04/10/2011 BBC Points West

Hello and welcome to BBC Points West. In the headlines tonight:

Bristol becomes the focus of the World's media. The Jo Yeates'

murder trial gets underway amid international interest.

Getting backed into a corner. The council defying the government over

changes to disabled driving permits. Also tonight: Who's going to

replace Keith Millen as manager at Bristol City? We'll have the latest.

And inspiring the next generation of athletes. Why a Bristol school

is launching a wheelchair Good evening. First, news crews

from across the world descended on Bristol today for the start of the

Jo Yeates murder trial. The Dutch architect Vincent Tabak

appeared in the dock accused of the murder of the 25-year-old. And by

the end of the day, the 12 members of the jury had been selected. Our

Home Affairs Correspondent, Steve Brodie was there.

Journalists and photographers from all over Europe here to witness the

start of this high profile trial. 25-year-old Jo Yeates disappeared

last December. Her body was found on Christmas morning beside a road

near Long Ashton. She had been strangled.

Dutch national, Vincent Tabak, sat in the glass panelled dock dressed

in a dark suit, dark tie and wearing glasses. He listened

intently as lawyers discussed how the trial will be run. The first

decision of the judge, Mr Justice Field, was that professional

journalists could use twitter to cover the hearing.

As two security guards sat behind him, he spoke only to confirm his

name. Vincent Tabak has already pleaded guilty to the manslaughter

of Jo. Tomorrow the jury will be sworn in and then there will be a

delay for legal argument and the trial is expected to begin on

Families who were affected by the allegations of abuse at

Winterbourne View private hospital in South Gloucetsershire have been

invited to a public meeting to discuss the investigation into what

happened there. Specialist lawyers will be on hand to help people with

their compensation claims. The meeting's also likely to offer help

to families who had relatives at other Castlebeck run homes, such as

Rose Villa in Bristol. A fire has ripped through the roofs

of two properties in Wellington. Smoke was seen billowing from a row

of houses in Clifford Terrace at lunchtime today. A man and a woman

received medical attention at the scene. It's not known what caused

the fire. Senior Conservatives are trying to

calm fears that countryside in the West is in danger if ministers go

ahead and simplify planning regulations. Their plans have

sparked criticism that it could become much easier for developers

to dig up green fields. Our political editor Paul Barltrop is

at the Conservative conference in Manchester.

One of the themes of this year's conference has been cutting through

red tape and that is what the government wants to do with the

planning system. 1000 pages of regulations will be pruned to about

50. It is one phrase in particular that has put the cat among the

pigeons. The proposed reforms at the gate a

presumption in favour of sustainable development. Some fear

that will put our green fields in danger. Those campaigning against

it include the National Trust. Staff from their Swindon head

office have been touring the conference lobbying politicians.

What we fear will happen is that developers will bring forward

development in inappropriate places and local authority will find it

difficult to turn that down because if they do, the developer will

appeal. Because of the way documents are written, their appeal

will be upheld. At the conference, leadership have tried to reassure

rank and file his instincts are in every sense conservative. The

Secretary of State insists the fears are exaggerated. We need a

system which is quicker and provide greater certainty for local firms

and local residents. It is not a choice between the countryside all

concrete. Our countryside is one of the best things that makes Britain

great and we will protect it. areas of the West pursue new

housing developments. Often there has been strong opposition from

local communities. MPs like to be on their side. Chris Skidmore

reckons that helped him win his seat from Labour. He backs the

government reforms, but believes there must be more houses built.

We have got to have a debate about the fact that there are hundreds of

thousands of people on waiting list. Hundreds of thousands of young

people, as our population grows, who need to the owls. We have got

to decide where we want those houses to be built. This tussle is

far from over. Behind the scenes, people have been invited to talk to

ministers. At the moment it is at the consultation phase. It could be

next year that we find out what comes of these proposals.

You are watching BBC Points West. There is plenty more to tell you

about including the one of documentary about organ donation.

We find out what the programme hopes to achieve.

And, say hi to hydrogen. We meet the scientist trying to get

schoolchildren fired up about chemistry.

That is to come, but first, the council in world share claims the

Government's many of bring them into a tight spot over disabled

parking permits. At the moment, drivers in will share get them for

nothing, but a new system is being bought in that will make the whole

system complicated and more expensive.

