02/09/2014 Spotlight

degrees. Thursday, more of the same. Is that is all from us. Now on BBC

One Nurses and cleaners are

among the workers at the Royal Cornwall Hospital who'll pay up to

eight times more than they do now. Extremely angry. Very angry. It is

not fair and they should think about the star. We do very hard work and

we are not rewarded at all. Under fire, Plymouth City Council is

criticised for paying what's seen Some temporary managers are being

paid as much as ?800 a day. That is shocking. That is

disgusting. It is. That is just unbelievable.

The town of Looe hits back after being called brash and full

And the heartwarming tale of the woman who tracked

Hundreds of hospital staff in Cornwall have signed a petition

complaining about a massive increase in their car parking charges.

Health workers at the Royal Cornwall Hospital will have to pay up to

eight times the current rate when the new charges start next month.

Hospital unions say the increases are unfair and staff have now raised

a collective grievance against the hospital board.

Spotlight's David George has this report.

Parking charges at hospitals have long been an irritation to patients

and visitors. Now staff at the Royal is a laugh furious about a price

hike that will mean some of them paying eight times the current cost.

Until now an annual staff parking pass was based on a level of

salary. From October the 1st that is set to change with the cost of a

pass going up for part`time workers from 30 to ?260 and foremost

full`time staff from between 60 and ?90 to ?330. Consultants will be

paying ?500 a year. Mine was going up from ?60 to ?330. I live close

but I start work at 5:30am. I will not do it now. I will get on my

bike. Far too much money. It could have been done on a work sacrifice

scheme or proportionally and that would have been fairer and staff

would have been more access to love it. Hundreds of staff have called on

the hospital staff to think again and have signed a position. New ``

unions say it is unfair and will cause real hardship. We made a

constructive proposal that will save the trust a lot of money and would

have allowed the lowest paid to have an affordable parking rate and it

was, play league pooh`poohed out of hand and we cannot understand the

attitude from the trust. The unions have made the matter a formal

grievance. In Plymouth staff parking charges at Derriford Hospital

doubled earlier this year. No one from the Royal Cornwall Hospitals

Trust wanted to comment. A spokesman referred us to a previous statement

which said they were aware of the impact of the increases and that the

charges remain lower than those at other hospitals in the South West.

Now, how much do you think you should be paid each day?

Well, Plymouth City Council is under fire tonight for paying some

In all ?11,000 a day is being spent on temporary managers.

Lizzie has a new cafe on the Barbican at Plymouth. As she tries

to drum up trade, what is her response to the council paying these

figures? Oh, that would be lovely, wouldn't it? I cannot even afford to

pay myself at the moment, I have started a new business and it is a

really hard struggle. I am extremely tired and doing all of the hours

under the sun for absolutely nothing at the moment. Of 17 interim staff

on Plymouth Council books 15 get more than ?500 a day and to get more

than ?800. Let us do some calculations. The biggest amount

paid here is to the interim head of business and technical

architecture. They get ?840 a day. Imagine that is eight works out at

?105 an hour. The national minimum wage for adults is ?6 31 an hour.

That works out to be about ?50 a day day. The council insists it needs

temporary posts to provide extra capacity and

Plymouth taxpayers are not comment. That is disgusting. It is. It is

unbelievable. I work for ?6 50 an hour so that is wrong. Very wrong.

If they are adding value than that is great but if there is no real

value being added to that I do not see the need for someone to earn

that kind of money. I do a very skilled job and spent many years at

college but I do not get anywhere near that amount. The council said

the costs will reduce as expertise is passed onto existing colleagues

and permanent posts are filled. With some people in place for over a year

the question is how temporary are the temps?

The BBC has learnt that a man who stalked a Devon woman for

five years before stabbing her is to appeal to have his life sentence

Joe Willis was convicted in April of attacking Helen Pearson

He also subjected her to a malicious campaign of harassment.

The judge at the time said he should serve a minimum of 13 years.

Ms Pearson told Spotlight that she wasn't going to let the appeal worry

Newquay is pioneering a new project which allows

the police to alert people by email about crimes in their area.

Seven police beats in the resort have adopted the Street Net scheme

so far, and 115 more streets are on the verge of joining up.

The government has launched a badger vaccination scheme aimed at stopping

the spread of bovine TB beyond hotspots such as the south west.

DEFRA wants to create a buffer zone of healthy badgers in so`called edge

counties such as Cheshire, Oxfordshire and East Sussex.

