25/04/2012 Spotlight

Drought, what drought? Parts of the region are hit by flooding.

boys on the telephone so, get out, get out and take your children and

your pet with you and shot all the doors and get to higher ground.

Good evening we'll be live in East Devon in one of the worst affected

areas. Also tonight - surviving the

recession. How three local businesses are battling on despite

the economic downturn. Dodging ice and polar bears - an

Arctic adventure for a rower from Cornwall. It was one of those

expeditions that everyone thought we would fail.

And a rare visitor to our shores - find out how this tree frog caught

everyone on the hop. Parts of the south west are still

in danger of flooding tonight after torrential rain and heavy winds

brought down trees and turned roads into rivers. More than an inch of

rain and gusts of wind reaching more than 60 miles an hour battered

much of the region. A number of roads are still

impassable and farmers have had to move livestock to higher ground.

There are warnings on three rivers this evening yet the Environment

Agency is clear - we are still in a drought. Spotlight's Hamish

Marshall is live in Colyford where there remains a warning on the

River Axe. You'll have to take my word for it,

this is supposed to be a road. It is not one I would be looking to

take a vehicle across. The main road that runs between Lyme Regis

and Exeter is over there. There are massive puddles on that as well. I

spent a big chunk of the day in West Dorset where some people had

an early-morning call warning them of imminent danger.

Nearly at the end of its journey, but the power was too much for the

banks. There was a pond in this garden. This morning you could not

see where it started off finished. This woman moved in a year ago and

was woken up by a call from the environmental agency -- Environment

Agency. The voice on the telephone said, get out and take your

children and pets with you. Make sure the house is secured and get

to higher ground. Precautions to prevent flooding have increased in

recent years. The house has been raised and this builder who

recently completed other landscaping work returned to check

it was doing its job. We have done some flood prevention, drainage,

digging out the pits, etc. Thankfully it is working. About

half a dozen properties here were warned, but by mid-afternoon be

immediate danger had passed. A few miles away, the rain had fallen so

quickly on hard ground it could not sink in, so it went straight to the

rivers. Once the drought was announced, we expected a deluge and

that is what we got. That tree over there should not be in the river at

all. That is how high it is. It has come up very quickly. Since 9

o'clock it has been like this. Although rivers and water courses

could not take the amount of rain, those who burst their banks sent

the excess water to flood banks. Farmers were asked to check their

livestock. There are still three flood warnings in place across the

South West. That has reduced from eight as the day has gone on. Just

to give you an idea of the problems caused, it is a bit of an East-and

West split. Exeter airport at 29 mm. People are looking to see if river

levels are rising and to the skies to see if there is more rain coming

their way. And David will be here with a full

forecast later in the programme. Businesses in the south west have

tonight greeted the return to recession with responses ranging

from anxiety and indifference to defiant optimism. In 2008,

Spotlight began following a handful of small firms which were starting

life in the credit crunch. Today, with the news that we are in the

first double dip recession since the 1970s, we've been back to see

how they're doing and how they're feeling.

It's hardly been holiday weather in Looe just lately as the colour of

the river makes all too plain. In his B&B overlooking the water,

Derek Braithwaite might have an excuse for feeling browned off.

He's seen the business grow annually, but this year it's less

clear where the growth is coming from. All the same, he has no

regrets, despite this latest economic twist. I think

psychologically it is bad news for people who are planning their

holidays and bad news for business confidence in Britain as a whole.

At some stage, this recession has got to get better.

Lack of growth certainly hasn't been an issue for South Devon based

Creative Garages. They turn garages into living space. A smart

proposition, given that many people can't move house either because of

job insecurity or the difficulty of getting a mortgage. Talk now of

recession doesn't worry the boss. If anything, might increased demand

because people are going to say, hang on, we cannot consider moving.

Is my job at risk? People are not going to take that big step and

move house, but the need for another bedroom, and other kitchen,

or whatever, is still going to be there.

Our third small business is the Green Door restaurant at Woodbury,

near Exeter. In the early months chef Mark Pulman struggled to make

it as head of his own enterprise, but now he's a seasoned businessman.

I it was in business for two months before we went into recession, so I

don't really know what it is like to be out of recession. -- I was in

business. You have to keep going and if you are doing the right

thing, customers will keep coming back. I must be doing something

right. So four years in, our three

businesses all still have their heads above water. Times are far

from easy as today's growth figures have underlined, but so far, life

goes on. There's already evidence that the

recession is having an impact on businesses in our high streets. So

what are people cutting back on to save money? We've been asking

people on the streets of Exeter how they are affected.