The blue parking badge, there are 24,000 of them in circulation in

Wiltshire alone. Of course, we would all like a parking privileges

that they bring, but nobody wants the disability or illness that it

Now the rules are being tightened and getting a badge may be more

difficult than squeezing into a small space. The council in

Wiltshire is simply refusing to go along with the Government's new

regulations. The new form this 22 pages of form

and 27 pages of guidance. I think it is over the top and they should

make a simple system for areas where there is not a lot of fraud.

Will show council says it already has a system cracked. It is blue

badges out free to drivers in emergencies in 48 hours. The

application is simple and the cost is less than �5 per badge. Under

the new system, drivers would have to pay �10, fill in that

complicated 22 page application and the processing cost would be three

times higher, �15.20. Disabled parking originally with

orange badges was introduced in 1970, but from day one they have

been open to abuse. This fit furniture remover was caught with a

badge in his windscreen. What we are having in place of the outdated

system is one more resilient to fraud. It is not just people in

Welsher, people from outside the area can come in with their blue

badges and people from Wiltshire can go elsewhere with their blue

badges. It is important we have a system that emanates fraud and make

sure parking spaces are available for those who need them. Do you use

the library? Do you go to the Post Office? The Blue badge is vital.

is wonderful for us to have the badge. The government things far

too many families are using ground dance parking permit -- parking

pass long after he needs it. Will show council do not think it is a

problem and one to extend the scheme for patients suffering with

dementia and injured soldiers coming back from Afghanistan.

In the last few minutes, the Transport Secretary has said he

will now look at a compromise for will show.

This time yesterday, we were telling you how Bristol City had

parted company with Keith Millen. 24 hour later, the hunt is on for a

new manager. Many Names have been put forward,

some familiar, some less for. What is the latest their adulation?

All speculation although I can bring you one fact, Steve Wigley

says he will not be applying for the job. Opiate and Louis Carey

said they were disappointed at Keith Millen's departure and the

desperate need to bring about that change in the club's fortunes.

think everybody knows there were not too many people who worked hard

so there is a real shame and it is really sad it has not panned out

the way he had expected. A what I expect for the next few days, we

are going to have to work very hard. Some of the lads that have been

around the team and not playing, we will be telling them they will be

doing a bit extra to top them up and they are in the best possible

shape for the new manager. David, who are the names in the frame?

carried out as many as you like. This particular bookmaker has 14

names. Mark Robins is the top of theirs. And Rotherham manager

recently. Any list like this will include out-of-work managers at

this level. Managers and agents are keen to put their name forward just

to be his their profile. Others include Dave Jones, the former

Cardiff boss. Billy Davies recently sacked by Nottingham Forest. Sean

O'Driscoll of Doncaster Rovers and many bets have been placed on Derek

McInnes. How Carsley is it going to be for City to get rid of Keith

Millen? It is not cheap. He signed a three-year contract last August.

What normally happens is they pay out part of the contract and the

manager is free to go off and seek another job. That would not have

been a major concern, they did want to hang on and hope that Keith

Millen could achieve success, but Saturday's defeat forced their hand.

The League managers' Association said today that the total cost of

getting rid of managers last season was �100 million. The average life

expectancy of a manager in the championship is just 12 months.

There is Bobby Gould the former manager of Bristol Rovers. He said

when you get a new job as a manager, do not move house.

More of the sports, there is football tonight in the Johnsons

paint trophy. Swindon are at Exeter, Cheltenham at Whitcombe and Yeovil

play at Bournemouth. There is BBC local radio commentary. Millfield

School in Somerset has been chosen as a training base for the Russian

Olympic swimming team. The squad will be using Millfield's swimming

pool for 11 days in the run-up to next year's Games.

In rugby, Gloucester may not have their outspoken Samoan player back

from the World Cup as soon as they would like. He has been suspended

by the International Rugby Board after failing to appear at a

judicial hearing in Auckland. He said he was not informed. He

criticised Nigel Owens on a social networking website and will remain

suspended until the new hearing can be held.

Final preparations for this is Weston Beach race are nearly

complete. The course is being carved into the sand and some

riders have been giving it a test run today. 400 have signed up for

the motorbike so they event and 200 for the quad bikes. Organisers say

upwards of 90,000 people are expected to watch. All very

spectacular. Thank you very much.

