18/10/2013 BBC Wales Today

from the BBC News at Six. So it's goodbye from me, and

Welcome to Wales Today. Our top story. It sold of public land in

controversial deals worth millions. The government investment fund

responsible is to be shut down. They put lives and homes at risk.

The damning assessment of the body tasked with preventing flooding of

the Gwent levels. Also tonight, why you could be missing out on a fuel

discount if you live in rural Wales. Paul Morris about 18,000 tonnes of

waste is to be dumped on his land. A judge says he is appalled. In sport,

a message from the manager to the fans. Malkin Kaya says sorry for the

off field trouble and maintains he wasn't asked to leave Cardiff City.

I wasn't asked to resign. At no time did I think of resigning from the

football club. They stopped their village being submerged from

underwater. Good evening. Tonight to the Welsh

government has wound up the regeneration investment fund for

Wales. It follows concerns the taxpayer lost out one parcels of

land was sold to a private company without an open tendering process.

The fund has been at the centre of investigations by the public

spending watchdog and the police say they are considering looking at it

activities. 16 parcels of land in Wales sold in

a deal worth ?20 million. In terms of the number of sites, it was one

of the biggest disposal is of public land for many years. The question

is, did the taxpayer get value for money? The regeneration investment

fund was set up to redevelop town centres like this one. Its funding

came from the Welsh government and the EU. The Welsh government sold

the parcels of land in order to raise its share of the money.

Managers of the investment fund handled that sales of them. The

sites were bought by a company in Guernsey and it is that sale process

which has come under scrutiny. The land wasn't sold in an open

tendering process. Instead, a number of agents and developers were

approached. The conservative end that Mac AM first referred the

matter to the audit office. We know very valuable land has been sold to

preferred purchasers for a round about ?20 million. And I am

concerned about that. I want to see transparency and accountability. At

the moment, I am not happy with it. The Welsh government and the company

which bought the land have both defended the deal, saying the sale

price was above the market rate, and that after years of lying idle,

there will now be economic activity there. So, the Welsh government

hasn't waited for the result of this investigation. How significant is

it? We've had this extended enquiry, to internal enquiries by

the government and the possibility of a police investigation. And the

Welsh government is saying it's not going to wait for any of the results

but it is going to wind it up now. In a statement from the housing

minister, he talks about his lack of confidence in the effectiveness of

this fund because of all these investigations. And there is a

practical element as well. The money is locked in. He wants to get it out

to carry on with the original intention, which is to regenerate

town centres and, in particular, we generation of beliefs -- Leith town

centre. You've been following this story for months, what is going to

happen next? I'm told the audit office will look to complete its

investigation by the end of the year, but it is in the hands of what

the detectives decide to do. They've looked at this case and they've got

to make a decision whether to launch a formal investigation. In the heart

of this is the sale of more than 100 acres of land on the edge of

Cardiff. It was sold from the public to the private sector at an

agricultural rate of about ?15,000 an acre, and it was sold for months

before that land was designated for housing by Cardiff Council.

Potentially increasing hugely the value of the land. There is a

claw-back mechanism which means that the taxpayer could benefit from the

uplift of that value of that land but it's no more than 15%. Any

investigation, that is the heart of what is being looked at. Thank you

very much. AMs say the lives and homes of

thousands of people could have been at risk because of poor management

at a public body. The Caldicot and Wentlooge Internal Drainage Board

helps stop flooding on the Gwent Levels. Auditors have already

accused it of misusing public money, and now the assembly's Public

Accounts Committee has added its criticism, as Daniel Davies reports.

The Gwent Levels, a drainage system defends this low-lying coast land

between Cardiff and Chepstow from flooding. The Caldicot and Wentlooge

Internal Drainage Board manages it but following criticism by auditors

last year, AMs have waded in with their own damning report. These

ditches are what has stopped this unique and -- landscape from

flooding, protecting the livelihood of people who live here. The

drainage board was managed so badly, that their properties and lives

could have been at risk. It adds there is evidence of overseas trips

that have little or no business case to justify them. In 2005, 37 people

went on a three-day inspection visit to Venice costing more than ?4000.

Another trip to Northern Ireland for 28 people which included a visit to

the Giants Causeway and distillery cost nearly ?5,000. This is a prime

example of how not to run a publicly funded organisation. It has been a

disaster in the government's arrangement of the board, very

little accountability, and we have to remember that this drainage board

was responsible for protecting thousands of homes, businesses, and

critical infrastructure in South Wales. Despite what was going on

behind-the-scenes, some of those who live on the levels have no

complaints about the work of the board does. Like John Evans who has

lived here 50 years without being flooded. This used to be a farm. I'm

not a farmer. Essentially, we had no problem at all. The board know when

to do maintenance. They come to us, we don't go to them. It's been no

problem to us. The government says changes have been made at the board

but it's looking to transfer its powers and those of Wales' two other

boards. The decision is expected next month. If ministers get their

way, the board itself may very well be ditched.

