07/10/2013 Inside Out South East

One year in the life of the new Police And Crime Commissioner for

Sussex. What, exactly, do you do? Are you happy with policing locally?

Are there issues you want to raise with me? The homes being destroyed

by Japanese knotweed. We are told we needed to have our house torn down.

You do not expect that. And you go, but not with a straight face. ——

yoga. I'm here with untold stories closer to home from all around the

south—east. This is Inside Out. We are in Egerton, just outside Ashford

in Kent. We're back here later but first, one year ago, for the first

time, both Kent and Sussex held elections for the new American—style

police and crime commissioners. What exactly have they achieved? In the

first of two mag reports, we focus on Sussex. —— first of two reports.

Sussex police officers are at work in Brighton. For one year, they have

been operating under a new regime. Katy Vaughan is duly elected as

Police And Crime Commissioner for the Sussex police area. For the

first time, and American—style police Commissioner was elected. Mid

Sussex district council and businesswoman, Katie Burnett. But

the turnout was only 15.8%, tiny compared with other elections. The

problem was that people did not really know what it police

Commissioner was. No one year has gone by. We clear? Lets look back at

the last 12 months and find out what Katie did. —— are we clearer?

I'm here with the police because it is important that they are out in

the community. What do you do for a living? You know that election last

year? The one and no one voted for. They did, because I'd got elected.

I'm trying to get to all the towns and villages to meet people and have

a chat and make sure they're happy with policing. Hello, what is your

name? Abigail. That is a beautiful name. You want the police and the

for Sussex. What do you do? —— you are the Police And Crime

Commissioner for Sussex. I'm here to represent the public and make sure

they get the priorities for policing they get the priorities for policing

that they want. She spends a lot of time in her office or out on the

street meeting people to talk about policing. In the old days, until one

year ago, Sussex police were overseen by the Sussex police

authority on a group of fairly anonymous, unelected representatives

of the community. Now they have gone. They have been replaced by a

single elected Police And Crime Commissioner. Now what is unchanged

is that Sussex police are independently assessed as normal by

Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary, so that is unchanged,

and Katie Burnett is herself scrutinised by something called the

police and panel, a group of mainly district and county councillors. ——

Katie Bourne. Every month, Katie meets with the Chief Constable of

Sussex to hold him to account. She has the power to sack him if

necessary. What is on the agenda? Bolcom. The protests against test

drilling for fracking were by far the biggest challenge that Sussex

police faced this year. —— Balcombe. The number one story is that you are

getting the grilling on your handling of the Balcombe situation.

And would like to think that she is checking we are policing Balcombe

efficiently as possible. Some could describe it as a drilling ——

grilling. Can you explain the use of force in the protests and in

particular, the use of pressure points as a tactic?

Out of order! Out of order! The use of force can look dramatic and

alarming. # We shall not, we shall not be moved. In the televised

incidents, we were negotiating with the individuals concerned. For over

two hours. The communication level continued to no avail. After that,

we carried out this pressure points technique. I thought that was

disproportionate. It hurts. I do not know why. Why was no protest in, but

just to get a sense of what looks, watching it on the television,

alarming. It does hurt. It does not cause any injury, and it is

disabling. It allows us to remove the person from that unlawful

possession to a lawful place. And then business can carry on.

Do you remember the election last November? People said, what was the

point? It was somebody to hold the police to account and it was me that

God voted in. I'm here to speak to members of the public and

organisations, and I said the priorities for policing in Sussex.

—— got voted in. I am in conservative. That is how God voted

in. Lovely to meet you. By. —— bye. Katie writes a police and the plan,

setting out priorities. In response, the chief constable comes up with an

operational delivery plan, setting out how Sussex police deliver what

it wants. The person who came second in the election is Godfrey Daniel

from Labour. He says that the old system of the police authority was

better. Now there is too much power in the hands of one person, and

things happen behind closed doors. It is a shame to hear him sing

about. Maybe he would not be saying that he was sitting here instead of

me. We are more transparent, I assure you. But Godfrey races the

subject of Steve Waite. Katie wanted to make him her deputy commissioner.

The police and the panel opposed the idea, because they said he would not

have enough time because of other commitments. Katie appointed him

anyway. Six months later, he resigned for personal reasons. The

appointment and the disappearance of Steve Waite raises real concerns. He

was appointed under some controversy. He was enormously

experienced. He had run the police authority for a number of years and

it is unclear why he suddenly felt that this was not the role for him.

