16/01/2012 Inside Out West


16/01/2012

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Tonight we are in Ashton Vale on the edge of Bristol. This is where

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Bristol City football club wants to build its new stadium and it is

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land which some locals think should be protected as it Heald Green.

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Tonight we are looking at how planning applications for town and

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village greens are costing hour local council's a small fortune.

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The average council tax payer, unless he lives overlooking the

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land, would be horrified at the cost. Also, cuts to housing benefit

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and the people who could be forced to move home because of them.

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of people find themselves homeless. Could be Hinkley nuclear power

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station and withstand a tsunami? Campaigners argue we should learn

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some lessons from Japan. concern would be that a massive

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wall of water coming in from the sea would not about the power were

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supplied and that could build up into a meltdown of the few will.

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All our analysis suggest this is an ideal spot for nuclear power

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station. This is Inside Out West. The traditional English village

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green. It is supposed to be the picture perfect image of a quiet

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country living. Things are changing. A new generation of village greens

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are popping up in the most unlikely places. They have become a

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battlefield in a multi-million- pound war between developers,

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residents and their local councils. There is no chance of a negotiation.

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It is a blunt tool for stopping development. The fact is they are

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local areas that local people have enjoyed and developer should keep

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off their patch. We have discovered a war over the humble village green

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which is tucked -- costing taxpayers hundreds of thousands of

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pounds. That money is being spent on everything from a seafront to an

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abandoned airfield, to a lake and the middle of the city.

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This part of Bristol is not the sort of area that comes to mind

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when you think of traditional village greens. There are no duck

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pond or quaint village ponds around here but there is a piece of land

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which some locals think should be made an official Talbot Green. This

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is it. At patch of council owned land, once covered in houses but

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now used as an outside space by residents. Residents like Suzanne

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who think this sub -- scrubland is what village greens are all about.

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It is just as precious as a typical town green. It is so well used in

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the summer. All of the community come around the corner and they

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walked dogs and children play here. A lot of residents call it a green

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lung. It would be a tragedy and a travesty to lose the spaces.

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Residents here are are fighting to keep this three from development

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and they are using every legal tall they can. In preserving these

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patches of land we have to be aware of current legislation. We have to

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use every angle possible to say these patches of land. That

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includes the law that protects village and town greens. The

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Commons Act 2006 gives anyone the right to apply for land to be

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registered. Charles is a barrister who specialises in interpreting a

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complex law. The law as it currently stands is that any land

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is a village green are provided that you can show that it has been

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used for 20 years by local people for sports and pastimes. It must be

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used, as of right, which means not by permission. It is also a law

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which trumps any planning permission which has already been

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granted a so campaigners can use it to fight of development regardless

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of where the land is or what it looks like. Village greens can be

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used as a weapon against developers and very effectively. If you can

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get land registered as a village green it is her criminal offence

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and it is the highest protection of any land in English and Wales.

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Success hits the land owners' pockets hard. They get no

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compensation for having their land taken of them. They have to allow

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the public in and they are responsible for any damage. They

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have no capital value and they cannot sell it because nobody would

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want to buy it. Kate from the Open spaces Society believes that the

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more Rivage Greens are registered They ought to be able to register

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it. We are here on a new green, which is not always the traditional

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sort of green. It has not got the oak tree and the pub and all that.

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It is important to the people who live round about to be able to

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enjoy in this piece of land for informal recreation. His this a law

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that benefits the few at everyone else's expense? We use the Freedom

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of Information Act to ask every council but deals with applications

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just how much they are costing the taxpayer. Of the 66 applications

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dealt with in the West of England, the council provides cost for 47.

