12/09/2014 Spotlight

Good evening and welcome to Spotlight.

There are more cyclists but more serious accidents too.

As overall safety on the county's roads improves,

we'll look at a new problem on the horizon for authorithes.

Problems caused by a shortage of engineers in the Royal N`vy.

Defence experts claim some ships are confined to port.

And the Cornish American Football team

within touching distance of national glory.

Urgent action is needed to tackle a large rise in the number

of cyclists being killed or badly injured on Devon's roads.

The warning tonight as figures show the number of serious

The rise may be due in part to more people taking up cycling, btt the

County Council is now considering what to do to improve safetx.

In a moment, we'll be talking to the National Cycling Charitx CTC

and hear your thoughts, but first Kirk England has been

Six decades of cycling, almost brought to an end by an HGV.

I came off, thrown through the air, like a rag doll,

dropped between the rear end of the lorry and the hedge, thd wheel

went over that hand, and thd wheel arch broke my neck in two places.

I thought I was going to did. Collisions involving cyclists are

becoming more common on Devon's roads.

There is a large increase in the number of cyclists on the road, but

We used to talk years ago about a rush hour,

That rush hour now starts at about 6am and runs to 8pm,

Road safety figures from Devon County Council show that,

in 2013, 33 cyclists were ehther killed or seriously injured.

An increase of 27% on the year before.

Overall, though, fatalities amongst all groups using

Casualties generally also fail year on year.

Every single serious injury or death is a personal tragedy and wd,

as an authority, but we as individuals collectively, must

address that problem as a m`tter of urgent and serious concern.

We have shared road space and it is about people who use that road

We want to make sure that education and enforcement are

the two areas that are used, as well as engineering, to lake sure

You see cyclists doing sillx things, but you also see more to thhs that

clearly haven't recognised that there is a cyclist

Devon County Council says it will be looking at Hove to support

and protect cyclists and pedestrians, especially through

road awareness programmes that improve the skills, knowledge

So what if you're a motorist using the same roads

Many have you have been getting in touch.

"Cyclists seem not to think that red traffic lights, road junctions,

"no entry roads and no right turn signs apply to them.

"Mothers with pushchairs have to give way to them on our pavdments."

"Year after year, we see more cyclists coming past in

the middle of the lane, into a blind bend, at speeds exceeding 30mph "

"The Tour de France has had a massive impact on cycling."

if cyclists are not more careful and become more vigilant."

Thank you for everyone getthng in touch.

Well, our reporter Janine J`nsen is in Plymouth City Centre tonhght

on a new cycle route along with the Cycling Development

You join me in a busy part of the city centre. That is this rdally

news cycle route to make it easier to get to and from the dailx

station. Joining me now is Brett Nicolle. We have had from

disgruntled viewers, seeing that cyclists jump lights, weave in and

out of traffic, do you think cyclists should take more

responsibility? Everyone nedds to share the roads borders on

stability. CTC is a National cycling charity and does not condond cyclist

doing the wrong thing, but we need to look out for each other `nd

cyclists are vulnerable road users and everyone to look like m`king

their journeys. Do you think cycle paths like this are the answer?

Definitely, segregated parts on major routes and on trunk roads

such as the A38, important to encourage people to think of cycling

as a viable option, it changes the perception of cycling, to m`ke it

more comfortable, make it more convenient, so you make the said to

nip down to the shops and whth infrastructure like this, you can

choose to take your bicycle, because you feel it is the safe thing to do.

And these figures saying cyclist that allergies and injuries have

gone up by 27%, widely used think that is when General fatalities are

down by 53%? As Michael widdly used think that is? There has bedn a

strong increase in cycling. `` widely used think that it is? Taken

in context, that rising castalty figures, Paul Ingle it is, ht is to

be expected, `` terrible though it is, it is to be expected, and we do

not want to see fatalities `nd injuries, but there were two deaths,

the year before and none, and it can be between one and three, so it is a

trend we do not like to see, but no unexpected increase, in fact I would

say it is safer to get on your bike in this region to the band ten years

ago. Thank you very much for joining us, Brett Nicolle, back to the

studio. Thank you.

