Browse content similar to 10/06/2012. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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How the plans for a flagship aquarium could have hit the buffers. | :01:37. | :01:42. | |
And the prospect of lifting the hosepipe ban comes too late for our | :01:42. | :01:52. | |
:01:52. | :01:52. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 1707 seconds | :01:52. | :30:20. | |
Good afternoon. Coming up - doubt that a multi-million pound project | :30:20. | :30:26. | |
in Bedfordshire or a state of-the- art aquarium will ever come about. | :30:26. | :30:31. | |
First let us meet our guests. Jim Paice, MP for South East | :30:31. | :30:35. | |
Cambridgeshire, at the Hodgson, Liberal Democrat Mayor. | :30:35. | :30:41. | |
Let us begin with a brief word about the Jubilee celebrations. An | :30:41. | :30:45. | |
incredible outpouring of support for the Queen. Has that put an end | :30:45. | :30:51. | |
to questions about the future of the monarchy. It was good to see so | :30:51. | :31:01. | |
:31:01. | :31:03. | ||
many people coming out despite the weather. Lot of things happening. | :31:03. | :31:06. | |
recent poll showed around one- quarter of people in this country | :31:06. | :31:13. | |
are republican. There are those voices. They are keeping themselves | :31:13. | :31:17. | |
very Hedon, because I do not think it is a fraction of that. It is at | :31:17. | :31:22. | |
tiny minority. What we have seen over the last weekend remind us how | :31:22. | :31:29. | |
lucky we are to have a monarchy. may have rained on the Queen's | :31:29. | :31:33. | |
Parade but after two try a winter's most of that East is the only | :31:33. | :31:38. | |
region still in the drought zones. Even though a hosepipe ban in may | :31:38. | :31:45. | |
be lifted soon our farmers are still at the sharp end. They are | :31:45. | :31:47. | |
calling for a new water storage facilities. They are calling for | :31:47. | :31:51. | |
compulsory meters in homes. Will the government's Water Bill do | :31:51. | :31:56. | |
anything to help? How much what to do you use in | :31:56. | :32:06. | |
total? We used 140 million gallons per year. This man is the estate | :32:06. | :32:10. | |
director of this estate in Suffolk. In common with farmers across our | :32:10. | :32:16. | |
region he agreed to a cut of 20 % in the what if he abstracts from | :32:16. | :32:20. | |
rivers and boreholes. But that has had a profound effect on his | :32:20. | :32:25. | |
business. We took the decision in January of this year it to reduce | :32:25. | :32:33. | |
our or irrigated crops in a year by 20 %. We lost 200 acres out of our | :32:33. | :32:41. | |
or rotation. What has that cost you? �100,000. They rain in April | :32:41. | :32:44. | |
helped farmers and so has the recent warmer weather, but they are | :32:44. | :32:52. | |
now irrigating. At these farms they can abstract | :32:52. | :33:02. | |
:33:02. | :33:03. | ||
126 million gallons per year. is a salad type of potato. We would | :33:03. | :33:07. | |
budget on irrigating them at seven or eight times over the course of a | :33:07. | :33:13. | |
season. Why do you not grow a variety that requires less water? | :33:13. | :33:17. | |
If we cannot sell the variety that we have grown with less water there | :33:17. | :33:24. | |
is no point. In December this had got nothing in it. | :33:24. | :33:29. | |
Back on the estate this man invested more than �1 million in | :33:29. | :33:33. | |
this reservoir. He feels that farmers have more than done their | :33:33. | :33:39. | |
bit. The hosepipe ban he says was too little too late. He once the | :33:39. | :33:45. | |
water companies to invest more. have agreed to this 20 % reduction. | :33:45. | :33:50. | |
We are the first to be hit. There is the potential that they will ban | :33:50. | :33:58. | |
all abstraction from groundwater. The hosepipe ban is a sticking | :33:58. | :34:06. | |
plaster. Will water industry has spent �100 billion in the last 20 | :34:06. | :34:14. | |
years. It is part of a planned investment. It covers 40,000 | :34:14. | :34:19. | |
kilometres of pipes. It covers drinking water. It covers sewage | :34:19. | :34:25. | |
and waste water that we deal with. What happens next? The Government | :34:25. | :34:30. | |
is planning to reform the entire water industry. That will include | :34:30. | :34:36. | |
reform of abstraction licences. This man says the drought has led | :34:36. | :34:39. | |
everyone with an interest in what had to communicate better than they | :34:39. | :34:43. | |
have done before, but he says there is more to do. We have got to | :34:43. | :34:48. | |
invest in infrastructure. We are prepared to do it is far worse. The | :34:48. | :34:53. | |
