26/07/2011 BBC Points West

Good evening and welcome to BBC Points West. Our headlines tonight:

Get your act together - a warning that the west will miss out on

public transport if the councils don't work as one.

What you won't see this year - no fireworks at the Harbour Festival

to stop money going up in smoke. The best address in town - but now

Cheltenham considers selling its elegant council offices.

And why a bevy of balloons from the West Country are brightening the

Good evening. West country councils are burying their differences and

working together in a last minute attempt to get funding for new

transport systems. The councils that used to make up

the old Avon area are joining forces once more to persuade the

government to pay for new bus links that could transform the way we

travel. But the money is tight and other local authorities right

across the country are bidding for the same funding.

From that image you just saw, it looks like the boss is driving on

the wrong side of the street. What the local councils have been told

by the government is to put forward projects for government funding

that support Robert Tyre's Bryan Gunn trained minds, a sort of very

high value expensive projects. The key words of by ability and

affordability. But of councils across the West are in a dogfight

to draw in hundreds of millions of pounds of government cash.

It's the holy grail of public transport - an integrated system

that connects and that works. There are several transport improvement

schemes here in the west all bidding for hundreds of millions of

government funding. And the four councils that once sheltered under

the Avon umbrella have joined forces to try to win money for five

schemes. They would be in Bath, Weston-super-Mare, and in Bristol

at Ashton Vale, South Bristol and three new rapid routes across the

city. The Department for Transport offered me considerable amount of

money to local authorities who want to put in innovative transport

schemes. We decided that we needed to do a lot to get Bristol moving

again. Therefore, we would put in a number of schemes to get the whole

region called Naked and moving together. -- co-ordinated. Despite

the four councils working together, they are stopping short of becoming

an integrated transport authority which could set its own fares as

they have in London or Manchester. Too expensive they say. Others

disagree. There is a clear local consensus that an integrated

transport authority would be good for Bristol. It would mean that it

would have a voice at the table when funding decisions are made, it

would make it easier to lobby ministers and civil servants, and

the public wants that. There are schemes in Taunton, Gloucester and

Cheltenham too, all in competing with the five in Avon for

increasingly scarce central government cash. It's the transport

ticket they all want to get their hands on.

Something like 50 different schemes across the country that they are

all competing with. Let's talk to a Bristol West MP and pick up on that

issue of the integrated transport authority. It sounds like the

councils are doing a job. I hope they all do well. An integrated

transport authority would make expectation the norm and not

something newsworthy. It would also give us a powerful voice when we

are competing across the country for schemes like this. The councils

say it will cost their council tax payers more money and it would be

an expensive layer of bureaucracy. You have got to look at the set-up

costs and the savings it would make. Without an ITA, Bristol will never

see the game changing transport infrastructure that so many people

want without a structure to enable local authorities to work together.

That type of infrastructure would say that so much money because it

would transform the kind of transport investment we are seeing

and make it a game changed it for the city. Thank you very much. To

give you an idea and a timescale, and also a potential cost, the

schemes vary: Anything between 30 % up to 50 %. We should know a result

by December so fingers crossed for an early Christmas present.

Meanwhile, it's been a tough day on the motorways surrounding the West.

Traffic's been building up on the M5 near Gloucester where a lorry's

overturned. Motorists are being advised to avoid the M4 near

Newport which was closed earlier after a lorry fire in the Brynglas

Tunnel. The Bristol man who died in a

helicopter crash at the weekend has been named. Chris Watts was the

only person in the helicopter when it came down in a field in North

Cornwall on Sunday. His brother-in- law has told the BBC that Mr Watts

was a "very safety conscious pilot" and that "flying was his passion."

The 40th Bristol Harbour Festival is just a few days away but with

the City Council making �28 million worth of cuts this year, the

festival's budget has taken a hit. So how much does this free festival

cost the city and what does it bring in? Laura Lyon has been

finding out. Out on a limb, despite city budget

cuts biting across Bristol, preparations for the 40th annual

Harbour Festival continue apace. In 1972, the festival cost just �800

to stage. Last year the budget was �450,000 but that's gone down by

�90,000 for this anniversary year. We have nibbled away at different

areas, been really clear that it is a lot of money to lose from a

modest budget for what it delivers, up to 250,000 people. But you

cannot lose the integrity of the event. One of the most expensive

and popular events to go is the firework display. It's being

replaced with more day time and early evening performances

showcasing local, national and international talents.

