10/03/2014 BBC London News

trial, accused of indecent `nd sexual assault and rape. On BBC One

we now joined the BBC news teams where you are.

Tonight on BBC London News... Claims a decision to stop dredging on the

Thames in the '90s made this winter's flooding worse. A former

dredger says they warned thd authorities of the risks. They can

predict Kingfisher and a bad badger, but they cannot protect people. That

is what happened, conservathon overtook flood defences.

We'll speak live to the Envhronment Agency. Also tonight... Givd us a

second runway and we'll pay your council tax ` Gatwick's compensation

offer to residents living under the flight path. It is not going to

prevent the noise at all. I just think it is a waste. We havd decided

we will move away. Plus the ?100 million bike bonanza `

the Mayor outlines who will benefit in the capital.

And it is a very blustery d`y here at the top of the BT Tower, but that

has not stopped 30 celebrithes and Royal Marines from abseiling down

eight. Find out later how they got on.

Good evening and welcome to the programme. First tonight ` could

dredging the Thames have prdvented some homes from flooding thhs

winter? That's been the concern of many residents in towns and villages

along the river ` but one that's been dismissed by the Environment

Agency. However, BBC London has spoken to former employees with

decades of dredging experience, who claim the authorities were warned in

the 1990s about the risk of not removing sediment from the Thames.

In a moment, we'll speak to the Environment Agency. First, this

exclusive report from Gareth Furby. It is a new housing developlent by

the Thames in Sunbury. But what is bothering some locals is not that

this is in their backyard, but the fact that a large piece of kit is

now missing from the yard. Ht was certainly 30`40ft high. Yes.

Everybody was sad to see it go because we believed it was `

necessity. What he was talkhng about was this, one of the dredgers which

used to work up and down thd Thames. But now, the Environment Agdncy yard

is changing. The big dredgers have gone, and some people believe the

recent floods were made worse because the Thames was not being

regularly cleared of silt. @ll throughout the office was a seven

inches of water... Johnny used to work as a dredging contract. His

property was flooded last month and he has no doubt that if the Thames

was still dredged, the flood was not have been as bad. The water levels

would have been lower, up to four or five inches difference. That would

have saved a lot of properthes. So, how much material was being removed

from the Thames before dredging was wound down in the middle of the

1990s? BBC London has trackdd down two ex`employees. About 400`500

tonnes a day. Kenny was a supervisor. In his career, he thinks

he personally shifted 100,000 tonnes, and he remembers well the

day his bosses said the rivdr was self dredging. Yes! What was the

response?! We just laughed, and said, OK, all right. If that is what

you reckon! It has got to go back to the way it was, and it is going to

cost millions. Malcolm is a former dredger master. He says somd staff

protested, but the policy still went ahead. Now, following the floods, he

is angry with his former employers. It is criminal damage, what they

have done. Why? Because thex have ignored people. They can protect

Kingfisher and a badger, but they cannot protect people. That is what

happened, conservation overtook flood defence. The Environmdnt

Agency says it was advised by experts, that the scouring dffect of

the Thames would remove mord silt than dredging. So, does this work?

On the River Wey, tributary of the Thames, we found a man who hs not so

sure. What do you think of the idea that a river can be self scouring?

Well, I think you can probably see where I am sitting in the mhddle of

the river, it is about an inch deep, it does not quite work like they

think it might do. Know what we spoke to was too sure about what has

happened to the two biggest tragedies. But BBC London h`s

tracked down this former Th`mes dredger to a boat yard on the river

Medway. And we were told it was sold for about ?20,000. They had a big

auction ` barges, tugs, and she was one of them. All she is now is

piling barge. It has all gone, yes, which is sad, very sad. The Thames

dredging fleet may have gond away, but for some affected by thd

floods, the issue hasn't. Wdll, joining us now from Marlow now is

Barry Russell from the Environment Agency. We heard there that men with

decades of dredging experience say you got it wrong? Well, we recognise

that dredging does play a p`rt in the overall mix of flood risk

protection. We spend over ?45 million a year on our maintdnance

activitiessome of that does include a dredging. But we have got to put

things into perspective... Sorry to interrupt, you say it does hnclude

dredging, but surely it is not on the same scale as it was thdn, there

is no comparison, is there `? Absolutely not. We do dredghng where

it is appropriate, and on places in the Somerset Levels, we will be

doing dredging as part of the mix of measures there. But on the Thames,

we do movement of shoals, and we actually have a need to keep the

centre of the river open, for navigation purposes. But drddging in

itself is not the solution. Behind us here, you can see the We`r at

Marlow, which is a fixed pohnt. You can dredge the river further

upstream, and the sediment will still come down, and it will fall

into the areas you have cre`ted So, it is not the solution. In the

floods we have just had, we have more water coming down then in 894

and 1947 combined. There were less properties flooded this timd than in

1947, and dredging was undertaken in 1947 extensively. In which case the

poor are not convinced, bec`use residents we have spoken to over the

past weeks and months believe that the lack of dredging was in some way

to blame, and we heard from two people there with years and years of

experience, so you are not convincing people? Absolutely.

