20/02/2012 BBC Points West

Good evening and welcome to Points West. In our headlines tonight: The

final whistle. Bristol City says its new stadium at Ashton Vale will

now go ahead. Remembering Reverend Suddards. A

two hour vigil tonight in the town where he died.

Powering ahead and powering down. The differing futures for two of

our nuclear power stations. And Hakuna Matata. Why the Hippodrome

says it has no worries about the First tonight, it looks as though

Bristol City's battle to build a new stadium at Ashton Vale could

finally be won. The club has been looking for a new home for years,

but the row over their chosen site has been long and bitter.

Today there were dramatic developments, with both the

football club and Bristol City Council announcing that the last

legal hurdle had been dropped - a claim that was immediately denied

by their opponents. Here's David Passmore.

At stake, one of the largest development proposals in the south

west and one of the most divisive planning rows in decades. Planning

permission has been granted for a 30,000 seater stadium at Ashton

Vale. But the �90m project has been halted by those who want the land

designated a town green which would prevent any development. The

Council suggested a compromise with half the site becoming a town green

and the stadium built on the other half. But opponents wanted the

entire site to become a town green and recently a judge said the

matter should be subject to a full judicial review. Things started to

hot up this morning when the council announced that the battle

was over and that the application for judicial review had been

withdrawn. The unknown person who bought the

judicial Rigby who has now withdrawn that which means our

judgment last year stands and the stadium can now be developed.

But within minutes, this was denied by opponents of the scheme saying

the "claiment had been subject to harassment and intimidation" and

that they would substitute another applicant immediately. The club

welcomed the news, but remained cautious about whether and when

they would press the go button. So, once again, claims that the

protracted planning row could be over may be proved to be premature.

Opponents say they will continue to fight.

David joins us now, what everyone wants to know is, is this the end

of the row and can the stadium go ahead or not?

We would all love to know that. All day it has been a battle of

statement and counter statement. A legal table-tennis. Until this

afternoon, it was fairly finely balanced. The issue about whether

the applicant he wanted to take to judicial review could withdraw it

or could they be substituted. This evening, the council issued what

they believe is the most relevant document. A letter, which the name

has been blanked out, but we assume it is the letter from the applicant

saying very clearly that they want to withdraw the application to take

the whole matter to the courts. They definitely don't want a

substitute coming in and they definitely do want a stadium to go

ahead. So this would seem to be the end of the matter, but as anyone

who follows the story would know, opponents are determined and say

they will fight on. They may challenge this in the courts and

the fact that they can't have a substitute. So although the council

believes this is the end of the matter, it is probably not.

All intents and purposes it looks like a green light, but are Bristol

City equipped to go ahead? They say they are. They still have loose

ends to tie up. They have to buy a couple of small bits of land, but

they claim that three months from the point of which they press the

go Burton, they can start building. The town of Thornbury will come

together tonight to hold a vigil for their murdered vicar. The body

of the Reverend John Suddards was discovered last Tuesday morning,

but it's believed he was killed sometime on Monday night. This

evening, people will gather between ten o'clock and midnight to

remember him. Our reporter, Jules Hyam is in Thornbury now.

Good evening. In just over three hours time we are expecting many

people from the parish and local community to begin arriving here

for that the jail. It will be a chance for people to pay their

respects and reflect on the life of Rev Frank John Suddards. He was

only 59 and a man he was well educated. Peter and the Church in

his thirties and came here to St Mary's in Thornbury just seven

short months ago. The Church has been open throughout the day for

people to privately remember their reverent. Or to publicly state

their thoughts and feelings in a book of condolence. Flicking

through the pages of that, there are many many messages that talk

about a man who was warm, kind, deeply spiritual. A man who was an

inspiration and a man who clearly deeply connected, not just with his

community here, but also with many in his former parish in Essex. They

are holding a formal memorial tonight, here there is a quiet

Feigel. As both communities come to terms with the death, outside the

walls of the Church we can see police vans and high-visibility

jackets that remind us that his death is still the subject of a

criminal investigation. In custody a 47 year-old man who is being

questioned by the police over two murders. They have been granted an

extra six hours to question him. Thank you very much.

Next, as you may have seen earlier this hour, it looks like we're all

heading for a drought. There's been so little rain over the last couple

of years, that reservoirs and rivers across the country are

already running low. To try and avoid water shortages,

people in parts of Wiltshire are now being asked to voluntarily

reduce the amount of water they use. Laura Jones reports.

