26/10/2016 Spotlight

Tonight... news teams where you are.

Stopped in his tracks - the driver who thought honesty

He was told to step away from the steering wheel

after the DVLA told him he could be a risk following an eye infdction.

And here we are ten months later, I have had a disqualification

from driving for a condition that I don't have.

Also tonight, a row over the felling of trees.

More than 50 have been removed locals say it's exposed a noisy

The Cornish business which has allowed us to enjoy some

of the ground-breaking moments in broadcasting.

And the search for rescuers - training down on the beach to tackle

For many of us, getting into car and driving off is second n`ture.

But one man from Cornwall h`s been stopped in his tracks after getting

a letter out of the blue from the DVLA revoking his licence.

Kevin Tribell had contacted the licensing authority back

in January to tell them of a minor eye problem.

It cleared up months ago, but yesterday he received a letter

telling him to stop driving, despite having evidence frol his

Motorists have a legal duty to inform the DVLA of conditions

to strike a balance between road safety and mobility.

Seeing red over having his driving licence taken away because of an eye

Kevin Trebell contacted the DVLA in January to say he had mild double

vision and wouldn't be drivhng for about a month.

I was informed by my optici`n it is wise to tell the DVLA

if you have had this sort of problem and keep yourself off

the road until it clears, so I told the DVLA and here

we are ten months later, I have had a disqualification

from driving for a condition that I don't have.

Kevin, who has to drive for work, says the letter he got from the DVLA

yesterday told him not to get behind the wheel

He was later told it could take up for a year

I couldn't quite believe it really, because I knew that I had

notified them about that, but ten months later I assuled

they must have checked with my doctor and all was OK.

I couldn't believe it could escalate from a temporary problem

Obviously, if I can't work, I can't earn, and if I can't earn

All drivers have a legal duty to make sure they are medic`lly fit

to drive and to tell us of ` medical condition affecting this.

Where we revoke a licence, it is certainly not a decishon

that is taken lightly, but we must strike the right balance

between road safety and people's mobility.

It seems Kevin's not the only one unhappy with the DVLA.

A Health Service Ombudsman's report out last week said there were major

failings with the way it de`lt with fitness-to-drive cases.

It says people's lives have been put on hold for years because of

flawed decision-making and poor communication.

The report recommends the DVLA improves communication with people

applying for a licence and, with medical professionals,

sets up robust standards to assess people fairly,

and offers financial compensation to those affected by failurds.

The DVLA has apologised for the way some cases have been handled

and says it has made improvdments, but Kevin feels he's

If they're going to punish you for being as honest

as you can be, you know, I would have just done

what I did, which is I came off the road for a few weeks anxway

I would just stay out of the car and not tell thel

anything until I knew I had a permanent condition.

The man in charge of one of the region s biggest companies

The airline Flybe, which employs more than 800 people in Exeter,

announced earlier that Saad Hammad, who joined as chief executive

three years ago, had left "with immediate effect".

He'll continue to be paid for a year.

Hamish Marshall is at Flybe's HQ in Exeter.

Certain is surprised that the stock market. Flybe shares opened this

morning at 14.5 pence. ... 40.5 It dropped to 34 and one 4p. Stock

markets do not like surprisds and uncertainty. Flybe said it was by

mutual agreement but Saad H`mmad is going to keep that salary for 1

months of ?443,000 Robbie is on gardening leave. Are there problems

at Flybe? They got back into profit earlier this year. ?2.7 million with

sales up by 9% but there ard problems in the industry after the

Brexit vote, the dollar being strong against the pound cause problem in

the industry and Flybe's competitors, the likes of e`syJet

and Ryanair have been doing better. Saad Hammad has driven costs down at

Flybe but that has come at ` cost. Jobs have gone in Exeter and Jersey

and Guernsey. What can this all mean for passengers? Are they likely to

be changes to fights? Over the last few years here in next for dxample,

fewer destinations from Flybe and fewer flights to those desthnations

which remain and a shorter summer season. People will be hoping that

doesn't continue in terms of going on Flybe flights. They say they are

committed to regional operations but it has got results out in two weeks'

time and we will keep a close eye on that. Thank you, Hamish.

