Browse content similar to 04/04/2012. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Hello. We are alive from the headquarters of Anglian Water. I am | :00:13. | :00:18. | |
here to put your questions to the bosses. Who will be affected and | :00:18. | :00:25. | |
who is not? Safety warnings and the Essex | :00:25. | :00:28. | |
Street where a gas blast caused devastation. | :00:28. | :00:34. | |
We are back to see how the changes to the Olympic mountain biking | :00:34. | :00:43. | |
course have gone down with Team Great Britain. | :00:43. | :00:46. | |
Let's hope your garden is fed and watered because, for most of us, | :00:46. | :00:50. | |
from midnight tonight a hosepipe ban comes into force. I'm at the | :00:50. | :00:52. | |
headquarters of our biggest water company, Anglian Water, and I am | :00:52. | :00:56. | |
here to put your questions to the people in charge. They have | :00:56. | :00:58. | |
4.3million customers in this region from Northampton and Milton Keynes | :00:58. | :01:08. | |
:01:08. | :01:09. | ||
in the west to Norfolk in the East. This ban affects all of them and | :01:09. | :01:11. | |
also a million customers who get their water from Veolia Central, | :01:11. | :01:17. | |
the old Three Valleys Water. So how will it affect you? Without a | :01:17. | :01:22. | |
hosepipe you can't water the garden or clean the car or boat. You can't | :01:22. | :01:26. | |
fill a swimming pool or a paddling pool. And you can't clean paths or | :01:26. | :01:30. | |
patios. But there are some exceptions. These people are not | :01:30. | :01:33. | |
included. Blue badge holders, people with ponds which have fish | :01:33. | :01:38. | |
in them and business users. But what happens if you ignore the ban? | :01:38. | :01:41. | |
Well, the water companies can impose a fine of a �1,000. But | :01:41. | :01:44. | |
Anglian Water say they hope it won't come to that and that they | :01:44. | :01:51. | |
will "Take steps to remind" people found using a hosepipe. | :01:51. | :01:56. | |
All of this on the day the rain finally came. So who can and who | :01:56. | :02:06. | |
:02:06. | :02:06. | ||
can't keep the tap running? This report from Alex Dunlop. Make the | :02:06. | :02:10. | |
most of today's downpour, it could be the only way your garden gets a | :02:10. | :02:16. | |
good soaking from now on. But the rules on who can and cannot use a | :02:16. | :02:23. | |
hosepipe are clear cut, they will not apply to businesses. Selling | :02:24. | :02:30. | |
turf, a like this is this, are aggrieved because people cannot | :02:30. | :02:38. | |
water their garden. We want an exemption of 28 days for people to | :02:38. | :02:42. | |
water neuter. People have to go through the winter earning next to | :02:42. | :02:47. | |
nothing, and with this band in the spring, which should be a good time, | :02:47. | :02:53. | |
they are being kicked in the teeth. Where some lose out, others gain. | :02:54. | :03:03. | |
:03:04. | :03:04. | ||
This company cannot cope with the demand for water butts. We have | :03:04. | :03:10. | |
sold half as many water butts in one month as we did in last year. | :03:10. | :03:14. | |
The shadow water minister and Luton MP says thousands of firms will be | :03:14. | :03:20. | |
hit by the hosepipe ban. We need the long awaited reforms that the | :03:20. | :03:23. | |
government promised to make sure they can do more on water | :03:23. | :03:28. | |
efficiency. We know climate change means this will be an increasingly | :03:28. | :03:36. | |
frequent problem. There are some inconsistencies which allow car | :03:36. | :03:44. | |
washing but not other issues, you cannot use a hosepipe in this way. | :03:44. | :03:50. | |
We need to sort this out. From tomorrow we will revisit the | :03:50. | :03:55. | |
drought of 1990, the last time a hosepipe ban was imposed. The next | :03:55. | :04:01. | |
starts in a 5 1/2 hours and local authorities will have to turn up -- | :04:01. | :04:08. | |
turn off some taps, and ornamental fountains. This sports club sources | :04:08. | :04:12. | |
its water from a private borehole. Hopefully the restrictions will not | :04:12. | :04:18. | |
stop us, we are allowed to take out these litres, hopefully we should | :04:18. | :04:23. | |