The MP for Brecon and Radnor says he'll be lobbying the Treasury to

try and persuade them to include rural Powys as an area that should

get cheaper petrol and diesel. Five remote areas of Wales had been put

forward as needing cheaper fuel, but the British government has not

included any of them in a list submitted to the EU for a fuel

rebate of 5p per litre. Nick Palit reports.

The roads of rural Powys are long, winding and beautiful, if you're a

tourist. But for those who live and work in this area of Wales, the

sheer distance between communities and vital services like doctors and

supermarkets mean the car is vital. But the ever increasing cost of fuel

is placing an unfair burden on people who live in places like this.

The government applied to the European Union for a fuel discount

scheme of 5p per litre to be extended to rural communities across

Britain, including five in Wales. Today came the news that Ceredigion,

Gwynedd, Powys, Anglesey and Monmouthshire were not successful.

It would have been nice to have a longer list but on the other hand

what matters most is having something that we've got a

reasonable chance of being agreed and make happen. MP Roger Williams

drives about 20,000 miles a year on parliamentary business. His

constituency is 1,000 square miles, and he's furious his area will miss

out on the fuel rebate. We are profoundly disappointed that Powys

isn't getting any subsidy and also that no part of Wales is as well.

We've been making recommendations to the Treasury that they look at this

again. It's got to take it into account that people in rural areas

depend more on their cars than people in urban areas. This petrol

station is the only place to get fuel for miles. The price is already

much more expensive than in towns and cities. Local people just don't

have a choice. A reduction of 5p a litre on petrol or diesel would save

about ?3 50 on the average family car every time you fill up. It might

not seem much but with the big distances involved in rural areas

like this, those savings could add up. I think we pay far too much, to

be honest. It is very expensive because we are rural. And it's a

long way to get to the nearest supermarket etc? Yes. I know just

how hard the independent struggle in those areas to be competitive

against their nearest supermarket is. For now, prices remain high. The

campaign to reduce them continues. A woman died in a fire. The roof

caved in. The cause of the fire which started at 7am is under

investigation. A woman who stole more than 900

designer handbags over three years has been jailed for 18 months. Jayne

Rand, who was eventually caught in a shopping centre in Cwmbran, admitted

stealing from stores across the UK and then selling some of the bags on

eBay. He allowed 80,000 tonnes of waste to

be dumped on land near Tredegar in Blaenau Gwent. It left nearby

woodland polluted and closed foot paths. Paul Morris from Ebbw Vale

has been given a ten-month suspended sentence for his crime. .

A familiar Greenland scape in Blaenau Gwent. Three years ago, this

was turned into a dumping ground for 80,000 tonnes of decomposing waste,

harmful pollutants seeping into the soil into nearby woods and closing

foot paths. At the time, ammonia levels while quite high, probably

heading towards the equivalent of sewage. This crime was purely

financially driven. It undermined legitimate operators in the

business. Just to give you an idea of scale, this time in holds ten

tonnes of waste. It would take 8000 of these to retrieve all the waste

that was dumped illegally. Paul Morris was paid ?283,000 for

allowing the waste to be dumped on the land which he owned at the time.

Delivering a ten month suspended sentence, the judge told Mr Morris

that the only reason his offences came to light because the nearby

woodland had become polluted as a result of the waste he allowed to be

dumped on his land. Up until then, he said, he was getting away with it

covering the waste with soil. The judge said he was appalled. Mr

Morris will complete 300 hours of unpaid work. He could be forced to

pay back much of the money he received for allowing further waste

to be dumped under the proceeds of crime act. That'll resources Wales

hope this prosecution may prevent others from breaking the law. --

natural resources Wales. You're watching Wales Today, plenty

still ahead. Cardiff's manager says sorry to fans

for the recent turmoil at the club, and insists he was never asked to

resign by owner Vincent Tan. And the small community's fight to

stop their homes being lost under water half a century ago.

The idea is to create a city region from the beaches of Pembrokeshire to

the industrial heartland of Port Talbot. Today that vision, seen as a

way of giving a boost to the economy, moved a step closer. Here's

our Economics Correspondent, Sarah Dickins.

Try the long and it might look like so many other new roads. -- drive

along. It is the fourth in final stage around Port Talbot but it's

hope it won't just be that travel but also make it easier for business

to invest. In a nearby hotel, the people driving the idea of Swansea

Bay city region are trying to get businesses involved and to convince

them the whole area will benefit. It's not just the football the

rugby. There is a reason to come here other than the national

environment, because you can make money, you can do business, it is a

great place to live and work and you can make money. As one as ideas, the

whole city region concept is about practical change, physical change.

This site is being developed for a new campus firth Swansea University.

