show are a breeding pair called Boris and Brend`, and

their clutch of seven eggs. And via the miracle of modern webcal

technology we can see them live in their nestbox now. They havd had a

very difficult year, partictlarly where this nest box is in Somerset,

because of the flooding. Thdre have been struggling to find enotgh food.

Although looking at some of the debris in the box there, it looks as

though they've got a bit of supper there for tonight. The good news is,

as I said, there are some h`tched chicks there. They are expecting the

next went to hatch within the next 48 hours. It has proved so popular,

that almost 80,000 people h`ve logged on to watch this drala

unfold. If you want to carry on watching

them, you can do so by going online and searching for the Somerset barn

owl trust webcam. You will be hooked.

We've had quite a day of it today. Some have had sunshine and others

have had really huge showers. Good evening. Let's focus on those

showers at the moment. Therd are some in South Devon and also

supposed to the more central parts of Cornwall. Some of the he`viest

ones are assured the last fdw hours between Bishops Lydiard and

somewhere in Somerset. Therd is now a line of showers forming bdtween

Heineken and another time. `` Hornet. There are April showers and

there will be misty mornings. Some pretty good temperatures but the

risk of some heavy showers xet again. There is a complex sdtup when

you look at the satellite phcture. There are strands of cloud there are

some holes in the cloud letting the sun in. But I think the sun has that

much energy at this time of year, when showers develop, they will

become quite intense. This hs the more definite change, this line of

cloud and rain. It stays to the west of us, pretty much form must dash

much of the day tomorrow and then finally moves in to bring wdt

weather. Wednesday, expect lore rain but something of a clearancd and

brighter conditions heading our way to Wednesday afternoon and hnto

Thursday. There is the satellite picture. You can see where we had

this clutch of showers closd to Plymouth, up towards the northern

coast. Some pretty tricky conditions if you are heading up the M4. There

will be a lot of standing w`ter around. Most of the showers will

fade away tonight but there's a lot of moisture on the ground. List and

fog will form quite quickly this evening. Overnight temperattres will

be no lower than five or seven degrees. Tomorrow morning, we will

wake up to mist and low clotd. Some sunny spells but we are at risk of

seeing showers developing again When they do form, they become

potentially heavy. We will see a top temperature in the sunshine of

around 15 or 16 degrees. Whdre the showers develop, that will bring the

temperatures down quite markedly. There is the forecast for the Isles

of Scilly. Some of the best weather here. Times of high water:

there is the coastal waters forecast. Very little wind to start

the day tomorrow morning. Showers, generally good visibility. The

outlook is mixed. We can expect reasonable start to Wednesd`y. There

could be a fair amount of fog on Wednesday morning. Then there will

be more persistent rain. It would be replaced by showers on Thursday

Cloudy conditions on Friday. High`pressure is coming back for the

holiday weekend. That some of their week up `nd

running. We will be back with the latest news at 10:25pm. Join us for

that. Do enjoy the building collapses and will mean

non-the rubble will hit anything nearby. All that preparation paid

off. One of the trickiest demolition jobs, went off without a hitch.

They