be all right. The hosepipe ban is bound to affect many and infuriate | :04:23. | :04:30. | |
some. How long will it go on for? That is anybody's guess. The one | :04:30. | :04:39. | |
two decades ago lasted 288 days. want to hear from you during this | :04:39. | :04:49. | |
:04:49. | :04:52. | ||
programme. You know the address, I am sure. Please do get in touch. | :04:53. | :04:57. | |
Why can these people not use water from the hosepipe? The last thing | :04:57. | :05:04. | |
we would want to do is put a business in jeopardy, but, they use | :05:04. | :05:10. | |
an awful lot of water. It will take 28 days on average for the Turf, it | :05:10. | :05:15. | |
get through a 1000 litres of water an hour, a hosepipe, and we must | :05:15. | :05:21. | |
realise we are in a serious drought. You are considering this though? | :05:21. | :05:26. | |
were looking for a way forward at industry level, especially for turf | :05:26. | :05:32. | |
sellers. Will the rain today make any difference at all? It will help | :05:32. | :05:36. | |
with the gardens but not the drought situation. The way the | :05:36. | :05:42. | |
water system works is it recharges through the autumn, October-March. | :05:42. | :05:48. | |
We had two very dry winters, and it needs to rain an awful lot. We have | :05:48. | :05:52. | |
got lots of questions for you. Please keep them coming in. We will | :05:52. | :05:57. | |
give them to Martin during the second half of the programme. | :05:57. | :06:00. | |
Every time somebody stops us doing anything somebody will feel hard | :06:00. | :06:03. | |
done by, especially if the ban affects them but not the person | :06:03. | :06:09. | |
living next door. Let's go live to Kim Riley in Suffolk. Yes. I am in | :06:09. | :06:15. | |
the market town here, is reverse winding in from the distance, and | :06:15. | :06:21. | |
it has been raining. I am standing on the bridge on Bridge Street. If | :06:21. | :06:25. | |
I move in this direction and point you to those houses, they get water | :06:25. | :06:31. | |
from Essex and Suffolk Water. No hosepipe ban for them at midnight, | :06:31. | :06:37. | |
but a few yards down, of the bridge, talk to these people and they have | :06:37. | :06:42. | |
the water from Anglian Water and will have a ban from midnight. I | :06:42. | :06:48. | |
have people on either side of the divide here. You can carry on using | :06:48. | :06:54. | |
your hosepipe with gay abandon. we can. And our next door | :06:54. | :07:02. | |
neighbours can be fined �1,000 if they use theirs. You won't be doing | :07:02. | :07:07. | |
that? No, it is grossly unfair when your neighbour is in that situation | :07:07. | :07:12. | |
and you can use as much as you want. Philip, can I come to you. How do | :07:12. | :07:17. | |
you feel about the ban? People will lose things from their garden, you | :07:17. | :07:22. | |
cannot get that on him of water without a hosepipe. You cannot be | :07:22. | :07:27. | |
expected to transport used amounts in cans. It will be very difficult | :07:27. | :07:32. | |
for the Cricket Club, it will be a struggle. Especially if we have | :07:32. | :07:37. | |
another very dry period. Our I know you have strong views about us | :07:37. | :07:42. | |
being careful with water. I think we are very careless. It is a | :07:42. | :07:48. | |
finite thing. We live in a semi- arid part, we are dry here than | :07:48. | :07:54. | |
Spain is. I think we should be more careful with our water. We should | :07:54. | :07:57. | |
conserve it and be more respectful of it which we are not at the | :07:57. | :08:03. | |
moment. I am a great believer in what they call grey water, saving | :08:03. | :08:09. | |
the bath water and putting it in water butts, and using the water | :08:09. | :08:14. | |
from milk bottles to water the plants as well. A lot of ways we | :08:14. | :08:18. | |
can conserve water if we really put our thinking caps on and drive. | :08:18. | :08:24. | |
Thank you. You were telling me, Philip, it was the other way round. | :08:24. | :08:28. | |
The people this end had be banned and that end did not. We have come | :08:28. | :08:38. | |
:08:38. | :08:42. | ||
In some parts of the region have a ban and other parts do not argue | :08:42. | :08:47. | |
doing something wrong? All of our customers are affected and we are | :08:47. | :08:51. | |