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More than �680,000. Somerset County Council spent �84,000 home 13

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applications.. Bristol City Council spent �328,000 for dealing with 12

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The average the average council tax payer would be horrified at the

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cost of it all. If he lives in a house which currently has the

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benefit of the perspective of village green he would be delighted

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at everyone else in the county is paying for been getting an open

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space. If you think this is not a village green should look like, you

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will be surprised what the money is being spent on. A failed

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application to have this lake declared a village green cost more

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than �20,000. They rejected attempts to protect part of this

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former airfield in Weston-super- Mare cost taxpayers more than

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�12,000. Somerset County Council is dealing for an application to have

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these seafront gardens made a village green and the one that has

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caused the most controversy is the attempt to protect this land from

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development by Bristol City football club which has cost the

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taxpayer more than �123,000. That case is set to go to a judicial

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review after a public inquiry had to be held and it is those

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inquiries that caused costs to escalate. Where does the money go?

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A small amount goes to the local authority but most of the goes to

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the lawyer's and professionals involved. It is good news for

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barristers but not such good news for council tax payers. Yes, it is

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good news for barristers and that is bad for the public interest.

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one of those public inquiries involve this piece of land in

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Pucklechurch in Gloucestershire. Pauline Radley applied for village

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green status with the support of the neighbours and they are using

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the law to stop a housing development. Is there an element of

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Not In My backyard about this? You want the house is built somewhere

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but not here? Yes, there probably is. That is in most cases, not many

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people want people on their back doorstep. This is the only area

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left. If the application succeed it will not be a private developer

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that loses out but a social housing provider. Bristol-based planning

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consultant believes this is where campaigners using the law are

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causing the biggest problem. weird by the large number of

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housing associations -- we advise a large number of local housing

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associations and this stops a lot of homes for people who cannot

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afford them. This could be landed has not been used for 20 or 30

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years that are owned by Central Government and could be used for

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projects like hospices or two at infrastructure ought to be sold on

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to raise money for other projects in the area. It is no surprise that

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developers are calling for the Government to change the law so it

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is more difficult to use against them. The minimum criteria for open

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spaces being designated as village greens needs to be brought up

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higher and shown that these areas of land are of high higher quality

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and that they are used by a very broad and wide selection of people

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from the local community. Government has suggested

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introducing a character test to define what a village green should

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look like. It sounds like a nice idea which would protect places

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like we are standing on but not scrubby wasteland. The problem is

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in practice it would be difficult to administer and it would keep my

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bank manager happy because I suspect we would have a lot of egg

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-- arguments. A test you can think of, I do nothing would working

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practice. Concrete proposals will not be made until later this year.

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It looks highly unlikely that the sun will set on this particular

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land were bought any time soon. These are yet another tactic used

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by developers and local people to further their respective interests.

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It is not surprising but it does not seem to be very fair. Our worst

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fears that government decides to do away with the system for

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registering and as Greens ought to severely restricted. We would fight

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that all the way. If there is something you would

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:10:58.:11:01.

like us to investigate then drop me Her later in the programme, we

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asked if Hinkley nuclear power station could withstand major

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flooding along the southern estuary. That is coming up on Inside Out

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West. This month the government is

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cutting the amount it pays out in housing benefit. Scott Ellis has

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been investigating what the impact of those changes will be here in

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the West of England. Owning a home is an aspiration for

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many. The reality in Bristol and Bath is that one quarter of people

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are now renting. One third of those receive some kind of housing

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benefit. It is a bill the Government has long promised to

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rein in. Are we happy to go on paying housing benefit of �30,000,

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�40,000, �50,000? Are constituents working hard to give benefit so

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that people can live in homes that other people could not even dream

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of? I am going to meet those that are now losing out. A lot of people

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will find themselves homeless. There does not seem to be any two-

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bedroom properties in the area but I do not see why I should move away

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from the area where all of my family are. I will meet a man who

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is police that �2 billion is being cut from the benefits system.