After six months, I was sorry to see him go but he felt that he wanted to

move on. In that respect his decision. The panel advised against

him being employed, because he would be too busy. And sure enough, he

resigned. —— by respected his decision. It was not because he was

too busy, it was personal reasons. At the credibility meeting, they are

still talking about Balcombe. I will raise my own concern because they

did not rush to the site on day one. But did go down on day three it

became apparent that no member of the senior command team have visited

the site. Can you put a figure on the cost? I cannot. Our recent

operation... It became a regular occurrence, which I was pleased to

see. Why was happy to step back. It is a pity that that was not raised

at the time. I was aware that my deputies attended the scene. I was

not aware that that only happened after the your visit. Perhaps you

could reassure me outside of this meeting that that was the case. That

would be good. I will need to reassure myself as well. Today, the

Police And Crime Commissioner for Sussex has materialised in Hastings.

It really takes off. It does. You arrived in your own TARDIS. That or

a broomstick. This is a great focal point for the young. It is better

than having a police car parked here. Have a look. Are you happy

with policing locally? Are there issues that you want to raise? Is

not a problem that you have no experience in policing. —— is it

not. I see that as a bonus, having no experiencing —— experience,

because I am asking the right questions, the questions the public

want asked. Some of the Balcombe residents have raised a question

around the arrests. I wonder, can you explain the snatch a rest

tactic. —— arrest. If you make an arrest, you want to make it quickly

in these environments. We have teams are moving very quickly and make a

quick arrest, and move out again. You are under arrest for failing to

observe section 44. The message coming through to me around this

technique was that it did not necessarily occur at a time when

people could see the reason why that particular person was being

arrested. It would perhaps happen 24 hours later. I understand that point

and I'm glad you have made it but that is a consequence of careful

planning. It can be further evidence gathering in between times. To

someone who sees that on YouTube or as they passed by, for no obvious

reason, the officers should be explaining to the person they are

arresting why they are being arrested. But they do not have the

same obligation to explain to every member of the public why a single

individual is being arrested. And so Katie carries on meeting the

public. Why can the police not do something about the travellers? And

Sussex police go about daily business. But the fundamental

difference is that the police Commissioner is now a political

post. The voters will have the final say. The next election could be held

in May 2016. it is an aerobic work—out, and they

liken it to 20 minutes on the rowing machine.

It is absolutely fantastic, a nice way to start the morning.

Well, it's got mortgage lenders running scared, the government

estimates it could cost £1.5 billion to eradicate, and it could even land

you in prison. It is Japanese knotweed ,and it is one more reason

for sleepless nights over the property market. Here is Mark

Jordan. Our neighbourhoods are being

invaded. house torn down.

You don't expect that when you have just brought a brand—new home. A

destructive force deep below your home.

I was in floods of tears. That is our money gone.

Be very afraid if Japanese knotweed if growing in your garden.

It can push into foundations, it can push into drainage pipes, blocking

drains. How strong is it? It can push

through tarmac and concrete. How deep can it go? Three metres deep

quite easily, as it does in Japan. And how dormant? There are reports

of it being as long as 20 years if it is buried deep enough and

resurges. of it

This plant is strong enough to undermine foundations. Matt and

Susie had no idea thei £300,000 house was built on top of knotweed.

I wanted a brand—new build and no problems. We first spotted it coming

up through the garden, a bit like asparagus tips. Never seen it

before, so I had to get some advice in.

The worst moment was finding it growing in the house, that was just

shocking. Forcing its way up through the floor, yet their home survey had

not even spotted it outside. And insurers now refuse to pay out.

The house cost in excess of £300,000 and if we didn't treat the problem

we were told it would be a value of £150—160,000. The first contractor

said we would have to literally knock the house down and rebuild it.

It was cheaper to do that than actually remove the knotweed, from

what they were saying. So, how has Japanese knotweed made

such an audacious attack across Britain?

This story begins over 150 years ago, when Victorian plant collectors

gathered just one sample of the tough but seemingly beautiful plant

on a volcanic range in Nagasaki Japan.

It comes from the volcanic fumaroles of Japan where it is inundated with

hideous gases and soil and moisture, so it is an incredibly strong

plant, it is well—equipped. It was an undiscovered country, so it was a

place where amazing new exotic things came from.

Around 1850, just one plant was shipped to Kew Gardens. Cuttings

were sold on. The RHS stores the innocent ads.

Here is a picture of it, the great Japan knotweed, fine plants in deep

soils and certainly can take care of themselves. The invasion had begun.

