14/01/2014 BBC Wales Today

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Welcome to Wales Today, our top story: Businesses abandoning our

high streets because of business rates. Some are paying twice as much

as they should. New figures tonight show fewer of us hit the shops over

Christmas. Can anything turn round our town centres?

Our other headlines: Big changes for the countryside. Farmers' financial

support will fall with a warning food prices could rise. When I glued

to the supermarket to buy may meet and everything else, it is going to

cost me more. If it costs me more I need more money before I decide to

buy it. The body of a retired vicar found in

this house had probably been there almost three years, an inquest

hears. It's a multi billion pounds industry

but shrouded in controversy. Britain's drone centre of excellence

marks ten years in Aberporth. And Jonathan Davies picked for the

Six Nations despite injury stopping him from playing until March.

Good evening. Retailers are abandoning the high street partly it

seems because of the cost of business rates. Some are paying

twice as much as they should, according to a Welsh property

expert. This evening, Assembly Members have decided to put a limit

on the amount rates can be increased. Here's our economics

correspondent Sarah Dickins. The centre of Newport is certainly

seen better times. It is littered with letting signs and well-known

brands like Marks Spencer have moved out. This is rates have become

a bigger burden for companies here in Newport and across Wales. They

are meant to be half of what you would pay to rent a property. Andrew

west is a property expert and says commercial rents have plummeted

since the financial crisis of 2008 and rates set at the height of the

market has continued to rise. What we see in Newport is typical of the

lot of high Street where a lot of mainline retailers have moved out of

talent, desert the high Street and that decline becomes worse. ?117,000

was the value given to the shop in 2008, now ?65,000 houses the

rentable value and the rate is Bill is just more than ?54,000. Almost

twice what, in theory, it should be. This man has been mending watches as

the mid-60s. He says he had to pass on extra rates cost to customers. We

had to increase our prices to cover it. It is not the advantage of the

camp -- customer. If we had to employ people I don't think we would

be competitive. What has happened here in Newport has been replicated

in towns and cities across Wales. Since the recession the rentable

value has fallen but their rates has continued to rise. Now, in some

places, people are paying twice the level of rates. The news business

rates will now rise by 2%, not more than 3%, has been welcomed with

reservations. We have deep concerns about the business rates system in

Wales. There are some particular problems in Wales which means small

businesses just qualified for paying business rates, they pay a higher

rate than the equivalence businesses across-the-board. He means that the

formerly used to calculate individual rates bills. What would

really help companies would be for properties to be revalued. That is

not expected to happen until 2017. There will be pressure on the Welsh

Government to change that. Sarah is here with me now. There's

obvious frustration about business rates. But how much disappointment

will there be around those Christmas figures? If you remember just before

Christmas we were hearing good news from the centre of Cardiff and I

think a lot of people thought we were back in the shops and spending.

Figures by the retail Consortium today represent a large retailers

and what they are saying is the number of those that when shopping

in December fell by 3.8%. What is significant is that as much worse

than the UK average. We do need to be a little bit cautious because

these are just the results from a selection of talent centres. The

non-statistical for all of Wales. The other little bit worrying. We

had thought the economy was picking up and this is a slightly grey

cloud. Later in the week we will get more official figures in terms of

what we spent and where we spent it. Thank you very much.

Police investigating allegations of historical sexual abuse at care

homes in north Wales have arrested a 71-year-old man from the Ellesmere

Port area of Cheshire. He's being questioned over suspected sexual

assaults against two boys. He's the 19th person arrested as part of

Operation Pallial. BBC Wales understands four key

figures of the company which wants to build a barrage in the Severn

Estuary have resigned. The chairman and the chief executive are among

those who have left Hafren Power in the past two months. Hafren's plans

for a ?25 billion barrage between South Wales and Somerset failed to

gain support from the UK Government last year.

The body of a retired vicar which was found in a house at Llandegfan

on Anglesey last October had probably lain there for almost three

years with his wife still living in the property. An inquest was told

that police were called to the house on welfare grounds after neighbours

reported not seeing the Reverend Basil Bevan, who was in eighties,

for some time. Our reporter Roger Pinney was at the inquest. Basil

Bevan and his wife Pauline Bevan were known to live eccentric

lifestyles. Neighbours have become sufficiently concerned to get in

touch with the police. When police arrived they spoke to Pauline Bevan

and decided she was unwell and arranged for her to go to hospital.