very clear, we are bringing it in because we need to because of the | :08:51. | :08:57. | |
drought. It is the first time for 20 years. The if they can do it | :08:57. | :09:03. | |
without a hosepipe ban, why can't without a hosepipe ban, why can't | :09:03. | :09:07. | |
you? We are restricted by Our county boundaries. Will people get | :09:07. | :09:17. | |
:09:17. | :09:17. | ||
a rebate if they cannot use their We are using company and | :09:17. | :09:25. | |
shareholder money, which customers will not pay, as well. Why can't we | :09:25. | :09:34. | |
have desalination plants? It costs are about �100 more per litre to | :09:34. | :09:41. | |
generate. Up until now we have had to dry winters. We are not the | :09:41. | :09:45. | |
Sahara. The impact on water bills would be significant if we had gone | :09:45. | :09:51. | |
down that route. Jonathan said the hosepipe ban is spin and propaganda | :09:51. | :09:56. | |
from the hosepipe companies. There is no spin, we are in a serious | :09:56. | :10:01. | |
drought. I think everybody knows that. You can ban people from using | :10:01. | :10:05. | |
hosepipes, but what about the water companies themselves. He is on | :10:05. | :10:10. | |
about leakage, you are losing water through leakage. You were doing | :10:10. | :10:15. | |
very poor last year. We had a bad year last year. During the winter | :10:15. | :10:20. | |
when pipes burst. In order to keep customers on we kept pressure on | :10:20. | :10:24. | |
those points. We did miss our leakage target. We will not this | :10:24. | :10:31. | |
year, we are better. We have 60 extra leakage technicians, who we | :10:31. | :10:36. | |
hired in the autumn, to reduce it. We will never be happy with it. | :10:36. | :10:39. | |
we did not have any leakage we would not have a hosepipe ban, | :10:39. | :10:47. | |
true? No. We would still have a drought. We have got 40,000 | :10:47. | :10:52. | |
kilometres of pipe. It would go round the world once in length and | :10:52. | :10:57. | |
pipes to leak. Leakage per plumber to is about six cubic metres, half | :10:57. | :11:01. | |
of the industry average. We are not complacent but are working very | :11:01. | :11:06. | |
hard. We have many more questions coming in. We look forward to | :11:06. | :11:10. | |
speaking to you in the second half of the programme. Call or send an | :11:10. | :11:14. | |
e-mail now if you have a question. That will be after a round-up of | :11:14. | :11:24. | |
:11:24. | :11:26. | ||
In it has been revealed today that metal thieves may have been | :11:26. | :11:29. | |
responsible for the gas explosion which shattered a residential | :11:29. | :11:34. | |
street in Clacton. The theory emerged as investigations continued | :11:34. | :11:37. | |
into the cause of the blast on Monday. A woman remained in a | :11:37. | :11:41. | |
serious condition in hospital. Investigators know when the gas | :11:41. | :11:48. | |
explosion happened because this clock in the rubble stopped at | :11:48. | :11:53. | |
2:28pm. But as this expert knows, finding out why it happened will be | :11:53. | :11:59. | |
more difficult. One line of inquiry will be metal theft. There have | :11:59. | :12:03. | |
been incidents of metal theft in the area, although it is clearly | :12:03. | :12:08. | |
too early to say it if it was the case here. The thefts have been the | :12:08. | :12:14. | |
same street as Monday's explosion. His property had gas pipe stolen, | :12:14. | :12:17. | |
the pipes were replaced but not long afterwards they were stolen | :12:17. | :12:22. | |
again. One of the houses next door to that destroyed is managed by a | :12:22. | :12:27. | |
local estate agency and says it is all too aware of metal theft. | :12:27. | :12:32. | |
know that gas pipes have been taken from the side of buildings, | :12:32. | :12:36. | |
electrical cables being taken off the side of buildings. Similar to | :12:36. | :12:44. | |
the rail tracks losing their cables. Investigating these loss adjusters, | :12:44. | :12:48. | |
the National Grid issued this safety advice. If you smell gas | :12:48. | :12:52. | |
which of all appliances and the meter. Open all doors and the | :12:52. | :12:55. | |
windows and do not turn electricity on or off as it can trigger the | :12:55. | :13:01. | |