The river Kennet, poetically described by Sir John Betjemen and

loved by anglers across the country, is in a pretty sorry state. It

usually flows from near Avebury in Wiltshire to Reading, but at the

moment it's not flowing at all. At this time of year, you'd usually

expect there to be a good two to three feet of water in here and for

it to be full of trout and grayling, but today, as you can see, it's

completely dry. It's not just a problem here, it's

been an unusually dry couple of years, and it looks like we're

heading for a nationwide drought. Water companies are asking for our

help. Water in this country is a finite resource. It is in short

supply and it is not the blend of all things that we can just turn

the taps on and forget about it. Doing simple things like turning of

the tap when we brush our teeth can save six litres per minute.

last time things were this bad when 1976. Everyone's hoping to avoid

scenes like these, but it's not looking good. And farmers are

warning that without water, food prices will soar. Back in Wiltshire,

a group set up to save the Kennet say that more needs to be done -

and fast. For most people the price of water

is not a deterrent. People who are really hard up have to be protected,

but for most of us we should pay more, we should be more efficient

and we should have a lot more metering. In every country where

metering is introduced, people use less water.

Thames water say that by reducing our water use, and with the help of

water saving gadgets avaiable for free on their website, we can all

do our bit to help. But many fear that unless we're forced to use

less, by having to pay more for it, nothing's really going to change.

Well, a little earlier I spoke to Karen Gibbs at the Consumer Council

for Water and asked her who was to blame for the situation.

The situation that we are in has been driven by the weather

conditions over the last couple of years. What is important now is how

the water industry, the companies, the Environment Agency, work

together to manage the situation. The bottom line is, our bills are

thick, so where is the incentive to use less water? The incentive is to

ensure that we can serve the water that is available for public supply

for as long as possible to ensure that we can meet our needs for

water through what is clearly an unusual situation in terms of the

weather conditions. Do you think water is too cheap? Prices of gas

and electricity are rising, water seems to be constant. Do you think

people need to change their mind set about water usage? I think it

is important that we recognise that water resources are under pressure.

We have a growing population, we are subject to a changing climate

and weather conditions so it is really important that there his

resilience and the water system, but we must begin to recognise that

we can't just take water for granted. It is important that we

balance the needs of customers with the pressure and potential damage

that it is caused to the environment. Thank you very much.

Well, apart from Thames Water, we're served by Wessex, Severn

Trent and Bristol Water, here in the West. We've spoken to all of

them today and whilst they say that supplies are OK at the moment, they

too are urging us to use water wisely.

A 69-year-old man from Bristol has been spared jail after pleading

guilty to sexually assaulting a 79- year-old woman on New Year's Day.

Malcolm Dearlove, was sentenced to six weeks suspended for two years.

The attack happened mid-morning, as the woman was shopping in

Bedminster. He'd pleaded guilty at a previous hearing.

A man has been found guilty of battering to death a 47-year-old

man at a flat in Fishponds. Bristol Crown Court heard that Timothy

Crooke was the victim of a prolonged and vicious assault.

Thomas Tibbatts was found guilty of his murder by a majority verdict of

10-2. He's received a mandatory life sentence and will serve at

least 14 years. 23-year-old Zarah Bryant, who was also standing trial,

was found not guilty of murder. The Chief Constable of Wiltshire

Police has been appointed as the interim Head of the UK Border Force.

Brian Moore became Wiltshire's Chief Constable in January 2008.

Since then Wiltshire's crime figures have been so low it's been

named as the safest county in England and Wales. Home Secretary

Theresa May announced Brian Moore's new role in the House of Commons

this afternoon. I do not believe the answer to the very significant

problems exposed is just a series of management changes. The border

force needs a whole new management culture and I can tell the House

today that I have appointed Brian Moore, currently the chief

constable of Wiltshire police, as the interim head of the Board of

force. Brian Moore's deputy, Patrick

Geenty, will take charge of Wiltshire Police until a new Chief

Constable is appointed later this year.

Welcome to Monday's Points West, temperature's rising and as the

Lion King roars into Bristol, find out how the Hippodrome is preparing

It is going to get a lot milder in the week ahead with temperatures up

to the mid- teens. Otherwise the week looks largely dry. More

details later. And as the Lion King roars into

Bristol, find out how the Hippodrome is preparing to deal

Protestors who've been served an eviction order to leave the site of

the proposed new nuclear power station in Somerset say they've no

intention of moving. The group began their occupation of a barn

close to Hinkley Point about a week ago. Meanwhile people living in the

shadow of the power station say they're being ignored by the

planning authority who have to decide whether the new nuclear

reactors are built. Clinton Rogers reports. The protestors insist this

isn't a game to them, it's a question of protecting democracy.

