02/10/2013 South Today

Hello. I'm Sally Taylor. Welcome to South Today. In tonight's programme.

The green dream is over on the Isle of Wight as the Eco—Island project

goes bust. Mind—boggling and obviously very dangerous. The driver

in the New Forest criticised for driving with his bonnet open. It is

just bizarre, dangerous and thoughtless to other drivers. A free

make—over for your empty home, but only if you let the council use it

free of charge for five years. And the Portsmouth businessman taking on

the big boys to offer a new service across the Solent.

It wanted the Isle of Wight to be the first fully sustainable region

in Britain by the end of this decade. But two years after its

launch the company which had aimed to make the Island energy

self—sufficient has gone into voluntary liquidation blaming a lack

of funding in the current economic climate. Briony Leyland has been

following developments. This was a bold vision. Yes, a very bold

vision, turning it into a reality has proved to be a big challenge.

The Eco—Island Partnership Community Interest Company's stated aims were

to bring together technology and business partners and provide access

to funding for green projects. It can point to some achievements. The

Isle of Wight has far more solar power these days both on farms and

on houses. But other ideas which might have paved the way for the

island to be self sufficient like a biomass plant, wind and geothermal

power have not come to fruition. The chairman David Green told us the

company has been hit badly by the economic climate and has to close

it's doors. In a statement he said: The island's MP says it was a good

community led project. The point is they have been trying to develop a

brilliant idea, there are others who may be more successful with that

idea. Is it a reflection on the economy that the island in

particular struggles to get investment? That is true but I would

not say this is to do with the island. It is because it is about

meeting one particular aim. Was its failure also down to a lack of

public support? The partnership says it had support and attracted 65

business partners. People we spoke to today in Newport had mixed views.

Some had never heard of the project. Others were saddened to hear it has

come to an end. I cannot believe that there is no money for these

sorts of things when government espouses green ideas. It is a

problem. It will cost a lot of money. I have grandchildren and you

have to think of the future for them. I think we should make use of

the sea that we have got around us. The company spoke of being a beacon

of sustainability for the world. Was it just a pipe dream, will the work

continue? The council says it is completely separate from the company

and it's liquidation has no bearing on the council's aspirations to make

the Island more sustainable. The phrase eco island was first used

when Southampton University looked at how the island could become more

green. The professor who wrote that feasibility study says there still

is a lot that could be done. It is a dream but it is a realistic dream

and our analysis in 2006 was that it was achievable as long as we can get

the community to accept all the resources around the island

including wind energy. So still plenty of green aspirations but it's

still along way from becoming an eco island. A man has been caught on

camera driving with his car bonnet up on a busy dual carriageway. He

was spotted on a 50 mile an hour stretch of the A31 near Cadnam in

Hampshire with what appeared to be a battery charger attached to the

engine. The driver, who was in a Mercedes, was filmed by BBC

presenter Jon Cuthill who was a passenger in a passing car. Our home

affairs correspondent Alex Forsyth reports. Charging down the road,

bonnet up, with what experts say is a battery pack attached to the

engine. The car was spotted by a BBC reporter who filmed it yesterday

while travelling as a passenger in another vehicle. I could not believe

what we were seeing. I could not believe it, so much so, that I

picked up my phone and filmed it. But why would anyone think that is

an acceptable way to be a a public road? We found a car similar to that

seen in the footage and this gives you an idea of what you can see with

the bonnet up. The driver may have been looking around the edges or

outer window. We showed the clip to the head of roads policy at the AAA

and ask for his reaction. I have never seen footage like this. I

thought at first it was a hoax because it just looks so bizarre.

You cannot see hazards through that little tiny gap. It is bizarre and

dangerous and thoughtless to either drivers.

