10/10/2013 BBC Oxford News

Also tonight. Learning a trade, to change their life. The teenagers

benefitting from the Big Society Bank.

Later in the programme: Would you invest in a property close to a

field that floods? The developers accused of making a

fast buck. Good evening. Staff being bullied

and a lapse of safety standards on the railways, the claim tonight from

union members making serious accusations about first Great

Western's treatment of employees. They threaten major strike action on

train service, running through Swindon, Oxford and Didcot. It comes

a week after the First Group secured a multimillion pound two—year deal

to extend its franchise. Staff are being balloted on a strike. Emma

Vardy has has sent this report. Serious claims have been made by

First Great Western staff today. The RMT union has listed a number of

safety standards haven't been adhered to. It has gone further

claiming there is problems with bullying. It even made the rather

unusual accusation that managers have used hidden cameras to spy on

staff. These allegations have been put to first Great Western, say

union members, that in their view, nothing has been resolved.

If I'm honest, we were ready for dispute earlier this year, but many

of our members have been angered at how they have been treated. We have

only had one day of strike action in the last 20 years, but we will take

action, where there is a fader for the company to respond seriously and

meaningfully to the issues we are raising. The company First Group has

been given the green light by the Government to keep on running first

Great Western services for the next two years. It has hit back at the

claims today saying that RMT is more interested in playing political

games than having constructed conversations. It says that some of

the unions' claims are without foundation. Now, the RMT union

members include train drivers, guards, ticket staff and station

staff and if a strike were to go ahead, it would undoubtedly halt

many of the train services here, affecting travellers that use them.

But it won't necessarily come to that, of course. Members will be

hoping that just the threat of strike action will be enough to get

both sides back around the negotiating table. So it may still

be the case that there is room to resolve these disputes without

affecting services. Gas and electricity prices are going

up by an average of 8.20% at one of okss Fordshire's big were I had

vooers, s.d S e. — Oxfordshire's big providers, SSE.

They said the rise would come into effect in mid—November. The five

other major suppliers have yet to say if they'll increase their

tariffs. Police in Aylesbury have released CC

TV pictures of an armed robbery of a security van last weekend. This

image shows the moment the driver was threatened with a knife. He had

been refilling a cashpoint outside the Tesco Express on Jackson Road

last Saturday the a 6.00 am. Although a cash box was taken t

didn't contain money. Stroil groups in Buckinghamshire are

being urged to tap into interest—free loans as more money is

being pumped into baig society bank in the region. The project was the

first of its kind when it launched in 2011. Among the people to benefit

from the bank are villagers who now have a new community centre and

teenagers who are learning the skills to become mechanics.

At 14, Luke already knows how to fit an exhaust.

He wants to be a mechanic. Every week he comes to the Aylesbury Youth

Motor Project. I like coming here because of the people, they are

really nice and you get to have a laugh and a joke sometimes. I like

fixing cars, really. Teenagers from disadvantaged backgrounds, some who

have been expelled, come here to gain skills and qualifications.

The charity has received two interest—free loans from the Big

Society Bank in Buckinghamshire, worth £20,000.

There are certain periods of times over the school holidays where we

don't get funding, we are self—funded. So the Big Society Bank

has been fantastic. It has been a lifeline. Up the road, for years

this village has been longing for a community hall, instead of having to

make do with this metal hut from the 1920s. Now, thanks to a £15,000 loan

and local fund—raising, their dreams of a hall with running water are

becoming a reality. Although some of the grant—grifrs have been very

generous, they don't give us the money until they have spent it. ——

grant—givers. And we can't spend it without the money being there. The

community bank have been generous and helpful in tiding us over a

period where they were able to build. You can being Hampshire

county council was the first to contribute to the bank and this year

invested another £100,000. Now the bank wants ton spread its wealth

further. We are looking for two things: More people to approach us

for looking for loans for their community group and project and also

looking for more people, more businesses, more trusts, even, who

wish to put money into the bank, so we can lend even more money out to

community groups. Projects have up to five years to pay the money back.

Which is recycled and used again, to inject much—needed cash into local

communities. A Victorian railway bridge designed

by Robert steep son is at risk of rapid declay according to English

Heritage —— Robert Stephenson is at risk of rapid decay.

It had been earmarked for 500,000 worth of improvements two years ago,

but the work on the Rewley Road bridge hasn't been done.

The bridge has been closed for 30 years. If we don't do it, it'll fall

completely into disrepair. It is into disrepair but we have done some

work to know what needs to happen and we need to make sure we can do

it, so it doesn't get any worse but obviously, if it stays as it is, it

will and it'll eventually be such a security risk and all the rest of

it, that it won't be there any more. Later on South Today Sally will have

more details of heritage on the endangered list.