Well, it soon escaped the garden through natural means, bits of

rhizome spreading. It doesn't spread by seed, so everything we see in

Britain in the main is one big female cloned from one plant, and it

Britain in the main is one big has been called the largest female

on Earth. So when you dig it up and you chop it up and you dump it, a

piece could be as small as this? Much smaller than that. Smaller than

the size of a pea will still grow. Roads, rivers, railways, fly—tippers

and gardeners have spread the mother plant's brood. I'm on patrol with a

knotweed exterminator. How has it got into your garden?

There is a wall there, we are in a terraced road, how did it get here?

I have no idea. Claire is one of thousands no having

to call in the professionals. There is no instant fix. Anybody

that tells you they can kill Japanese knotweed instantly is

lying. It is one tough mother. This firm offers five—year

guaranteed eradication plans. Plants are regularly injected with poison.

Treatments can cost up to £25,000. You would ignore knotweed at your

peril. Certainly it will flag up if you try and sell your property. If

Japanese knotweed grows from your property into an adjacent property,

given it can grow up to seven metres in all directions per season, if it

grows into an adjacent property you could be sued for damages under

private nuisance. We have a lot of cowboy contractors

coming into the industry. Somebody had spent £15,000 on a contractor

and actually had the situation made worse. We quoted £25,000 to resolve

We've had cases where the situation.

We've had cases where people have come in and killed and destroyed an

entire garden trying to target what they consider to be Japanese

knotweed and it wasn't Japanese knotweed in the first place. Killed

everything. The plant's also taking its toll on

home—buyers. We are living out of boxes now as a consequence of

knotweed. A cautious first—time buyer, Natalie

paid for a full survey on her new dream home, but it failed to spot

the knotweed. She discovered it herself.

It was only a few days before exchange, but the bank was made

aware of the knotweed in the garden, and that is when they decided that

the mortgage was off. With all the furniture for the new

home arriving, they found a second lender.

The knotweed was at the end of the garden, about 90 feet away from the

house, but in just a few weeks it advanced roughly 60 feet to a point

where it was only about 30 feet away from the house.

That was now too close for the second lender, and

withdrew. I wouldn't try to buy a property

that has Japanese knotweed. It is... It's doomed to fail, basically.

Do you feel that it's a bit of a mess at the moment?

I don't think there is a mess, I think it is an evolving situation.

It has gained so much awareness that it can make a property unpopular

among potential buyers. A lender has to consider all of those things.

Worried they will never be able to sell, these owners are having 20

tonnes of knotweed—infested garden dug up and removed. It will cost

£5,000. It is a meticulous process. If you cut this off, a tiny piece

like that, the size of my fingernail, if we leave that on site

that will regrow. And that is just one garden. The

Canal and River Trust has had to spend £500,000 helping keep knotweed

from thousands of neighbouring homes.

from thousands of neighbouring Just here, there is a pathway and

there is a housing development. And in order to protect this from the

roots of knotweed, which can penetrate through concrete and

tarmac, we need this dead zone. They have to continually poison this

two metre front line. There is no money for the rest.

Right behind me we have got a virtually impenetrable woodland of

knotweed. At this location, we really can't win the war against

Japanese knotweed, but we are fighting a continuous battle.

On this bank, knotweed has been poisoned, cut, cleared and burnt.

But it is already back. Homes wrecked, neighbour turned

against neighbour, banks running scared and fortunes spent on an

alien that has no natural predator. You know what happens in the movies

— they call the scientists. There are 186 species feeding on the

plant in Japan, and our job is to try and find the things that only

attack Japanese knotweed and don't pose a threat to the rest of the

environment. We ended up with a thing called the

psyllid. The psyllid sucks the sap out of the plant.

The bio—scientists at CABI had found a bug that only eats knotweed.

These are the critters in action, so tell me about these.

This is healthy knotweed, just had the psyllids put in. This is a month

later, starting to show some action, and then two months later, with real

damage showing. So they are really suffering?

Yes, these plants won't grow from this point. The psyllids have been

released in eight secret UK test sites.

How long will it be before knotweed is falling like this?

We normally say between five and ten years to know whether you are

getting a success, and we're nowhere near that yet, but we are still very

hopeful. A few good summers and we could have a really good run at it.

As those psyllids muster for battle, Suzie and Matt fired the cowboys

that wanted to buldoze their home. So this is the front line, really?