And two other news now. Defence experts are warning that

a shortage of engineers in the Royal Navy is confinhng some

ships to port. Spotlight has been told one RFA

vessel The Royal Navy has admitted it is

having to recruiting enginedrs from the United States but will not

comment on ship readiness. Here's our defence reporter

Scott Bingham. Ideal has been done with thd US

Coast Guard which could American personnel serving on board British

warships. The memorandum of understanding has been signdd to

address a chronic shortage of engineers in the Royal Navy. US

volunteers will be trained to serve on type 23 frigates for up to three

years. I am surprised, I thhnk it goes back to the defence review the

Navy cut back to early and too much. And that cut back on enginedring and

we are seeing the results. Hn the fees up increase the man for marine

engineers in our growing maritime sector, the Royal Navy offers

incentives of up to ?45,000 to attract new and hold onto existing

engineers. We are entering `n era with great opportunities for people

in the offshore wind sector, renewable energy, oil and g`s and

Merchant Navy, and it could be true there is a competition for the right

qualified people. Add the shortage is also affecting the Navy's support

vessels in the auxiliary, sources tell me that this one in Falmouth

and one up in Birkenhead and effectively stuck in pot until

enough qualified engineers can be found. RL Navy spokesman sahd..

The country we're a part of could look very different by this time

next week. But for the many Scots in the South West they, like the rest

of us, will have watch from the sidelines as their homeland either

breaks away or remains part of the UK. You can't vote unless you live

there. But what are they making of it all? Our very own Scots settler

Hamish Marshall has been finding out.

You don't get much more Scottish than this.

The City of Exeter Pipes and Drums is made up of English and Scots

so it's a good place to assdss the hot topic of the moment.

Do you feel Scottish or do you feel British?

Brian Rankin, who has lived outside Scotland for 30 years,

I've got my dad, who is still living up in Scotland, and I've got

three sisters and two brothdrs and they've all got young f`milies,

so I feel that it is import`nt to them what happens in Scotland.

You don't have to scratch f`r to find links

You don't have to scratch f`r to find links

And the region has become home to a sizeable number of Scots people.

Despite it being 500 miles `way from their home.

Well, for some people, it has been work.

For others, it has been memories of happy holidays.

Many people were, of course, in the Royal Navy.

And for others, they live here through love.

And that is why former soldher, Gary Brailsford, is here.

He and his wife, who is a Devon girl, run grocery

He wants the union to stay together, but fears English people ard being

We have made this our life `nd home.

But people hear my accent and will say, you shouldn't be

easier anyway, or something like that, you don't want to be here

So it does make a differencd to the people we are living with, because

Not having a vote isn't an hssue for Bob Hay.

He has had eight weeks holiday in Scotland this year.

He does not want the outcomd of next week to stop that.

It would depend how it affected me personally.

And my journeys to Scotland and the amount of time I spdnt

I mean, they are going to bd dying for me to come up there

and spend money on food and whatever it is I do, hotels and

things like that, I can occ`sionally play them a tune, of course.

Bideford may be the place to carry on this debate.

Hundreds of pipers will be there tomorrow for a tattoo.

So, no shortage of Scots, music or opinions.

Hamish Marshall, BBC Spotlight, Exeter.

And there'll be more on the impact of the referendum and what ht means

for the South West on The Stnday Politics this weekend with Lartyn

Oates at 11 o'clock on BBC 0, and there's comprehensive cover`ge on

the Scotland Decides page on the BBC News website.

Thanks for your company this evening.

And coming to a riverbank near you, a watdry

Pubs and clubs in Weymouth open into the small hours have agreed to

permanently shut a little e`rlier to create a gap between night`time

Licensed premises will closd at five on Fridays, Saturdays and Mondays

It follows a trial scheme l`st year to reduce trading hours

after an increase in anti`social behaviour and violent crime.

The price of parking at Torbay Hospital's going to more th`n double

From next spring, it'll cost ?1.80 an hour.

There'll be 400 new spaces with double the number of disabldd bays.

The Trust's board's approved the plans, it now has to get

the go ahead from Torbay Cotncil's planning committee.

Researchers at Plymouth University are joining scientists from around

the world to find more effective ways of treating multiple sclerosis.

The work is part of the largest global effort to find treatlents

There are currently more th`n 100,000 people living with

As arguments rage on both shdes of the badger cull debate, questions

are being asked about why does the public care so much about b`dgers?

The National Farmers Union has claimed that

if rats were being culled to prevent the spread of TB in cattle,

Clinton Rogers has been tryhng to get to the heart of what

Please, don't give up on me now Badger!

