04/12/2013 BBC Oxford News

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Hello and welcome to South Today from Oxford. In tonight's programme:

Higher prices for parking and leisure centres. Oxford City Council

sets its budget find out where it'll be saving but also spending money in

the coming year. Also tonight... Protected against a

deadly disease. The farmer who vaccinated his flock after losing

400 lambs and thirty thousand pounds to the Schmallenberg virus.

And later on. Basically, boys, this is how you poach salmon. He's been

framed by himself. The poacher netted by his ill`gotten gains.

Good evening. Around half a million pounds is to be invested in Oxford's

covered market under new budget plans outlined today. It's one of

the measures being put forward by the City Council as it tries to make

its books balance next year. But people will find they are paying

more for parking and leisure centres. In a moment I'll be

speaking to our political reporter Helen Catt, but first this report

from Stuart Tinworth. Outlining where they'll spend, and

save our cash. Oxford City council says its already saved four million

pounds since 2010, but needs to go further to balance the books. It

hopes to save over six hundred thousand pounds by cutting admin

staff. And it's also looking to raise cash, by putting up the price

of a parking space. In some cases by nearly 10%. It is crazy, because I

think they already are twice as much as they should be. It is mad. You

have to get the bus, I guess. If people put up the parking prices,

they will not come in. That is the issue. The price of activities at

the local council gymnasium will go up also by around 3% with an annual

membership increasing by as much as 10%, costing around ?47 more per

year. It's better news for Oxford's covered market. Around three hundred

thousand pounds will be spent on investment. Welcome news for

traders, just before Christmas. That is very pleasing. We are very happy

to have investment. It is long overdue, I would say. The Rizzi" ,

so to see the money invested back in is always welcome. In this

particular case, because we have been working on efficiencies, we're

in a better position and have we been able to look at new projects.

There are still challenges ahead for the city. The council says they fear

the knock`on effect when the full effect of the government cuts

becomes clear. Our political reporter, Helen Catt

is here. Helen, so it looks as if there are small price rises across

the board, and no real front line cuts? Yes, the City Council does

seem to be presenting a budget here that isn't as quite as painful as,

for example, what the County Council's been warning we should

expect for the last few months. Saying that of course, the City

doesn't have some of the vital but expensive responsibilities that the

county does, like adult social care or potholes. What we're getting here

is a series of price rises, to car parking, leisure, also pest control

and burial rights, and council tax. In return we're being promised lots

of investment, extending food recycling to flats, a rolling fund

to compulsory purchase empty houses, more money for cycle lanes. Small

price rises won't fund big measures though will they? No, that's true

they won't. The bulk of the funding is going to come from the council

reviewing its property, investments and its levels of admin support.

Essentially, in the long run that means less back`office staffing.

Although it's worth bearing in mind that the council does have an

agreement to avoid any compulsory redundancies. Thank you.

More than half the people of Buckinghamshire would support a

council tax rise of four per cent, according to a recent consultation.

The poll by the County Council showed people supported An increase

to help keep services running. The council has to make savings of ?60

million by 2018, but can't raise council tax by more than two per

cent without a referendum. It'll now discuss whether to hold one.

A 28`year`old man's appeared in court charged with stealing a car,

dangerous driving and causing grievous bodily harm, after a police

officer was knocked down and critically injured. PC Gareth

Browning is still in hospital with serious head injuries. He was hit by

a car in Reading on Saturday. Luke Hayward from Whitley has been

remanded in custody by Reading Crown Court.

The Mayor of Swindon could be forced out of his role, amid claims he

described disabled people as "Mongols". Councillor Nick Martin is

said to have made the remark during a training session, about the

problems faced by disabled adults in the town. A special meeting of the

Council will be held later this month, to debate a motion of no

confidence in Mr Martin. One of the Mayor's sponsored charities this

year supports children with special needs.

An Oxfordshire sheep farmer has spent ?6,000 vaccinating his flock

after his ewes were infected with the Schmallenberg virus last year.