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People should move out from the centre, it is very set expensive,

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that is what I did. One of big cut has come in this year. It affect

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those claiming local housing allowance. In Bristol it leads 900

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claimants at least �40,000 a week worst-off. Until recently if you

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were single and under 25 you got enough allowance to live in a one-

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bedroom flat of your own. That has now changed to people over the age

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of 35 only. If you're a single and 34 Don't go, you will only get

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enough money to pay for a single room in a shared house. It is a big

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drop in your rent and it could be a It may means Kate -- it may mean a

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cake has to move out. In the summer, my rent will be produced -- reduced

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to �71 a week. That will be a reduction of nearly �50 a week.

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That will force me to be in shared accommodation. I am 29. The idea of

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moving back into shared accommodation does make me feel

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like I am going backwards in life. It is something I have done in the

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past and I thought I had moved forward. Kate is in for another

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shock when she starts looking to move. There is a dire shortage of

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rooms for rent in Bristol for those on benefits. Right now, we have

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only one house that have a double room available. That is �280 per

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calendar month. If I put somebody and unemployed in there, he might

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only be eligible for �240. Where is he going to get the extra money?

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says landlords are not dropping rents as the Government had hoped.

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Instead, they are getting tough on tenants. I have not had a landlord

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walk in and say, if the housing benefit is reduced, I will accept

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this, whatever they pay. No. They say, my flat is worth so much and

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that is how much I want. If I cannot get that, please could you

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serve notice for the tenant to quit. Evict the tenant? Yes. Bristol's

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head of housing is also worried. He thinks the cuts will concentrate

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those on housing benefit into deprived areas. People may choose,

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if they're able to, to live further afield but then they have the cost

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of travel. It is more likely to spread into the suburbs of the city.

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A people talk about poverty ghettos, where people on benefits have to

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live in poorer areas -- area is out of the city centre. Is that a true

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reflection of what might happen? are already seeing it. What we know

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about this group of people is they are concentrated in the east, the

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low rent area. The likelihood is that there will be more renting in

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those areas. He in Bath, with cuts in housing benefits, there is a

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bigger impact. Bath is a very expensive city. There is a large

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student population. If this man from the Julian House charity is

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encouraging more landlords to rent rooms to benefit claimants. But he

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doubts there will ever be enough to go around. There will be more

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homelessness and overcrowding. People have to live together,

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perhaps with too few rooms, in order to meet -- make ends meet.

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The impact of local housing allowance is that people have to

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pay on top for their accommodation. Benefits are paid as a minimum

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which people need to survive each week. If you then have to take some

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housing costs out of that, people are below the poverty line. Tim is

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an author and a member of the TaxPayers' Alliance. It campaigns

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for lower taxes and supports the reduction in housing benefits.

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Government needs to make cutbacks and it is going to be a cutback of

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10%. They seems reasonable this should be shared by all people. We

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are all having a hard time. If 100,000 people are affected by

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these changes to housing benefit, and the burden on the taxpayer

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through claiming of other benefits and crowding in that may result,

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that will create eight greater tax burden on you and I.

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That does sound like scare tactics to me. We are talking about a

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cutback of 10%. You have heard some of the arguments. Does that change

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your mind? Those people at the lower end of the margins, they need

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some help, but I think the Government is giving them help.

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They are getting money and housing benefit. It is just been capped.

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There are the changes coming in as the Government tries to cut the

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Housing Bill. One of the subsidy for families living in houses that

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are too big for them. For their bedrooms are a luxury the country

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can no longer afford. -- spare bedrooms. Another meeting. This

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time, a family living in social housing. The current proposals,

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that means they may have to move out. The problem is, she has three

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bedrooms. She and her daughter and the need for two. This is my third

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run. It is not huge. If the only way to stay here is to sub-let, I

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do not think anybody would want this at the bedroom. This is the

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reason why a I cannot stay in this house. My little home. Helen says

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there is a shortage of two bedroom homes in the area and she does not

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want to leave the neighbourhood where she grew up. A I do not see

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why I should be pushed out of an area where we have built a

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community, we walk about to make sure the place is clean, you know

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all your neighbours... It is not just me starting over again. Is

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everything. It is so much more than just a house. I do not drive.