-- for Swansea University. It is about developing innovation. Along

the coast, there is still some convincing to be done. To put

sitting next to Pembrokeshire is wrong. It's one end of the stick,

which is all about bourbon, and the other, which is all about a relaxed

urban environment. I'm sorry, it's not appropriate. It would have a

population of 700,000 people and it is argued that together the

communities could achieve much more than working separately. And that

they would also have a stronger voice bidding for European Union

funds. There are lots of very lonely people out there in the rural areas

that need transport to take them to various things because not every

authority, not every town is going to be able to have all the

facilities. There is a long journey ahead before the communities of

South Wales actors one. Big companies are already firmly behind

the project. It might be that smaller businesses might be harder

to convince. A loan shark, who provided loans at

an extortionate interest rate without a licence, has been given a

ten month suspended prison sentence. Graeme Walker from Connah's Quay had

already been jailed for selling sports memorabilia with fake

signatures of Premier League footballers.

Graeme Walker made his money from desperate people. He offered what a

judge called astronomical interest rates on loans at an average of

66,000% APR from shops like this one in Mold, now under new ownership.

But he wasn't licensed to offer such loans, meaning his customers had no

legal protection. Vulnerable people generally, typically living on

benefits, single mothers with young children, nowhere else to go with

the banks not entertaining any application for loans. That is the

reality these days, desperate times, desperate measures. An earlier brush

with the law came five years ago when Graeme Walker was jailed for 30

months for fraud. He'd been selling football memorabilia from a shop in

Chester which had fake signatures claiming to be those of Steven

Gerrard and Wayne Rooney among others. With legitimate payday loan

companies springing up online and in the high street and more traditional

methods like banks and credit unions like this one, it might seem like

it's never been easier to borrow money sensibly but there are those

who don't have any other alternative. The North Wales Credit

Union has 12,000 customers who prefer its local, community-based

approach to money lending. Though it doesn't only help those on low

incomes, staff say it's often the poorest people in society who find

themselves trapped in a cycle of debt and vulnerable to unscrupulous

lenders. Let's use the analogy of a drug addict. If somebody wants

credit, they are giving them a Kwik-Fit 's, not solving the

problem. -- giving them a quick fix. We need to look at education in

schools, education of credits. Graeme Walker was given a ten-month

jail sentence, suspended for 18 months and told to pay back the

?8,000 profit he made as well as ?5,000 in costs. His victims have

been praised for their bravery in coming forward.

Tonight's sport and some clarity from the Cardiff City manager today,

here's Claire. Good evening. Cardiff City Manager,

Malky Mackay has spoken for the first time since the departure of

his close ally and head of recruitment, Iain Moody. He took the

opportunity to offer fans a sincere apology and stressed he was never

asked to resign by owner Vincent Tan. After all the recent turmoil,

Malky MacKay facing the media for the first time and keen to draw a

line under the matter but not before clearly stating he wasn't asked to

leave the club. Under no circumstances was I asked to resign.

And at no time did I think of resigning. I want to protect my

players. Going forward I want to talk about football. To replace Ian

Moody with an unknown 23-year-old left Malky MacKay in a vulnerable

position. He insisted Moody's departure was not down to an

overspend. Many fans had been outraged by the crisis brought on by

the club itself, feeling its repetition has been damaged. The

manager today had a clear message for supporters. I'm very sorry to

the fans for what they've been through over the last couple of

weeks. It's been a difficult time for them, where their club has been

put under the spotlight from non-footballing matters. I feel

where they are coming from. Someone else having their say on matters is

life president of the club and former owner speaking via a WebCam

from Lebanon. He defended the owner Vincent Tan insisting the moderation

hadn't interfered with team matters. When you interfere, you are meddling

with something you're not supposed to be doing. How can someone like

Vincent Tan, who owns the whole dam thing, be interfering with something

that belongs to him? Cardiff are keen to put this behind them and

it'd half trip to Arsenal tomorrow. Swansea City are home to Sunderland.

Michael Laudrup is still without Ashley Williams. He has confirmed he

will continue to rest him while he recovers from an ankle problem. This

is a huge week for us. We have three home games in eight days. Two good

results in the league, we will go to a or 13 points. That would mean a

lot for us. And that confidence it gives us to win. Christian Jolley

will be back in training next week. York are the visitors have his team.

Wrexham are at home to Woking in the conference.

And you can hear much more from Sam Hamman, Sport Wales is over on BBC

Two Wales, straight after us, from 7pm.

There's another fascinating weekend of European rugby ahead. The

Scarlets led the way in round one, and tomorrow they host Racing Metro,

who include Wales flanker Dan Lydiate in their side. The Ospreys

desperately need something from their trip to Northampton on Sunday.