Inside the house, he found a body in the memory fight state. In

interviews, Pauline Bevan was able to recall how her husband suffered a

heart attack on the 11th of November 2010. The coroner said he believed

on the balance of probabilities Reverend Bevan had died of heart

disease. Mrs Bevan is still unwell and could not attend the inquest

today. The UK Government has been accused of treating Wales as the

runt of the litter. The economist Gerald Coll firm told MPs plans to

give the Welsh governments in control of income tax and unusable.

He said devolving stamp duty and landfill tax would raise sons one

third of a percent. Plaid Cymru has announced a

slimmed-down cabinet in the lead-up to the next Welsh Assembly elections

in 2016. There are only five people in the new team with Llyr Gruffydd,

Elin Jones, Rhun ap Iorwerth and Simon Thomas joining leader Leanne

Wood. It's a multi billion pound industry

and Wales is at the forefront of testing the latest technology. Parc

Aberporth in Ceredigion is marking ten years of being the controversial

home to Britain's "drone centre of excellence". Charlotte Dubenskij.

On the edge of the sleepy seaside towns of Aberporth, aerial systems

or drones are a regular sight whizzing across the sky. It is

estimated this technology is worth around ?8 billion every year to the

Welsh economy. It is here at West Wales airport new models try out

their wings. While some unmanned aerial systems are designed to be

deployed for military operations as the technology becomes refined

drones are being developed for everyday use for police

surveillance, for farmers to check on their crops or even to film the

news. The online retailer, Amazon, has also expressed interest in using

drones to deliver orders. Their main purpose so far is for use by the

military and that has proved controversial. Last year more than

one that protested outside this site calling for the end of military

drone testing. The National aeronautical centre has been

operational for a decade. It is now expanding to North Wales. Wales has

another opportunity to deliver accommodation for this unique

development which we believe is going to be very big in the future.

On the worldwide marketplace, assessed by the UK Government for

civilian applications for unmanned systems is ?100 billion a year. But

this criticism that despite investments from the Welsh

Government of ?70 million in part -- in Parc Aberporth, the promise of

jobs has not materialised. We were told jobs with the created and the

buildings at Parc Aberporth would be full of companies employing local

people and having a major impact on the local economy. That hasn't

happened. The Welsh Government says it continues to support the civil OT

piloted a system sector where there is intentional for high-growth. The

next decade could see some major changes in the skies above us.

Whether jobs on the ground will follow is not quite so certain.

Much more to come before seven o'clock. Rescuing the ruins. How the

recent storms have uncovered our past. Major changes to the help

farmers receive will be changed. Our environment correspondence Iolo ap

Dafydd is on a farm in the Vale of Glamorgan for us tonight.

These are radical, significant changes, possibly the biggest for

decades. This is the government taking the long view. There are

criticisms in terms of potential loss of income for some farmers and

potentially food prices could go up. But broadly it has been welcomed.

They will be three regions in payments in Wales are three

different payment rate. Midwinter in Powys and the landlocked almost

barren. Many farms at on -- and on what they

call unfavourable land. 80% of Wales is classified as severely

disadvantaged land, or disadvantaged. Thousands of farmers

contribute to the Welsh economy. Their produce was popular at a

breakfast in the Assembly this morning. The government wants

farmers to be more resilient and efficient. Cap reform underpins this

work and will also help build a stronger ruble Wales, strengthening

agriculture and boosting the ruble economy. There are 16,000 claimants

who received the wrecked payments in Wales will stop agriculture is

valued at ?240.5 million a year. With forestry and fisheries

contribute, .5 6% of the economy. He announced three new regions where

farmers will be paid different rates depending on the type of land they

work. The government says 10,000 farmers may benefit while 3600 of

those claiming direct farm payments will have relatively modest losses.

Reducing the amount of the more productive Lowlands will impact some

farmers. The ministers want fans to be more efficient and resilient. --

farmers. He has got to look at our side of things as well. People need

food. If you haven't got food, you've got nothing. If you wanted to

shut the land you won't get is back for years and years. The Welsh

Government says it intends to cap payments on larger holdings and

there will be a five-year period of adjustment until 2019. The real aim

is to wean hundreds of farmers off subsidies and tried to make

businesses more self-sustaining. If you look at farm businesses, the

income of agriculture is significantly affected and

influenced by the magnitude of these single payment. Any decisions

relating to that as significant and therefore very important. Ack in

Anglesey, this farmer keeps 500 sheep and Breeze 300 cattle for B.

