07/12/2011 South East Today


07/12/2011

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Welcome to South East Today, I'm Rob Smith.

:00:01.:00:04.

And I'm Polly Evans. Tonight's top stories:

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"I still miss my daughter," the mother of Hastings heroin victim

:00:06.:00:10.

Amy Pickard says she still has questions at the end of an inquest

:00:10.:00:20.
:00:20.:00:22.

into her death. I loved Amy then, and I love her more and more each

:00:22.:00:27.

day. And I miss her. Miss her so much.

:00:27.:00:29.

Plans for a new Thames Crossing linking Kent with Essex are

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condemned as shockingly ill-advised by a campaign group. We are live

:00:32.:00:35.

with the details at the Dartford Crossing.

:00:35.:00:38.

Also in tonight's programme: An invitation to tend the grave of

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someone else's loved one, inspired by a Kent woman's mission to keep

:00:41.:00:46.

her grandmother's memory alive. Rarer than a Siberian tiger - the

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farm animals being kept alive by a dedicated Sussex insurance broker.

:00:54.:00:58.

And fighting for the top spot - the Kent soldiers battling it out to be

:00:58.:01:08.
:01:08.:01:18.

named as the best platoon in memory Amy Pickard lived more than eight

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years after she was found unconscious in a public toilet in

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Hastings following a Hove the does -- an overdose of heroin but died

:01:26.:01:30.

weeks after moving to a new care home. Today an inquest ruled an

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electrical malfunction in her heart was the cause of her death.

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Her mother has used the case to graphically warn others of the

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dangers of Class A drugs. She was 17 and heavily pregnant when she

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took the drugs into 1001. But tonight she says she still have

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questions over how Amy died -- in 2001.

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Amy Pickard was 17 when she was found collapsed from a heroin

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overdose. She lived until 2000 and -- until 2009. Today, the inquest

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said she died as a result of a arrhythmia. Her life would never

:02:10.:02:15.

have been the same, but she had spirit and fought for almost eight

:02:15.:02:19.

years. Every week, her condition was improving and we planned to

:02:19.:02:25.

bring her home by the end of the year. I loved Amy then, and I love

:02:25.:02:30.

her more and more each day. And I miss her. Miss her so much. Thank

:02:30.:02:37.

you so stop at today's inquest, Amy's mother heard pain for me

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information about the night her daughter overdosed on heroin.

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seems an acquaintance offered reducing boyfriend injected the

:02:44.:02:48.

substance into her veins. There was no evidence she was an habitual

:02:48.:02:53.

user. The coroner recorded a verdict of death by non dependant

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use of drugs. Come on, Amy, yes. Amy had taken the drugs with a 22-

:03:02.:03:08.

year-old boy friend and the father of her unborn child. The baby died

:03:08.:03:12.

days later and he died from a heroin overdose in the same toilet

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block later in the same year. Although he had smoked cannabis

:03:15.:03:20.

since he was 11, Amy was not a rated a user. Let me know if

:03:20.:03:28.

anything is going on, please. not a regular drug user. Her mother,

:03:28.:03:32.

Salma, has used her tragedy to deter others from the use of

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illegal drugs. She released photographs and has hit out at

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computer games that appear to glorify the buying and -- and

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selling of drugs. In 2007, Amy's conditions seemed to improve when

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she was part of a medical trial. Her progress was documented by a

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BBC film crew as she showed signs of awareness. Two years later, she

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died. Jon Hunt is live in Hastings for us.

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Amis survived for eight-and-a-half years but died within days of being

:04:08.:04:12.

transferred to a new care home. Did the inquest shed light on how that

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came to be? The inquest heard that on the night that Amy died, the

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staff at the Merry House care home were struggling with a heating

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system and one of the nurses said temperatures had reached 29 Celsius.

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Also, we heard staff at the Kehoe had, for health and safety reasons,

:04:31.:04:35.

stopped performing a function of the care plan which involved

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turning Amy on her front so secretions in her away could be

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expelled. We also heard that when nurses found her body in 2009 she

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was slumped forward towards her pillow, which raised questions over

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whether there was a possibility she might have suffocated, but the

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coroner ultimately came to the conclusion that none of those

:04:56.:05:00.

factors were to blame and it was simply that her heart had stopped

:05:00.:05:04.

working, and electrical malfunction caused by that profound brain

:05:04.:05:12.

damage she had been fighting for so many year.