Space scientists in South Oxfordshire have been testing a

robot that could be spent to explore Mars. The Rover has been on action

in earth in a desert in South America.

It is part of a project run by the European Space Agency.

After months of planning, the team of sciencetists will be keeping a

close eye on those big screens behind me, paying particular

attention to that yellow box on wheels. Now it is not just any old

box, it's official name is a roemplt the main task —— is a Rover. The

main task is to perform commands by the scientists and explore an

environment similar it Mars. The area they have chosen to do this in

is chilli in South mark. —— Chile. It is thought to resemble Mars in

many ways. For the next few hours there will be live broadcasts and

feeds from Chile feeding information through to the scientists in

Harwell. We can speak to the project manager on the ground. Seve. It is a

complex bit of kit. What will it be doing? At the moment it is

investigating a very interesting area which has been certified by the

team in Harwell. It is taking images of different types of pictures in

preparation for searching for life. It is quite a very fascinating place

at the moment. The Rover has a lot of work to do. Well, over the next

few hours or so, there will be live feeds and broadcasts coming from

that Rover, in Chile through to the scientists at Harwell. We can speak

to Kim Ward head of space engineering here. Why are these

tests important? They are important because, we are learning how to

operate a Rover or a robot on any remote object, if it is another

planet or the moon or an asteroid, these are very complex operations

that we have to learn how to do from earth.

So, that's what we are doing. It's brilliant. So theed tests will

continue until the weekend and then that data will be analysed. —— so

the tests will continue. Next, he was one of the wealthiest

men in the world and Britain's greatest—ever philanthropist. This

evening a memorial service is being held in objection forked there are

William Morris, who later became Lord muff field. —— held in Oxford.

It is 50 years since he died. Lord Nuffield donated more than £30

million of his fortune it health and social causes, the equivalent of

more than £700 million today. I think he would be immensely prou.d

he was very interested in his legacy. He appreciated quite what he

had achieved in terms of car manufacturing and in terms of his

extraordinary Ben factions. I think he would be really pleased that

people were remembering what had happened and most importantly the

legacy on to this day. William Morris. A man I would have

loved to have met. That's more for the moment. Now for more stories I

will hand you over to Sally Taylor. fourth vessel to bear the name,

will travel to some of the least hospitable parts of the planet. 28

scientists and technicians on board will conduct important research,

including the role of the oceans in climate change.

Stay with us because still to come: A first class job from an

illustrator who has set —— whose set of dinosaur stamps are out

today. The wrecking the Solent of the

Royal Navy's first HMS Invincible is listed among the top 10 most at

risk heritage sites in the country. Per head of population the Isle of

Wight's heritage is more at risk than anywhere else in the south—

east. From the elegant Northwood House to

the brutal Bouldnor Battery. There are 22 sites on the island on the

at risk register. And English Heritage warns the Hammerhead Crane

remains in danger of falling into the River Medina. The conservation

watchdog has urged the Isle of Wight Council to put heritage

higher on its agenda, as the council does have powers to put

pressure on the owners of vulnerable buildings. To use these

powers is extremely time—consuming. Cuts have been deep here as in many

other places. We recognise that it is difficult but nonetheless with

resolve and clear—sighted and if we believe that more could be done.

The council says it will be working where and when it can to help

preserve local heritage. Previous administrations have not really

grasped the value and the need to protect our heritage sites. I

regret to say that some of those on the list are now probably beyond

protection but we will do our best for them.

As for the Hammerhead Crane, the council says it's close to serving

an urgent works notice. The developer of Medina Yard says the

current site owners are passionate about securing the long—term

regeneration of the yard and the future of the crane will form a key

aspect in the masterplan. Although not on at the at risk

register, English Heritage is also worried about the future of the

Frank James Memorial Hospital. A friends group has been formed for

the derelict building. It is the sort of place that lifts the

spirits. It is attractive, the scale of it, the filler would, the

size and shape and the colours and the texture and everything about it.

It is the sort of building that people love and enjoyed. The island

does have a rich history. The question is, how much of its past

has a viable future? A field on a flood plain beside the

river Arun in West Sussex is at the centre of a row between villagers

and a developer. The eight acre site in Pulborough has been divided

into small plots which are being auctioned off on Monday. Residents

fear people could buy plots unaware of planning problems there, or they

may want to put up sheds or summer houses which could be washed away

in winter floods. Sean Killick reports.

