17/06/2011 South Today

Good evening from South Today. In tonight's programme: Up the goodbye

incentive. The enhanced redundancy scheme to encourage more senior

managers to quit a local authority. They have earned that money. They

are going to forgo it for four years. I think it is disgraceful.

At a time when we are all having to tighten our belts, they decide they

will spend all his money. Fighting a tide of destruction. The

environmental impact of a sewage bill in a river.

Remembering the man who ensured if the British fleet sailed to the aid

of the Falklands. If he had not been in a boat, one has to wonder

whether we would have retaken the Falklands. Is this the meanest

bowler in world cricket? Come the last ball, I bowled it, and the

batsman missed. Good evening. South Today has

discovered a Hampshire County Council is paying an enhanced

redundancy package to encourage more staff to leave the authority

now. The authority is looking to lose 150 senior managers and 1500

more staff. The council has set aside �10 million from its reserves

to pay for the scheme. So far, the bill for managers alone is �7

million. Hampshire says cutting management posts will save around

�36 million over the next four years. The upfront costs are worth

it. Here is our political reporter. Staff here face losing their jobs

to save the council money. To avoid forcing people out of work, those

to go voluntarily will get better redundancy deals. Take a 50-year-

old who has worked at the Council for 15 years and who earns a salary

of �75,000. That is about the average racing manager. Under the

basic scheme, he would get �8,000. Under the County Council scheme,

that would go up to around �28,000. Under the enhanced voluntary scheme,

he would get around �56,000. If you have got someone with 35 years'

service, at around �70,000, they have earned that money and the

money we are spending is what we have saved over the years. Compared

to other industry schemes, the council's payments are small but so

far, the total bill for senior staff comes to �7 million. I think

it is disgraceful. As a time when we are all having to tighten our

belts, they decide to spend all this money on people that are

already earning the large salaries. In Winchester, there were mixed

views. Disgusting. It is perfectly fair. They are one of the best

authorities in the country and they deserve it. I think there is a lot

of other places that money could be used. Even just putting the

pavements right. If it is an overall saving, that is there. But

I can see why people would be upset. The council says it is a case of

spend today to save tomorrow. We just heard there were mixed views.

These redundancies are going to cost the council a lot of money.

They are. The total bill will be high. That is because of a high

number of staff they are cutting. If you look at the individual

payments, relatively speaking, they are not huge. There are other

public and private bodies paying more. Is this idea of offering

people money to go. Dangling a financial carrot. It is the wrong

time. That is what is upsetting people. A is it just the senior

managers they get this in hands deal?

It is open to everybody but they are focusing on senior manager has

first. They get the most money. Some say for those senior people

who are close to retirement anyway, this could be a good deal. The

council dispute that, saying, lots of these people are after an age

where they would find it hard to get another job. Whatever pain and

they get needs to be enough not to leave them struggling.

Thank you. -- whatever payment they get.

The prosecution has finished laying out its case in the head of Barnett

trial. Danilo Restivo was accused of murdering the mother of two in

Bournemouth 2002. She was found in a bathroom with someone else's hair

in her hand. The case is due to start on Monday.

The timing could not have been worse. Yesterday was the first day

of the coarse fishing season but on the upper reaches of the River Arun

a major spill of sewage has left hundreds of fish dead. The spill

has wiped out all life along a two- mile stretch west of Horsham. The

Environment Agency has mounted a rescue operation.

A sewage spill sucks the oxygen out of the river. Some fish are left

struggling for breath. Most suffocate. The alarm was raised

here near Rudgwick on Wednesday. By yesterday morning, the Environment

Agency for knew they had a serious incident. Crews have been pumping

hydrogen peroxide into the river to raise the oxygen levels. The

chemical also reduces the levels of toxic ammonia caused by this image.

We think we have caught the majority of it here at this point.

We are dosing it at this point. The water quality here has improved

tremendously as a result of that action so we hope we can minimise

any impact further downstream. seven or eight miles of the river

are affected and hundreds of fish have died, including pike, roach

and perch. This stretch of the River Arun was a favourite with

anglers, many who were eager to take advantage of the coarse

fishing season which began yesterday. It is a terrible start

to my season. I'd fished in it as a lad and it has been very important

to our club. It seems I we have been unlucky with the pollution.