And they say they'll keep the camp fires burning - even under threat

of eviction from the landowners EDF Energy. There are certainly some of

us who are prepared to fight this all the way and they are going to

literally have to carry as out of here because until we get a chance

to have democratic scrutiny of these plans and return the power to

the people about what happens in their country, we are prepared to

keep fighting. EDF has applied to build the first of a new breed of

nuclear reactors right next to their original station at Hinkley

Point. They've been given permission to start the groundwork

- even though they don't have approval yet. That's what's angered

these protestors who say it's like digging foundations for a new house

before you've got planning permission. This weekend, EDF

served them legal paperwork, a lot of it, warning of action in the

High Court next week to make this and any future occupation illegal

and a contempt of court. They say they hope the protestors will leave

of their own accord. Meanwhile there is anger today in villages

which sit in the very shadow of Hinkley Point. A new body called

the Infrastructure Planning Commission will decide in the end

whether Hinkley C should be built. Yet while the parish of Stogursey

will suffer the brunt of any building disruption for a decade,

they've been left off a list of places where the IPC will hold

public meetings. We are at the host parish that is going to take this

massive project, if not the biggest project in Europe, on our doorstep.

We have not even been given floorspace to hear our views.

statement was issued this afternoon saying that this village had not

been forgotten, the list of public meetings they had published was

merely a draft one but that has done little to appease people here

who believe they are being ignored over one of the biggest decisions

to effect this region for a generation. This afternoon new

protestors were making their way to the Hinkley occupation site. On

many fronts this is a battle with a long way to run yet. Well, as EDF

pushes ahead with a new nuclear reactor at Hinkley, just 50 or so

miles up the coast, another of our power stations is about to be

switched off completely. Oldbury opened in 1967 the two reactor

plant on the south of the river Severn has been generating power

for 20 years longer than planned, but next week it will finally stop

operating. Our Gloucestershire reporter Steve Knibbs has been

along to see how the shutdown has been progressing. When Oldbury

Power Station was built in the 60's it was seen as one of the ways of

future proofing power generation. There was also a promise of lower

bills. The answer we all want to know is will it mean cheaper

electricity? Not immediately but in the foreseeable future we expect it

well. Once Oldbury was generating it was part of a small number of

nuclear power stations. But at the official opening it was recognised

that that number would soon grow. It was 10 years after the first

atom bomb at Hiroshima that power was flowing into ye be read in this

country and since then there has been a steady development of

nuclear power but we are only at the beginning of the beginning of

the development of nuclear power. The nuclear reactors here have

powered the turbines for over 40 years - providing huge amounts of

electricity to the grid. The high tech control room of the 1960's has

hardly changed today. But now Oldbury, which is the oldest

operating nuclear power station in the world, is about to power down.

Last year reactor 2 was shut off and next week the button will be

pushed to stop reactor 1. Then the work of decomissioning will begin.

There is a lot of work to do following that in terms of making

the plant safe in terms of the hazards stored here. We have to

remove all the fuel stored over the next few years and release that for

processing in Cumbria. There are chemicals on side that we have to

make safe and we will do that with our teams here over the next 12

months or so. After that we have got a lot of work to do in terms of

playing away other hazards on the site and demolishing buildings.

That will take as a roughly 10 years to complete. But the future

of nuclear power at Oldbury isn't over. This land has been identified

as one of 8 in the country where a new nuclear power station could be

built. It's a debate that's very real at the moment - with the

government committing itself to nuclear power. As for Oldbury Power

Station, it will one day be razed to the ground, but not for 100

years at least. Weston Super Mare's famous outdoor swimming pool, which

has been closed for a decade, WILL be pulled down by the summer.

That's the pledge made by councillors speaking on Inside Out

West tonight. As our business correspondent Dave Harvey reports,

the demolition decision comes despite a campaign to save the

Tropicana supported by 4,000 local residents. I can remember having

loads of nice days as a child here. Whether it's the weather was sunny

and warm or cold you still got in and slam and enjoyed it, it was a

day out. But those were the glory days. This is the Trop today. For

the first time in a decade, our cameras have been allowed inside.