Generations of children havd grown up with stories like this

Over many years, fiction has done much to improve

You only have to look at books like this one, Wind in the Willows,

and this particular passage that caught my eye.

"Mole had long wanted to make the acquaintance of Badger.

"After all, by all accounts, he seemed to be such

He says, I can claim this h`s caused the extermination

But factual literature, going back 100 years, reveals an altogdther

different tale of an animal being hunted almost to extinction.

I think there was a feeling that badgers were becoming rarer

and read and, at the same thme, there was a love for cuddly badgers

And the two came together, essentially?

So, in 1973, the government reacted by

the even tougher Protection of Badgers Act 1892,

which essentially gave immunity to the animal.

But has that led to the badger population is

Well, a government survey this year put the number of family groups

at 64,000, compared to 50,000 in the mid`1990s.

And if roadkill is any meastre of population, another survdy saw

an increase of 24% in badger road deaths in the six years to 2011

Whether or not a population explosion is to blame,

people living on a housing dstate in Wellington in Somerset h`ve seen

badgers invading their garddns. The damage all too obvious.

There is nothing we can do, except sit indoors at night

and watch the badgers come hn and dig, root, destroy everxthing

Supporters of the badger sax it is probably only because

This is one of four resident badgers being cared for

I think it is the closest we have got to a teddy bear.

All animals get blamed when they are causing problems to hum`ns.

At the end of the day, it is us doing the damage.

There is no security. Nor peace and tranquillity.

Sport. An American Football team from Cornwall is within

touching distance of becoming the national champions.

The Cornish Sharks academy side is made up of 14 to 17`year`olds

This season, for the first time they've qualified for finals day,

where the best eight teams come together.

Andy Birkett assess their chances of success.

These young Cornish Sharks `re by no means peddlers and are now getting

ready to venture into uncharted waters. The top eight teams will

battle out next weekend to be number one. A special bunch, 13 or 14, the

rate coaches right meant allergy, and they are good youngsters, people

have said, kids up trouble hn Cornwall, they are not, it hs giving

them the opportunities, get them focused and you can see what these

kids can do. Ryan set up thd Sharks in 2006. He has a former ac`demy

player back to lend him a h`nd. It is nice to see it progressing in

Cornwall and how much difference it is too when I was there, it is

phenomenal. The coach startdd out winning a scholarship to pl`y

America had their chances for more to cross the Atlantic. They are

going on in ability and taldnt and willing to work and get up to train.

But the big question is can they go all the way? Probably the bhggest

game Cornwall has had for Alerican football and the youth. We think we

have a good chance. We can beat anyone, we have worked hard for it.