Just shopping cheaper, going for the Budget plans. By close less

often, no holidays, that sort of thing. A everyday living. Shopping

has gone an awful lot. -- gone are an awful lot. Spending money on

commuting, petrol prices are massive. I am lucky. I don't have a

mortgage, the house is paid for and we can live on a were pensioners,

but it has affected our savings. would just have to tighten our

belts a bit more. Earlier, I put some of the issues

raised in our reports to regional economist Kevin Butler, a former

south west agent for the Bank of England. I began by asking him how

the south west economy was fairing. Rather like the economy as a whole,

a flat picture and not much growth in the last 12 months. But there

are some signs of optimism going forward. Which sectors might help

to drive the South West economy forward? There is some evidence of

improvement in construction, although the market is very

polarised between businesses that have strengthen their balance

sheets and I in a better position to bid for work and those

businesses that have a high level of debt. Manufacturing as well.

Although Abbey National numbers were down, actually, but businesses

I had been speaking to recently have been quite positive,

particularly about sales to markets outside the eurozone and, and some

positive noises coming from those companies selling in the Middle

East. Some people might be feeling gloomy, but some of the businesses

we have been following over the last few years are looking to the

future and saying, things can only get better. Are they right to feel

optimistic? If you take the example of the tourist business, again,

talking to one of my contacts last week, the story there was we are

still seen plenty of visitors coming through, but there is a

squeeze on discretionary spending. So very often the amount of money

spent in a shop or restaurant is down a bit. Nevertheless, people

are coming and people holiday at home has been helpful to this

business. Thank you. Controversial plans to use a Devon

quarry as a transit site for ash from Plymouth's planned incinerator

are still being debated tonight at County Hall in Exeter.

Environmental campaigners say the idea is misguided and they want it

This quarry is an imposing sight, but in recent months it has -- it

has become a controversial one. There had been plans to change it

and bring in at ash from a nearby incinerator. Beat developers said

that it would be recycled and used for road building. The product is

used across the UK, mainly further north. Is it hazardous or none

hazardous? It is a non hazardous material? Is it toxic or dangerous?

It is not. The developers say that over the next few years, a faulty

lorries could visit the site and only 11 it would have ash.

Environmental campaigners have lobbied hard. They have even sent

out leaflets to key people, but during the debate one local

resident spoke in favour of the proposal. Paula is a trained

geologist and takes a different point of view from most of the

residents. Would you want lorries of that size, of that amount

rumbling past a house? What I don't understand how they make the

Testament. Tonight, campaigners said they are delighted. This

campaign has been going on for the year. 95 % of the town said no and

it just the vindicates us that the end of the day. This is what

democracy and localism is about. Already, those wanting to develop

the quarry are considering an appeal.

With the local elections just a fortnight away, the battle for

votes in Plymouth is intensifying. Labour needs to gain just four

seats to take control from the Tories. One issue at the forefront

of some voters minds is the Conservative decision to approve

plans for a large incinerator on the edge of Devonport Dockyard. As

Jenny Kumah reports, it's being built in one of the city's most

marginal wards. A few years ago, and stew that were not that

interested in politics, but the prospect of having an incinerator

on their doorstep has turned them into active campaigners, who have a

keen eye on the local elections. wake up in the morning thinking

about fund-raising so we can get money to help with the legal fees.

It is all about this, just about this. Hopefully the 3rd May would

change things, but I am not sure. 90 in seats are up for election.

Labour need to gain for to take control from the Tories. The ward

where be incinerator is planned to be built is a key one. In December

last year, also then Conservative members of the City Council's

planning committee voted in favour of building an incinerator. All

five Labour councillors voted against it. But the seat is not

necessarily an easy target for Labour. The contracts have been

signed and there will be big financial penalties if it does not

go ahead. We are bound by the decision and that is why I am

working with the community groups to move forward with other Labour

councillors to try to overturn that decision. But the manifesto is

clear. We descend the decision to build the incinerator there. A good

some residents angry at the Conservatives because of the

decision, how would their candidate persuade people to vote for her?

There are great benefits to this as well. We will be pumping energy

directly into the dockyard. It will help to keep jobs in their area.