Divers have been told not to go inside the warship HMS Scylla

which was sunk in Whitsand Bay off Cornwall ten years ago

The National Marine Aquarium says corrosion and storm damage

A solar farm covering an area equivalent to 60 football pitches is

It would be one of the largest solar farms in the region so far, but

people living in the nearby village of Aller are furious and claim it

Our Somerset Correspondent Clinton Rogers reports.

Pretty much as far as you can see out there was all underwater... On a

damp day here, memories of the winter flooding. The Greenfield to

the left... Virtually all this land, the heart of the Somerset Levels,

was under water for months. Now the people of Aller have a new battle,

against a developer who wants to put a giant solar farm here, the size of

60 football pitches. At this time I cannot believe the insensitivity of

the applicants but it is a commercial application and I

understand that they obviously are not looking at it from our point of

view, they are looking at it from a commercial point of view. I think it

is just shocking. We are supposed to be valuing the heritage our English

countryside but why would you want to put an industrial development in

a rural location? The company behind the plan is local. They employ 150

people in Somerset and they have already built 20 solar farms across

the country. The boss says the latest project may be their biggest

but it will be well hidden. Aller, although it has an open plain, it

has got a very good opportunity to screen with the trees that are

proposed as part of the application so we are focusing hard on hiding

the site in the best way that we can. It will not be the first solar

farm on the Somerset Levels. This one covers 33 acres and it went

online in 2011. If the Aller application gets planning permission

it will be twice that size and generate enough electricity to power

5500 homes. It is a tremendously historic landscape down there. The

protesters argue that the price is too high in the damage that it will

do to a unique landscape. Businesses in a Cornish resort have

gone into battle over the way its Looe has been dubbed brash, full of

kiss`me`quick hats and a place you It's caused an outcry

like never before. Spotlight's John Danks has

the story. Here we are in lovely Looe. Welcome

everybody to this place. A big shout out for Looe, quite the

opposite of the comments made in the latest AA guide for Cornwall which

described the town as brash. The owners of this small hotel are not

happy. We were quite put out because we advertise with the AA and they

come round and judge us every year. They judge us and we have to fight

to keep our standards high. And then I was very disappointed to hear that

the same company could come and judge of town as beautiful as Looe

and basically is slated. Locals argue that the writer of the article

only focused on buckets and spades. I put the peace in the book up and

we had comments from all over the world saying that this is not the

Looe that I know and had they gone to Blackpool instead of Looe?

Somebody even commented that perhaps they should go to a well`known

opticians and get their glasses changed. At least one Looe resident

thought the AA guide was right. I think it is very accurate and I

think a lot of people find it a hard pill to swallow but of recent years

it is quite true that it is the way the town has gone. We are full now

of bucket and spade shops and equality shops have disappeared.

Tourism leaders here want the AA to set the record straight. They say no

mention was made of the historic fishing port or of the traditional

backplanes. The AA has apologised for any offensive may have caused.

In a statement they say the section on Looe highlights the array of

great prices to visit but with hindsight we agree that the only

could have been worded more sensitively and we will now be

working with the author to reword the introduction and that will

appear in the next edition of the travel guide.

What do you think of that description of Looe?

If you'd like to comment on that story or anything else in tonight's

programme you can contact us via E`mail, Twitter, or Facebook.

The addresses you need are all on your screen now.

Answering the call of nature has saved an historic farmhouse together

with a herd of cattle from being destroyed by fire!

Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue have confirmed they're not

investigating the blaze which is thought to have been started

by stray sparks from a brazier at Palmers Farm near Wellington.

From there Leigh Rundle sent this report.