condition. Meanwhile national newspapers have nicknamed this | :13:01. | :13:04. | |
hamster lucky because it survived the explosion at subsequent fire | :13:04. | :13:13. | |
A teenage girl has been raped after being taken to a house in London | :13:13. | :13:20. | |
Road in Pitsea. She was taken to a nearby house where she was attacked. | :13:20. | :13:25. | |
Police are looking for a sighting of the girl by the barge pub. The | :13:25. | :13:29. | |
Liberal Democrats have published their original manifesto for the | :13:29. | :13:33. | |
elections. The party leader says that he is doing all it can to | :13:33. | :13:40. | |
support hard-working families. A year ago, the Liberal Democrats | :13:40. | :13:47. | |
controlled five councils, and our control just won it. The Liberal | :13:47. | :13:51. | |
Democrats are always enthusiastic at election time. Despite barely | :13:51. | :13:54. | |
making double figures in the opinion polls, they are put in a | :13:54. | :14:00. | |
lot of effort in. This is Cambridge, where they have one -- run the | :14:00. | :14:05. | |
council since 2000. But last year, they lost four seats here. The Lib | :14:05. | :14:10. | |
Dems part of the coalition has made him unpopular with some boaters. | :14:11. | :14:19. | |
The manifesto is championing achievements in government. We want | :14:19. | :14:24. | |
to argue the case for what we are doing in government, and a home -- | :14:24. | :14:28. | |
our whole message is about hard- working families that need a bit of | :14:28. | :14:33. | |
break -- bit of a break. He a much stick are you getting? We find that | :14:33. | :14:37. | |
the reaction is very good. People, on the whole, understand that | :14:37. | :14:43. | |
things are really difficult. We are clearing up an enormous economic | :14:43. | :14:50. | |
mess. 10 years ago, the Lib Dems were celebrating taking control of | :14:50. | :14:55. | |
Norwich City Council. Now play are down to four seats, squeezed by | :14:55. | :14:59. | |
Labour and the Green Party. But Nick Clegg says he expects to make | :14:59. | :15:07. | |
gains this year. He admits it is going to be hard work. Eight | :15:07. | :15:11. | |
writers' Centre in Norwich has been given �3 million by the Arts | :15:11. | :15:16. | |
Council to expand its facilities. It is also hoping to raise another | :15:16. | :15:26. | |
:15:26. | :15:27. | ||
Norwich has always seen it -- seen itself as a cultural centre. Now it | :15:28. | :15:36. | |
wants to create a writers' centre with an international reputation. | :15:36. | :15:40. | |
In collaboration with the City Council, the University of East | :15:40. | :15:46. | |
Anglia and the Arts Council, the centre will have hits -- had its | :15:46. | :15:51. | |
home in this eighteenth-century building. It will be a space to | :15:51. | :15:58. | |
teach writing. There is going to be a cafe, bar and performance space. | :15:58. | :16:04. | |
This space is for writers. This man is a writer who moved to Norwich | :16:04. | :16:08. | |
three years ago. I think it is a fantastic idea. It is great for | :16:08. | :16:14. | |
writers like me, who often do their work at the dining room table with | :16:14. | :16:19. | |
lots of distractions. It is good to have a place where I can go and not | :16:19. | :16:25. | |
have to worry about having to buy another of three cups of coffee. | :16:25. | :16:30. | |
Norwich is already well known for a creative writing course at the | :16:30. | :16:33. | |
University of East Anglia. The International Centre for writing | :16:33. | :16:43. | |
:16:43. | :16:50. | ||
will need another �7 million. It is It has been a big day for the | :16:51. | :16:55. | |
region's two Olympic venues. The GB mountain-biking team were on the | :16:55. | :17:01. | |
course in have to farm in Essex. And at Lee Valley in Hertfordshire, | :17:01. | :17:06. | |
the Whitewater canoeists were also in action. It is approaching crunch | :17:06. | :17:11. | |
time for the GB team, because next week is the Olympic trials. We will | :17:11. | :17:16. | |
find out who is in the team and who isn't. They have drained the course | :17:16. | :17:21. | |
for now. They do that when they are not training. We were keeping an | :17:21. | :17:31. | |