Rather than charge people an entrance fee, this year the

organisers are introducing a �1 programme which it hopes all the

visitors will buy to help bring the festival in on budget. But they say

it can't be underestimated, the quarter of a million people who

attend the event. Last year they spent nearly �9 million to help the

economy. And it's businesses across the city

that rely on a share of that money to boost their annual profits.

see an absolute spike, it is the busiest weekend of the summer. We

have people from 9am until midnight. We need all the money we can get in

the till at this time of year so that it helps us through winter. In

January and February, a can be very quiet down here. With dozens of

Water Week activities like sailing lessons and historic tours already

underway, organisers are confident the change to a fuller day-time

programme won't affect the cultural That being looked very nice!

You're watching BBC Points West this Tuesday evening. And there's

still plenty coming up on tonight's programme: A far cry from a Banksy,

the blot on the Bristol landscape that proves graffiti isn't always

seen as art. And the German bomber uncovered in

a back garden. We go on a dig with a difference in Somerset.

A Swindon man with learning difficulties who'd been missing

from home for more than two days has been found. 42-year-old Philip

Panting disappeared on his bike on Sunday morning. His family alerted

police and said he may have been trying to head to Exeter after

overhearing his parents talking about a trip there. He was found

this afternoon in Bridgwater. A man's been sent to prison after

knocking down a parking attendant at a supermarket in Bristol. Martin

Takle had left his car in a parent and child space at the ASDA store

in Bedminster. He was given a �60 penalty charge for wrongly using

the space, but as he raced off, he knocked the attendant to the ground.

He's been jailed for six months for dangerous driving and banned from

driving for 15 months. Now would you like to get your

hands on one of Cheltenham's most historic buildings? The Municipal

Offices could be on the market soon because the council says it will

cost too much to renovate them. They're meeting tonight to discuss

the sale. But with grants being cut and council tax frozen, is it any

wonder councils are looking at selling off the family silver?

It's the iconic image of Cheltenham on the postcards. The centre piece

of this popular regency town. For almost 100 years, this building has

been home for the council. But they say it's not fit for purpose. And

it would cost almost �7 million to modernise it, money which the

council say could be better spent. The council will meet tonight to

decide whether or not to keep paying the growing maintenance cost

or put the building up for sale. The main issue is using the space

we have got flexibly. Take my office for example, we have got a

meeting table here, a breakout space there and a workstation

behind me. Most of the time, there is only me occupying all three of

those spaces. If we were in an open-plan space, and I would expect

that, then we would be using that accommodation in a much more

effective way down we are currently. One of the preferred options for

this listed building is to sell it off as a hotel, something which may

be highly desirable for many developers. There are a lot of

buildings, particularly coming up through the public sector, but they

are often the second the property is. Something in a prime location

such as the municipal buildings is very rare to come onto the market.

So it is likely it could be snapped up? There will be a very strong

demand. But don't forget this is a local icon and for some, the

thought of it being a private business is just too much to bear.

Resell far too much stuff these days in this country. We need to

retain a some of our assets and buildings are one of them. This is

part of our history. You destroyed this and you destroy part of

Cheltenham. The proposal is still at a very early stage, although

councils are under increasing pressure as the government cuts

back on its funding and council tax is frozen. But what councils like

Cheltenham do have is assets like this and may feel the time has come

to cash in the family silver. For years, cancer patients in

Swindon needing radiotherapy have had to travel to Oxford. It's meant

a 70-mile round trip which can be exhausting for patients. But

Swindon NHS says it's talking to providers to see whether the

treatment can be made available locally in the future. Brennan

Nicholls reports. Sharon knows all too well the

effect of making the trip from Swindon to Oxford for radiotherapy.

Her mother had to go from taxi to Oxford. She did not want to get

into the taxi, but at the same time, she wanted to have treatment

because she didn't want to die. She was very, very sick and nauseous so

they would have to stop along the way to make sure that she could

throw up. Five years ago, Sharon herself was diagnosed with breast

cancer. Five times a week, for five weeks, she had to get to Oxford for

treatment. People do not ask to have cancelled all to have to

travel to Oxford, but what they do need is some support to make sure

that we have got treatment centres going on locally so that they can

get the best possible treatment without having to face that

horrendous journey. This woman runs the army cancer group in Swindon.

She says the patients are desperate for things do change. We have been

trying to do this for years and it looks as though it is moving a bit

now, but it will take several years before we can get it in Swindon.