Four years and £30,000 worse off, they no whave an eradication plan

that is working. The battle goes on, but I think

we're winning the war. So, now you know what knotweed looks

like. The leaves will die for winter, but they be back. Mark

Jordan reporting. Now, they say laughter is the best medicine, but

one group of people is taking laughter therapy very seriously

indeed. Trying to keep a straight face, it's Laura Ansell.

MUSIC: 'Monday Morning Blues' by Mississippi John Hurt

A weekday morning and it's almost 7pm. And for most of us that's no

laughing matter. In Egerton near Ashford, Cathy Hill is waking up.

But before getting ready for work or even having breakfast, Cathy is

expecting a very important call. I've just been laughing with my

friend Theresa, and she lives 500 or 600 miles away in France.

We've been laughing together on the phone in the morning for two or

three years. We laugh on a weekday morning before we go to work. It

just gets the day off to a really good start.

Cathy isn't the only one who starts the day like this. Meet Heidi from

Hythe near Southampton, and Jo, who is 60—odd miles away in Dorchester.

They're dialling into a conference call, but with a difference.

You just dial up and laugh, and hang up ten minutes later. And that's it.

Some of the laughs are so distinct, and there's one particular lady who

has got such a giggle, and that just sets me off. It is an aerobic

work—out, and they liken it to 20 minutes on the rowing machine. It's

absolutely fantastic. It's a nice way to start the

morning, I think. The telephone laughter club has been

running for five years and has around 40 members. Bye!

What starts with a slightly forced chuckle soon turns into a genuine

belly laugh. For Cathy, the chuckling doesn't end

with the phone call. After laughing on the telephone in the morning, I

laugh on my way to work. I practically bounce into work if I

laugh all the way in the car. So, what do her colleagues at

Egerton Primary School think of the cheery disposition?

It is great to know that she is going to be there, bouncing around

with humour and going to be there, bouncing around

you feel good about yourself and it is good for us because we pass it

onto the children. It's infectious. OK, off we go.

We like to do a range of things THEY LAUGH

We like to do a range of things for our children to get them wide awake

and ready for learning in the morning. Laughter is one of them

which we do sometimes. We have yoga, a breakfast club which has different

is physical activities we do fencing before school. Anything that gets

children awake and ready to learn is good for us.

And the effects are spreading all the way to this pub garden

# I love to laugh. New Forest.

# I love to laugh. # Loud and long and clear.

# I love to laugh. # It's getting worse every year... #

Free classes like this originally started in the mid—90s with just

five people in a park in India. It has been growing ever since. Now

it's a worldwide craze, with more than 6,000 laughter clubs in over 60

countries. Today is Brett's first time at

Laughter Club and it's made quite an impression on him.

About ten years ago I was put away in prison, I was addicted to crack,

so I've tried every drug under the sun. But when you start to laugh

it's a natural, pure drug, and now I pass it on, so it becomes

contagious. When you help other people laugh it

ripples out into the world. It's definitely the best drug I have ever

tried — it's free, My name is Tony. I am here because

my wife asked me to come. I thought I can go to one, say I've been,

don't like it, won't come again. But 12 months later I'm still here.

Laughter is certainly the best medicine, and I think if more people

laughed in the world it would be a much happier place.

If you laugh, others will laugh with you but people don't all want to

come to what they call... This is like a session, isn't it? It is a

shame they don't, but there we are. The British, I think, are like that.

We are very reserved, aren't we? We don't like to just let go, and I

think it's good to let go. I'm losing it! I'm laughing, and I

don't know if I'm laughing with them or at them, or maybe this really is

working! I don't know what's funny!

I can't breathe! It's thought that the average

four—year—old laughs 300 times a day, whilst a 40—year—old only four

times. I'm not saying this is the only way to be happy, this is the

only way to be healthy, but I am saying it is a really

only way to be healthy, but I am be both of those things, and it's

really enjoyable. Just to watch other people in that

joy and that kind of excitement, it just sets you off. I can feel it

now, I want to start laughing. Are you coming back?

100%, I've been thinking about it, when's my next fix?!

No matter where you are, laughter therapy is spreading, so perhaps we

will all feel a bit better if we just keep smiling.

If you want any more information about tonight's show, then you can

go to our Kent or Sussex websites. You can also watch the whole show

again on iPlayer. Coming up next week...

A foodie special. How confident can we be that the food we eat is what

we think it is? Join me, Jay Rayner, for the truth behind food fraud.

And we follow the winners and losers of this year's harvest. If we could

get the answer to the weather and predict the weather better, it would

make our job so much easier. That's all from us for tonight from

Egerton. Thank you for watching. See you next week.