25/02/2013 Inside Out West

Hello from Somerset, where we are investigating the problem of fly-

tipping. Pass the council's policy led to Roque traders dumping their

rubbish in country lanes? It is just disgusting. Local people

should not have to go through that. Also tonight... 50 years on from

the Bristol bus boycott, has there ever been an apology for a racism

on the buses? Absolutely not. There could have been to set the record

straight. We tell the extraordinary story of a Dorset barrister who is

completing a transformation from a man to woman. I walk out on the

street and people think I am female until I open my mouth. This is

Inside Out West. It is an all-too-familiar sight,

ruining some of almost cherished beauty spots. Fly-tipping is anti-

social and illegal. Very few perpetrators ever end up in court.

Here in Somerset, we have been investigating what the authorities

are doing to catch fly-tippers and we are asking whether the county

council's own policies might be making things worse.

Brazen, casual and relentless. The scale of illegal dumping in this

tiny network of lanes outside Frome has turned the area into eight

notorious fly-tipping blackspot. The amount of rubbish that people

dump is just truckloads, domestic, commercial, it is an eyesore.

people who Dampier are not worried they will get caught. It is an easy

peg down here. There is no street lighting and they can dump within

seconds. Then they are gone. These lanes, from a hamlet of Berkley

Marsh into Frome, ought to be a pleasant place to walk. Instead,

residents feel they are living on the edge of an unofficial damp.

you can see, there is lots of rubbish. It happens day and night.

No sooner is some of it collected, the next day we are back to square

run. Some of the lanes get blocked. We have had situations where the

fire brigade cannot get down. It is horrible. To walk past base is

disgusting. -- to walk past this. He illegal dumping has long been a

problem here but in 2011, after Somerset introduce charges and cut

opening hours at its official Dobbs, fly-tipping levels across the

county sword. It has been a lot worse since the refuse centre has

cut its Forest. It does not take a genius to work out. People put

stuff in their cars to dump it legally, and they think, where will

I go? Then they come down here and that is it. We filmed in the lanes

over the course of several weeks and watched as the rubbish mounted

up. This bridge across the bypass is a popular spot for free cuttings

and garden waste. This lane is often completely blocked by rubbish,

dumped in the middle of the road. For people who live and work near

by, the illegal dumping is a constant problem. The fly-tipping

round the local lanes adjacent to our alarms has been horrendous. --

our man. The council claimed that every few weeks but in between, we

often have to cure the lane and clear the gateways to gain access

on to our food. Pick it is disgusting. Local people walking

around should not have to go through all that. The owner of

another family business is getting ready to welcome visitors. Chris

Hays rents these chalets to people looking to relax in a rural setting.

The lanes are a total disgrace. Sometimes they are impassable. We

attract visitors from all over the country and all over the world.

Sometimes they find themselves coming through the lanes and they

arrived disgusted and wondering what sort of place they are coming

to. Many local people blame the residents of this nearby

travellers' site for the fly- tipping problem. But those living

closest to billions say it is not that simple. -- to billions.

know but travellers took the vegetation, but it is not all of

them. I think a lot of them get tarred with the same brush. Also,

local businesses think it is a soft touch and that they can blame the

travellers. That is not the case. While we are filming, a man who

lives on a travellers' site pulls up to make sure he is not being

misrepresented. He is keen to reassure him. There is no dispute

that it is not all of you. We are licensed, yeah. There are people

just coming and coming up and that they are blaming you. Whoever is to

blame knows they are likely to get away with it. It is jobs -- the job

of the district council to track down those responsible for dumping

rubbish in this way. The number of fines and convictions is tiny in

comparison to the fly-tipping incidents reported each year.

Enforcement officers are people with the unenviable job of

investigating this. Mendip, the Council for the problem near Frome,

did not want us to film their officers at work. We crossed the

border into Bath and north-east Somerset to film this investigation

at Burnett, on the outskirts of Keynsham. When it is household

waste there is a good chance of getting evidence. We go through the

waste and if we find any evidence we baguette and Highgate, and

preserve it. -- we bike it and label it. We have got a receipt for

something with a mobile telephone number on it. This is ago start --

a good start to our investigation. Andy follows up every lead he gets.