The Southern Water Treatment Works at Broadbridge Heath is one of the

major sewage sources in the area and they are the focus of a

criminal investigation as the source of the pollution is trapped.

We did ask Southern Water Treatment Works for a comment and they told

us the source of the pollution has not been confirmed and they will

continue to work with the Environment Agency to protect the

wildlife and investigate the cause. Most schools in Dorset say they

will reject the county council's proposal to pay for their own

lollipop men. Funding worth �200,000 is coming to an end. For a

South Today investigation has found 32 of the schools affected her are

not prepared to pay for the service and 12 are undecided.

We have a school budget which is supposed to pay for all the

learning in the school. The school budget is not about providing the

safety elements. We have separate budgets for that and those are

catered for. I think this is the only cut I consider across the

country that it is a local cut that will result in the death of a child.

That is unforgivable. All we are doing is saying we cannot afford

the funding. Can we have some help from the local community?

Police in Salisbury are appealing for help to track down a man

suspected of two indecent assaults in the city centre on Wednesday

afternoon. They have released these CCTV pictures of a man they want to

talk to. The first incident took place in a shop in the Maltings and

involved a 13-year-old girl. A short time later, a 15-year-old

girl was indecently assaulted in Brown Street.

Fish on Friday - it is something of a tradition for many. But today,

shoppers were being urged by one big supermarket to do away with

their customary purchase in favour of less endangered species. The

offer to try less well-know breeds for free ties in with Government

conservation efforts, and the Berkshire MP responsible for

Britain's fisheries went down to his local supermarket to see how

the giveaway was going. Setting out their stall. But pride

of place going today not to the tabletop favourites like cod or

salmon, but less endangered and less well-known names that

traditionally struggle to get onto the menu. 54% of the fish that are

thrown overboard are thrown away because there is no market for them.

What we are doing is trying to find markets for fish that are delicious

to eat but are less well-known. We have conservative tastes in the

United Kingdom and do not traditionally buy them. The Pascoes

are typical shoppers and just the kind of people this campaign is

aimed at. We normally by cod. I might go for haddock. What do you

make of the idea it today? It sounds brilliant. If I do not like

it, my husband will have it! Nobody today was turning down their free

samples. With the more plentiful alternatives cheaper everyday, that

may be the best chance of getting them from here and onto our dinner

plates. The colour is different. But other than tasting it... If you

saw them on the fish counter, what one would you pick? A wide one. I

do not like the look of that one. - - white one. That is probably cod.

Which one would you go for? white one. It looks better. Nobody

was turning down free samples. It may be the best chance of getting

them on to our dinner plates. Organisers of the London 2012

Olympic Games have withdrawn the threat of legal action against an

Isle of Wight company. Earlier this week, Great Exhibition 2012 was

told to drop the date from its name or face legal action. Games

organisers said only they are entitled to the brand name 2012.

They have now said they will not take any further steps as long as

the Great Exhibition doesn't try to create an association with the

London Games. Still to come: The weather

presenter is looking to the skies and beyond.

Yes. I have been meeting the people and the technology heading into

space if to help us predict this will wet weather and so much more.

Join me later for a full forecast. A memorial service has been held

for one of the Royal Navy's greatest leaders. Admiral Sir Henry

Leach, who lived near Winchester, was in charge of the Royal Navy

when Britain are recaptured the Falkland islands. He died aged 87.

Steve Humphrey joined worshippers at Winchester Cathedral.

If senior officers joined Admiral Sir Henry Leach's family at the

Cathedral this afternoon to remember a man who had been made

the running through his veins. -- who had the Navy running. He played

a pivotal and decisive role in the recapture of the Falkland islands.

He was also a deeply loyal, committed and devoted man, not only

to his family, of course, but to the sailors who he led, the Royal

Navy he adored and the nation he served. Admiral Sir Henry Leach

joined the Navy in 1937. He saw active service in World War Two,.