Wow, it didn't quite estate, and you think enough is enough? It has

gone too far. There has been nothing that has come forward yet

to make us think this is a viable proposition so we think the answer

is to demolish. Councillor Tony Lake quite simply thinks the

Tropicana is beyond saving. But not everyone is prepared to drop the

Trop without a fight. Derek Mead, a local farmer cum property developer,

has shown Inside Out West his new plans for a simple community pool,

open air and not for profit. Charitable trusts have been

suggested before but dismissed out of hand by the council. And he's

not alone. Last week's decision to demolish the Tropicana was taken

against huge protests. 4,000 signed a petition, including the man who

rebuilt the pier. And he says a similar miracle could be worked on

the Tropicana. It is out of date the way it looks today but you

could argue that DPR were out of date and today we have a brand new

modern peer and tomorrow we could have a brand new modern proper can

a. -- Tropicana. Until now, these two have never met to discuss Mr

Mead's new plan. It's the only thing standing between the

Tropicana and the bulldozers. So will the councillors relent? Its

quite an encounter. But is the sun finally going down on Weston's much

loved lido? Find out tonight, inside out west, BBC One at 7:30.

Swindon Town Manager Paolo Di Canio has selected a 21-year-old amateur

in a competition to win a one year contract with the Robins. Chris

Smith from Stoke was among 5,000 talented youngsters who tried out

for a chance to play with the professionals. Four of them were

chosen to train with the first team and the young defender was the

final choice. In a club like this it can be even more exciting for a

young player. I am really happy for him. Over the past so many months I

have been working hard and putting in the effort and thankfully it has

paid off. And you can find out the whole story and how Paolo really

broke the news to Chris Smith on Late Kick Off tonight here on BBC

One at 11:05. And high-flying Swindon along with fellow promotion

contenders Cheltenham are in action tomorrow night. Di Canio's side

face Shrewsbury looking for their eighth successive league win having

beaten Hereford 2-1 at the weekend. Cheltenham, who lie one place above

Swindon in second, take on AFC Wimbledon following a 5-0 hammering

Disney's award-winning show The Lion King comes to the Bristol

Hippodrome later this year, marking the start of its first ever UK tour.

But to accommodate such a huge production the theatre will have to

close for a couple of weeks to do the structural work needed for the

40 tonnes of scenery. Michelle Pascal was at the launch this

afternoon and managed to talk to Thomas Schumacher, the man behind

the magic. This is a show that's been seen by over 65 million people

worldwide since its Broadway premiere in 97. And now it's coming

to Bristol - so when and for how long? I love Bristol. It is

brilliant to be here and bring a show of this scale here. We are

going to open this summer. At the end of August we will be here with

this story. You will remember these characters who we know from this

story, many people know it from the film but this production is pure

theatre. It is huge beautiful scenery. So what is it that makes

the Lion King so popular? There it is a story of you and me but we

Telek with animals. It is such a huge production it will be so hard

to fit it into the Hippodrome. is a wonderful theatre. But it is

100 years old. We have had to adapt the house so that actors can come

down the aisles. We have had to rebuild the stage and Poots based

backstage for an hour whole crew. It is a lot of work but it is such

a great theatre how could we do otherwise? The tickets go on Sale

this Wednesday. That looks amazing. They have a seeing that means no

worries. -- saying. Now what's happening with the weather? The

chance of anything profoundly cold has been put at 20% by the Met

Office for the next couple of weeks. Temperatures will continue to climb

and there will be little in the way of green which will do little to

ameliorate the problems we saw earlier with levels of water in

rivers. Through the rest of tomorrow it will be another mild

day, breezy and largely dry. We will see temperatures increasing.

If we run through today deep Blue is shifting away, that arctic air

late mild beer until Thursday. -- increasingly mild beer. -- air.

Temperatures potentially reaching 16 Celsius in southern England, the

record for February set in 1998 was 19.7. I do not think we will see

that but certainly 16 is quite possible. The weather charts in the

if bull glory then showing little in the we of rain between now and

Wednesday. -- India full glory. There will be plenty of rain during

the course of Wednesday afternoon. Through tonight it is just a

moderate breeze. We have had a few showers around which will die off.

A fair amount of cloud around but some clear spells too. Temperatures

could drop in the rural spots down to one Celsius. Urban area is will

be around five Celsius. Not as cold as last night. Tomorrow will see a

good deal of cloud cover around, the risk of showers in the extreme

north-western districts. Otherwise drive. Temperatures will peak

around 10 or 11 Celsius. A good deal milder than that come Thursday.