This winter's hay store up in smoke. This family has farmed here for 500

years and seen a lot worse. They are focusing on the positive. We came

out around to find the sheds on fire and my first concern was for the

calves so I looked in the shed and they were huddled in the corner. I

managed to get my father and my wife and my mum and my brother and we all

managed to drive the animals out. I was dousing their shared down to try

and stop it catching to the old buildings that are 500 years old

over in the corner. The alarm was raised by Jamie's mum. She was

answering a call of nature in the middle of the night and she heard

popping from the asbestos popping and then she saw the flames outside

a man around and got everyone up. Initially the firefighting operation

was far from straightforward. There were a number of risks involved. It

was suspected we had our settling cylinders and the asbestos roof and

we also had a 500 gallon tank of diesel rupture. Bloom across the

river the impact of any pollution and there have been no reports of

dead fish. For other creatures things are also looking up. This dog

has been made homeless by the fire and he gets a rare opportunity to

sleep indoors. In a little over two weeks' time

people north of the border will be asked whether Scotland should be

an independent country. Despite the vote being exclusively

for people living in Scotland, there could be consequences for the South

West and especially for Cornwall. Spotlight's John Henderson

has been investigating. It is a long way from the tip of

Cornwall to the end of mainland Scotland, but figuratively speaking

at least the two places are quite close. They share Celtic roots,

their own languages, traditions, culture and history. This festival

in Padstow is the perfect example of Cornish nurse. North of the border

Scottish nurses on test over whether the country should become

independent. Alex Salmond and Alistair Darling trading blows ahead

of the vote on September 18, a historic date. Arguably its history

that has made the people they are and Cornwall the place it is and for

many that geopolitics starts here on the River Tamar. In 936 that river

was fixed the boundary. Four years ago this man was instrumental in

mobilising this protest on the Saltash river bank. That was about a

possible parliamentary constituency straddling Devon and Cornwall. Devon

Wall went away but he thinks the upshot of the Scottish referendum

debate will be lasting and profound. I think whether Scotland goes yes or

no, when the dust settles a bit people will start asking about

devolution in all sorts of areas and Cornwall will be very much near the

top of that list. The leader of the Cornish nationalist party also

believe that whatever happens in Scotland will enhance the case for

devolution in Cornwall. For him it will help rebalance the union, not

as some fear, fracture it. At the moment the United Kingdom is broken,

the idea you can have London and the south`east totally overheating and

sucking life and money out of the rest of the country, if that is good

then people have got their priorities wrong and we need to

rebalance the United Kingdom with more power to places like Cornwall

and Wales and actually make sure that things are equal as much as

possible. It is difficult to get a sense of perspective when applying

what Scottish independence might mean to Cornwall. Scotland is a

nation of millions with oil money to take it forward and Cornwall is the

UK's worst performing region with half a million people. Its

traditional industries have struggled. Fishing is not what it

was. If Scotland votes to go it alone and then tries to join the U

the MP in the area says there could be a chance to revive Cornish

fishing fortunes. The Scots have always been given a disproportionate

benefit out of the quota allocation of the United Kingdom so we could

have our fish back and I think there is a good opportunity for not just

Cornish fishermen but other parts of the country as well and they can say

that they want a larger Coit. The end is near when it comes to the

question of Scottish independence. It could provide an answer to wear

next four Cornwall. A lot of you have been getting

in touch about our story on Looe being described as brash

and full of kiss`me`quick hats. Jane Morgan says the description

sounds more like Newquay! Brian Lewis says, Looe, great beach,

gorgeous walks, fantastic Steve Napier says he's been visiting

Looe for 40 years and the guide must have mixed it up

with somewhere else. But John Debenham commented,

have you ever tried taking And Kevin Raddy says

Looe deserves this kick up the backside. He says it's

naturally one of the most beautiful towns in Cornwall but poor

decisions have blighted the town. Thank you for your comments.

Please keep them coming. Another comment says that the

comments by the AA were Looe ludicrous.

A series of works to protect Lyme Regis from

the destructive power of the sea has been going on for decades but one

Nick Browning took his first pay cheque In the 1980s.

Our Dorset reporter Simon Clemison looks at what the scheme means

for the coastal town by retracing the footsteps of the civil engineer

He has brought sand, he has brought rock, he has brought shingle, he has

brought concrete. Not single`handed but over time, a long time. As long

as the project to shield this part of Dorset from the elements has been

going, and that is since the 1980s. Colleagues have join and left but

Nick Browning is one of the original civil engineers and he has remained

a constant. The sea walls he oversaw in the early years are now older

than some of the workmen on site. Did you ever think it would be you

here in 2014? I did not think it would be me. We started off in 1989I

think with some proposed offshore breakwaters and they were not

popular amongst the local people so since then we have been working with

local experts and the town council so it is very satisfying to see it

coming to an end. The latest phase which is almost complete was the

building of a new sea wall to the east of Lyme Regis which was tight

eating away at the bottom of the cliff and creating landslips that

take houses with them. This is a 7000 year old landslide

that we are standing on and you have stopped it going any further. It is

a natured mudslide and to the left has been reactive I'd `` reactivated

by coastal erosion `` erosion chipping away at it so we have put a

big line of piles down through here and the big roach to the right with

housing and the main road into the town on it with pipes and services,

that area is now stabilised. West Dorset County Council have

spent more than ?90 million on the latest stage. It should have a shelf

life of 50 years. As for the shelf life of Nick? There is phase five to

go, you are in your 60s, Willi Evseev phase five through? No,

probably not. At the moment we are asking for the coast protection

parts of that to be put into the Environment Agency programme. A

quarter of the century is enough, is it? I think so, yes. Time to enjoy

his sea defences may be, and sea defences can be enjoyed.