David Barber from Wantage says the vaccine is working, even though two

of his lambs have still contracted the disease. The National Sheep

Association says the disease is here to stay. Just to warn you, Sinead

Carroll's report contains an image a lamb that died from the virus. `` an

image of a lamb. Even healthy lambs sometimes need a

bit of help arriving into the world. But a tricky birth like this is

nothing compared to last winter's lambing at Warborough Farm near

Wantage, when the Schmallenberg virus devastated this flock. It was

like something we had never seen before. It was a horrible experience

for the staff. The lambs were born unable to move. 400 lambs contracted

Schmallenberg here, costing the farm thirty thousand pounds. Newborn

cattle and goats can also get the disease which is caused by midges

and leads to abortion and birth defects. Schmallenberg was unknown

in this country before 2012, but in the last two years there have only

been around 150 reported cases in our region. The majority in winter

breeding ewes, like those at Warborough farm. At the moment it is

considered a low impact disease, but for individual farms that are

affected, it is really serious and it can affect business in a big

way, so that is why this vaccination is bury important. But the Ewe's

here have been given the Schmallenberg vaccine, costing ?3

per sheep. Steep when you have a 2,000 strong flock, but the

vaccine's impact has been significant. At the moment, we have

very few cases, there was one this morning, perhaps the vaccine did not

work, or perhaps it was missed. Overall uptake of the vaccine hasn't

been large, for farmers lambing later it may not be economical, but

for sheep here, however, it's been a life saver.

More than ?800,000 is to be spent improving one of the main routes

into Oxford. Calls to carry out repairs to London Road in Headington

have been increasing over the last few months, as the surface has been

deteriorating. The County Council has now confirmed that work will

take place sometime after next April. But some campaigners say the

road is dangerous and repairs should start sooner. Adina Campbell has

been finding out more. This is one of Oxford's busiest

roundabouts. Thousands of cars are seen here on the London Road every

day and it is also the main route for buses, coaches and lorries. With

so much traffic, it is a driver's worst nightmare. Lots of dreaded

potholes. 29 potholes have been repaired on this road by the council

in the last six months. But it is not just a worry for the drivers.

This particular bit, it is not good, because it is for all of the bosses

slow down for the bus stop. That makes the surface even worse. It is

problematical. The issue is if it is possible to spend a relatively small

amount of money temporarily to improve the surface and it means

that the cyclist do not have to move sideways into the traffic stream,

that is the main danger. ?840,000 will now be spent on a major project

which include new bus lanes and better resurfacing. It would be paid

for by the government and the County Council, but it could be months

before people see the improvements. This is a major tourism destination.

What do they think of Oxford when they come and see this? They think

it is a third World country and we are at risk of worse happening in

the next eight months while we wait for the roads to be improved. We

thought it would be good to do some work now and get it all done. There

have been serious accidents on the stretch of the road in the last six

months and maintenance work is due to start next summer.

In football, the chairman of Swindon town has reassured fans that the

financial future of the club is safe under his new ownership. Lee Power

pictured here, completed the takeover this year. He has invested

around three quarters of ?1 million this season and has vowed not to

allow the club to get into debt. That's all from me for the moment.

I'll be back at 10.25. Now more of today's stories with Sally Taylor.

gates use facial recognition software to compare the passengers

face with the digital image stored on a UK or European passport. Still

to come in this evening's South Today, Alexis will have the weather

and Pompey will be hoping that there isn't more of this tonight for their

restaged match against Wycombe. A Dorset man's been convicted of

poaching after a video showing him illegally catching fish was posted

on the internet. It's the first time in the UK that the Environment

Agency has used evidence from social media to secure a conviction. The

video showing Benjamin Cook poaching on a river near Poole was spotted by

a sea fisheries officer. Steve Humphrey reports. It is a video that

has landed Benjamin Cook in deep water. He can be heard talking about

is poaching skills. He said, "basically boys, this is how you

poach salmon. " . He was reeled in at the video was spotted on Youtube.

Surprised that anyone can phone the whole event and put it on the

Internet for all to see. These videos are regularly posted on the

Internet from motorists and joyriders. People forget how far it

reaches out. In that mode meant of impulse, showing off, they don't

think. In this case it leads to serious consequences. Benjamin Cook

was fined ?175 with ?300 costs after he pleaded guilty to using an

unlicensed net to catch sea trout and salmon. He wasn't `` we were not

able to contact him today but in court the poacher said he didn't

care about being seen in a video on the Internet.