water industry should be prepared to invest in the future. The Water | :34:53. | :34:57. | |
Bill was mentioned there. It is designed to allow businesses and | :34:57. | :35:00. | |
public sector bodies to improve their efficiency by allowing them | :35:00. | :35:05. | |
to switch suppliers, allowing new entrants into the market, making | :35:05. | :35:10. | |
them respond better to customers, unlock the new sources of water | :35:10. | :35:16. | |
supply, and to regulate their abstraction of water. | :35:16. | :35:21. | |
However Luton MP Gavin Shuker says the bill is toothless and it could | :35:21. | :35:27. | |
be 2000 the 30 before things change. The key issue is abstraction. The | :35:27. | :35:32. | |
process of taking water out of the natural environment. The Government | :35:32. | :35:37. | |
themselves have said that this process will take until 2030. That | :35:37. | :35:44. | |
is too far away. Climate change will make drought more prevalent in | :35:44. | :35:49. | |
the coming years. Jim Paice, do you want to respond to that allegation | :35:49. | :35:54. | |
that you are dragging your feet? is a bit rich coming from a party | :35:54. | :35:59. | |
that was in government until two years ago. The reality is that will | :35:59. | :36:03. | |
take a long while to make the changes that we want to make. But | :36:03. | :36:07. | |
there are some changes that have started happening. We are now | :36:07. | :36:12. | |
encouraging farmers to fill the reservoirs were never there is | :36:12. | :36:19. | |
enough water and the rivers. We encourage said to trade abstraction | :36:19. | :36:29. | |
:36:29. | :36:33. | ||
right. -- encouraged them to trade abstraction the right's. | :36:34. | :36:38. | |
They Institute of Civil engineers come up with some ideas recently. | :36:38. | :36:45. | |
One of those was compulsory water metering. Do you agree with that? | :36:45. | :36:55. | |
It is a matter of fairness. There is a lot the public can do as well. | :36:55. | :36:59. | |
In Bedford we have signed up to a 20 % reduction in the water we use. | :36:59. | :37:04. | |
There is an education programme to try and encourage people to use | :37:04. | :37:11. | |
less water. If we can get that reduction of 20 % it will alleviate | :37:11. | :37:20. | |
the problem. With the Water Bill could there not be more in it to | :37:20. | :37:27. | |
regulate abstraction? Yes. There is a lot in it. All abstraction is | :37:27. | :37:32. | |
regulated. There will be tighter regulations. The Bill is going to | :37:32. | :37:34. | |
put a time limit on some abstraction right that some people | :37:34. | :37:39. | |
have had since ancient history. There is a great deal more | :37:39. | :37:43. | |
regulation going to take place. It is already happening. You heard in | :37:43. | :37:50. | |
the report how the water authorities have had to impose | :37:50. | :37:56. | |
restrictions. The Environment Agency can implement abstraction | :37:56. | :38:01. | |
restrictions almost overnight. have got a background in farming. | :38:01. | :38:05. | |
Do you share the frustration of farmers at the moment? They are | :38:05. | :38:10. | |
taking the brunt of this. They are getting the hardest hit while the | :38:10. | :38:15. | |
water companies are taking the products. I understand their anger | :38:15. | :38:22. | |
about that. But things have moved on. A lot has happened in the last | :38:22. | :38:28. | |
two or three months. We have changed the rules about obstruction. | :38:28. | :38:34. | |
We have set up a grand scheme. That means farmers can get grants | :38:34. | :38:40. | |
towards new reservoirs. This reservoir. Is interesting. A lot of | :38:40. | :38:43. | |
farmers say it is a great idea that we're having to jump through | :38:43. | :38:47. | |
millions of books when it comes to planning permission. That is | :38:47. | :38:50. | |
something the government back could make better. The government back | :38:50. | :38:59. | |
has just announced a new national planning framework which loosens up | :38:59. | :39:03. | |
the regulations. We are not going to bid extra restrictions on | :39:03. | :39:08. | |
reservoirs. We have stopped that. We are freeing it up. But | :39:08. | :39:13. | |
development need planning. Dave Hodgson, is this all about all of | :39:13. | :39:17. | |
us taking what are too much for granted and can education play a | :39:17. | :39:24. | |
role? Of course it is. One of the bits of the Water Bill is about | :39:24. | :39:34. | |
:39:34. | :39:37. | ||
opening up to competition. If it is competition that is a good thing. | :39:37. | :39:41. | |
The water companies will have to be more competitive. They will have to | :39:41. | :39:49. | |