Hampshire police has seen the footage and confirmed they are

investigating. Tens of thousands of homes stand empty across the region,

while families sit on housing waiting lists. Basingstoke council

is urging anyone with an unused property to come forward, and allow

it to be refurbished. They've teamed up with a national charity to

convert empty properties. They pay for the renovation, on condition the

property is handed over to be rented for five years. Joe Campbell

reports. Plans are now afoot to turn this former family home in to

upmarket bedsits. Basingstoke has £200,000 to help owners breathed new

life into other empty properties so long as they agreed to let a charity

rent them out. We would lease the property and guarantee a rent and

you would have minimal involvement really. And you would be protecting

your asset and at another time in the future, you could decide what

you want to do with it. Tanya knows the pain of seeing properties stand

empty. She lost her marital home when she divorced and had to move to

a bed—and—breakfast while just around the corner, other properties

stood empty. You just think it does not look nice as a passer—by. When

you have been what I have been through what you have had your home

taken away from you and you are homeless with two children, you

think, what a shame, what a waste. The problem is the new scheme will

be just a job in the ocean and Basingstoke has been accused of

dragging its heels as regards new homes. We have been working our way

through a local plan which is currently out for consultation which

ends on Friday. That will provide for the building of thousands of

houses over the next two years in Basingstoke but you have to go

through the planning process. Just over 2% of homes are empty in

Basingstoke at any one time. Even the worst part of the self are metal

more than double that figure. The only realistic hope of meeting

demand means more new build. Like it or not. The economy is on the up,

and you can trust us to keep it improving. That was the message from

Prime Minister David Cameron, as he closed the Tory Party Conference in

Manchester. So what have been the highlights for Conservatives from

the South? Our Political Editor Peter Henley reports. The government

conferences always attract protests, from complaints about fat cat

executive pay to the need for a planned for bees but conservatives

can point to the emerging success of plan A, their Chancellor Osborne 's

combination of cuts and investment, producing 1.4 million private sector

jobs. As the economy grows which it is undoubtedly doing at the moment,

we will get more and more people coming back into work. We have to

provide the education and the skills to be able to create the economy

that we want to. And they have not forgotten the big society. A

suggestion of more green shoots of recovery? We have the deficit down

by a third and we have set out very clearly what we will be doing over

the coming years to make sure that we get our public finances for the

coming years to make sure that we get our public finances fully under

control. Is this conference world to detached from real life? Does any of

the discussion here matter? There is plenty of gossip about personalities

Boris Johnson. They know they need to grow. They are not going to pick

them off a tree. There is a real commitment in our area to employers

giving that training which gives people hope and aspiration. If you

believe in those things, you have two. Nigel Farage was the fly in the

Conservative balm. The problem with Nigel Farage as he does not have to

deliver. He can promise the moon but he does not have to deliver it. Andy

has not delivered anything. Conservatives see themselves as

clearing up Labour 's mess. Was the pain worth it? Plenty of messages

but still more to come in the future. A police initiative to use

horse—riding volunteers to patrol rural areas of Hampshire has been

criticised by the police union. The Hampshire Horsewatch scheme will see

12 civilian horse riders in branded uniforms looking out for suspicious

activity and reporting to the police. Hampshire Constabulary said

it would help in times of financial pressures. But Hampshire Police

Federation criticised it as a "blurring of the line" between

police and the public. Still to come in the programme. Warnings of heavy

rain and wind. Alexis will be here with the details and Kris Temple has

the sport news. Yes, I will be here with all the key action from last

night 's championship football. Anyone who lives near a university

will know that life alongside students can create tensions.

Bournemouth is one town in the south with a very large student population

and has a new idea to help reduce noise and anti—social behaviour. The

university has around 18,000 students. Only first years live in

halls, leaving 12,000 students to live out in rented accommodation in

the town. In some areas of the town, 25% of the population is made up of

students during term time. Now a new scheme is underway, using specially

recruited wardens to help improve relations. James Ingham has been to

see how it's working. Friendly knock at the door. Students helping others

become better neighbours. We are from the student union at

Bournemouth University, making sure you have settled in OK. These

student wardens are offering advice to those living on their own for the

first time and other residents who live alongside them. I know from

first—hand experience when I first lived in a house, you do not take

into consideration. We yet raising awareness that there are other

people living down the throats. Simple things like being quiet with

taxi doors, I think it is really important. On this particular

street, a total of ten homes lived in by students and it is clear that

considerable friction. They don't realise that people are working in

the area and have to get up when they are screaming at 3am. It is

constant. Usually it starts on Tuesday and ends on Sunday night. We

get Monday respite and that is it. Every night, the children had been

woken up. Over the weekend, it comes to the point where we have two phone

the police to get something done about it. People urinating against

the walls. The police came straight out within half an hour and went

into a certain house and spoke to them but they rarely stop. The

scheme's based on pioneering work by Oxford Brookes University which has

gone a step further employing police community support officers.