He claims with less direct payments they will be a knock-on effect on

food production. If you don't have enough farm payments does it impact

on how many sheep or cattle Yuki? That you keep. You go

self-sufficient and in other words, it doesn't matter about anybody

else. Today's announcement by the Welsh Government have been based on

two independent reports. Those reports have not been published.

These are significant changes and many farmers will see some changes

in terms of how much they will get in terms of farming income. They

will be an adjustment period. Over five period -- years until 2019.

Alun Davies is the minister responsible for the countryside and

he is in Cardiff Bay. As the farm in our reporter was saying, our food

prices are going to go up. What we're looking at doing is making an

announcement that will lead to efficient agriculture in Wales. I

want to be fair to farmers, to Beatles Palance in terms of how we

distribute farm incomes and support but at the same time ensure we have

sufficient funds. -- to be more transparent. If we simply rely on

the subsidy that is declining in real terms value, we will endanger

food production and we will endanger the economic future of the

countryside. What we're doing is using subsidy payments available to

invest in a long-term future. England is paying directly -- is

paying more money directly to farmers. It is not investing in

those future. It would be simpler to write a cheque, pay the bills for

today and tomorrow but if it is a competition between the short-term

and long-term, investment in the long term makes a greater sense in

how we spend taxpayers money. We want to ensure we have a vibrant,

agricultural sector in Wales, underpinning the global economy not

just for this year and next year but in the future. That is why I want to

use the funds available to invest in that future. Many of these small

farms are not commercially viable. You say that but if you look at the

numbers and the date and the facts, you will see many of our farms are

actually becoming more efficient and more profitable. But we need to do

is work with farmers, work with the agricultural industry to make as

many farms as possible viable. We have got fabulous produce in Wales,

all of us should be proud of what farmers produce. We need to make

sure we continue to do that in the future.

What price do we put on our heritage? That's the question

Swansea Council is debating this evening. A report has warned that 20

listed buildings in the area are at extreme risk and the local

authority, which is facing budget cuts of ?45 million, simply doesn't

have the money to protect them. Carwyn Jones reports.

A Victorian pier, a Norman castle, an iconic lighthouse. Just three of

the 515 this structures in the city and County of Swansea. According to

the cult of conservation team, 48 of the buildings have reached such a

critical state of this repair a have been deemed at risk. Swiss cottage

is one of them. It dates back to 1826. It is vital to restore

heritage like this. We seem to have so little of it left. The wartime

bombing and recent redevelopment and clearances have removed so much of

what would have been good to keep. One in every ten listed building in

this county is at risk. This has behind me is one of 20 deemed to be

at extreme risk. This is a council owned building. That preserves the

local authority with a challenge. Where did it find the money to

preserve the past where it is facing budget cuts ?45 million the next

three years? There is lots of difficult decisions to be made. The

key viruses identifying where the buildings are, looking at the

community to see how we can support the community and unlock some

investment. That means securing funding from other sources to

protect some of the most honourable buildings. Ten separate structures

on the copper work site and at extreme risk. Swansea University got

half a million funding from Europe. The long-term aim is to bring them

into sustainable use, perhaps for the community business or

educational purposes so they have a viable future. But not every listed

building is in public ownership. Dunbar house and the Palace Theatre

and in private hands. The council says it can't afford to buy these

buildings. It looks like the fight to preserve the past is a battle

that is far from over. Tonight's top sports stories now

with Ashleigh. In the turbulent world of Welsh

rugby, for once, a very straight forward announcement today. Warren

Gatland has picked everyone you would expect in Wales' squad for the

defence of the Six Nations title, with no uncapped players and all the

familiar faces. That includes the injured trio of captain Sam

Warburton, prop Gethin Jenkins and centre Jonathan Davies.