Everyone has a view. I have got 24 years of experience of workhng on

the River Thames, so I have seen it going through all of the ch`nges

from when we did dredging, to how we manage the river now. She volume of

water that we have had has been way beyond what we have seen before

There are opportunities for reducing the risk of flooding, but it is not

through dredging. It is through putting in schemes such as the

Jubilee river, further upstream and continuing that down. Is it an issue

of cost? It is not. It is actually about, what is right for thd

locations. We have a scheme down on the lower part of the Thames, the

River Thames scheme, ?256 mhllion, to provide flood risk reduction to

15,000 properties. That is the long`term solution. Dredging is a

very short`term solution. Dtring low flows, during drought situations,

sediment coming down will fhll those holes very quickly and we whll be

back to square one again. It is not a cost`effective long`term solution,

which is why we want to work with partners to provide that long`term

solution. We must leave it there. Coming up later in the programme...

The parking firm which forcdd over`67s from their jobs after

initially claiming it couldn't get them insurance cover.

Thousands of households affdcted by noise from a possible second runway

at Gatwick are to be given ?1,0 0 a year in compensation if it's built.

The airport's operator promhses to offer annual compensation to around

4,000 households that would be the most severely affected. Somd have

described the move as "little more than a bribe". Sarah Smith reports.

Gatwick has long been a noisy neighbour to Langley Green, and

resident of 30 years Ian Whxte is not impressed at the compensation on

offer. You get used to living with it over the years, but with another

one, it is going to be bringing ?1000 a year will not help? Not at

all. What is ?1000 going to do? They are not going to come around and put

new windows in my house to stop the noise. The ?1000 would go to council

taxpayers in areas likely to have noise levels up to 57 decibdl is,

which is said to equate to standing next to a washing machine on spin

cycle. We are reacting to qtestions which have been put to us bx people

who want to understand how we could minimise the impact of a second

runway. We see that compens`tion is one part of that. In this vhllage,

campaigners have long spoken out against airport noise. They are

outside the compensation arda, they say it would not have worked

anyway. Is ?1000 compensation for the complete change in the

infrastructure, schools, thd hospitals, doctors surgeries,

traffic on the roads, peopld will experience in the community? It is

not. You cannot just give somebody ?1000 because they live on one side

of the road or the other, to deal with a noise problem. It dods not

work that way. You cannot t`ke away people's statutory nuisance rights.

Some, though, are happy with nobody is going to say no to that. So, yes,

if that was there, on the b`ck of having the second runway, then, why

not? Many businesses believd airport expansion is crucial, and G`twick is

desperate to be chosen when it makes its recommendations next ye`r. If it

does, the second runway would open around ten years later. And Sarah's

at Gatwick now. How does thd airport think this offer will help hts

chances of getting a second runway? Well, they say they are doing it

because they are listening to local people, but they do not think it

would do any harm for the ahrports commission to hear them sayhng they

can afford to do this. Becatse actually, relatively few people live

near here. Unlike Heathrow, their main competitor. It is so ddnsely

populated around there. It would be cripplingly expensive to do

something like this, and it would only cost about ?4 million ` year

for Gatwick to do this, which would be peanuts compared with wh`t they

would expect to make from a second runway. This comes just before what

is being described as a first summit on airport noise, which is being

held tomorrow at City Hall with the Mayor of London in attendance.

The Home Secretary has told MPs that every effort will be made to make

sure the truth comes out about the conduct of the police following the

murder of Stephen Lawrence. A report looking at the way Stephen's murder

was investigated revealed that officers had spied on the f`mily.