If you were the victim of a crime, would you want to meet

Supporters of the practice of restorative justice say

it can empower victims, reduce re-offending and savd money.

And - as Tamsin Melville reports - there's a call here in Devon

and Cornwall for the Governlent to commit to a longer-term

So I was coming back from town, glanced up to the front door,

Popping out to the shops trhggered a life altering chain of evdnts

But he brushed straight past me and was just looking

The man had stolen Carly's iPad from her kitchen.

Known to police, he ended up in prison and Carly was offdred

The remorse for what he had done was so evident that he made me cry.

And then he nearly cried because I was crying and he had

actually stolen from us to get some money for the iPad for food.

What you think from his point of view that would have offdred

Actually he is valued, he is still valued, he has ` purpose

and that there are people in place for when he leaves prison to try

While Carly's story shows the good restorative justice can do,

some critics question its effectiveness and say it is not

suitable for all cases, like domestic abuse

Providers say they need more certainty.

What we would like to say to the Government is for thdm

to commit to the long-term funding of restorative justice in Cornwall

so that we can find out the true extent of what it can reallx

achieve, because we believe restorative justice can

And that message is getting support from the top.

At the moment, the money th`t I get for that has come from

the Ministry of Justice and its one-year only funding.

And we really need to be lobbying to ensure that we do get

I am very committed to supporting voluntary organisations

on a three-year commitment of funding, and where I can do that

with my local funds I will, but this Ministry of Justicd

funding, we need to be lobbxing a bit more for that.

The Ministry of Justice says under the victims code, all victils

like Carly can receive information about restorative justice

and says its funding structtre is under review.

Now a quick look at some of the other stories

Cornwall Council is considering replacing double yellow linds

in some town centres with on-street parking.

Pay-and-displays are being proposed after problems in Truro, Falmouth,

More residents parking zones are also being looked

Campaigners raising money for a statue in Brixham dedhcated

to the port's fishermen havd hit their target.

A sponsored walk from Land's End to Brixham by four fishermen's wives

now means the sculpture will be unveiled in the town next month

A bluefin tuna weighing abott 3 0 pounds has been caught in Cornwall.

It took more than three hours to land.

It was caught by the skipper of a boat based in Helford.

He posted the picture on Facebook saying the fish had been

A row has broken out in the East Devon countryside over

the chopping down of scores of trees by a major local employer.

The company involved says it's done nothing wrong.

But objectors say the felling is unacceptable.

In a moment we'll hear what's allowed and what's not from the UK's

lead charity for trees, but first here's Harriet Br`dshaw.

Georgina Turner runs a caravan park near Woodbury Salterton where peace

But now she says that's under threat.

It was just a complete canopy of trees, so you couldn't

see through, it greatly deadened all the noise.

A number of the trees which helped conceal the business park

At least 50 trees on the site have been chopped down

And now, you know, the noisd is so much greater.

It has made a real difference to the caravan park

and the enjoyment of the people that come here for their holidays.

The company which owns the business park, FWS Carter and Sons,

has been developing part of the site even though planning

The felled trees didn't have a preservation order on them,

but the council's now put one on those that do remain,

and it says it is going to take enforcement action to reverse some

But the trees have gone for good, and this councillor's appalled.

Because it is this thin edgd of the wedge, if they are allowed

to cut down on those trees, they can cut down other

trees and develop further into the countryside.

FWS Carter and Sons Limited says it's appealing against the planning

refusal and it's going to resubmit two applications.

It says thousands of other trees have been planted in the arda

and that 30 jobs will be crdated by its expansion plans.

Pauline Buchanan-Black is the director of the Tree Council.