Two sisters, one from Exeter, the other from Poland,

have finally found each other after spending a lifetime apart, thanks to

the British Red Cross International Family Tracing Service.

Bozenca Pearson always knew she had a half sister in Eastern Europe from

He'd lost touch with his first wife and daughter

after they were separated during the Second World War.

Spotlight's John Ayres takes up the story.

Five years ago Bozenca contacted the British Red Cross to try and find

out details about her half sister. Before the war her father lived in

Poland with his first wife and his baby daughter Danuta. When the

Russians invaded he was arrested and sent to prison. He joined the Polish

second core Army when he was freed and he demobbed in 1946 and was in

London but he could not find his family. He made numerous attempts to

try and get in touch with his family in Poland who he had left behind. He

went through the Red Cross, all sorts of Polish organisations, but

there was absolutely no trace of them and this was 1946 so this went

on until about 1949 by which time he had met my mother. He married ten

macro one's mother and they had two daughters. Information was hard to

come by after the Second World War and even harder after the Iron

curtain came down. Both of her parents have passed away now but

with the help of the Red Cross Bozenca went in search of her

father's records and details of her half sister and she got hold of

documents from the Ministry of Defence. There on the back of one of

the forms was the name and the date of birth of my half sister and I

always knew I had a sister out there somewhere but to see it actually

written down by my father, it is in my father's handwriting. Bozenca's

name was now out there and the sister found and contacted her.

Until she heard from the Red Cross Danuta had no idea she had family in

England. It was so emotional, there were so much to talk about and the

first question I asked her what how did you survive? And she said, we

survived, we had to survive. It was an awful time. It is great for our

Inquirer because it just extends their family and they find that so

much more about their background and about where they came from and they

can continue that exploration. These state Bozenca and Danuta speak once

a week on the phone and the Internet. They have not yet met but

they hope to do so soon. That will be a great reunion.

An emotional moment. It is time for the weather forecast now and we here

it is OK. It is OK. It is not looking too bad.

I pressure is in charge so it is quiet but it is pinning down how

much clout we will get somewhere it will be. Some places are seeing

gorgeous sunshine and elsewhere there is a cloudy picture so it is

dependent on where you live. That will be the problem through tomorrow

as well but before I tell you about that let us have a look at some

scenes we saw earlier today. This is South Devon. There are cloudy skies

out there and this was one of the more unlucky spots for today. It was

not bad for sitting out there. The air was mild and the wind was gentle

so it was not feeling too bad, especially given that it is the

beginning of the autumn. I think over the coming days this is going

to be the challenge that the forecasters are facing, determining

exactly how much clout we will see. Tomorrow I think a bit of a great

start, perhaps with mist and low cloud around at first but it will

thin and break and we should see some warm and sunny spells coming

through. This is the satellite picture at the moment. The cloud is

fairly grey and low with no real rain bearing cloud around. This is a

rain bearing cloud out to the west and the weather system but it is

being kept at bay by the high`pressure overhead. That high

pressure remains in charge as we head through the next few days. I

think as we head towards the end of the week we will get more moisture

feeding in and that will probably increase those cloud amounts. If you

take a look at the night wears on. That could give mist and fog in

places. We start tomorrow on that mild note, a bit misty and murky for

some of us but it should lift and break. We should see sunny spells

coming through. I am a bit concerned that parts of the south coast could

see more low cloud and missed lingering at times through the day

but cross fingers it should break as well and hopefully we will get to

enjoy some sunny spells. Temperatures will respond nicely.

If we take a look at our forecast for the Isles of Scilly here there

is a similar story with variable cloud and sunny spells coming

through but staying dry throughout the day. It feels warmer when the

sunshine comes out. The best of the waves will be along

the north coast. The conditions will be clean. In the south coast the

weights will be small and conditions are messy or choppy.

Generally fair conditions but we could see a bit of missed reducing

visibility at times. The sea status light and perhaps moderate around

the headlands. In the coming few days there is uncertainty with cloud

around is `` amounts and Wednesday and Thursday could see the best of

the sunny spells and in the cloud will thicken. Hopefully still some

brightness to be found. Thank you very much. We put the

story about Looe on our Facebook page so have a look at some comments

that viewers are making about that. A lot of people defending Looe. We

will be back at 6:30pm tomorrow. Have a good evening. Good night.

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