It is a squad that stands on the edge of greatness. No team has won

the six Nations three times in a row. That is what Wales will try to

do over the next two months. 28 of them have already won a six Nations

title, this is an experienced group. All be first choice regulars are

there. But the big question surrounds how many matches some

senior players will be able to play. This was the last time somewhat

button took to the field ack in November. He has not played since

because of a shoulder problem. Gethin Jenkins is set for more time

on the sidelines after injuring his knee. His regional codes confirmed

he will miss the start of the six Nations. He had a scan yesterday and

he has a re-occurrence of 40 did against Australia. I don't think it

is as severe as then. Hopefully he will be back early in the six

Nations. It is difficult but time on it. Another player entered in the

autumn, Jonathan Davies is expected back into the fray even later

sometime in March. The tournaments will be moving towards a close and a

trip to Twickenham. By that stage it is likely Wales could have more

walking wounded. Warren Gatland is likely to add to the group. The only

recent regulator miss out is Lloyd Williams. He has slipped behind

Gareth Owen and Rhodri Williams. In other news, a deal has been struck

to save elite level swimming at the Wales National Pool in Swansea. The

future of the pool as an elite training centre was guaranteed only

until this summers' Commonwealth Games. London 2012 bid not glitter

with gold force women is. It lost ?4 million of funding after just

managing one silver and two bronze. But an elite centre will survive in

Swans and, British swimming will make an investment until 2016 into

swim Wales, Welsh swimming is governing body. It is up and running

and healthy and hopefully this announcement wail ensure that we

carry on with elite performance swimming in Swansea. But it will

have two provides a steady stream of swimmers to compete in Olympic Games

and head an ambitious target of seven medals at the Glasgow

Commonwealth Games. With new funding comes new responsibility. This will

be a Welsh run centre for the first time full stop as well as making

sure the cash flows in two performances they will be trying to

stop the tide flowing out. The difficulty was highlighted today of

all days. Top coach is leaving Swansea after seven is to take a

proposed in Australia. Georgia Davis Jemma Lowe have already left the

cause of the previous uncertainty. Ellie Simmonds has also departed.

That leaves Jazz Carlin who has seen her coach leave and has to decide

whether to stay in Swansea yon the summer. There is a lot going on and

a lot of heart -- what's happening. Swansea has seen its fair search of

tourists and turns over the past years. -- twists and turns. That is

all your support for tonight. The New Year storms may have left

thousands of pounds of damage, but they have also unearthed part of our

hidden history. The battering waves peeled away layers of sand and

exposed some interesting finds right along our coastline, as Abigail Neal

reports. While the damage inflicted on our

roads and buildings left councils shaking their heads, there may be a

silver lining to this storm cloud. In its wake, what used to lay buried

is now very much in the open four miles of newly exposed ancient

forest is the talk of Tywyn in Gwynedd. Small amounts of those have

been visible over the years. But not the you can see now. It stretches

for miles up the coast. It is an ancient forest floor. It has been

built up over hundreds and thousands of years. It could be 6000 years.

Mr Kendall's daughter took another find, a fossilised deer antler, into

school today for show and tell. At first they thought it was just

something, just would. But they found the an alert was incredibly

old. It has created a lot of interest.

Further south in Newgale, Pembrokeshire, the pebble bank was

pushed across the road revealing more ancient woodland underneath.

The people who lived in this area then what we call hunter gatherers.

They use this woodland as even source to try to catch game, to

collect edible fruits, fun guy in the right time. Serve them at that

time the woodland, or rather the sea, was about a mile and a half

further back. Where there's a coastline military

defences like this cannon are never far away. Two were found by walkers

on Pink Bay in Porthcawl. They're thought to be 200 hundred years old.

And scientists were also able to give us this fascinating 3-D glimpse

of a Georgian bath house underneath Aberystwyth's promenade shelter, the

cavity you can see is it's foundations and may have been the

root cause of the shelter's collapse.

Let's see what the weather has in store. Sue's got the forecast.

No repeat of the dramatic scenes last week that there is more rain in

the forecast, turning wet and windy again tonight. Cloudy with outbreaks

of rain, possibly wintry. Miss Dunhill fork preforming. -- missed

and hill fog. Tomorrow morning, ice is not a problem that is very misty

and murky with low cloud, hill fog. Outbreaks of rain on and off. A few

heavy bursts, unstable air could bring in some hail and thunder.

Still a few blustery showers around. Quite brisk southerly winds.

Temperatures back in double figures for most at ten or 11 degrees.

Despite the rain is will feel milder. Those southerly winds are

drawing up warm air from Spain and Portugal. Showers will ease tomorrow

night and then a right day. Variable cloud, still a few showers around

especially further west. The chart shows no pressure to the west of the

UK, keeping things changeable, showery and breezy for the end of

the week. It remains unsettled on the weekend.

I'll have an update for you here at eight o'clock and again after the

BBC News at ten. That's Wales Today. Thank you for watching, from all of

us on the programme, good evening.