look at their leaks. We will have to look at green water. -- grey | :39:49. | :39:57. | |
water. More from me in a moment. We are going to stay with water and | :39:57. | :40:04. | |
plans for an aquatic Centre in Bedfordshire. The Nirah project was | :40:04. | :40:09. | |
planned seven years ago with an estimated cost of up to �500 | :40:09. | :40:12. | |
million. Despite more than �3 million in public loans the | :40:12. | :40:17. | |
developers still have not submitted full planning permission. | :40:17. | :40:22. | |
At disused quarry in the middle of Bedfordshire. It was once used for | :40:22. | :40:27. | |
it claimed it end there brick industry. This is what it could | :40:27. | :40:32. | |
look like. Costing up to �600 million, the ambitious project | :40:32. | :40:37. | |
called Nirah, complete with a freshwater research park and | :40:37. | :40:44. | |
leisure facilities, has been dogged by controversy and delay. | :40:44. | :40:49. | |
Nirah is dead in the water. It is not going to happen. It is an abuse | :40:49. | :40:54. | |
of public funds. It was an error on have of the previous county council | :40:54. | :40:58. | |
that no longer exists. It was naivety and lack of commercial | :40:58. | :41:03. | |
expertise. Any council going across in the future I hope will learn | :41:03. | :41:08. | |
from the mistakes of what was the former Bedfordshire County Council. | :41:08. | :41:12. | |
It is here at this form her quarry that they it Research Centre was | :41:12. | :41:17. | |
supposed to have been built. It still says on a Nirah website that | :41:17. | :41:23. | |
the project was due to be completed by spring 2012. | :41:23. | :41:27. | |
But in the place where bricks used to be made, not a single one has | :41:27. | :41:29. | |
been laid. What went wrong? | :41:29. | :41:33. | |
There was a dispute over ownership of the land which ended up in a | :41:33. | :41:38. | |
High Court. The businessmen behind the project won that fight, but the | :41:38. | :41:44. | |
battle to secure the millions to pay for it continues to evade them. | :41:44. | :41:47. | |
Accounts showed debts of �10 million. It is not just private | :41:47. | :41:54. | |
money. Nirah was loaned �3 million of public money from the beginning. | :41:54. | :41:59. | |
It is shocking. Where has the money gone? Will we get the money back? I | :41:59. | :42:09. | |
:42:09. | :42:17. | ||
doubt it. The money has gone. It is public money. No other planning a | :42:17. | :42:22. | |
ever incurs public money from day one. This is where Nirah says the | :42:22. | :42:28. | |
money was spent. �400,000 went to directors. �1.3 million went on | :42:28. | :42:33. | |
professional fees and consultants. �1.1 million went on planning | :42:33. | :42:38. | |
applications. The worst scenario is that the | :42:38. | :42:44. | |
company goes to administration. We have money secured on 200 acres of | :42:44. | :42:52. | |
land. We take possession of that site. We get our money back. I am | :42:52. | :42:55. | |
hopeful that the money comes forward. I am hopeful that we can | :42:55. | :42:59. | |
get our money back. I am hopeful that we will get the jobs and | :42:59. | :43:06. | |
investment. If none of that happens? We are down at �3 million. | :43:06. | :43:11. | |
Main Eye blames the economic downturn for the delays and say | :43:11. | :43:19. | |
they are still seeking investment. Nirah has two more years to get | :43:19. | :43:23. | |
full planning permission, otherwise many will say the project really is | :43:23. | :43:28. | |
dead in the water. We invited Nirah to join us today. | :43:28. | :43:38. | |
:43:38. | :43:42. | ||
They were unavailable, but they Some former members of the East of | :43:42. | :43:45. | |
England Development Agency told us that because the Department of | :43:45. | :43:48. | |
business, innovation and skills now has responsibility for the project, | :43:48. | :43:54. | |
they could not speak to as. Joining me now is a former Labour | :43:54. | :44:00. | |
MP for Bedford who supported the decision at the time. Also joining | :44:00. | :44:04. | |
as is at councillor. He helped make that decision. | :44:04. | :44:09. | |
Let me put these criticisms to you. You heard them in the report. An | :44:09. | :44:18. | |
abuse of public funds, naivety, and lack of commercial expertise. | :44:18. | :44:25. | |
back to 2005 When we were approached by the Nirah team, along | :44:25. | :44:31. | |
with representatives from Liverpool and South Wales, to build an iconic | :44:31. | :44:34. | |
scheme that would have put to better chip on the map. We were | :44:35. | :44:42. | |
delighted to be part of that project. We were delighted to be | :44:42. | :44:47. | |
