19/05/2014 BBC London News


19/05/2014

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eye on development is over the next couple of days. That's all from me,

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on BBC One we join the news teams where you are.

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London is growing by 100,000 people per year. The housing supply is not

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matching that all Tonight on BBC London News. Demand

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outstripping supply ` the number of new homes funded by the Mayor falls

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to its lowest level in more than six years. But City Hall says it is

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still on track to build more homes in the future. Also tonight... Why

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the Met's head of armed policing is warning officers may refuse to carry

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guns for fear of being "criminalised". There is no better

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instrument in remembering those who have died in war. Floral tributes to

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victims of war. We're at the Chelsea Flower Show as it marks the

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centenary of the First World War. Good evening. The number of homes

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being built in the capital which are funded by the Mayor has fallen to

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its lowest level since Boris Johnson took office at City Hall six years

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ago. That's according to figures released by the Greater London

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Authority. It comes on the day a report by estate agents Savills says

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the rate of population growth in the capital has outstripped the rate of

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new homes by about 75%. Meanwhile, property prices in London are

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surging ahead ` putting a home out of reach of more and more first`time

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buyers. This report from our political correspondent, Karl

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Mercer. Homes are being built across

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London, as the economy begins to improve. The problem, though, is

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that this sort of site is not man enough. This development in north

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Kensington will see around 120 homes go up by next year, most of them

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affordable. But the truth is, London is a long way behind building the

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number of homes it needs to. The Mayor's Office says that's just to

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keep pace with demand, London needs to build 42,000 homes a year. But

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last year the capital added just over half of that to its housing

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stock, just over 21,000 new properties, the lowest level in the

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last nine years. The number of homes funded by City Hall is also falling.

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It was more than 19,020 11. Last year, it was less than 9000. This

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graph shows the problem faced by the capital. Population has risen by 14%

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since 2002. The number of jobs has gone up by 15%, but the number of

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new homes has only gone up by 9%. One problem we are all seeing is

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that supplies just not there, it is falling short of the demand in

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London. London is growing by 100,000 people a year, and the housing

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supply is not matching that. At the moment, there are 216,000 homes in

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the so`called planning pipeline in London. Of those, 93,000 have

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actually started work, like here in north Kensington. But one to 3000

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have not even started work on site. Something is and mentally wrong and

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as always, it is about politicians being brave enough to confront the

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blockages. People do not want housing built next door. We are

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suggesting building new suburbs in London. The people who live around

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those new suburbs will all object. That has long been a problem for

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politicians and developers alike. Business leaders want a short list

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of public land which can be used for homes torn up. Without it, they say,

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the city will falter. What is the response of City Hall? You will

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remember that the Mayor has often said that over his two terms as

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mayor, he will build 100,000 affordable homes. City Hall say they

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are on track to do that by 2016. Looking at the wider picture, the

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Mayor has set this ambitious target of 42,000 homes per year. At the

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moment it is about half of that being built. We require construction

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the like of which we have not seen since the Second World War. The

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Mayor's Housing strategy talks about things like housing zones or a

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London Housing bank, both of which are aimed at developers and trying

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to get them to kick`start land which they already own. The trouble for

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politicians when they set targets is, at the end of the day, people

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like us will judge them. So we will come back in a couple of years.

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Coming up later in the programme... The visual arts and the spoken word

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` we meet some of Lewisham's older residents who are learning new

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creative skills. Police have launched a murder

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inquiry after a man's body discovered following a fire at his

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flat in north London was found to have suffered stab wounds. It's

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believed 49`year`old Antonio Tommaso had been dead for two to three days

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prior to the property being sent alight. Alice Bhandhukravi reports

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from New Barnet. Antonio has been described as a friendly and

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articulate man who lived and died in a flat on a quiet residential street

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in New Barnet. The charred Windows giveaway part of the story of what

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happened to him. I have just been allowed up to the third story. His

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bedsit was completely blackened inside, badly damaged by fire. That

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is where firefighters found Tony's body late on Thursday evening. Tony

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had been unemployed for several years after an injury, and he led

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what police have described as a simple life. He rode this mountain

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bike and had time to chat to people in the area. He was last seen alive

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on Tuesday. A postmortem examination has revealed that he died after

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being stabbed several times. Detectives believe his attacker left

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his body in his flat for a few days, returning last Thursday to set fire

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to the place, leaving a significant clue. We believe that they returned

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with an old`fashioned word petrol can. So, did anyone see someone

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walking around on Thursday evening, when the fire was set, carrying a

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red, old`fashioned petrol can? Did you see somebody fill up such

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account at a petrol station? For people nearby, it has been a shock

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to be from what we were told originally, the place had been set