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lived in north London for 25 years, lots of friends, and then I had to

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move to get a bigger house. You do that, you make new friends and

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settle down. Helen could stay she pays an extra

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�15 a week for the spare room but at the moment she is on incapacity

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benefit and cannot afford it. Do you think Helen should stay

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here? She cannot pay the �15, she will have to move. Do you feel

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sympathy? She is a lovely person. Do you sympathise with the fact

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that she has to move? Absolutely, it is difficult but moving is

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always difficult. Helen has been thrown a lifeline. The House of

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Lords has voted against the Government's spare room proposals,

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deeming them unfair in cases where other suitable accommodation is in

:20:06.:20:10.

short supply. Ministers will have a rethink in the next few weeks but

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are keen to push on with their plans to cut Britain's spiralling

:20:14.:20:24.
:20:24.:20:25.

benefit bill. We are asking what would happen if

:20:25.:20:29.

a tsunami hit the Severn Estuary. If you think it could not happen,

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we have used the you. It probably already has. We have been

:20:36.:20:39.

investigating whether they Hinckley nuclear power station could cope

:20:39.:20:46.

with such an emergency. Hinckley Palace Station sits on the

:20:46.:20:52.

edge of the Somerset Levels. An area that has seen a storms and it

:20:52.:20:58.

is even bought a tsunami. A great wall of water came up the estuary

:20:58.:21:02.

and houses that were there were demolished. The owners of Hinckley

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Point dismissed tsunami fears. our analysis suggests this is a

:21:07.:21:12.

good place for a power station. Campaigners say it is too big a

:21:12.:21:17.

risk. Our concern would be a massive wall of water coming in

:21:17.:21:21.

from the sea would knock out the power supply and that could build

:21:21.:21:28.

up into a breakdown of the fuel. was a massive offshore earthquake

:21:28.:21:32.

that triggered if the horror came back in Japan last year. 16,000

:21:32.:21:40.

people are known to have died. -- the tsunami. The plant was engulfed

:21:40.:21:44.

by a 15 metre wall of water. He knocked out power supplies which

:21:44.:21:50.

eventually caused a meltdown. The area around the plant remains an

:21:50.:21:55.

inhabited. Since the 1950s, four nuclear reactors have been built in

:21:55.:22:05.

the West of England, including two at Hinckley Point. Energy suppliers

:22:05.:22:09.

are have applications. This will become Britain's biggest nuclear

:22:09.:22:14.

power station to date if they are successful. In a disaster happened

:22:14.:22:18.

here, the exclusion zone would reach Taunton. We have no worries

:22:18.:22:26.

on that score because we do not get tsunamis in Britain. But we do. A

:22:26.:22:31.

three-metre tsunami hit Cornwall in at 1755 after an earthquake

:22:31.:22:39.

destroyed the city of Lisbon. But far more devastating with a

:22:39.:22:44.

cataclysmic event that battered our coastline a century earlier,

:22:44.:22:49.

causing death and devastation. Cardiff academic believes it was

:22:49.:22:54.

another tsunami. I met him on the north Devon coast. In the area

:22:54.:22:58.

where the houses are built behind us, the houses that were there then,

:22:58.:23:04.

were demolished. We are looking at a significant wave height, or seven

:23:04.:23:09.

metres. Only one house built before 16 07 remain standing in the street

:23:09.:23:17.

that backs onto the shore. Simon's tsunami theory has been challenged

:23:17.:23:20.

about the meteorological establishment which think they may

:23:20.:23:25.

be a more straightforward explanation. On the day the wave

:23:25.:23:32.

crashed ashore, there were spring tides. It hit around the time of

:23:32.:23:39.

high water. We know that that combined with low pressure, strong

:23:39.:23:47.

winds, in lot of rain, is the classic set-up for a severe storm.