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"Shockingly ill-advised". That is the reaction from the environmental

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group Protect Kent to Government plans to build a new Lower Thames

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Crossing linking Kent and Essex to ease traffic congestion at Dartford.

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The Chancellor indicated in his autumn statement that work on the

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project will now begin, but Protect Kent are starting a protest to stop

:05:26.:05:29.

the plans before they get going. Simon Jones is at the existing

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Dartford crossing now. Given that these campaigners accept

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that traffic is a problem there, what are they proposing instead?

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Protect Kent sa you do not need any crossing, they say get rid of that

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holes here and the traffic will run much more smoothly. -- get rid of

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that wholes. They say the government would concrete over the

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countryside to give the economy a boost.

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Bumper-to-bumper tonight, choking the economy and environment,

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critics say. But the environmental effect of a brand new crossing

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could be even worse according to environmental campaigners.

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There are three options being looked at, one is expanding the

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existing crossing, the second is a new one. The third, a crossing east

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of Gravesend. Many motorists say, get on with it. Like all motorists,

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I hate traffic queues. My philosophy is, the quickest way

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from to B. Coming from Gravesend takes normally 10-15 minutes, it is

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one hour today. It is a good idea. But the best idea is to take the

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toll out. Kent County Council says a new crossing is vital for growth.

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It cannot be very environmentally friendly having hundreds of

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thousands of heavy goods vehicles waiting in queues and traffic jams

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to get through the existing Thames Crossing. I think if we get the

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location right, it will free up traffic flow and it will be

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environment because it. But it could see the carpeted against the

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environmental campaigners if it gets the go-ahead.

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Apologies for the loss of sound and part of my report but the

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government told us it believes a new crossing is vital. They are

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looking at the technical details of the three they have proposed an say

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there will be a consultation by 2013, and then it could be built

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within 10 years. The question, where is the money going to come

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from? The government says it needs to come from private sources.

:07:50.:07:53.

In a moment, the political row brewing over plans to expand

:07:53.:08:03.
:08:03.:08:03.

Brighton's Amex stadium by another A Kent newspaper has printed its

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final edition after more than 150 years. The owners of the East Kent

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Gazette have shut it down, along with its sister publications the

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Medway News and the Sheppey Gazette, after plans to sell the titles

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ended in failure. With regional newspapers in many

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areas struggling to stay in business, the closure means a loss

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of 38 jobs in Kent and leaves 68,000 readers without their local

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paper. Robin Gibson reports. The final edition is on the street

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and these journalists have made their last deadline. There were a

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few tears when we archived the last page, the last front page. This

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paper has had a splendid history, it has been a wonderful paper of

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record and it is a shocking, shocking day for newspapers in

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general. There have been papers produced in this series since the

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1850s when papers were the sole source of news. But in the digital

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age, it is impossible to compete. think people were genuinely shocked

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by the speed at which this happened, and that think it suddenly made

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them realise just what a local newspaper means to them. It is the

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old scenario, you don't know what you have got until it's gone, and

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the comments we have had from readers have been in those lines.

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What will we do on a Wednesday without the Gazette? It is the loss

:09:27.:09:31.

of a local business, the loss of local jobs, with all of the issues

:09:31.:09:36.

that presents, but the readership of a paper is a community, a sort

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of family. Do they feel something wider is going? Have they lost a

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voice? I like the paper because I live on my own, so the newspaper is

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a godsend. It is a sign of the Times, I'm afraid. More advertising

:09:53.:10:01.

in it, not enough news. Everyone knows if someone is in that paper.

:10:01.:10:05.

I don't read it, it doesn't bother me in the slightest. It has been

:10:05.:10:09.

good for the town and local area, good for local news. Anything that

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goes that has been going for a long time like that, it is sad, isn't

:10:13.:10:19.

it? So what has gone? The series has a history dating back over 150

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years. Its readership of 68,000 has lost their local newspaper. 38

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staff have lost their jobs. Local papers are in trouble.