:17:31. | :17:31. | ||
eye on these athletes. Do you think you have the measure of the course, | :17:31. | :17:36. | |
or does it kicking from time to course -- time to time? Its early | :17:36. | :17:40. | |
kicks in from time to time. It is one of the most difficult and | :17:41. | :17:46. | |
complicated courses in the world, and you do not get a moment of | :17:46. | :17:50. | |
relaxation, because it comes back to buy two. Can you explain what it | :17:50. | :17:55. | |
will mean to qualify for the Olympics? To not qualify would be | :17:55. | :17:59. | |
very disappointing. We have worked really hard and put a lot of effort | :17:59. | :18:05. | |
in. Our lives can go on. We are happy with what we have done. We | :18:05. | :18:12. | |
have done an awful lot of good stuff. It is just the biggest deal | :18:12. | :18:18. | |
for sport in our country, perhaps ever to this point. It is going to | :18:18. | :18:22. | |
be absolutely awesome. It will be great to be a part of it, and just | :18:22. | :18:26. | |
what a fantastic price. What a brilliant thing to do. It will be | :18:26. | :18:36. | |
so called to be part of it. Champagne will be on view. The | :18:36. | :18:41. | |
Olympic mountain bikers were also in action at Hadleigh Farm in Essex. | :18:41. | :18:46. | |
They were checking out the course there. We were with them. If you | :18:46. | :18:51. | |
are looking for a bike ride in the countryside, you have come to the | :18:51. | :18:59. | |
right place. It is very challenging technically. You want a hard race | :18:59. | :19:09. | |
:19:09. | :19:20. | ||
in an Olympic Games. You are Hadleigh Farm and its heels -- | :19:20. | :19:27. | |
Hills have become harder. From extended climbs to the rock garden. | :19:27. | :19:30. | |
The world's riders better brace themselves. The course is getting | :19:30. | :19:39. | |
harder and harder every year. We want to stay ahead of the game. | :19:39. | :19:49. | |
the race, you don't think about anything. You do what you do. | :19:49. | :19:57. | |
about 170 metres of climbing per lap. Today, it was about unveiling | :19:57. | :20:01. | |
what will be there after the Olympics has -- Olympics have been | :20:01. | :20:06. | |
and gone. The pub will be improved for walkers, runners and those on | :20:06. | :20:11. | |
horseback. How it will be paid for is still unclear. We don't want to | :20:11. | :20:15. | |
burden the council tax payer in the future. We want to develop a plan. | :20:15. | :20:21. | |
It will enable us to fund the course, and fund further | :20:21. | :20:26. | |
development for the country for pluck. Thousands of people are | :20:26. | :20:31. | |
expected to come here in August. Have the part's legacy will be | :20:31. | :20:41. | |
:20:41. | :20:44. | ||
slightly smoother. The park will be open after the Games. It is good | :20:44. | :20:53. | |
news, and let's hope it is good news for an athlete here. One of | :20:53. | :20:58. | |
Newmarket's's racing stables it is to be turned into a heritage centre. | :20:58. | :21:02. | |
The Palace House stables will be restored, and the site transformed | :21:02. | :21:08. | |
into a venue celebrating Newmarket's history. It will have | :21:08. | :21:11. | |
paintings donated by the British Sporting Art Trust. Let's go back | :21:11. | :21:21. | |
:21:21. | :21:27. | ||
Welcome back to Anglian Water. By and with the customer services | :21:27. | :21:36. | |
director, Martin Oakley. This one from Fiona Bailey. I have a garden | :21:36. | :21:42. | |
teeming with wildlife. Cannot fill it if it starts getting low? | :21:42. | :21:50. | |
cannot fillet with a hosepipe. Rainwater is fine, but not with a | :21:50. | :21:59. | |
hosepipe. I have chickens, dogs and cats. Will I be able to use a | :21:59. | :22:05. | |
hosepipe to fill containers? Yes, you can. That is protecting | :22:05. | :22:10. | |
livestock and health and safety, and the welfare of animals. That is | :22:10. | :22:17. | |
included. You just fill their containers. Correct. Can a lawn | :22:18. | :22:25. | |
bowls club use a limited amount of water? No. The nose sporting | :22:25. | :22:30. | |
activities? We have made an exception where there is a health | :22:30. | :22:37. | |
and safety impact, and with cricket pitches, for example, it is better | :22:37. | :22:42. | |