Bournemouth University says this is part of a long term plan to bridge

the divide between town and gown. It will be a long—term process but it

will be something that we will introduce to the students. Six

wardens will work during the pilot year. If it works, more will follow.

A new 24—hour cross—Solent ferry service is due to be launched early

next year, promising to bring renewed competition to Isle of Wight

ferry services. Nauti Fast Ferries will operate a round—the—clock

passenger service between Portsmouth and Cowes. Mark Sanders reports.

There are already big fish in the cross—Solent ferry market, so is

there room for someone else to muscle in? Paul Duffield thinks so.

He already runs a charter boat business from Portsmouth. He's due

to start a 24 hour ferry service from the city to Cowes. He expects

to take about 70,000 passengers between the Isle of Wight and

Portsmouth in the first year. Are you trying to be the easyJet of the

Solent? Cheap and cheerful? I think there are various issues with the

budget. A similar problem would arise with a budget ferry. We want

to provide a fast and reliable service that fulfils a need. Nauti

Fast Ferries will use two small boats to cross the Solent in 25

minutes, up to three times an hour at peak periods. Each boat will

take12 passengers. The company believes the business model is

viable. Wightlink and Hovertravel run passenger services between

Portsmouth and Ryde, with RedFunnel's RedJet operating between

Southampton and Cowes. Wightlink reduced its Fast—Cat timetable last

month. The ferry company says competition helps to drive up

standards and keeps prices affordable. These were the views of

people in Southsea we spoke to about the new service between Portsmouth

and Cowes. That extra step would be quite good, I think. It would

encourage more people to come to the area. It is a great advantage for

business users because in winter time, it will take an hour between

travelling is at the moment. But is quite inconvenient. I think it is a

great service. The more the merrier. I am not really interested. Paul

Duffield's new business has been helped with a £50,000 grant from the

Solent Local Enterprise Partnership, and it's expected the Portsmouth to

Cowes service will start early next year. A quarter of a million people

go missing in the UK each year. More than 10,000 are adults. —— 100,000.

But while the majority of cases are resolved quickly, for the families

waiting for news of their loved ones it can be agonising. In April this

year 54—year—old Richard Gibbons walked out of his family home in

Swanage, and hasn't been seen since. Earlier I spoke to his daughter

Sandra, who began by telling me about her dad. He would tell us

about the music. He would not move with the times. My daughter was

named after a song that was played around the house. What happened the

night he disappeared? We checked on him and he was fine, it was normal

for him to wander around the house and have a cup of tea. But at half

six, I woke up and realised he was not in the house. Was that normal

for him to just go off on his own? The only time he would ever go off

on his own would be to the shop with the dog, take the dog around the

local park. But never on his own. He had not been well. He had been

having seizures. He had his first seizure in January of this year and

then he had three major ones in March. He was really poorly. He was

waiting for an MRI scan. He was not the same afterwards. Was he

depressed? I don't know. I think because he had been poorly, he felt

a bit helpless. He felt as if he could not be there for the family so

much, I think. And it has been five months. He disappeared in April. How

has it affected your family and your mother? My mum is destroyed. Some

days, we will be more posted as a family but in other ways, it has

torn us apart. What do you think has happened to him? I have days where I

think he is somewhere, singing in someone else's ears but then there

are the days when you think the worst. You have got a social network

site setup, what sort of response have you had? An amazing response.

My sister is on their everyday. But obviously, you do get the odd nasty

response. You don't expect people to understand. I know myself before

this, you don't realise how many missing people there are. But just

look, because it might just be that one person. Thank you for coming in

to talk to us. Let's hope there is some good news first. —— some good

news soon. And if you've got any information about Richard or

anything that might help Sandra and her family go to our Facebook page.