It is not every day and Olympic medallist comes to coach at your P

E lesson, but that is what youngsters in Yeovil were treated

to today along with the chance to try a new sport. There is a try to

get more wheelchair basketball played in schools and in Somerset,

thousands of pounds have been raped two sub -- at raised to provide

much-needed equipment. James Browning won a gold as part

of the American wheelchair basketball team in 2004. Today, she

is sharing year eight and that you do not have to be disabled to

enjoyed the sport. Every time you see that Kidd have that moment

where they go, this is so firm, and that realisation that they can do

that is something I can do. I obviously have a special place in

my heart for any kid with a disability that has that feeling.

They may think they can't do it and then suddenly they Belfast and

sporty and that sensation is what we are going for. I thought it was

really fun and exciting. It was not that easy to control because you

are not going as fast and it is It made you think about other ways

of doing sport. It's one of a series of sessions that's all about

being inclusive. A lot of children in mainstream schools don't take

part in PE lessons. They don't join in team games. This is fun because

it is a team game. A school could have these chairs, use them for

their PE lessons, and put the whole class in. Sports wheelchairs aren't

cheap. These ones have been specially designed by a company

called Motivation, based in the West. The money for them was raised

by local people. The thing that lives with me are the words of a

couple of disabled athletes who said, finding sport changed their

lives completely. If that happens for one or two of the kids in the

area, it has been a fantastic project. It's hoped the new

equipment will inspire more youngsters to try wheelchair

basketball and maybe even uncover the next generation of Paralympians

at the same time. A one-off documentary is being

broadcast on BBC1 tonight which gives a rare insight into organ

donation. It follows the process from start

to finish and demonstrates how one person's death can lead to a number

of lives being saved. Let's take a look at the start of the programme.

There was a point she would not wake up and she bled again. They

take you into a room and there is a table on with a box of tissues and

at that point you know what is really bad. They were trying to

bring her back but they failed. It was not their fault.

This morning, Penney was declared brain stem dead. Of the 1,500

people who die each day in the UK, she is just one of three who become

organ donors. Well, joining us in the studio is

Abigail Gill from the UK's Blood and Transplant Centre which is

based in Filton. Abigail, we heard a statistic there that 1,500 people

die in the UK every day and only three of them are organ donors.

What's your reaction to that? think it will surprise people that

so few deaths result in organ donation. But something that goes

some way to helping that is families talking about what their

wishes are. The families will then know what decisions to make and

what he wishes are. Why do you think this programme is important?

It is important because to go through the story and show positive

outcomes, the people's lives who was saved by the receiving

transplants, three people die in the UK every day waiting for a

transplant and that is a very high number. For the 10,000 people on

the waiting list, there are only cure is to have a transplant.

a very honest documentary. We have got another clip which is graphic

in places. It looks like any ordinary surgery.

We tried very much to respect the donor as much as possible and treat

the body with respect. You are aware that it is the end of a life

but, you realise it is the beginning of so many other lives

from this one life. In this case, I think three lives

were saved. Is that common? It is. One person can save up to nine

people's lives just by donating their organs. A huge difference can

be made by one person. The key things that we would like people to

think about and families to think about is to talk with their

families and relatives about what their wishes are and may be signed

up on to the register so that their wishes can then be respected.

if they don't want to donate, to know either way that you do it or

not is important. Generally, when people do not to make, is it quite

often apathy? Or two people just not like the idea of it? 90 % of

the population support organ donation but a lot of people don't

get around to signing the register. However, that is not the problem.

As long as you let family members know what your wishes are and, in

the case of this programme, that is exactly what happens. The lady had

let the family know so they knew when the question was asked, they

knew what to answer. It is on at 10:35pm on BBC One.