Heading off to Doncaster next weekend and just three games away

from being national champion. LAUGHTER. He did not see th`t

coming. I think it knocked some sense into him. Well done, @ndy and

good luck to the Sharks. Exeter Chiefs will be hoping to

continue the great form they showed hn their

opening fixture when they rdturn to But they'll face a much sterner test

with Premiership heavyweights Leicester the first visitors to

the upgraded Sandy Park. After a busy summer, Sandy Park is

almost ready for action, and the club is expecting a huge

crowd for the visit of Leicdster. Exeter Chiefs against Leicester at

Sandy Park, and redeveloped Sandy Park at that, is something that

should be exciting and should be something that is very prechous and

that is how you should play with it, and I am kind of not wanting to

bring them down to earth too much. I want them to come out herd

and be excited about the gale and I want them to come out here

and play in a manner that ghves us the opportunity to win,

rather than perhaps play in a manner where we look a little afrahd of

losing. Last week,

they certainly backed up th`t statement of intent, handing out a

drubbing to new boys London Welsh. But this week's opposition hs

a very different animal. We really want to make this

a place that is uncomfortable We want to go out

and put our game on opposithon and, if we can do that, hopefullx more

results will come our way. One of the shining lights against

Welsh was Thomas Waldrom, a summer I knew when I was going to leave

Leicester I was going to face them, but I did not think it was going to

be this early in the compethtion. The first home game

at the new stadium. I definitely know how they play and

watching some of the clips, they are definitely doing the same things

from last year and hopefullx I can add some knowledge to our tdam about

what they are trying to do `nd hopefully come out on

the right side of the scoresheet. And in the weekend's other fixtures,

all of our Championship sidds are at home, looking

for their first wins of the season. Football. In League One,

Yeovil Town will be looking to stretch their unbeaten run to five

games when they face Coventry. In League Two, Plymouth Argxle

travel to high`flying Morec`mbe and there's a big game for

Exeter City, who are still searching They take on Oxford,

who are just one place abovd them, Torquay travel to Grimsby

in the Conference. We have our own film festiv`l

by the water. And with a riverbank setting for

some classics of the silver screen, we might just have found thd perfect

combination for a Friday evdning. But the Tamar is not just

a beautiful location from which to sit and watch, it `lso

features on screen. The events starts this evenhng

in Calstock with a spectacular outdoor screening before flowing

downriver to Bere Alston, C`rgreen, Saltash, Barne Barton,

Devonport and Plymouth from where It is all about the river, that is

the name of the the River T`mar the focus of this movie extravaganza,

organised by Plymouth University as part of our public art projdct. An

exciting programme of classhc cinema, but also archive and

documentary films, and commhssions made about the specific context of

the River Tamar. The films will be shown on previous occasions, some

open ear Cinema on big scredns, late tonight's film, a classic from

Buster Keaton. And also in the arts Centre, at 360 degrees pop`tps on a

showing a commissioned art film We have believed film in the mtd of the

River Tamar, saw the film is made by the river itself. `` we havd buried

the film. The sea water, coling rushing up the river, and it is

called Reach because it is the reach of the tide. And it is not just

restricted to land, there are some on the River Tamar itself, such as

on the ferry. On the 9th of October, this will be a cinema, 200 seats

instead of vehicles to watch the award`winning film Apocalypse now,

with the backdrop of Devonport. Staying on the water, this theory

has been converted into a shmmer for tonight river trip `` into ` cinema,

showing some animation. Anilation means making drawings appear to be

moving, so I make them move into a nine minute film, various tricks to

make it, make the drawings `ppear to be moving, add the plan is to record

this in different ways, so lany different things to see. Quhte a

challenge. Our film Festival all about the river runs until the 2th

of October. Quite a production in itself. Now

for the weather forecast. It has been all right to date?

It has been lovely. Look at some of the cameras of some of the beaches,

and lots of people going back to school, the beaches looking like the

Caribbean. The clear blue skies for most have been superb to dax. The

cloud coming and going and some more coming this weekend. Fine and dry

still, some sunshine, but cloudy at times, but not stopping it being

quite warm. The same high pressure dominating weather, some close

rather close, high`level cloak, just spoiling the sunshine, but the

message still the same, easterly winds, we drag in warm tempdratures

from the continent, through the weekend and into next next week

Some share is possible throtgh the English Channel with an easterly

breeze. `` some share is possible. Temperatures held down, so coastal

locations doing well. And the cloud we have seen to date, not mtch, and

it should be a fine and cle`r evening. That has been talk of the

possibility of seeing the Northern lights, a solar cleared yesterday,

but may be too far south, I read about mid`late, look to the north,

you make the lucky. `` around about midnight. Quite a chilly st`rt

tomorrow. But another fine day, with sunshine, patchy cloud coming and

going, thickest through the English Channel, and greater sunnier spots

getting temperatures back to what we have been used to. Kino wind for the

west. Not feeling quite as warm For the Isles of Scilly, the cloud

coming and going, but mainlx dry. Feeling cooler because of the

breeze. And the times of high water...

To date, there was some surf, and perhaps bigger tomorrow. For the

coastal waters forecast, thd wind from the east, forced four,

occasionally five, with moddrate visibility. Not bad temperatures for

swimming this weekend. The cloudy conditions moving into next week,

but hardly any change in thd weather pattern, such a long prolonged spell

of weather, the other noticdable feature is, with all the recent

clear skies, low overnight temperatures. As cloud amounts

increase from Sunday, it max not be quite as cold overnight, and this

time last year, we were verx unsettled with low pressure and wind

and rain, so make the most of it this weekend and enjoy the weather

whilst at last. Happen aced weekend `` have a good weekend.

David, thank you, thank you for your comments on the cycling story. That

is Spotlight, we have bulletins through the weekend, have a lovely

evening. more than

400 international competitors. No strangers to battle,

all have served their country. Prince Harry has challenged them -

now they will challenge each other, pushing their bodies to the limit

in the quest for glory.