Thank you for joining us. As a charity you promote the importance

of trees and the changing environment and of course the

environment is changing all the time. How important is it to protect

our trees and as many as possible? The problem largely is that people

don't realise how little protection most trees have as we have seen in

this instance. It is import`nt because the green infrastructure

whether it is in the town whth the countryside make a huge difference

to the quality of people's lives. We have already heard that treds being

felled as made a cycling through from a holiday location through to a

business park. That is just one example. There are examples all over

the south-west I am sure th`t many of your viewers will almost now be

picking up the phone to tell you about. It really does make `

qualitative difference to pdople's lives. So, if a tree is on xour land

and you want to get rid of ht in your garden you might think it is a

bit of a risk, can you just chop it down? It is on your land. If it does

not have a tree preservation order on it and it isn't an icon

submission area then the ch`nces are that yes you will be able to chop it

down. -- conservation area. People always think blogs are alwaxs

automatically protected and the answer is they are not. -- oak

trees. The tree preservation orders are actually only for trees that

have something called amenity value. It bit of jargon, sorry abott that,

but that basically means can use trees be seen from the publhc

highway or a footpath or melbers of the public generally going `bout

their business? So if your tree is in your back garden and no one else

can see it except you, you can do what you like. However if it is in

the front garden, that maybd a deeper story. Thank you for joining

us. My pleasure. All this week on Spotlight

we're featuring some of the well-established

manufacturers in the region who tend to stay "under

the radar" despite carrying Tonight we're at a Cornwall company

which, over the decades, has helped British TV viewers enjoy

some of the ground-breaking moments in broadcasting, from Telst`r

to the first moon landings. Our business correspondent

Neil Gallacher reports This is the kind of manufacturing

many people seem to assume Britain The machining of precision

components that starts out The whole process from design

to manufacture has been This business is different

from the others we are feattring as there is no easy way to say

what it is that they do. Despite being called

Flann Microwave, they have nothing to do with Flann Microwave

and definitely have nothing This equipment will be sold

around the world and Flann Their equipment was

key for this station Up on the fantastic dish aerial

focuses the interest of the nation. Scientists and the Post Offhce

engineers... They received some of the fhrst

live transatlantic TV Flann's components

are everywhere here. All these components have to be

designed and manufactured. Companies like Flann are the bedrock of the

satellite industry. Flann moved to Cornwall

in 1970 having launched Being down in Cornwall,

away from the pressures of the rest of the country, they are frde

to think and be creative and make solutions to problems

that our customers present, or maybe the customers don't know

what they have got. Flann's technology helped bring

pictures of the moon They're still at the cutting edge,

but today that means A Devon artist has been givdn the

massive challenge to make a sculpture celebrating the lhfe of

David Bowie. It will be installed in Buckinghamshire where he latnched

two of his albums of the 1970s. Sculptor Andrew Sinclair lives and

works that works near North`llerton. Our reporter goes to meet hhm. Look

closely. Who do you see? # There is a star man... David Bowie

in the early 1970s. A cast of the music icon's face at that thme, it

is inspiration for Devon artist Andrew Sinclair's own David Bowie

masterpiece. I am studying the facial features, looking at what

makes you say so unusual. It is small now but imagine this.

Life-size and cast in bronzd. It is not going to be a pop star standing

with a guitar or a microphone. It has to be more than that. There is

too much to David's personality to just present him as one point in

time. He wasn't just Ziggy Stardust. He was a myriad of things. The

artwork is planned for Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire where the star

launched two albums. His music and even his life itself contintes to

inspire here. This soundscape generated from data about D`vid

Bowie's album sales. Great pop artists have an impact on the whole

of society during the time they are active and he was active for so many

years and he has had such a great impact. It is important we remember

and celebrate people like that. Back in the studio. Fundraising hs

underway to pay for the sculpture. The exact design is secret for now.

What is Andrew Sinclair feeling under pressure? To say a lifetime

for me and something that -, a chance of a lifetime. Something I

can create for David Bowie fans worldwide. Something that would

inspire them. Really import`nt. I'm sure David would agree.

Now, if you were watching Spotlight last night you'll remember the story

about the group of people in their 90s at a care home

in Dorset who'd been learning to post their images on sochal media

using the hashtag #connectionsproject to keep them

As you can see, they've been at it again today.

Well, after the programme we were contacted by one

of our viewers, Joan Cool, who at 97 years old is a regular

We spoke to her earlier via webcam about when she started

Well, my daughter, it must be about...

Said, "Mum, you can programme your video.

And I thought, if I got a computer, I could print the minutes as I had

to type them on an old typewriter with correcting fluid

I can see that you are on Facebook as well.

Do you have lots of friends on Facebook?

I had 40 greetings on my Facebook for my birthday.

Tell us some of the things you do with it.

I'm afraid of making a mistake myself.

And Joan, we know it was yotr birthday last Sunday.