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on fire, and then we found out someone had died from it, and now we

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have found out someone was murdered. Detectives believe the attacker

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could have been an acquaintance of Tony's and may have been burnt

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whilst setting the flat on fire. They want anyone with any

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information to come forward. A man accused of sending menacing

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Twitter messages to a London MP went on trial today. A court heard that

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33`year`old Peter Nunn retweeted rape threats made to Walthamstow MP

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Stella Creasy and described her as a "witch". The alleged abuse started

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after Ms Creasy supported the campaign to get more women featured

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on bank notes. Mr Nunn says he sent the messages to "further debate" and

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denies the charge against him. Rail and Tube workers are to hold

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strikes over the Bank Holiday weekend in separate disputes.

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Members of the RMT Union on the Heathrow Express ` will walk out for

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24 hours on Friday and again on Bank Holiday Monday. Meanwhile, power

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control staff on London Underground, who are members of the Unite union,

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will strike for three days from Saturday. Heathrow Express said it

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expected to run a normal service, while Transport for London said it

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didn't expect an impact on its services.

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The Met's head of armed policing is warning that proposed changes to

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rules could lead to a drop in the number of firearms officers. The

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police watchdog wants to stop officers talking to each other in

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the aftermath of a potential fatal incident. But there have been

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warnings that this could lead to police feeling criminalised. Guy

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Smith reports. He is a volunteer, as are more than 2000 firearms officers

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in the Met. But now there are fears that a substantial number may put

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down their weapons. The IPCC is proposing changes to how officers

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provide evidence after a death or serious injury. The police watchdog

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is now bearing its teeth. It plans to make it a legal requirement for

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Scotland Yard officers to be separated after a serious incident

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so that they can write up their witness statements independently.

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The IPCC says this will protect them from accusations of a cover`up. But

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the commander who heads armed policing in the Met says...

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That is something Irene Stanley disagrees with. Her husband Harry

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was shot dead in 1999 in Hackney. Armed police mistook a table leg he

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was carrying for a shot gun. She believes the guidance to officers

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should have changed years ago. They should not be allowed to sit

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together. To me, it is unfair. Because they could be copying each

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other's notes. In an ideal world, we would not carry guns, but the

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reality is, if police are using the dropping of arms to protect their

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own personal interest, inasmuch as they want one law for themselves and

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one for us, that is not a good roads to be going down. The Met says it is

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constructively consulting with the police watchdog. The Home Office

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will ultimately decide. The London Ambulance Service has

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urged people enjoying the fine weather to take extra care after it

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had its third ever busiest weekend for emergency calls. As the hot

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weather continued today, the service said Londoners should take care in

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the sun, and only dial 999 in an emergency.

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Now ` we're just days away from the local and European elections, and an

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area which could see a dramatic change in leadership is the

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relatively small area of Three Rivers in Hertfordshire. The

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district council has been led by the Liberal Democrats for decades, but

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could that change this week? Tarah Welsh has been speaking to voters

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there about the issues important to them. It is the season of and

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change. And that could happen at the Town Hall. It all depends on

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Thursday's vote. We have had to basically privately educate our

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eldest because she did not get in locally. The main problem for us is,

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locally, the primary schools are very hard to get into. The services

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are pretty good, there are lots of park facilities. Predicting which

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colour will be in power come Friday is more difficult this year. New

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boundaries mean every seat is up for grabs, but there are nine fewer. The

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Liberal Democrats have managed to hold onto control since the 90s, but

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that could change. If they lose four seats then they could lose control

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of the council. They have got quite a strong presence in the area, but

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with the redrawing of the boundaries, it could mean the next

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largest party, the Tories, could make a grab for power. Currently,

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Labour has six seats, and there is one independent. It could be a

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wasted vote, you just do not know. But they are going to make their

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voice heard, hopefully. Will you vote UKIP? I think so, yes.

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According to polls nationally, the Lib Dems have lost about half of

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their vote shares since 2010. So can they hold on here? They actually

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work very hard for us and they do listen to what we ask for. But maybe

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if the Tories did get in they may do just as well. This is typical leafy

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commuter belt. A lot of the area is rural, and yet you can get the

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chewed into central London. The crime rate is low, but the area is

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not completely without problems. Some people here have been employed

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for years. I have been going after something in retailing and there are

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no vacancies. Three Rivers is one of several councils outside London

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where elections are taking place this Thursday. All seats are up in

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Slough, with one third of seats being decided in Redding, Southend,

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Thurrock and Wokingham. Here, the Lib Dems will have to wait

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whether to find out whether they will win, lose, or have to share

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power. And in the European elections, also taking place this

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Thursday, the National Liberal Party has eight candidates standing in