:23:47.:23:56.

As recently as 1981, the storm surge caused serious flooding. But

:23:56.:24:00.

Simon insists the storm surge explanation does not account for

:24:00.:24:05.

the ferocity of the 16 are seven event. Flooding that is created by

:24:05.:24:15.

other storms is different to that of a tsunami. -- 16-7. It is like a

:24:15.:24:19.

bath overflowing. The first thing you know about being flooded is

:24:19.:24:23.

your feet are getting wet. account from the time described a

:24:23.:24:31.

mighty wave advancing at a speed faster than a greyhound can run. In

:24:31.:24:39.

support of Simon's theory, there are two accounts. Neither appear in

:24:39.:24:44.

official records of British earthquakes. Simon and I are

:24:44.:24:48.

travelling more than 50 miles up the coast to Hinckley Point, close

:24:48.:24:54.

to the scene of the 1981 flood. This is the site of two nuclear

:24:54.:25:00.

power plants. Site aiders de commissioned and site be is nearing

:25:01.:25:07.

the end of its life. The narrowing of the Bristol Channel will have

:25:07.:25:12.

made it even worse, according to Simon. A by the time in get here,

:25:12.:25:20.

it is that higher altitude. Once the floodwater reached the Somerset

:25:20.:25:28.

Levels, there was no stopping it. Both sides were devastated. 2,000

:25:28.:25:33.

people died. It was a colossal amount. If that is true, it made

:25:33.:25:43.
:25:43.:25:44.

the earlier flood the worst natural disaster to hit British soil. In

:25:44.:25:50.

one area alone, 500 people drowned. Apparently, mass graves have to be

:25:50.:25:57.

dug to dispose of the bodies. -- had to be dug. Storm surge or

:25:57.:26:07.
:26:07.:26:07.

tsunami? There is no doubt something terrible happened. As

:26:07.:26:10.

part of its plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the

:26:10.:26:13.

Government wants to see an expansion of nuclear power. The

:26:13.:26:20.

ground is being prepared for Hinckley. If its operator is

:26:20.:26:23.

granted full planning permission, the new plant will be five times

:26:23.:26:28.

more powerful than the previous Hinckley site. Protesters had that

:26:28.:26:32.

day will never come. Their opposition is based partly on the

:26:32.:26:37.

fear of a repeat of previous events. Our concerns would be a massive

:26:37.:26:41.

wall of water coming in from the sea would knock out the power

:26:41.:26:46.

supplied, it would also knock out the back out electricity. The power

:26:46.:26:50.

station would have no electricity. Although it would automatically

:26:50.:26:55.

shut down, it would still be a lot of residual heat. That could build

:26:55.:27:00.

up into a meltdown of the fuel. That is what happened in Japan.

:27:00.:27:07.

F is confident such an event could never happen. Hinckley will house a

:27:07.:27:13.

different type of reactor to the Japanese ones. There is a back-up

:27:13.:27:19.

supply. The new station have a new comprehensive back-up supply. In

:27:19.:27:25.

Japan, the reactors are not licensed in the UK. We are looking

:27:25.:27:29.

to licence that type of reactor. The pressurised water reactor we

:27:29.:27:33.

are going to build, proposing to build, has got a huge legacy

:27:33.:27:39.

through the world where it has been proven to be safe. The company says

:27:39.:27:43.

the power station is elevated above the surrounding flood plain and

:27:43.:27:53.
:27:53.:27:55.

plans take full account of the event from its 16 07. Everything

:27:55.:28:01.

has operated safely. All our analysis suggests this is an ideal

:28:01.:28:08.

spot to build a power station. stock pinkly campaign will probably

:28:08.:28:11.

never be convinced by such reassurances. In the planning

:28:12.:28:16.

authorities allow it, what on the new plant could take off around one

:28:16.:28:24.

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