There are no Liberal Democrats on inner-city council -- Plymouth City

Council. People need to stand up and make their voices heard and

persuade the council to change their mind. UKIP also have a

candidate standing in this ward. There's one other candidate

standing in the local elections in Plymouth and that's Mark Burton

representing UKIP. A Devon village is about to become

the first in the country to open an underground community shop.

Villagers in Exbourne couldn't get planning permission to build in the

usual way, so instead they dug a hole in the side of a field. It's

taken them ten years, but the shop is due to open soon. The transport

system is almost non-existent. We have a large population of older

people who do not have their own transport.

Now, he's already rowed for 81 days across the Indian Ocean, but that

wasn't enough of a challenge for this Cornishman. Last year Billy

Gammon from Trevose and his crew mates rowed 500 miles to the 1996

position of the Magnetic North Pole. Their challenge, which is being

broadcast on BBC1 tonight, shows them contending with razor sharp

ice and polar bears. Billy and his crew mates headed for the 1996

position of the magnetic North Pole. For the 36-year-old, he knew it was

not going to be an easy journey, but navigating the boat through the

ice was more hazardous than the crew had anticipated. Things change

on day 12 and from that moment onwards, conditions were hazardous

and volatile. It was a case of changing out a strategy. Whilst we

were getting satellite imagery, the reality on the ground was very

different. But the ice was not to be their biggest hazard. All the

training had -- all the training we have done in terms of polar bear

evasion, that was it, it was like. There was a lot of adrenalin and

fear. The crew were at sea for 30 days and living quarters were

intimate. You find out about yourself and too much about other

people. The boat was designed to be able to fit onto a plane. It was

very much an adventure into the unknown and when we got up there,

it exceeded all our expectations. And you can see more of Billy's

journey in the hour-long documentary Rowing The Arctic on

BBC One tonight, at 10.45pm. Packing staff at a farm in Devon

had a bit of a shock when a tree frog hopped out of their bananas.

The tiny green amphibian had managed to survive a cargo shipment

from abroad. Spotlight's Johnny Rutherford has the story. This is

what shocked Packer's as it leapt across the salting bay. No-one was

sure which consignment of fruit and vegetables it had jumped out of.

But guys were packing this morning and we had a whole range of fruit

and veg and out it popped. We have seen Snell's in the past, but they

don't normally make it this far. -- snails. It was obvious the frock

was not local, so did it come from Europe? -- the tree frog. We are

going to take it to a vet. It is European. Not for the bananas? --

not from the bananas? So it was from be lettuce. -- the lettuce.

For now, it will be living here. A wild beaver rescued from a slurry

pit on a farm near Plymouth has been found a new home. The young

beaver is now being looked after by Derek Gow who's licenced to breed

the animals in captivity at his farm near Lifton. A large male

beaver escaped four years ago, but Derek says this one is much smaller

and younger than the one who's Let's see what is happening with

the weather. We have had some torrential downpours of rain. We

had wet and windy weather last night, but the showers today have

given some hefty rainfall totals. We will see some of the same again

tonight. This is the brain for we have seen today. Top of the league

is Bridport - 37 mm of rain. The average across the South West of

England for much of April his 50-60 mm. We have had half the total

month's rainfall in just a few awards. Some very wet and dangerous

conditions. There are now three flood warnings on a work rivers.

The low pressure that has been close by during the night and today

has hardly moved at all. It would take its time to get away from us.

You can see that great brute of clouds stretching round ours. That

was the wet weather we saw last night. Now we are close to the

centre and we had the slow-moving and heavy showers that will

continue for the next few hours. By midday tomorrow, the isobars will

have owed and doubt and there will be a change in the direction of the

wind. Perhaps some brighter weather in between the showers. There is

the main area of rain that is moving up towards Scotland. You can

see some bright colours on our radar pictures. Does indicate the

heavy showers. As the night wears on, be sure where risk remains

along the south coast of Devon, Cornwall and Dorset. Although the

winds remained strong -- remain strong, they are not as strong as

they were last night. Tomorrow, more of their Chavez to come. Again,

one of them could be -- again, some of them could be heavy.

Temperatures tomorrow or up to 12 Celsius. There is that for cars for

the answer surely. -- there is the forecast for the Isles of Scilly.

Here are the times of high water and a look now at tomorrow's serve.

The promise of some brighter weather on Friday, at least a bit