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London. The party wants to see the capital's ethnic minorities better

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represented in Europe. The National Liberal Party has eight

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candidates drawn from Sikh, Kurdish and other communities in London. We

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are the only party which is representing these communities,

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which have been ignored, left out of the process. We are raising their

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burning issues of self`determination and genocide. Still to come this

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evening... Later, I will be giving you a tour of the royal Chelsea

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Flower Show. This year's team is marking the centenary of World War

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I. Over the past three years 20 people

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have been killed in house fires where hoarding has been a factor. As

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well as being a potential fire hazard, there's also the increased

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risk of a hoarder becoming trapped. London Fire Brigade wants to

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highlight the dangers to those most at threat. Gareth Furby has the

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story. Richard Wallace lives near Dorking,

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in Surrey. He shares his home with thousands of newspapers and

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magazines. Mainly the Mail on Sunday. He's been doing this for

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almost 40 years. It wasn't so much collecting them, it was retaining

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them because of the information they contain. He thinks it started

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because when he was young, newspapers were sometimes thrown

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away before he could read them. Quite a lot of them are in the roof

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space. In fact, it's a lot better now than when we last visited four

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years ago. The only way inside was to crawl. It was about this much

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from the ceiling. You just about had enough room. Now the Fire Service is

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targeting hoarder s in its latest campaign, warning that fires start

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and spread easily in those homes. We can show that 20 people died in

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fires as a result of hoarding in the last few years. But will they

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listen? This is Richard Wallace's kitchen, and the Fire Service might

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view it as a fire hazard. Even his neighbour and counsellor, who has

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been helping him clear out, is having problems explaining the

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dangers. My concern is obviously you cook with gas, naked flame. It's not

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totally naked, it has something on it. Which left set up the side.

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There is the potential risk of a fire. But I feel I've got that under

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control. There is the logical Richard and then there is the

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hoarder Richard. I work on hoping the logical Richard will become

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stronger than the hoarder side. For this hoarder, progress has been

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slow. But he is getting there. The Fire Service is also offering home

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visits to advise how best to cut the risks.

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It's a theatre group with a difference, the Albany in Deptford

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is encouraging pensioners to come along and learn new creative skills

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and be entertained, but perhaps more importantly to meet new people.

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One day they can be found slightly elevated above the floor suspended

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on stilts, but today it's a more grounded lesson on balancing for

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south London pensioners attending a circus skills class. Here at the

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Albany Arts Centre in Deptford, they've taken a creative approach to

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elderly daycare. Every Tuesday, those with a spirit of adventure can

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learn new skills, from creative writing and poetry to photography

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and painting. It's really interesting, a lot of people do

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circus workshop for kids. It's a different mindset. I'm working with

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people that are older than me, they have more life experience. They're

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impacting on the way that I function when I'm teaching.

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Almost, so close! This bold approach to daycare the elderly is

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spearheaded by the Albany And Entelechy Arts. Its ambition is to

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relieve the isolation felt by many older people, while engaging them in

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the wider community and encouraging their own creativity. I think people

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would be surprised themselves about what they could do, trying something

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new and seeing that they have got a talent or an attitude to do

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something, writing, poetry or singing. That's been great,

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actually, seeing the transformation in people.

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# Caribbean ladies in London, far from the sun and the sea.... Paul's

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composition from that morning's spoken word workshop. For ?6, Meet

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Me At The Albany participants can try everything and anything, with

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support from local artists and performers. I've never felt so happy

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in my life, since I've been coming here. People are so friendly and the

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whole atmosphere is wonderful. You'll be at home, thinking about

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silly things. So it's nice to get here, and get on with what you have

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to do, you know? It's a really good. The day's hard work was rewarded

:19:33.:19:42.

with an impromptu performance from opera singer Charles Rice, which

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went down well in this south London hive of activity.

:19:46.:19:53.

Last year the Chelsea Flower Show celebrated its 100th year and this

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year it's marking another centenary, that of the First World War.

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Designers have created gardens remembering past and present

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conflicts. Well today the Queen got a preview, ahead of the show opening

:20:09.:20:15.

to the public tomorrow. We'll be live there shortly. First, this

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report from Alex Bushell. There are gardens to dazzle and the

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light, others to please or provoke. Amongst the hubbub and the crowds,

:20:24.:20:27.

there are also those to stop, reflect and remember. Gave once her

:20:28.:20:33.

flowers to love, there are ways to Rome. A body of England, breathing

:20:34.:20:39.