I have been going through some rubbish and there is one of your

brochures with your name and telephone number. The you know

anything about this waste? woman says she knows nothing. The

brochure must have been something she gave to a customer. Can you

send out some litter pickers, please? Back at home, Nick Marshall

is on the phone to Mendip council, again. Residents understand that

fly-tipping is a heart problem to solve, but they do not feel that

their local authority is really trying. -- a heart problem to solve.

We see no evidence of anything happening. It just carries on.

think they liked to have worn spot where it is all left, so they only

have to go to one place to clear it up. They only have to go within one

mile to collect all the rubbish. Time to invite the local politician

responsible for this area down to the lanes to your neck at the

Residence' concerns. The council are saying they are going to do

something, but what is going to happen? It is our firm intention to

take part in activities with the police to make sure that the

perpetrators of all of this disgusting waste on this piece of

road, and on the other roads, that they are put -- brought to justice

for their crimes. These are crimes that are at centre to bowl and

triable in the Crown Courts. Hopefully that will reassure you.

This has got worse and worse over 20 years. This cost the council

money to clear-up. I am sure this money will be resolved -- this

problem will be resolved as soon as possible. With the restricted hours

in the recycling centre, there is another problem. Firstly, we did

not change the hours because we wanted to, but because we had to.

We have got the right balance between making the savings we have

to make and keeping recycling centres open so people can use them

freely. Every few weeks, the council pays for the lanes to be

cleared. The authorities are tougher approach to catching the

fly-tippers CERN. Local people can only hope. We have got a small

voice and we cannot make enough noise. They just let it carry on.

Coming up... From him to hurt. We follow this woman's life changing

gender reassignment. This is the third day of three days of the

treatment since I had a skin graft. 50 years ago, a young black man in

Bristol was refused an interview for a job on the buses because of

the collar of his skin. It sparked a protest which gained national

attention and led to the country's first ever anti discrimination law.

I have been to talk to some of the people involved and to ask if there

has ever been an apology. In 1963, a period of post-war

immigration in which nearly half a million black and Asian people had

journey to Britain, was coming to an end. In many cities, racial

tension was rising, particularly in the workplace, where some companies

placed bans on non-white Labour. In April that year, an enormous step

towards ending the cholera Bach took place. It happened right here

in Bristol. For those involved in the Bristol bus boycott, but

memories of 50 years ago are still raw. Have you ever received an

Roy Hackett came over from Jamaica as a 24-year-old. Arriving in

Bristol in 1957, he was immediately struck by its racism. When I came

here I tried to get a room in a Bristol and a muscly, the wordings

on their placard on the tour was no Irish, No gypsies, no dogs and no

blacks. Roy became suspicious of a colour bar on the buses when his

then wife applied for a job as a conductress and went along for an

interview. They said that the job was filled but then the next day it

was still in the newspaper. They said they wanted it drivers and

conductors. All go and not a public policy, they colour bar had been

agreed by the Bristol Omnibus Company and the local transport and

General Workers' Union, the very union it to which Roy and other

black men were members. One of the local branches passed in 1955 a ban

on a black workers from working on anything except the maintenance

departments for the buses. White workers did not want to work with

black people. Paul Stephenson had come to Bristol to be a youth

worker and after seven years in the RAF. He was appalled by the

constant threat of racism. could be either assaulted or you

could be barred from entering a public house because because she

did not know if you would be accepted. Inspired by the civil

rights movement in America, all got together with Roy Hackett and

others to devise a plan to expose of the colour bar on the buses.