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advertising model that has subsidised local newspapers for the

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last 200 years has changed dramatically. The three pillars of

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advertising, jobs, motors and property, have moved online and

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they cost nothing. It is the day the paper made its own headline.

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The last headline. That was Robin Gibson reporting and

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he is live for us now. What is the impact on local democracy when

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local newspapers for old reds it in providing news, they are providing

:11:06.:11:10.

a public service. They are a proving ground for

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journalists to get to know the community at grassroots level. The

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argument runs that if stories do not pan out to the wider media, it

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could be good news for people who do not want to subject themselves

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to public scrutiny and bad news for voters, particularly at local

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election time when they want to make an informed judgment about

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what is best for them. Thank you.

:11:31.:11:33.

When Jenny Barsby-Robinson's grandparents died, she was

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determined their grave should be kept well-tended. But a 200-mile

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round trip from Kent to the churchyard in Suffolk made that

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increasingly difficult. So she came up with a plan - a

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website to link those in similar situations so they could help each

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:11:56.:11:56.

other out. Sara Smith has more. Kevin Webster tens the grave of

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much loved Grand parents in Bury St Edmunds, but they are not her grand

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parents, she does it to help someone out who lives more than 100

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miles away. It gives the opportunity for people who do not

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live anywhere near the area to be able to come and know that their

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graves are being cared for by volunteers. It was such a struggle

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to find someone to look after her grandparents grave that Jenny

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Barsby-Robinson set up a website. People are so to attend grades

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close to them and ask others in different parts of the country to

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do the same for their loved ones. To know that my grandparents grave

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is being looked after and cared for means a great deal. I might feel

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them around me all the time but to know that everybody can see these

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people were loved and we still love them is important. Those who sign

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up can offer to place a wreath one senior or water flowers every week.

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I think it will give a sense of comfort to many families who are

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unable to get a cemetery's or churchyards to attend to graves and

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know that it will be maintained by having fresh flowers put on it, or

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the grass cut. At this cemetery, Reg Bailey attends his wife's grave

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each week. He could not bear the thought of it being neglected.

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fortunate I could get down, but some of these graves, nobody comes

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down at all, whether they have got a reason, they cannot get down,

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they are disabled, things like that. It is a great idea. As more people

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signed up, Jenny hopes no one will be left worrying that the grave of

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a loved one many miles away will be left to decay.

:13:42.:13:44.

The Immigration Minister and Ashford MP Damian Green is warning

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shoppers to be vigilant about the dangers of buying counterfeit goods

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in the run-up to Christmas. It comes just days after Trading

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Standards officers in Kent seized 9,500 dangerous toys at the Port of

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Dover. The Border Agency campaign is urging consumers not to be

:13:55.:14:02.

tricked into thinking they are getting a bargain.

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A row has broken out over plans to expand Brighton and Hove Albion's

:14:06.:14:15.
:14:16.:14:22.

Amex stadium in Falmer. Are you OK? Just having a cost! -- a cough. The

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heated exchange took place on the social network Twitter between

:14:24.:14:27.

Green councillor Jason Kitcat and the former leader of Brighton and

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Hove city council Lord Steve Bassam. It has made me cry!

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The two locked horns over proposals for an extra 8,000 seats at the new

:14:36.:14:38.

stadium. Lord Bassam is accusing the Green council of scuppering

:14:38.:14:41.

expansion "by the back door". Lynda Hardy explains.

:14:41.:14:46.

Here is what the debate is about, the expansion of the Albion's new

:14:46.:14:50.

Amex stadium, with plans to build extra 1,000 parking spaces and

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community centre near by, parking that might have helped football

:14:55.:14:59.

fans at the weekend. Having those extra spaces would be an important

:14:59.:15:03.

part of the club's application to increase capacity at the stadium by

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a further -- by a further 8,000. On Twitter, the former Labour leader

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of Brighton council accuses the Green Councillor Jason Kitcat and

:15:13.:15:17.

current Green council of trying to block the expansion plans by

:15:17.:15:22.

stopping the extra parking space is being built. Lord Bassam says, I

:15:22.:15:27.

sense a climbdown or U-turn and a bit of panic if, by exposing or

:15:27.:15:31.

hidden agenda, we get a result. Happy for that. Jason Kitcat

:15:31.:15:36.

replies, we have concerns about locations. We were never against

:15:36.:15:42.

the stadium in principle, though you like to suggest it was so. Lord

:15:42.:15:45.