English air. The words are from Rupert Brooke, written in 1940 and

:20:40.:20:43.

as he served on the Western front. Today, Stephen Fry read his poem A

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Soldier, in a garden to mark the Centenary of the conflict. This

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garden itself is a symbol of that. The water is a reminder of the

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crater holes that still exist in France, filled with water. There is

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no better instrument in memorial icing those that died in war,

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whether one approves of the war or not is kind of irrelevant. The

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garden is about growth and restoration. It's the work of London

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Gardner Charlotte Road. It's based on the Somme, and how it was hit. My

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grandfather came back, being wounded, and they threw roses at

:21:34.:21:39.

them. These are the wild roses. An unkempt tapestry, carefully

:21:40.:21:43.

contrived in days. As for the residents of this corner of S W

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three, marking the Centenary and the gardens it has inspired as a

:21:49.:21:53.

particular resonance. It is like as walking around town, they see us in

:21:54.:22:00.

the Scarlet and it keeps us in the public eye. Some of them should not

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be walking at all, but there you go! He understands the importance of

:22:05.:22:09.

remembrance and the words of those that have fallen. If I should die,

:22:10.:22:13.

think only this, that there is some corner of a foreign field that is

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forever England. We can go live to Alex Bushell at

:22:20.:22:24.

the Chelsea Flower Show this evening, hopefully. I do apologise,

:22:25.:22:30.

we cannot get to him right now. Let me move on and let you know about

:22:31.:22:34.

Serb run they were. Has confirmed he wants to ride the Tour de France,

:22:35.:22:37.

after winning the Tour of California overnight. The Londoner led for

:22:38.:22:42.

seven of the eight stages. He also said he'd be happy to support his

:22:43.:22:46.

team mate and winner of last year's Tour, Chris Froome.

:22:47.:22:51.

After such a sunny weekend, let's see how this week is shaping up with

:22:52.:22:54.

Wendy. A little bit of a change on the

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way, but wasn't it lovely? Today, London got to 26 Celsius. That puts

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it at the same level as Greece. It is warmer than Rome and Barcelona.

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London was the place to be across Europe if you like it warm. I don't

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see that we're going to have temperatures quite that high as we

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go through the rest of the week. There is an increasing chance of

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seeing some rain. It will not be for everyone, not just yet. I have just

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been looking at the radar picture and there are one or two mature

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heavy looking showers crossing the Channel as we speak. As we go

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through this evening, there is a chance one or two Mac replaces will

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see some heavy downpours. Actually, they are quite isolated. Most of

:23:44.:23:47.

tonight will be fine. There will be clear skies through the night. If

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you do see these showers, and they are a distinct possibility as we go

:23:54.:23:56.

through the next couple of days, they will be quite heavy, not least

:23:57.:23:59.

because there is so much warmth still in the air. 13 of 15 are the

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lowest temperatures as we go through the night. As we go into the

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morning, some heavy downpours. Not for everybody tomorrow. If you are

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heading to the Chelsea Flower Show tomorrow, there will be hazy

:24:12.:24:15.

sunshine to enjoy, a bit of a breeze blowing. If you get showers, they

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will blow through fairly quickly. There is the risk of those showers

:24:20.:24:23.

through tomorrow. Because of that breeze and shower risk, temperatures

:24:24.:24:28.

will not be as high tomorrow. We are looking at between 19 and 21

:24:29.:24:31.

degrees. Some places will get higher than that. Beyond that,

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high`pressure waning. Instead, we will have low pressure. For

:24:37.:24:40.

Wednesday, this tangle of fronts coming up. As we go through this

:24:41.:24:43.

week, more chance of seeing some rain, particularly Wednesday

:24:44.:24:47.

afternoon, with some showers to end the week as well. We will just have

:24:48.:24:50.

to dodge around them. An umbrella handy if you are going

:24:51.:24:53.

to the Chelsea Flower Show. Recapping the day's headlines: The

:24:54.:24:58.

British drugs firm AstraZeneca has insisted it can be successful as an

:24:59.:25:01.

independent company, after rejecting a takeover bid from its American

:25:02.:25:02.

rival, Pfizer. The number of new homes being built

:25:03.:25:15.

in the capital which are funded by the Mayor has fallen to its lowest

:25:16.:25:18.

level since he took office six years ago. You can see more on the stories

:25:19.:25:23.

today on the website, and I'll be back with the latest news. Until

:25:24.:25:26.

then, thanks for watching and enjoy your evening.

:25:27.:25:51.

'The last two generations have been robbed of an opportunity

:25:52.:25:54.

'And yet it has greater impact on our everyday lives than anything

:25:55.:25:59.

'We need to put this issue to bed now,

:26:00.:26:02.

'and not leave it for another generation.'

:26:03.:26:05.

I want a Britain that is free to control its own destiny.

:26:06.:26:09.

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