And there's a big cross-border match in the Amlin, too, as the Dragons

head to Bath. It's been a week of turmoil at the

Blues, after their thrashing at Exeter. They sacked defence coach

Rob Powell this week. Pontypridd chief Dale McIntosh is his

replacement. The region face European Champions Toulon at the

Arms Park tomorrow, a huge challenge after a week of stinging criticism.

It was a difficult Monday morning, waking up. But we are professional

players and we've got to take criticism on the chin. Sometimes

that happens in sport, sometimes you do things you don't want to do in

life, that's the way it happens. But we have been really good in the

week, tough sessions, and it's been keeping us going.

A massive game for them against the European champions. That's it from

me, have a great weekend, Tomos. Thank you.

50 years ago, a small rural community in Carmarthenshire found

itself under threat. Swansea Water Corporation wanted to flood part of

the Gwendraeth Valley to provide water for the city. Homes and

livelihoods in Llangyndeyrn would've been lost forever. But, as Cemlyn

Davies reports, there was no way the villagers were going to let that

happen. In the centre of Llangyndeyrn, a stone monument

stands tall and a proud, a symbol of the way this community stood up to

the authorities half a century ago. There would have been an 80 foot

down around us, right around, and in front of us, the file -- the whole

valley would have been drowned. Huw Williams would have lost his home

and livelihood had Swansea Water Corporation's plans gone ahead. But

50 years on, Pantteg farm is still here. There was no weak link in the

chain. We united. In unity we had strength. That is the secret of all

of this. Yes, we all pull together. After a long legal battle, officials

and engineers from the Swansea Corporation arrived in Llangyndeyrn

on the 21st October 1963. But having been tipped off by a reporter, the

villagers were ready for them and farmers had parked machinery behind

chained gates to block access to their land. Well, they were taking

our homes and livelihoods, and so forth. I personally and some of the

others who had recently married and started farming, and so we had

everything to fight for. Eventually the corporation admitted defeat. The

people of Llangyndeyrn had one. In the meantime, of course, campaigners

in North Wales were fighting a similar battle. That one would end

very differently. Work on the Tryweryn dam near Bala was well

under way in 1963 and, despite strong opposition, the village of

Capel Celyn was flooded two years later. People are more acquainted

with it. It received more attention. It became almost a national symbol

for injustice to Welsh communities, and possibly, it fed into a sense of

victimhood. There is more appetite for success stories in the next

century. Over the next week, a series of events will be held in

Llangyndeyrn to thank those who stood firm all those years ago to

ensure the community is still here today.

That was on the struggle to save Llangyndeyrn.

Let's get the weather forecast for the weekend, Behnaz is here.

Let's get the weather forecast for We've got a bit of everything in a

forecast for this weekend. And it was rain, a little bit of sun, it is

going to be windy at times, but plenty of dry weather as well. This

evening, a cloudy night with some torrential downpours. Not for all of

us but for many of us. This is the pressure chart showing the warm

front that brought the rain through. Behind this, a cold front bringing

some cloud and heavy downpours through this evening. It's not very

pleasant especially in the north and west. Further south and east, it is

patchy and it will intensify through the evening. On the plus side, we've

got mild air sitting across us and temperatures not lower than 12 in

the Brecon Beacons, 14 in Newport. Quite a breezy might as well. Strong

to gale force winds. The pressure chart shows low pressure through

tomorrow for the rest of the weekend and for the start of next week. With

that, strong winds and also some showers. First thing tomorrow,

strong winds coming in from the south. You will notice them. Showers

by the afternoon. And they could be thundery. It will, some brightness

in between those showers. Highs of 15-17. That breeze easing as we go

into tomorrow afternoon and evening. The rain and showers ease off

tomorrow night. Just a few scattered showers, and then overnight, they

picked up again and we hang on to the cloud and it'll be another mild

night with temperatures 12-14. We hang on to the breeze again into

Sunday morning. Blustery showers to come on Sunday, equally some

brightness in between. I'm hopeful that those showers will fizzle out

by the afternoon and we will see more in the way of sunshine with

highs of 40-16. Considering the average is 13, we're not doing too

badly at all. It will feel pleasant in the sunshine. Monday morning, wet

and windy conditions spelling up from the south, so another wet data

come. It will clear through by Tuesday. Today's picture is a stormy

scene taken in Pembrokeshire. Thank you very much for sending that in

and we would love to see more of your pictures. Back to you.

It's coming up to 7pm. The main news again. A coroner has ruled that

neglect contributed to the deaths of five elderly residents at a care

home in Sussex. She said there was institutionalised abuse throughout

orchid few care home and nobody did anything about it. The Welsh

government has wound up the regeneration investment fund

designed to invest in town centres across the country because the

taxpayer lost out when land was sold to private companies without an open

tendering process. That's it for now. They will be more

at 8pm and 10:25pm. Don't forget about our updates throughout the

weekend, starting just after 1pm tomorrow afternoon. From all of us,

goodbye for now.