It is pastureland, Sandwich between the river Arun and the flood

defence embankment. Last year this field was bought for £35,000 by a

developer who residents say discussed the idea of building

there. He has now divided it into 54 plods and he is auctioning it

off. Residents oppose the idea. Do you just know one debut spoiled? It

cannot be built on because of the floods. The floods come up at about

4 ft or more at least. It sweeps away anything that is there so

there is absolutely no point in trying to build it. It is national

parkland so you cannot do anything willy—nilly whatever. I met a man

who has lived on the opposite of this —— opposite side of the river

for 12 years and taken many pictures of the flooded field. It

floods badly and it is fast moving water. Anyone who put anything on

that, if they expected to be there week later, it will not be there.

They will have to go and find it in Littlehampton harbour. The land is

being sold by the company that this man is a director of. He said he

did not want to do an interview but said he had always intended to

section it off and sell it for a profit. He added that he has not

advertised any of the plots as having planning permission and if

anyone wants to take a chance on it as he did then it is up to then.

Village residents had to buy the field themselves for community use.

The auction takes place on Monday. You might be interested to know

that it was the campaigners that told us about that story so if you

have a story thing we should go about then let us know.

New figures show that councils in the south have had to pay out

hundreds of thousands of pounds in the last year to people affected by

pot holes in roads. Research revealed that West Sussex County

Council spent nearly £200,000 settling 450 claims. Surrey and

Hampshire were not far behind. Across the country there was a

surge in claims compared to the previous year.

Plans to bring back a festival to Guildford are up to debate this

evening. Guildford Borough Council has been asked to back the idea

even though it was a creditor with unpaid bills of more than £60,000

when the event folded in 2012. This is the 2010 event, we had

great people on the bill. This man can still remember the

good times. For more than 20 years he ran the festival and after poor

weather and poor ticket sales brought it down in 2012 and an

alternative event was staged this year, he said the time is right for

the brand to make a comeback. It is a community event. Over 2000 people

work on it and they are all from Guildford. It is easy to see why a

petition on the council website has put the idea back on the offender —

— agenda. I would like to see it back. I do like the idea of the

tender think it is great for the city. We know quite a lot of the

artist's. And it is local! Are when it comes to the idea of allowing

just one event in this park next year then the organisers are

pushing at an open door. Whether the council keen to keep the side

to open to the general public for as much as the year as possible. We

have had a number of expressions of interest but no one has made a

formal application so we are in a difficult situation because we are

debating something we do not have in our possession. Tonight the door

is likely to be kept open for the return but others may not be ready

to bake take the stage just yet. For the tenth successive year the

BBC is on the search for an Unsung sporting hero. The award recognises

an individual or pair who have made an outstanding contribution to

sport in their community. There's still time to put a nomination

forward, we'll have details of how you can download an entry in a

moment, first a reminder of some of our winners over the past decade.

He is always supporting a son always watching. BBC's South unsung

sporting hero. Fantastic, absolutely amazed.

Brilliant. The newest category was given to Kim Williams, the driving

force behind the South Reading Football Club. Dedicated, fantastic.

Enthusiastic. Many congratulations. Thank you. Some wonderful inspiring

people over the years. For more details of how to make a nomination,

go online and download a nomination form. If you don't have internet

access there is a phone number you can ring. Deadline for entries is

October 16th. We will see if we can pick someone

absolutely wonderful, I am sure we can!

When it comes to dinosaurs, the Isle of Wight has got it licked,

literally. The Royal Mail today issued a new set of ten dinosaur

stamps, all of them drawn by illustrator John Sibbeck who lives

in Shanklin. What's more, many of the species featured have been

found in the island's fossil record. A little earlier John came into the

studio and I put it too him that he must be very proud to have his work

featured in this way. You must be very proud because this

is a fantastic set of stamps. Thank you very much. It has been a long

time coming. It is quite a long process and you have to do a lot of

preparatory work before you do the colour paintings. It is great to

see them out. It is also lovely that there is a strong connection

with the Isle of Wight. 50% of the said our island animals. They are

still finding dinosaur bones this week and recently I think they

found one that was new. Are dinosaurs a passion for you? They

are big and exotic so how can you not? They are weird and massive

large and strange animals. You really want to try and make them

realistic. When you look at them here behind us, I love the fact

that the actual dinosaur spills out of the stamp, it is not contain, is

it? That is an intention. Definitely. Right from the

beginning they wanted to break the frame, to give a sort of a 3D

effect. There was a lot of to—ing and fro—ing to get the layout right

and making sure that the right bits were going out and a lot of

discussion about it. How did you choose the colours? We do not know

the colour of dinosaurs. It would be easier if they were black and

white. Absolutely, if only! Mainly you look at modern animals. You

look at a zebra or a giraffe, animals that have got distinct

patterns and why have they got patterns? Are they planted as? Is

it for camouflage? The air is an awful lot they goes into this ——

there is an awful lot that goes into this. How did they pick you to

do the stamps? Is there a process? They will receive an things I had

done before in books and on television. You picture amongst

other illustrators and I had to samples to—do. Originally they were

going to put backgrounds on them and we decided that they were not

graphic enough. They are hand—drawn, aren't they? Not computer—generated.