Basson replies, we need fan power to get them to backtrack on this

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daft decision. Brighton and Hove Albion has been a major success

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story, it has a new stadium, it wants to expand -- expand capacity

:15:55.:16:01.

by 40% and if the car park spaces are blocked, it means the option of

:16:01.:16:05.

expanding the stadium is much more difficult and complicated.

:16:05.:16:08.

stadium's original application had provision for parking in some areas

:16:09.:16:14.

which did not workout, some at the Falmer Academy who decided not to

:16:14.:16:17.

provided, and less spaces at the university campus as well, so they

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are looking and we are working with them to find alternative ways to

:16:21.:16:26.

deal with its. Fans say expansion is needed at this dim. It has been

:16:26.:16:30.

a sell-out pretty much every league game this season and there is a

:16:30.:16:34.

waiting list of about 2000 people already. This debate comes before

:16:34.:16:40.

any plans for more seats have been submitted. The club hope to do that

:16:40.:16:45.

before the end of the year. We can join Lynda Hardy in Brighton

:16:45.:16:50.

now. Despite the talk of parking, the club can boast it is one of the

:16:50.:16:57.

greenest in the country when it comes to transporting fans?

:16:57.:17:01.

Clearly we have got some problems with the sound, as well as me

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coughing this evening! Let's move on to the headlines, then.

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Our top story tonight: At the end of an inquest into the death of a

:17:11.:17:14.

teenager who slipped into a coma after taking heroin, her mother

:17:14.:17:19.

says she still has answers -- still has questions over her death.

:17:19.:17:23.

Amy Pickard spent eight years needing round-the-clock care after

:17:23.:17:25.

she was found collapsed in a toilet cubicle.

:17:25.:17:28.

Also in tonight's programme: Hoping to avoid a mud bath - why

:17:28.:17:31.

Maidstone United are opting to play on a plastic pitch.

:17:31.:17:34.

And the Kent soldiers fighting to be in the top platoon in memory of

:17:34.:17:44.
:17:44.:17:45.

Princess Diana. By day, he is a busy London

:17:45.:17:49.

businessman working in insurance. But Roland Horton, with his wife

:17:49.:17:52.

Jane, devotes his spare time to a running a smallholding in Sussex

:17:52.:17:58.

for rare breeds of farm animals. It is not just attracting customers,

:17:58.:18:00.

but also keeping breeds alive, maintaining genetic diversity for

:18:00.:18:04.

our food of the future. At least one breed of farm animal is made

:18:04.:18:07.

extinct every month across the world. In the last century, 26

:18:07.:18:12.

breeds of livestock and many more breeds of chicken disappeared.

:18:12.:18:14.

Among those that are still struggling are the black Norfolk

:18:15.:18:18.

turkey and Soay sheep, both of which are on the Hortons' farm. Our

:18:18.:18:25.

environment correspondent Yvette Austin has this report.

:18:25.:18:29.

For Roman and Jane Horton, living the good life is their hobby. When

:18:29.:18:33.

they are not at work, they look after their animals, which are

:18:33.:18:37.

special because pretty much all of them are rare breeds. It started

:18:37.:18:43.

with six chickens, and we now have about 100 so it keeps us quite busy.

:18:43.:18:49.

These are the blacks are six chickens here. In the 1920s, a

:18:49.:18:52.

Sussex hen came to he failed and as we live in the locality we thought

:18:52.:18:57.

it would be lovely to keep them going. They are a rare breed, yes.

:18:57.:19:02.

It is difficult to get hold of good breeding stock and bloodlines. You

:19:02.:19:06.

need to make sure you are looking at local shows to see what birds

:19:06.:19:11.

are available. From chickens in the beginning, Turkey's Nynex and the

:19:12.:19:16.

smallholding group. They are not full Christmas, they are breeding

:19:16.:19:19.

flock. If he were to buy a commercial bird for the table it

:19:19.:19:24.

would be about �40. If you were to buy one of mine, it would be about

:19:24.:19:32.