They needed a stalking horse. Guy Bailey had just arrived in Bristol

at the age of 18, a bright shown man who had been a Boys' Brigade

officer in Jamaica and he wanted to work on the buses. I've got a

driving a bus would be just what I wanted. However, you have to become

a conductor first before you could become a driver but I did not mind

that because I wanted to get on the bus. Guy Bailey attended evening

classes run by Paul Stephenson who arranged an interview with him with

the Bristol Omnibus Company. When I contacted the company, they did not

know I was black. They said to send him a long because they were short

of drivers and conductors. Why I got into reception, the lady said

to the manager, you 2pm appointment is here. He is black. I heard and

the managers say tell him all the vacancies are taken and there are

no more. That was that. I was very disappointed. Really disappointed.

Of course, the job was still available, two white candidates and

at a hastily arranged press conference, Paul Stephenson called

for a boycott of Bristol buses and the following day the city's 3,000

strong West Indian community joined in. Then, Bristol University

students took to the streets and the protest went national. The bus

company and at the Union were furious and set about defending in

their policy. But point is that whilst we cannot maintain it white

labour in the city, we intended to go on engaging white labour rather

than coloured labour. We do not want them on here, that is the main

reason. Despite have a fight back, the campaign are ploughed on,

securing in a public support of Trinidad's High Commissioner Sir

Learie Constantine and Bristol MP Tony Benn who took the issue to

Westminster. The cracks in the colour bar were becoming harder to

ignore. In August 1963, after a long and tense discussions, the

union and the bus company announced an end to the colour bar. Two weeks

later, Bristol had its first non- white conductor. What are your

views? The we are very pleased. I think this will be welcomed by

coloured people all over Bristol and many Bristolian as. Be it help

to change the political culture. It helped to expose local unions and

employment practices. It brought into the light that kind of

discrimination at that people up until men were happy to turn a

blind eye to. Within five years, Harold Wilson's race Relations Act

had banned discrimination in the workplace. For Guy Bailey, who had

been refused even a job interview, there was never an apology, not

from the Bristol Omnibus Company nor from his union. I felt that, at

least, there could have been it some of four-one off apology to set

the record straight. Why it is never too late to says Dore, we

have been on at the phone to his former union, and the union is keen

to make amends. I am at Lawrence Faircloth, the regional secretary.

I am more than happy to offer our sincere regret for what Guy Bailey

and the minority ethnic community endured half a century ago. It was

completely unacceptable. I can understand the sense of injustice

and pain of that has been felt because of what happened in Bristol

all those years ago. I hope today's meeting and apology goes some way

to writing a great wrong. When somebody says something, I think

why didn't they say it 40 years ago? This is the meaning. Some

people will say it is too late. It is better to late than never. What

happens today it may not have solved all the problems, but it has

gone some way personally for me to say we are sorry and we apologise

for what happened and we are working hard to ensure it will

never happen again. Which is what the whole thing is all about.

nine months, we have been filming Robin White, a barrister from

Sherborne in Dorset who has been undergoing a gender reassignment.

In our final film tonight, we tell the story of the last crucial

stages as Robin it completes the change from a man to woman. Middle

Temple in London, workplace of Robin White, a high-flying

barrister from Sherborne who is on a life-changing journey. I worked

out what I thought I was aged 12 when I saw a programme on BBC Two.

Into what -- of 2011, he made the momentous decision to start the

transition from the nail it to female. We follow her throughout

the process. This is the third day of her victory. It was since I had

the skin graft. This is Robin's story. It is Saturday morning in a

Sherborne in Dorset and Robin is on her way to a weekly appointment

with a local beautician. The painful removal of her facial hair

is just one small step towards becoming that the person she has

always felt she is, but until now could not be. I made a decision in

my twenties to try and live a live at I've got society wanted me to

lead and if you try hard, is -- eventually the pretence becomes a

reality. You got married and lived as a man until 2011 but then

realising she could not continue, she began to live as a woman,

something she must do for a full year before she is allowed to

undergo gender reassignment surgery and on top of that, she is

currently going through a divorce. It is one of the greatest regrets.