Yet they are all done with pen and pencil and sweat! How he bought

telly yet? Not yet. Tomorrow is Another Day! It is lovely to meet

you. Then those stamps are beautiful.

I cannot believe they are just hand—drawn.

Apparently that is what the Post Office wanted, they did not want

them computer—generated. Let us move on foul weather. It was

really cold today. Yes, I had to test myself this

morning, before I put the hat and coat and scarf on I had to step

outside of the door and check that I was right.

This early sunrise taken from Seaview on the Isle of Wight was

taken by Raymond Slack. Roy Venkatesh captured the

Millennium footbridge under blue skies which links Crown Heights to

Festival Place in Basingstoke. And Brian Case took this photo of

the cows by the river Frome in Wareham.

The northerly wind took the edge of the temperatures today. We saw a

high of 30 degrees and normally at this time of year it is 16 degrees.

Rain is possible in the second half of the night. The clear skies will

stay clear in the West before the showers and rain pushing from the

North Sea. They showers could be heavy in a few places but some

areas stay dry. Temperatures are not as low as they were last night.

It is gradually warming up for the weekend but still pretty cold

tomorrow. We will have a brief dry. Tomorrow morning with some sunshine

before the cloud increases in the afternoon and the rain will edge

its way in. More so in the south and east, with a high of 13 or 14

degrees, still a few degrees below the seasonal average. There is a

raw north—easterly wind that will take the edge of temperatures out

in the open. Further rain tonight. It could be heavy in places. It

moves in from the south—east. Prior period as well before the rain

engulfed us most of the South tomorrow night and temperatures

fall to 11 degrees. Gradually warming up through the evening with

the crowd —— we have the clout and the rain. A wet start to the

weekend. This is a wet front pushing him from the east. It is

due to low pressure. The wind is brisk but gradually easing. The

ruined —— the wind will leave and we will have rain about in the

weekend. The wind will his later on Saturday but it stays cold.

Temperatures a few degrees below the seasonal average. In the wind

it will feel quite cold out in the open. A windy day tomorrow. There

will be a brief, bright. In the morning. The rain could be heavy on

Saturday and further showers to follow on Sunday with more rain

possible on Monday. We had dinosaurs a few minutes ago and

next it's rhinos! Not the real thing but artistic sculptures. You

may remember we had them in the studio back in May just before they

went on display across Southampton. The Go Rhino trail proved very

popular attracting an estimated quarter of a million people as part

of celebrations for the 40th anniversary of Marwell Wildlife.

Now all 97 rhinos are together in public for the first time before

they are auctioned off for charity. I popped along to Marwell to meet

them. It is the first time these and 90

rhinos have actually been brought together in one place here at

Marwell. 37 of them, mainly the big ones, are up for auction on 30th

October. The collective noun of four rhinos is a crash but I think

it is more of a kaleidoscope here. It has been a phenomenal success.

We have been completely overwhelmed by the level of response to the

trial and to the rhinos themselves. It has been overwhelming. Wednesday

3rd November is the big auction and you are raising money for charity.

What I your hopes? We hope each of them go for over £2,000 and

hopefully a lot more for some of them. Do you have a favourite? I

could not possibly say! From the moment the beasts hit the streets

of Southampton, around a quarter of a million people followed the rhino

trail. Now they have a chance to own a piece of the art. It would be

very difficult to choose a favourite but, yes, I think the

back garden would be just the right place for it! This is the poster

boy who started it all off. All the money in the world. For one of

these? Yes. Be honest, can you imagine having one stuck outside

your house? This is the Planets Rhino, the one we had in the studio.

It will go for a lot of money because I painted this little bit

just here. The auction is going to raise money for three charities.

They have already got from bit thin that Les SpaceX, these guys are

going to be cheaper and easier to maintain than those guys over there.

Don't they look fantastic! That one is not going up for

auction. A you can only see them at Marwell

now from today and until Monday and then that is it. They are for

auction and you have got to register.

It would be great to have one. Thank you for watching. Good night.