�70. But we are trying to keep the breed alive. They take a third

:19:32.:19:36.

longer to mature than commercial birds, but they say the flavour, as

:19:36.:19:42.

a result, is far better. Similarly with the ship. Soay sheep lambs are

:19:42.:19:47.

smaller, but it is argued the sheep are tastier. Soay sheep are the

:19:47.:19:51.

most primitive in the country. We have been farming them since the

:19:51.:19:56.

Bronze Age. It is genetic diversity. Where do you think the Commercial

:19:56.:20:02.

Farmers'' sheep came from? It came from sheep like these. And the pigs

:20:02.:20:06.

are a perfect example of the point of the project's. These are amongst

:20:06.:20:11.

the rarest pigs in the country. They are rarer than the Siberian

:20:11.:20:17.

tiger. There are 800 Siberian tigers, 400 of these. The World

:20:17.:20:21.

Wildlife Fund is trying to save the Siberian tiger, and it is up to

:20:21.:20:26.

people like myself to look after the pigs. Whilst some of the

:20:26.:20:30.

animals here do reach the table, the idea is to keep the breeds

:20:30.:20:34.

going. Eventually they may be needed to cross into commercial

:20:34.:20:44.
:20:44.:20:51.

animal production for our future We have dosed you up, haven't we?

:20:51.:20:54.

He is feeling better now! It was all about teamwork, physical

:20:54.:20:57.

fitness and military skills in Folkestone today, when 400 soldiers

:20:57.:20:59.

took part in an inter-platoon competition.

:20:59.:21:01.

Some 400 soldiers of the 2nd Battalion The Princess of Wales's

:21:01.:21:04.

Royal Regiment are taking part in the Spencer Trophy in memory of

:21:04.:21:08.

Princess Diana. It is no easy task - the competition lasts for four

:21:08.:21:18.
:21:18.:21:18.

days. Peter Whittlesea reports. It is as close to reality as

:21:18.:21:23.

possible. The soldiers have been attacked by unarmed men. Because of

:21:23.:21:30.

that, they can't shoot. Instead, the situation has to be contained.

:21:30.:21:34.

This is all part up and up into platoon competition which prepares

:21:34.:21:39.

troops for everyday combat situations. You have to decide what

:21:39.:21:44.

is going to be behind the dock. If you have a family with a mother and

:21:44.:21:47.

her children and you threw a grenade in every door, all you do

:21:47.:21:51.

is lose a battle against Hearts and minds because you are killing the

:21:51.:21:56.

people in the area. The decision for a soldier when he comes up to a

:21:56.:22:01.

door, what will be behind it? on a tour of duty, that stark

:22:01.:22:06.

decision has to be made daily. This scenario based training allows

:22:06.:22:10.

soldiers to learn from their mistakes without the obvious real-

:22:10.:22:16.

life consequences. Also, this is a competition, so everything is being

:22:16.:22:23.

marked. The best platoon wins the coveted Spencer Trophy. It is

:22:23.:22:27.

really in line with what we do one operations, quite relevant to what

:22:27.:22:31.

we are do ring. We have won it before as a petition and it would

:22:31.:22:36.

be nice to get it again, which is why we have so many of our guys

:22:36.:22:38.

left in the competition, because we are pushing hard because everybody

:22:38.:22:43.

wants to when it. It is not all about combat. Here, they have to

:22:43.:22:49.

assess and treat casualties. Because the trophy was given to the

:22:49.:22:54.

regiment by Earl Spencer after Lady Diana's death, the rent -- the

:22:54.:22:59.

winning petition has a real sense of honour and pride. -- the winning

:22:59.:23:09.

platinum. 30 years ago they were heralded as

:23:09.:23:12.

the way forward, a grand innovation brought in to avoid the traditional

:23:12.:23:15.

winter problem of more mud than grass on football grounds. But

:23:15.:23:17.

synthetic pitches soon fell out of favour and were banned.

:23:17.:23:20.

Despite that, Maidstone United believe it is the only way smaller

:23:20.:23:23.

clubs can prosper, and will soon become the first club in the

:23:23.:23:26.

country to have a purpose-built plastic pitch, as Neil Bell reports.

:23:26.:23:30.