to keep it safe. If there is a health and safety implication, that | :22:42. | :22:51. | |
is fine. Anglian Water paid a dividend of millions of pounds to | :22:51. | :22:55. | |
its shareholders, despite the leaks. What is the correlation between | :22:55. | :23:03. | |
these two facts? We are investing �3 billion over five years in the | :23:04. | :23:12. | |
local economy and investing in our in its but -- infrastructure. We | :23:13. | :23:19. | |
are managing drought, and protecting our supplies. �100 | :23:19. | :23:26. | |
million to manage drought. �100 million to protect future water | :23:26. | :23:32. | |
supplies. That will not be passed on to customers. Susan says, and | :23:32. | :23:38. | |
Mike correct to think that Anglian Water are pumping water to Essex | :23:38. | :23:48. | |
when there is a hosepipe pounds -- hosepipe ban? We actually reporter | :23:48. | :23:54. | |
took Essex, and we take water from Essex as well, and we are looking | :23:54. | :24:01. | |
to increase that around our periphery. A number of people ask | :24:01. | :24:09. | |
the same question it. They are not on a meter, so they want to know if | :24:09. | :24:15. | |
they get a reduction on their bill? I'm afraid not! Why our business is | :24:16. | :24:21. | |
being able to use water when residential uses are not? I think | :24:21. | :24:25. | |
we are very conscious that we do not want to impact on commercial | :24:25. | :24:31. | |
livelihoods, so we have taken a pragmatic view. That is going to | :24:31. | :24:41. | |
:24:41. | :24:43. | ||
save between six and 7% of water. One last want. I have not heard | :24:43. | :24:49. | |
anything from Anglia Water directly. We have done a massive amount of | :24:49. | :24:59. | |
:24:59. | :25:02. | ||
media coverage. We have put a few broad drops through. -- door drops. | :25:02. | :25:11. | |
We have had some welcome rain across the region. It has been down | :25:11. | :25:15. | |
to this huge area of low pressure but has sat across most of the | :25:15. | :25:21. | |
country. Heavy rain, but not for everyone by any means. If we look | :25:21. | :25:26. | |
at the radar Trott from earlier, the heavy rain tended to be in the | :25:26. | :25:32. | |
north of the region. If we look at the rainfall totals, you can see | :25:32. | :25:37. | |
what a contrast it was. Norfolk and Cambridgeshire getting over an inch | :25:37. | :25:41. | |
of rain, but part of Buckinghamshire got just three or | :25:41. | :25:45. | |
four mm. There are still some patchy rain out there, and it would | :25:45. | :25:50. | |
take little what clear, but it will be more patchy as the day goes on. | :25:50. | :25:56. | |
Were we -- we will be left with some cooler air behind that area of | :25:56. | :25:59. | |
low pressure as it clears away. We should stay frost-free tonight, | :25:59. | :26:04. | |
with a low temperature of three Celsius. The winds will stay north- | :26:04. | :26:09. | |
easterly. Tomorrow, a different sort of day, really. A fairly | :26:09. | :26:16. | |
cloudy start, but the clouds will break-up, and slightly more | :26:16. | :26:19. | |
promising to bitters for tomorrow. An expected high of nine Celsius. | :26:19. | :26:26. | |
With a moderate north-easterly wind, it could still feel a quite chilly | :26:26. | :26:30. | |
through the afternoon, with further spells of sunshine. Looking ahead | :26:30. | :26:33. | |
to the Easter weekend, there is a week weather front around on Friday, | :26:33. | :26:40. | |
and although it will stay dry, it may bring some patchy rain later in | :26:40. | :26:50. | |
:26:50. | :26:53. | ||
the weekend. We have some shower symbols on there. temperatures | :26:54. | :26:58. | |
around normal for this time of year, and the only overnight low is | :26:58. | :27:03. | |
Thursday, when we could get down to minus one, and we could get some | :27:03. | :27:10. | |
frost. Elsewhere, frost free. Thank you very much. It is one of those | :27:11. | :27:20. | |
strange coincidences the just a few hours of -- before a hosepipe ban, | :27:20. | :27:26. | |
the heaviest rain we have had for weeks. But even if it rains heavily | :27:26. | :27:32. | |
for the next few weeks. It won't get better before the autumn. You | :27:32. | :27:37. |