Anything you can do to help. It was the Swanage area that he went

missing from. We have the sport now. Bournemouth and Redding fans had a

long journey last night. Reading are up to fifth in the Championship

table, as they extended their recent unbeaten run. They did let a lead

slip though at bottom club Barnsley last night. The Royals broke the

deadlock shortly after half time, when Hal Robson—Kanu's shot beat

Barnsley keeper Jack Butland. It was Robson—Kanu's first goal of the

season, and one enjoyed by the travelling Royals fans. The

goalkeepers then took centre stage, Alex McCarthy saving well for

Reading and Butland turning away an effort from Adam Le Fondre. Alex

Pearce then hit the bar from close range for the Royals. Before

Barnsley's equaliser from Chris O'Grady 11 minutes from the end.

Reading are unbeaten since their 6—0 League Cup loss at Peterborough.

Staying in the Championship, Bournemouth were also served up a

midweek trip to Yorkshire. But Eddie Howe's side returned south

empty—handed. It was a tale of another red card. The sixth time in

ten league matches, that a Cherries game has featured a sending off.

Unfortunately, it was the second game in success and that Bournemouth

had been reduced to ten men. But the penalty was saved. The

pressure of 11 against ten told for Leeds early in the second half. The

cherries deserved their equaliser. Despite the earlier heroics, the

keeper could not keep out this shot which broke the team 's hearts and

left and 13th in the table. With Ryan Allsop suspended for this

weekend, Cherries have recalled third—choice goalkeeper Shwan Jalal

from his loan spell at Oxford. A Dorset semi—professional football

club have responded to a crisis, by registering their manager as a

player. Nothing exceptional about that you may think, except that Phil

Simkin is 60 years of age! Dorchester Town's surprise exit from

the FA Cup at the weekend has led the club to slash their playing

budget, and put the whole first team squad up for sale. Simkin, who was a

defender in his more familiar playing days, could be on the bench

for Saturday's Conference South game at Dover. You may remember the story

of Hampshire's 16—year—old cricketer Brad Taylor, who completed the leap

from village team to the county's first eleven this summer. Well,

there's been more good news for Brad, who comes from Holybourne near

Alton. Having impressed in his early matches for Hampshire, off—spinner

Taylor has now caught the eye of the England selectors. He'll spend the

winter at an Under 17 development camp, along with county team mate

Joe Weatherley. Another couple of good products from the Hampshire

Academy. OK, onto the weather. The calm

before the rain, shall we say? But we do have some lovely weather from

today. Some sparrows cooling off in this unseasonably warm weather.

Yes, rain is on the way. Let's talk about tonight first because that

does come before tomorrow. Tonight staying very mild. Temperatures

overnight are what they would normally be during the daytime at

this time of year. Summer showers overnight but it will become dry as

we head to the early hours of the morning. Some clear skies. A dry

start of the day but a mild night to come. Lowest temperatures just 17

Celsius. The torrential downpours will arrive soon enough, around

midday. That will give difficult driving conditions and maybe cause

some localised flooding. The Met office have issued a yellow warning.

The bulk of the country will be affected by this weather warning. We

could see around an inch of rain fall in a short period of time.

Possibly up to two inches locally. There is an active weather system

pushing in from the south. These two systems merging will produce those

torrential downpours. Expecting the rain to arrive in parts of Dorset

around 9am tomorrow. Working its way northwards. Some quite heavy bursts.

Top temperatures tomorrow despite the cloud and rain above the

seasonal average of 19 Celsius. And the winds will be press. —— the

winds will be brisk. Drier conditions will develop. Very mild

temperatures yet again. Lowest temperatures 16 Celsius. If you are

concerned about the weather situation, the heavy torrential

downpours over the next two days, over the next 24 hours, stay tuned

to your local BBC radio station. There may be localised flooding and

it may give disruption to travel. This is the outlook for the rest of

the week. Some torrential rain tomorrow. Strong southeasterly

winds. The rain gradually clearing tomorrow night. Friday is a mixture

of sunshine and showers. A better day than tomorrow. As we head

towards the weekend, the good news is high pressure is building in from

the Atlantic. So it will turn more settled. Don't forget, any

pictures, any flooding that you see, send them in. But is it from us. And

the rest of the team, good evening.