part of an idea which are still has a very good chance of happening. | :44:47. | :44:51. | |
But that project be is still a hole in the ground. Let me put the | :44:51. | :44:56. | |
criticisms to you again. An abuse of public funds, naivety, lack of | :44:56. | :45:05. | |
commercial awareness. Nadine Dorries is entitled to her opinion, | :45:05. | :45:10. | |
but she is wrong. A you believe the scheme will go ahead? It stands a | :45:10. | :45:15. | |
good chance of going ahead. I am not saying it will. Where we are | :45:15. | :45:20. | |
today is the public purse is protected. Those loans are | :45:20. | :45:24. | |
protected. But we still stand a good chance of this happening. But | :45:24. | :45:29. | |
it does not we get our money back. Do you agree with that? I want to | :45:29. | :45:35. | |
pick up on the point of his being and I need use of public money. If | :45:35. | :45:39. | |
that attitude had been applied to a project in Cornwall more than 10 | :45:39. | :45:43. | |
years ago, one of the most successful leisure projects in that | :45:43. | :45:51. | |
country would not have taken place. There is no absolute guarantee that | :45:51. | :45:58. | |
a project will succeed straight away. Many people are disappointed | :45:58. | :46:05. | |
that Nirah has not got going. But it is not over yet. It is premature | :46:05. | :46:13. | |
to write it off. Debt of nearly �10 million. �1.3 million spent on | :46:13. | :46:22. | |
consultants. Should alarm bells not have been ringing? I have never | :46:22. | :46:32. | |
:46:32. | :46:34. | ||
found any evidence that it was a competition. In the current climate | :46:34. | :46:41. | |
no private sector project would get �3 million. Richard talks about | :46:41. | :46:49. | |
securing the land. Nirah bought the land for �1. Where they would get | :46:49. | :46:58. | |
�3 million, I am not sure. They have been here for seven years. | :46:58. | :47:02. | |
is a question of if they can get the money. In this climate and | :47:02. | :47:09. | |
nobody has the money. When this was first thought of, we were and | :47:09. | :47:16. | |
benign financial -- we were in the Apennines financial situation. | :47:16. | :47:26. | |
:47:26. | :47:29. | ||
There was no private money. Where was the private investment? The | :47:29. | :47:33. | |
county council put the money in. I am worried about getting the money | :47:33. | :47:39. | |
back. It is about accountability is it not? That is what people are | :47:39. | :47:47. | |
frustrated that out. Who is accountable? Nirah is responsible | :47:47. | :47:52. | |
for getting this delivered. As far as the money that is Britain from | :47:52. | :47:57. | |
the public sector is concerned, that was scrutinised, it complied | :47:57. | :48:02. | |
with state aid rules. Similar projects have been successful | :48:02. | :48:12. | |
:48:12. | :48:13. | ||
elsewhere. It Eden Project had money from Cornwall County Council. | :48:13. | :48:21. | |
Argue happy that you back the plan? I absolutely. Even with hindsight I | :48:21. | :48:25. | |
am delighted at the back it. I still back it. It is something we | :48:25. | :48:30. | |
can look back on in years to come as an eye contact Park or better | :48:30. | :48:36. | |
Chia. Thank you all very much. Time for our weekly political round-up. | :48:36. | :48:46. | |
:48:46. | :48:49. | ||
At what a week it has been. -- what a week it has been. | :48:49. | :48:53. | |
Whatever the weather the party started across the region to | :48:53. | :48:57. | |
celebrate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. Over the past few days | :48:57. | :49:00. | |
there was an outbreak of happiness around the country. Celebrations | :49:01. | :49:05. | |
continued in Chelmsford, making official the city's status it was | :49:05. | :49:09. | |
granted earlier this year to mark the Jubilee. This will create jobs | :49:09. | :49:17. | |
for Chelmsford. All of our local businesses are changing the way | :49:17. | :49:20. | |
they market themselves. The 68 anniversary of the D-Day landings | :49:20. | :49:25. | |
was commemorated this week. Read were laid at a service in Norwich. | :49:25. | :49:32. | |
The England squad visited their sponsors at Vauxhall headquarters | :49:32. | :49:35. | |
in Luton before flying out to Euro 2012. | :49:35. | :49:40. | |
Spirits remained high at the Suffolk Show with the Environment | :49:40. | :49:43. | |
Secretary assured us there will be no shortage of water for the | :49:43. | :49:48. | |
Olympics. We made provision for those Olympics sites to be provided | :49:48. | :49:52. | |
with water. That would be sure that the going is good for the horses. | :49:52. | :49:58. |