My soon-to-be ex-wife is my best friend. We have a strong friendship

but plainly, what I am going through does not make for a

marriage. As a barrister, Robin says her colleagues and clients

have taken her transition in their stride but there is one element of

day-to-day life and that is proving to be particularly challenging.

the moment, I have got appearance reasonably well sorted, walk down

the street and people think I am female until I open my mouth and

when I book a hotel room or speak to my internet banking service,

people start to get confused and I would rather they did not. Robin is

booked in for surgery that will shorten her vocal cords and this

will heighten a picture of her voice. The results of the operation

are never predictable. I look forward to being surprised when I

hear myself and I will see where I get to. When we see Robin again, a

week after the operation, she is back at work and her new voice is

slowly getting stronger. Fortunately people know whatever

else might get removed, my sense of humour is in place, particularly

the dalek speak of last week caused utter hilarity and really only in

the last day or so have I got anything approaching a normal voice.

Robin bus transformation has not only meant changes that were. She

has been a volunteer on the West Somerset Railway for nearly 30

years and now she has a new uniform. She is one of just two the male

signalman. It proved daunting at first. He is apprehensive. Like

many of the moment I have been through. That first time when you

get into the car and drive of macro and the someone else for the day. I

am sure there has been a lot of discussion about how are was going

to turn up but they have been lovely. The drivers are calling me

love on occasion so I must be getting something right. The Ian

Coleby is the signalman and has no rock and since they were at school

together. For any it has been peculiar. I have no Robin a long

time and we were quite good friends and all other such an my friend has

disappeared and a new friend has come along. There are odd things,

Robin used to come to my house and we will go out for a drink and that

is more difficult. I am hoping it will not change our relationship. I

am hoping it will enhance our relationship. After an idyllic

weekend, it is time for Robin it to head back to London for more

surgery. Today, we are targeting the Crown area. Robin is having an

operation to replace her hair were she has started to go bald. The

doctor takes a strip of skin from her scalp and from it, technicians

remove the hair follicles and then small incisions are made where

Robin is balding and of the follicles are painstakingly

replanted, one by one. Four macro hours later, with 2000 new hair

implants, Robin is wide awake. head is full of local anaesthetic

so I do not feel painful. It is nice to not off another step.

is one more a huge step for Robin to take, her gender reassignment

surgery. She has now been living as a woman for one year and has

decided to travel to Thailand for the operation. I can appreciate

that a lot of people watching this might feel very squeamish about

what is going to happen, particularly the men. For me, it is

one more step in the process, one more step in getting closer to the

person I would like to have always been. During her trip to Thailand,

Robin records a video diary. While she is there, she will have two

operations, one that to remove her male genitalia and create the new

cavity and then she will have a skin graft to complete the

transition. Processes kick off around 9am in the morning. How do I

feel? I suppose I am a little bit nervous, it is serious surgery.

I've really want to get on with this. I am looking forward to the

result. I have not suffered any pain. I seem to be fine. I had been

bedridden for her two or three days only and it was not particularly

pleasant. Fortunately things have settled down to the point I can

wander around with a bit of care. Things do not go so smoothly

following the second operation. This is the third day of three days

of purgatory since I had the skin graft. You have to stay in bed and

stay still and I have been drifting in and out of sleep that during the

day and night. Still, a few days in, 50 years it is not much to endure.

She gets an infection which makes the last fortnight of her recovery

extremely painful. Despite the setbacks, for Robin, the ordeal has

been worth it. I am very happy with the surgery. I have been grinning

and bearing the last week or two which have been unpleasant and I am

ready to go home. Back in Bristol, when we catch up with Robin in the

New Year, she is finally recovering well after a momentous winter.

is nice to have all that finished and to be able to get on with life

again without thinking about the process. I like to think that by

being open about my circumstances and helping the general public

understand what people in my circumstance go through, it will

give them help and understanding and not think we are a threat or a

freak or something unusual and if that helps a bit in that way then I

am delighted. That is just about it for tonight and for this series.

Before we go, there is time to tell you that we have won a prestigious

RTS award and the presentation was made at the Old Vic in Bristol last

night. Our film exposing a further abuse at Winterbourne View won the