His finest hour came in 1982. Government has decided a large task

force will sail as soon as preparations are complete. As this

painting records, it was he who persuaded Margaret Thatcher the

Royal Navy could recapture the Falkland islands. I thought what is

the point in having the Navy if we do not use it for an occasion like

this? I left after midnight with the authority to assemble a task

force, assemble but not sale. I could not do this clandestinely on

my own. I had made undercover preparations. If he had not been in

a post, one has to wonder whether we would have retaken the Falklands.

He had that great, he knew what the Navy could do and he gave out

advice. -- that are great. When the flag was raised once again, it was

Mrs Thatcher who appeared jubilant in Downing Street. Marvellous.

I she knew only too well, none of it would have happened without

Tribute to Sir Henry Leach. A Petersfield Housing association has

taken the top prize in an international competition for eco-

friendly houses. The development by Radian had all the usual solar

panels, rain water recycling and insulation. But as well as building

new homes they transformed some former council houses to the same

high standard. Lynda Hills, who's lived in one of the houses since

she was a little girl, was amazed at the difference. It was cold and

it used to freeze up in the winter. We got dressed in bed because it

was very cold and the heating was not very good. It was going out

through the walls. But now they have got insulation, the heat does

not escape it. It is 100 % And there's more about those houses

on the Politics Show with Peter Henley on Sunday. The programme

starts at 12 o'clock on BBC1. Weather presenters get out and

about on a Friday and if you thought it was only when the sun

shines, think again. Sarah Farmer is picking up a few science tips at

a science fair in Portsmouth and you picked the right day to leave

the dry of the studio, didn't you Sarah? Well, not really! Cats and

dogs springs to mind. We have got more rain coming. More information

about the weather forecast later. But I can tell you what I have been

updated today. I am learning about what happens high above the rain

clouds. We met real like astronauts. It was part of the Portsmouth

Science Festival. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1! We are going to talk about flying

in space. I thought I would show you how I actually wash my hair.

You have to rub your shampoo in and get the water arm. What did you

learn today? When she had their hair up and was trying to sort it

out. Washing their hair in space. It was just everywhere. What does

it feel like to be in space? must be really cool. It does not

feel like you weigh anything. need children to get interested in

science and engineering because we need their inventive minds. If we

can get them excited about science and engineering, that all be great.

You can explore the night sky cheaply. You just need one of these.

With a basic telescope you can see the craters, the moon and the rings

of Saturn. It is unlikely I will make it into orbit but scientists

are right here are exploring space. They are looking at remote control

technology. I have to say, it is very exciting. It is very easy. It

is a standard controller. To go forward, a move the joystick

forward. Turn left and right by holding the Controller left and the

term will get gradually steeper. We are really just proving the

suspension is working. In the final version, she can actually walk.

That is it! Bridget here only goes five metres per minute and there

was not much danger of reading too much on it! I will be back later in

Thank you, Sarah. One thing that is unlikely is keeping dry as far as

the cricket is concerned. Very few people will get that. Looking up

today was pretty grim. It was a very frustrating day. Another

frustrating day for cricket fans at The Rose Bowl, as the second day of

the historic Test Match was all-but washed out. They did get a bit of

play in the morning and it was a familiar face who stole the show.

Surrey paceman Chris Tremlett learnt his trade with Hampshire,

his home county and his father Tim is still Cricket Secretary at the

club. Tremlett took four wickets today and had 6-43 in total when

the rains came. Sri Lanka 177 for 9 in their first innings when the

rain brought play to an early end. Three matches in the Twenty20 South

group. The Surrey match has been delayed. Hampshire and Sussex are

due to get started later but I am The fixtures for the new Football

League season have been announced today. There are full details on

the BBC Sport website. Newly promoted Crawley Town start life in

the big time for the first time at Port Vale on the sixth of August.

Brighton and Hove Albion welcome Doncaster to their new Amex Stadium

in the Championship, while the first Hampshire derby between

Portsmouth and Southampton will no doubt be fiercely contested at

Fratton Park on the 17th of December. More information online.

The Olympic focus here in the South has so far been the sailing venue

in Weymouth and Portland and the rowing at Eton Dorney in Berkshire.