Theresa May also suggested ht will be difficult to find out who was

responsible after the review found that the Met had shredded kdy

evidence in 2003. A witness in the trial of a man

accused of murdering PC Keith Blakelock in 1985 during thd

Broadwater Farm riots says he saw the defendant carrying a knhfe in a

group of people who were surrounding the officer. PC Blakelock w`s

stabbed to death as he tried to protect firefighters. Our special

correspondent Kurt Barling has been in court and joins us from the Old

Bailey. John Brown was the pseudonyl of the

witness, who said that back in 985, he saw Nicky Jacobs with a lachete

chopping at PC Keith Blakelock. He was one of the group that ctts down

that officer. He said that `t the time, he was an 18`year`old or

19`year`old. He had come onto the estate at about eight o'clock at

night. The evidence he was giving in court today was part of a statement

that he gave to the police hn 1 92. He had given several previots

statements to the police, and the defence counsel today was that some

pains to try to test the evhdence that he had given to the cotrt about

what he did. Remember, this witness said that he personally kicked PC

Blakelock ten times, but th`t he was not a stabber, he was somebody who

had only kicked him. He said Nicky Jacobs was one of the stabbdrs. But

when he was asked why he had implicated in an earlier st`tement

in 1986 three of his close friends, and not Nicky Jacobs, he sahd he

could not say. He was asked about PC Blakelock, and whether PC Blakelock

had been running towards thd crowd, and he said, yes, he had. As he had

won towards the crowd, he ttrned around, and that is when thd crowd

set upon him. Interestingly, that is where the recollection of the police

officers who were with PC Blakelock at the time differ with those of

this particular witness. Thhs witness said, the reason thdre is a

discrepancy between his statement in 1986 and the other one was that ..

Nicky Jacobs denies murder. Eight London boroughs are to receive

a share of ?100 million to become more cycle friendly. Kingston,

Enfield and Waltham Forest will get up to ?30 million each to hdlp turn

them into what the Mayor describes as mini`Hollands". Another five

boroughs will get less monex but are still said to have exceptional"

ideas for cyclists. With more details here's our Transport

Correspondent, Tom Edwards. Kingston, Enfield, Waltham forest.

Three boroughs getting up to ?3 million of mayoral money for cycling

projects. What we want is to make it friendlier for people that `re maybe

a bit hesitant for cycling, get them on bikes and give them the

confidence they need. Is it enough? It is certainly enough to gdt it

going, you can never spend dnough on this but clearly this is a

beginning. This is the most eye`catching, a boardwalk for bikes

in Kingston. The theory is to target the funding, which means thdre are

losers and winners. An outbreak of harmony at City Hall between

councillors and the Mayor, ht seems a bit unusual? I think we all have

the same vision for cycling, particularly in Outer London. We

don't have the tubes, so we need to make the most of the buses, the rail

networks, walking and cycling. All new investment in cycling

infrastructure is to be welcomed. Or is in London want to get people out

of their cars, get people hdalthier and decrease congestion. Thd

councils that missed out will get ?10 million between them to develop

their proposals. What we nedd as examples. We all get examplds. If

you can do it in a small sp`ce, in part of a city, in a whole city and

say, we can do it in the UK, it gives everybody else confiddnce to

change. I think, really, it's a massive opportunity. If we can do it

in London, the rest of the country will follow. The real test now, say

campaigners, will be if these projects deliver safe streets where

anyone can cycle. Still to come: Stepping out for a

good cause. Find out why celebrities are abseiling down a very t`ll

London landmark. Former workers at an airport parking

company are awaiting compensation after the company accepted liability

in their claim of age discrimination. In June 2012 Purple

Parking dismissed its drivers over the age of 67, saying it cotldn t

get insurance for them. But after the insurance company proved that

wasn't the case, the companx was ordered to pay damages. Katharine

Carpenter's been following the story. It sounds like this tribunal

heard two different versions of events A former Leyton Orient

defender who was jailed for intimidating a

They were told they were dismissed because the company couldn't get

insurance for them because of the Heineken of claims for older

drivers. They gave the same information to the tribunal. They

then went directly to the insurers and they went to ask for thd

documents. They told a diffdrent story. According to Alliancd

Insurance they had been askdd by Purple Parking to exclude the older

drivers. An invoice confirms this. It says, we discussed an upper age

restriction on the policy. We would like this to be applied frol the

30th of June 2012, with drivers aged 67 and above exclude it frol cover.

It seemed like the company wanted different treatment for man`gement.

It went on to say, we do nedd to insure that the directors and

spouses are included over this age. It's not clear why they wanted this

clause in the policy, but it ended up conceding liability. The workers

have won their case. The unhon representing some of them h`s

described how this has made them feel. The drivers have given loyal

service to Purple Parking and they were shocked when they were told

they were going to be summarily dismissed, in effect. They `re

disappointed, they are disgtsted they have had to go through a court

in this country, to actuallx reach justice. So, what happens now?

Purple Parking has to pay compensation to the 21 workdrs that

brought the action. The dam`ges are going to be higher than thex might

have been because they are known as aggravated damages, the typds of

damages awarded in cases whdre the respondent has acted in what is

called a high`handed or oppressive manner. We should hear more about

this when the tribunal gives its written judgement. As for Ptrple

Parking, we have heard very little from them. They say the company

conceded liability and we'll talk more about the award is madd and

consider its position when ht gets this written judgement.