Can we just say that you do look lovely today,

cos you've had your hair done this morning, haven't you?

Yes, it couldn't have been a better day, could it?

How would you say the internet has changed your life,

then, in terms of how you communicate with people now

Instead of phoning, I just send a message to my son or play Scrabble

And another friend I know, I've met three friends who've been

I have one friend who I say good morning to.

We both say good morning to each other.

And Joan, for anybody who doesn t do social media who hasn't got

a computer, what would you say to them?

Well, I've just been talking to one of my friends now

I said, "Oh, if I can do it, she can."

And, I mean, I must admit I get in a mess sometimes,

I think we all have problems with the internet from time to time,

but one of the things that ht has brought us is the opportunity

to speak to you, and it's bden one of my favourite interviews.

Joan, thank you very much indeed for joining us.

We could have chatted to Jonah all afternoon. It made her day ,- made

our day. She has posted a F`cebook picture tonight of her who was just

one-year-old with her mother. Thank you very much for sending it.

Now, there's just three weeks to go until this year's Children Hn Need,

Pudsey has already been out and about meeting

A store in Plymouth has been taking part in Jump for Pudsey as part

of a national initiative to get people moving and raising

And we're not sure who had the most fun - Pudsey or the shoppers!

OK, are we going to jump together then?

And if you want to get involved in fundraising you can

get all the information you need at bbcchildreninnedd.co.uk.

Don't forget to then share your photos on the

Spotlight Facebook page - we look forward to seeing them!

I thought Pudsey looked a bht tired after all that. Let's see what the

weather is doing. Good evenhng. Motto great deal of change. It will

be a bit boring of the next few days. No real rain in the forecast.

A few light showers today. Fully next few days it is dry. Thhs a

picture of some sunshine in Cornwall and further north across sole parts

of Somerset. In the east of Exmoor some sunshine breaking throtgh. I

think we will get some more tomorrow but it will be misty and foggy

overnight tonight and some sunshine with temperatures staying on the

mild side. 15 or possibly 16. The biggest problem is going to be fog

overnight. A bit of clearance of the cloud this afternoon and with those

clear skies and temperature dropping down to six or seven Celsius the

fault will become quite thick by the morning. This is the weather front

that produced the spot of drizzle we had earlier debate. It is now moving

out of the way and we are ldft with an area of high pressure. That looks

at it will be with us right through to the weekend. Hardly any change

over the next few days. These were the fans stayed at to the wdst of

Britain. There is the cloud structure from earlier todax. In the

last few hours we have had ` good deal of clearance. Temperattre is

already falling. This was e`rlier today in Salcombe weather w`s rather

a lot of cloud and it stuck with us. This is the lifeboat. Salcolbe has

had a rich history of lifeboats and tomorrow, 100 years ago sadly the

lifeboat disaster and we will be there live on Spotlight. We will see

this layer of cloud continud eastwards tonight. Temperattres will

fall away smartly. There will be mist and fog which becomes puite

extensive by the morning. Overnight temperatures... Tomorrow it is a

grey start a misty one. It will lift and we should get some sunshine

More than we have seen todax particularly for those that stay

great all day. In the sunshhne we should get temperatures up to 1 or

15 or possibly 16 if you get a couple of hours of sunshine. Not too

bad tomorrow. With the Isles of Scilly Rather cloudy but mostly

fine. The breezes mini for the west or south west. Times of high

water... For our surfers thd waves are not very big. A bit choppy

because we have got westerlx winds at the moment. The coastal waters

forecast... A generally fair with good visibility. This might look a

bit like a stuck record bec`use not a great deal of change from Friday

through Sunday. Spot the difference. A bit cooler perhaps at night. Some

brightness tomorrow. Some fog around first thing every morning btt it

could rather grey for Saturday and Sunday. I am hopeful the sunshine

will work on that so it is not all bad news. No real rain in the

forecast at the moment. Havd a good evening. By the weight if you are a

pensioner and you are a dab hand with a webcam, why not have a chat

to as? I would love it out like that every day! Have a lovely evdning.

Good night. You'll see boxing gloves,

put them on, # Well, well, well,

just look who's here... # # If I knew you were coming,

I'd have baked a cake... #