They promise to deliver free- flowing football for the benefit of

:23:30.:23:33.

all. It was believed synthetic pitches would become the norm,

:23:33.:23:37.

bringing an end to the mudbath that players and spectators had endured

:23:37.:23:47.
:23:47.:23:48.

After almost two decades away, Maidstone United will soon be back,

:23:48.:23:53.

but not playing on soil. The new ground will be based around a

:23:53.:23:57.

synthetic pitch. We had to inject some financial and commercial

:23:57.:24:02.

reality into this before we started and part of that comes by the

:24:02.:24:06.

laying off an artificial surface. We have children's teams,

:24:06.:24:10.

disability teams, the youth and reserve teams, they will all use

:24:10.:24:14.

this as a focal point for the community. But that decision could

:24:14.:24:18.

mean Maidstone never regain their place in the Football League, not

:24:18.:24:22.

that the long-suffering reporters - - supporters are too bothered about

:24:22.:24:29.

that. I have been waiting for the past 20 years, said it is a bit of

:24:29.:24:35.

a bind to have to travel for a home match 30 miles away. I used to be a

:24:35.:24:39.

runner in my younger days and you see how synthetic tracks have

:24:39.:24:44.

improved athletics. The standard of football has got to improve.

:24:44.:24:47.

footballing authorities still need convincing. Clubs like Preston,

:24:47.:24:51.

Luton and QPR tried them in the 80s but bounce, roll and injuries led

:24:51.:24:56.

to them being banned. That could be about to change. This type of pitch

:24:56.:25:00.

is ideal in terms of the number of teams, the number of youngsters,

:25:00.:25:07.

those coming through, the pitch can be used regularly. Unlikely though

:25:07.:25:13.

it may seem, Maidstone are confident they will be here playing

:25:13.:25:17.

on their artificial pitch in time for next season.

:25:17.:25:21.

It has been a lovely day, but the weather is at sixes and sevens,

:25:21.:25:26.

isn't it? Yes, and we have a big temperature

:25:26.:25:30.

look to go through in the next 24 hours. It will be mild tomorrow and

:25:30.:25:35.

then cold again, in fact, very cold. Cold enough that if we were to get

:25:35.:25:39.

some precipitation towards the end of the week, it would fall as nodes.

:25:39.:25:49.

But we are not do anything just yet The best way to visualise the

:25:49.:25:52.

changes over the next 36 hours is to see the pressure chart. At the

:25:52.:25:57.

moment we have got clear skies, said it is very cold, but through

:25:57.:26:00.

tomorrow we have a warm front coming through which will bring

:26:00.:26:04.

temperatures several degrees higher than at the moment, but quickly

:26:04.:26:07.

following that is a cold front bringing rain and then the colder

:26:07.:26:11.

air that will sit with us on Friday and Saturday daytime, with

:26:11.:26:15.

temperatures not much higher, about three or four degrees, so it is

:26:15.:26:20.

getting colder than over the last few days. It will certainly be

:26:20.:26:23.

chilly through this evening but with those clear skies and the

:26:23.:26:28.

lasting behalf of the night, I think temperatures should not get

:26:28.:26:34.

much lower than two or three degrees. Some of us will see a

:26:34.:26:37.

little bit of frost but it will tend to become a little bit milder

:26:37.:26:42.

towards the end of the night when the cloud arrives. Once that had

:26:42.:26:46.

arrives it will be with us through tomorrow, the winds picking up

:26:46.:26:50.

stronger than today, we could see gusts at 50 miles an hour and the

:26:50.:26:54.

cloud so thick it could give outbreaks of rain as well. Not the

:26:54.:26:58.

pretty, sunny day that we had today at all. In fact, it gets worse and

:26:58.:27:02.

the worst of that wet weather will probably be in rush-hour tomorrow

:27:03.:27:07.

evening, and that is when the strongest winds will be. From 5pm

:27:07.:27:13.

until 8pm, the strongest rain and winds. We are left them on Friday

:27:14.:27:18.

with some beautiful sunny skies but it will feel very cold indeed. So

:27:19.:27:22.

although we have got some milder air through tomorrow, it is not

:27:22.:27:26.

much consolation because it comes hand in hand with rain and very

:27:26.:27:32.

strong winds. Colder by the weekend. Website tomorrow is the date is

:27:32.:27:36.

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