It may seem an unlikely way to deal with the issue of immigration in

London, but one Italian choreographer has decided to express

his views through dance. Border Tales looks at multi`cultur`lism in

the capital. Our Arts Correspondent Brenda Emmanus went to see the cast

in action. Luca Silvestrini is an Italhan`born

choreographer who has lived and worked in the capital for over a

decade. Through his company, Protein, he

creates original dance theatre that examines human relationships. His

latest subject, multicultur`lism. For me, it's an easy way of bringing

something topical or timely, or relevant to people, to make a dance

show about it. However, it's not that easy because it's a very

delicate subject. Border Tales was inspired by his own research and

workshops with refugees, asxlum seekers and other people from

diverse backgrounds. Their experiences and opinions were used

to produce this work, exploring multicultural living. If we just

came across with our own stories, we'd make up what we thought would

be interesting. So, it was dssential that we have this first`hand account

from other refugees and all the interviews that Luca had done. No!

Don't take my job! I think ht's an experience, as opposed to bding

entertained or just coming to a show and going, "Well, that was nice now

we'll go home." It's somethhng you come to and you're left with

questions and challenges, to stimulate ideas. From this

experience, how has changed, or has it changed your perception of

multiculturalism in the caphtal My idea of multiculturalism through

this piece hasn't really ch`nged. Ultimately, I think there's this

unsolved and difficult to explain feeling about displacement. In the

show, we're playing with it. Border Tales runs at The Place unthl the

15th of March. It's only the third time anxone has

been allowed to abseil down the BT Tower. And today it was for a good

cause. Celebrities and Royal Marines teamed up to help raise mondy for

Sport Relief. At 189 metres high, the BT Tower has

graced the London skyline for 4 years. But today was only the third

time it stores have open for anyone to abseil down it. 30 celebrities,

Royal Marines and charity abseil is joined forces to raise monex for

Sport Relief and the Royal Larines Charity Trust Fund. One famhliar

face was their grills, who `dmitted the city was not his comfort zone.

`` Bear Grylls. Era I feel better in mountains and jungles than big

cities. You can't be I don't think you are human if you don't look down

and feel a little flutter in your heart. I'm definitely nervots. On a

clear day, we are told you can see as far as the QE2 bridge. It's a

little bit hazy, but it's still a stunning Panorama of London.

Albeit, on this very blustery day, the daunting if you are going over

the edge. Era the wind pickdd up, I had a fire and the building, so

that's a bit nicer. They st`rted singing on their way down, H was

thinking, I don't want this to be a tragedy! The likes of Helen Skelton

were assisted and advised bx the Marines. There was quite an uneasy

silence on the lift. But thdy all got over the edge quite happily Do

the Marines get scared of hdights? I'm not too fazed, but we do have a

couple of metres of safety before the edge. I do get shaky legs only

get to the edge. Even you? Dven me! The big weekend starts on the 3 st

of March. Time for the weather. After a

gorgeous day yesterday, what is the week looking like?

We'll start with that gorgeous day, I think we should relive it again. A

few people out and about enjoying themselves. It was like sumler. This

is Greenwich Park. 21 degreds at Gravesend. The blue skies are

replicated right across London. This is how it was setting over Hampstead

Heath. This week it will relain dry and calm. You've probably already

noticed it's a bit cooler. That is thanks to the fact there was this

little cold front introducing some cloud. Also, the position of the

high pressure means the bredzes coming from an easterly dirdction.

That's a non`2 warmer area for a breeze to come from at this time of

year. Today, we got to 12 or 13 Similar tomorrow as well. The one

benefit of that cloud today is that it will not be quite as cold

overnight tonight. We'll hang on to the breeze coming from a

north`easterly direction. Underneath the cloud, we will have temperatures

holding up at about four five Celsius. While there are sole parts

of the country that will turn frosty tonight, it will not be for others

in the south`east. We start the day tomorrow with that cloud around To

be honest, it doesn't look like we are going to get much brightness,

particularly the further sotth east you go. We will have this breeze

continuing from the north`e`st. That will make it feel a little bit

nippy. There is coming in from the north, which means part of

Buckinghamshire might see some brightness by the end of thd day.

Temperatures will struggle hs the cloud `` underneath the clotd. The

sunshine will be back midwedk. Looks like we will have some lovely

sunshine on Wednesday. Even Thursday and Friday will have some stnny

spells. Generally, dry and calm The main headlines now: Emergency

teams looking for the Malaysian Airlines jet which disappeared on

its way to Beijing have extdnded the search area. No trace of thd Boeing

777, which was carrying 239 people, has been found despite a three day

search. Two former dredgers claim that last month's flooding `cross

the Thames was made worse bx not removing sediment from the river,

something that the Environmdnt Agency denies. That's it, I'll be

back with the latest during the 10 O'Clock News. Thanks very mtch for

watching, have a lovely evening Goodbye.