But it takes so much money, we are talking millions. It would be so

good if we could get some services here. It seems as though there is

real hope: NHS Swindon says it is about to pull at a tender for

businesses to bid for a radiotherapy unit in the town. The

NHS needs to find the right developer who needs all the

necessary criteria. Police have again asked for anyone

with information about the shooting of a man in Bristol to come forward.

Rico Gordon was shot dead on Stapleton Road on 3rd July. Police

want to talk to anyone who was there, or in the Coach House pub,

at the time. A ninth man was arrested at the weekend and has

been released on bail. Anyone planning to go to this

year's Balloon Fiesta in Bristol is being advised to buy parking

tickets in good time. Half of the available car parking spaces have

already been sold. More than 100 balloons will be on display at this

year's Fiesta, which runs from the 11-14th August. Parking can be

booked on the balloon fiesta website.

A piece of graffiti written on a cliff face of the Avon Gorge might

not be removed because doing so could damage rare plant life. The

slogan, painted in large white letters, appeared a couple of weeks

ago. Leaving the National Trust with

something of a dilemma - leave it there to protect plants or risk

poisoning the plants and just paint over the whole slogan. Here's Jules

Hyam. It's a world renowned landmark of

Bristol, but the Avon Gorge isn't looking quite like it used to. This

slogan is clearly visible to motorists and tourists on boat

cruises. It is a shame because the court is an iconic place and it is

a shame to have that intruding. Having said that, the majority of

people do not see it, I think. It is a relatively small piece of

graffiti in a very large site. stretch of the gorge has been home

to more creative political expressions - a sculpture made of

up rubbish collected in the area was created in 2008, and back in

1999 these artists were commissioned to paint a seem of

gold in the gorge cliff walls. Bristol seems to have a double

edged relationship with graffiti. If it is witty and intelligent,

then it tends to be celebrated and could become protected. But if it

is a giant slogan painted on one of the most natural landscape, most

people wanted to be removed. The trouble is, it is not always easy

to do. It is not the most accessible of sides, but the site

is a really important for wildlife so we have to get consent from the

government advisers that anything we do well not have a detrimental

effect. Avon gorge is the only place where you can come across

particular plants in Britain and we would not want to lose something

special like that. To make sure that the plants stay, the graffiti

will probably stay until the weather does the job of getting rid

of it. Mess created by pigeons in central

Swindon has got so bad that birds of prey have been brought in to

scare them away. Parts of the courtyard near the library have

become inaccessible and there's a growing concern that droppings

could pose a serious health and safety threat. Katharine Da Costa

reports. This is one of a pair of walks

built-in -- brought in to protect the library. The pigeons had

colonised the area and there were a lot of nests in various areas that

were inaccessible to us. The droppings had accumulated to an

alarming extent, particularly on the balconies, and so it became

apparent that we had to do something urgently. The council

tried culling the pigeons a couple of years ago, but they have since

recolonised and the sheer volume of mess is a potential health hazard.

Now the council is spending �4,000 on the clean-up operation and it is

hoped the birds of prey will prove to be a more permanent deterrent.

Basic principle is to create knowledge in the flock that there

is a predator. We want them to know that this is not a safe place to

breed and that takes time. It does not happen overnight. This court

and his handler will regularly visit the site of the next four

months. It is hoped they will establish a no-fly zone for pigeons

once and for all. Moves to slow down the growth of

breeding seagull pairs in Gloucester have been a success

according to the City Council. It says there are nearly 1,500

breeding pairs in the city. That's an increase of 15% in the last nine

years. Some rooftop nesting sites have been demolished and rooftops

and ledges made 'bird proof'. There were fears the number may have

doubled in the same period if nothing was done.

The wreckage of a German bomber shot down near Bridgwater more than

70 years ago has been uncovered in someone's back garden. The RAF

downed the Heinkel plane after it had been on a bombing raid over

Bristol. Archaeologists have now excavated

the bomber, which for years has been buried under an estate of

bungalows. Steve Powell has more. 6 o'clock, August 14th, 1940. A

German bomber has been attacked by an RAF Spitfire. Its crew have

baled out and the stricken aircraft heads straight towards a village.

Miraculously, nobody was killed. 71 years later, 18 of aviation

enthusiasts have moved into dig up what remains of the plane -- Lord

Justice Levison from the front garden of an unsuspecting

homeowners. They didn't have to dig far before they found what they

were looking for. It has got one of the engine valves. We found quite a

few of those. The best find until now is on the front of the engine,

the Mercedes Benz badge, the emblem. This man has lived in the village

all his life and remembers the events clearly. I remember the

machine gun fire. I remember the plane's going around and round. I

remember it shooting across this way and there was a big hole.

hero was 12 and a plane in an orchard when she was confronted by

the bomber heading straight towards her. We had to bend when it came

over. If we didn't, it would have knocked into us, and that is your

reflexes when you go down like that and something is coming towards you.