A young musician who grew up in Wells is hoping his latest single

will be a hit in the charts. He's one half of an unsigned, little-

known pop duo called Bitter Ruin. And, without a manager, they have

celebrity backing on the social networking site Twitter to thank

for their success. The actor Stephen Fry tweeted a link to their

video to his three million followers on the internet site and

overnight it received thousands of views. Ria Chatterjee has this

If and manufactured music is one industry phrase way you to hearing,

this band could herald the start of a new one, the DIY band. Unsigned

and and managed. The huge Tyneside -- downside is the marketing and

promotion. We don't get any help from magazines. Everything we do is

s sat in a room with our laptops sending a press. We just rely on

word of mouth. They say they don't really fit into a particular

musical genre but a lot of their songs play out like a duel. They

have completed seven tours across the USA and Europe, written three

albums, and all the while used statist updates to create a fan-

base. Veteran Twitter member Stephen Fry said, I recommended

this already. Support independent art. After that one message, the

hits on their fatal link went up into the thousands. It is really

humbling when someone like Stephen Fry says he likes you music, in

particular because he gets thousands of people sent him

messages every day. He very rarely talks about music. Social

networking has become the two of choice for many musicians. The

Arctic Monty's broke through thanks to their own internet hype. Justin

be there was spotted after his own music videos were found on YouTube.

And Rebecca Black's video led to a hail of internet abuse as the worst

song ever. This band did all of their own groundwork to register on

the charts. Now they are hoping to get a good spot.

It is the new way. Their mission - to inspire young

minds, to fire up enthusiasm and turn ordinary 10-year-olds into

wannabe scientists. Chemists, to be precise.

Today at Cheltenham Ladies' College, the secrets of forensics, liquid

nitrogen and chocolate were laid bare as part of a day-long

celebration of the science. Here's Jules Hyam.

Just how do you get this lot excited about hydrogen? Well, that

It is sometimes more like a magic show than a science lesson but that

is exactly what this is. Science. number of experiments we were doing

today were quite excitable for the youngsters, taking science they

already understand from the national curriculum to show them in

terms of chemicals they would get in schools because not many schools

will have access to such things, having to do explosions and using a

very cold materials excites them in their own rights. They only get to

see these experiments on YouTube. Let's see what happens to the

carnations in liquid nitrogen. We are calling our flowers down to -

196. Today it is all about the elements that exist in the air.

They are being used to freeze carnations and explode balloons. It

is all about getting these youngsters are thinking about

chemistry and how the world works. Part of the solution to the problem

of the planet at the moment with the climate change and resources,

it is the next bunch of scientists and engineers and journalists and

politicians. They need to have a good understanding of science for

us to tackle these problems. think it was really good. Really

exciting. I really liked it when he poured the liquid nitrogen on the

floor. I thought it was really cool because of all the loud bangs.

used to think it was quite ill because all we used to do was write

stuff and a draw but now I think it is fun because of the chemistry.

is quite nice when they spontaneously give you a round of

applause and I tell them, it is not me they are applauding but the

chemistry. Today, they certainly did.

They looked really excited. Brilliant.

I loved it. I did A-level in science. Let's turn to another

scientist who is going to help us So far things are going pretty much

to plan. Tomorrow will be a Foley warm day. There will be a variable

amount of cloud around. In the West, it will be thicker than a further

eastwards. But by the end of the day we will all see some spells of

rain. Things are changing courtesy of the fact we have had a weather

front straddled across the West Country. It is now going back north.

Tomorrow we will see things brightening up across eastern areas

but, later in the day, this cold front sweeps its way southwards and

that will introduce some rain and introduce some much cooler air from

the north-west. That will be a feature of the weather into the

weekend. This evening, we do have some patchy outbreaks of light rain.

Generally a good deal of cloud around. But under those conditions,

it will be a Foley mild night. Temperatures somewhere between 13

and 15 degrees Celsius. Tomorrow we will get something of mixed

fortunes. If you are anywhere to the east of the M5, you have got a

Foley good chance of the majority of the day being bright. And then

here comes that cold front. Some outbreaks of rain could be quite

heavy. Quite windy by the evening period. Temperatures, having said

that, around 19 degree Celsius. That includes under the cloud cover.

If you get some sunshine, you might well touch about 20 degrees Celsius.

The sea temperature still around 16 degrees Celsius. Things are going

to cool down. Once that cold front passes, behind that, we are into

this north-westerly flow and those temperatures will reflect that. 14

Celsius at best on Thursday. A good deal of bright weather but some

showers as well. On Friday, with high pressure bridging up from the

south-west, still Foley cool. A reasonable part of Saturday should

Those temperatures are half what we had last week.