But many of our athletes will be heading to London to compete next

year. And South Today has been given a behind the scenes tour of

the site at Stratford. Ed Sherry reports. It is the world's most

famous building site. The Olympic Games are just a year away. This is

where the venue is taking shape. have been directly contracted along

with 1,500 businesses across the UK. About 90% of the business is

helping and a our UK companies. companies have been awarded

contracts at an estimated �2.5 million. The sailing is in Weymouth.

Organisers are keen to make sure B- sides are connected. When you go

down to watch and see it on the television, I think it is going to

feel part of the London 20 of celebrations. The Olympic Park is

the size of 350 football pitches. But next year, this corner of east

London will be the focus of the The weather's put paid to plenty of

cricket lately. But not this lunchtime. I went to meet a man

who's just earned a place in the sport's bible, Wisden. Dean Nurse

bowled ten overs without conceding a run in a recent local league game

and that's something cricket's statisticians have never heard of

This a mean bowler. In more ways than one. Ten overs. Without

conceding a run. And taking two wickets to boot. That makes Dean a

After about five I felt I could do it and as it went on I got a bit

nervous and come the last ball, I bowled at the batsman missed. 10

overs, 10 maidens. Dean's feat came on one of the pitches here at May's

Bounty, playing for the Basingstoke and North Hampshire thirds in a

League fixture against Littleton and West Hill last weekend. They

said well done and the opposite team gave me a standing ovation. It

was like I had scored 100! But Dean comes from good sporting stock. We

featured his father Leon on South Today seven years ago. He was

riding his first race as an amateur jockey, at the age of 52, after a

hip replacement. While Dean wrote his name in the history books, Leon

also made headlines recently winning a charity race at Newbury.

He has been working for a charity that helps spinal injuries. He is

59 and fitter than I am! Very pleased and very proud. Someone

with no gear and no idea challenged Dean to a one-ball face-off. After

a couple of warm-up shots in the drizzle... Mean Dean's big test.

Passed with flying colours. No surprise really! He couldn't even

get a run offer him a! Welcome, Dean Nurse. Wisden really think,

they have never heard of anything like that before. The best they had

heard of was eight maidens. He had Let's have a look at where we were

worst hit by the rain. Difficult driving conditions. We have had

plenty had difficulty on the roads. In West Sussex, the heavens have

opened. The feathered friends are trying to keep dry out. Now the

weather. These hot days are just a distant memory! It has been like

that, hasn't it!? An umbrella could come in useful. Plenty of things

happening in the South that it -- this weekend. We have also got

circus acts going on at stand as double. Veterans awareness Week and

a convoy of historic military vehicles travelling on Saturday at

2 o'clock. The veteran's parade is on Sunday. She played at the Royal

Wedding and will be joined by the English National Opera for a

concert and champagne reception in Winchester on Wednesday at St

John's house. Reading on Saturday, the water testable. It stretches

along the Kent cannot. -- the Water Festival. We have got a talk here

in Guild Hall about the search for extra-terrestrials and a showing of

that landmark film. That is free of charge and starts at 2 o'clock. Not

much chance of midnight tonight because we are sticking with cloud

and rain. -- Moonlight tonight. Weather warnings are in place. Take

Weather warnings are in place. Take it steady on the roads. We can see

plenty of cloud throughout the region and rain is sweeping in from

the West. It will continue east tonight. It will gradually

disappear and we will get a bit of dry weather behind that but showers

are still coming. Temperatures of 11 degrees. Tomorrow morning it

will be a gloomy start. Showers, particularly to the West. Gradually

becoming widespread later in the date. Possibly a bit of thunder.

Feeling a bit warmer in the sunshine than today. Temperatures

peaking at 18. As we head to be evening period, it is looking

quieter. Some showers taking us into Sunday morning. We will get

some showers on the coast as well. But dry and bright conditions as

well. Next week, unsettled conditions. We will get rain coming

on Monday. Tuesday, that is when we will start getting showers. More

unsettled conditions coming. We will keep you updated and the

latest information is available latest information is available

If you've ever wondered what it takes to make the grade in the

Royal Navy, we have a special behind-the-scenes look in a

documentary this Sunday. These are Royal Navy recruits. They are

serving their country but to become sailors they have to make it

through basic training. Ochres! You can do this! You are not going to

fail! You have failed! Get up! Start showing me you want to be