You literally have to duck? Yes. an excited 10-year-old, this man

picked up a souvenir which has had been puzzled ever since. What you

have got there is part of the inside of a Giro compose. I have

had that for so many years and I have asked hundreds of people and

no one has known. There was satisfaction at having unearthed

fallible memories of those who were there on that summer's day in a

village that narrowly avoided tragedy.

And solved the mystery is for some as well.

Cricket, and at the Cheltenham Festival, Gloucestershire are

chasing 196 runs to win their latest match in the Clydesdale Bank

40-over competition. Essex recovered from 52 for 7, to make

Bristol Old Vic's production of Swallows and Amazons is heading to

the West End. The show broke box office records and will transfer to

London for a five week run this Christmas. It's the first time

since 1999 that an Old Vic production has transferred to the

West end. It will run at the Vaudeville Theatre before going on

a UK wide tour later. Now, here in the West, we probably

take the sight of a hot air balloon for granted. But this week, seven

balloons from Bristol are giving the city of London a rather special

wake up call. They've flown across the capital

playing specially composed music. Wendy Hurrell's been up with them.

Five am and something very unusual is waking up in the middle of saw

the park. This morning I am -- staring Londoners from their

slumber from 500 metres up. This is the sky Orchestra, magical music by

a Bristol composer Dan Jones, played from seven hot air balloons.

Floating quietly into the air, I am I have actually got tears in my

eyes. The Sun is rising over London, which is even more beautiful. The

music is just incredibly the ethereal. If every morning was like

this... This of project is by a Bristol man, known for putting out

pianos for us to play on city streets. On the ground, the artist

tells me more. The idea is not to wake them up, but just to lift them.

I want them to see their imaginations so they can have

curious dreams. It should be a wonderful wake-up call for London.

Funded by the Mayer's office, this is one of the many wonders we will

see across the UK in the year running up to the Olympics.

An exciting musical idea, I like the idea about.

One way of him voiding the congestion charge if you're going

to the capital! -- of a voiding the Many of you in west Somerset saw

the best of the sunshine, and the world through the course of

tomorrow as well because the further west you are, that is where

most of the sunshine will be. Further east, there will be more in

the way of cloud. But warm for most of us and dry. Pressure is rising

as we go through today and into tomorrow. As you can see from the

chart, the cloudy area across the East of England juxtaposes with the

sunny spots in the West. These weather fronts in the West will

make very slow tortured progress towards us as we go through towards

the end of the week. That means dry conditions much as we have seen

today. The cloud cover has been dominant across some parts of will

two. You have had the best of the sunshine in west Somerset, but more

cloud down the M5 corridor and that is how things will remain towards

this evening. For the rest of the evening, we will continue with the

pleasant sunshine. More cloud in the east, more breaks developing

across the districts. Light winds everywhere and the chance of mist

forming in some spots. Temperatures tonight, not much of a lightness to

last night, anywhere from 11 to 13 or 14 degrees. Tomorrow, we will

start with a variable amounts of cloud, some sunny spells, no repeat

of the showers that we saw this morning, it will be dry everywhere.

It stays that way throughout the day with light winds. The best of

the sunshine will be in the West in two parts of Somerset. Elsewhere,

sunny spells and feeling warm into the afternoon and evening.

Temperatures should be up into the low twenties for everyone. Once

again, favoured spots for the war must consist -- and almost

conditions will be in the south. A similar story for the likes of

Bristol. Under the cloud cover, it will feel very warm. For the end of

the weak, weak weather front coming westwards, particularly on Thursday

and Friday. That will thicken up the cloud on Friday morning,

bringing some possible rain. On Saturday, it looks like a fine day

for everyone and it bodes well for the start of the Bristol Harbour

Festival. There is a flower show and Country Fair in Portishead so

it looks good for them. At 1pm on Friday, I believe that Alex is

opening it. This is how things look into the tail-end of the week and

into the weekend. Temperatures remaining in the low twenties for

everyone. There is the threat of light areas of rain coming our way

on Friday, but that aside, it is dry. As indeed it will be on

Saturday with temperatures around 22. Sunday should follow in similar

fashion. It bodes well for the weekend.

I will be there, and thank you very much, I have put in a special order

for good weather! That is it did. I will be back with