It's a ?95m vision to revive Wokingham town centre with new

homes, a supermarket and a hotel. But some residents view it more as a

nightmare that will rob them of nearly half their open park space.

Enough people have signed a petition against the Elms Field plans to

trigger a special council debate which gets underway in less than an

hour. Let's cross to Joe Campbell who's there. This is Wokingham. All

the councils will be here in one hours time. There has been so much

passion about the scheme which the council says is vital if working

isn't going to die as a shopping centre. The Christmas lights are on

but Wokingham has lost much of its sparkle for shoppers according to

the council. They claim it has failed to move with the times. Not

that people feel short`changed by what was on offer this evening. I do

all my shopping here. It is good to have everything a few minutes away.

We haven't got big department stores or anything now. You don't need that

very often. We do a lot of our shopping in Wokingham. It is not

what it was five or ten years ago but it is still a good enough town

and you can get whatever you want here. The council says too much

local income is being spent in neighbouring towns. It's as is

larger shops, a hotel and supermarkets, much of it built on

Elm Fields Park. Not everyone shares the dream. All of this will go. That

is the height of the hotel. It is huge. There is a ground swell of

opinion that says they don't want it. Both sides they are thinking of

future generations with their plans for the park. What they say the town

needs remains radically different. I enjoyed by a counsellor here

responsible for the regeneration plans. You are saying this is vital

to the survival of the town. Absolutely, it is. If we don't do

it, the Tamil Thai. 64% of the population don't shop in the area.

We want to provide leisure facilities that we think they need.

Given the fact that when you stood for election the regeneration was

part of the manifesto, what do you say to those who say they will not

get a fair hearing? Everyone will get a fair hearing. We are listening

every step of the way. We have had 64 consultations so far and every

single one of them has led to some form of change to the plans that we

have stop all the way through we are doing that. Right now we're doing

the same thing. We are asking people for their views and continue to do

so until this done. People fearing that this green space will be gone

forever. It will be gone forever but we believe the area we are building

on is not well used. What we are doing is creating a town park which

is the right thing for the middle of Wokingham. We will have 50% more

event space, 30% more children's play area and more trees than we

already have. They will go away from the meeting and hear what the people

have to say. Hampshire Police have been

inspecting scrap metal dealers to check they're sticking to new laws

designed to stop metal theft. The legislation, which requires

businesses to keep records about the sale of scrap, was introduced in

October but has only been enforced since Sunday. In their first

operation police checked sites in Romsey, Yateley and Portsmouth. Our

Home Affairs Correspondent Alex Forsyth was with them.

Police enforcing new powers designed to stop metal thefts. This morning

they were checking those in the trade are complying with new lawns

`` laws which mean new dealers must keep records of where scrap comes

from. Paul has run this yard for three years. One of those inspected

today. He says he is happy to comply with the regulations in the hope it

will keep crooks out of his legitimate trade. It is a good thing

because we can wheedle out all the crime. You don't know who you are

dealing with so you try and buy stuff and hopefully you are not

going to buy stolen stuff. Now it has changed over and it will keep

things above board. Changes mean all dealers have to register. Sellers

have to produce ID and it is illegal to buy or sell scrap metal for cash

so there is a record of all sales. The price of scrap metal has risen

over the past few years and it is easy to trade in it and be quite

invisible because it is not identifiable. If you take lead that

has been stolen of rich earth `` church roof, once it has sold, it is

not identifiable. We have to trace who has stolen it and that is by

good record`keeping. Stolen scrap metal is big business. There were

61,000 offences in the 12 months to March. This was down a lot of it to

infrastructure. There were 5000 metal thefts in the South can stop

in Portsmouth this morning, not all dealers welcomed the new

regulations. John says they are a burden on legitimate businesses like

his. It is not doing us any good because we have two have identity

proof. It is not just one piece of IDE, you need three. Every five

minutes we are getting pulled over from the police and we are just

trying to earn some money. It is getting harder. Please say metal

theft can affect anything from big companies to local communities so

these checks will continue. A woman from West Sussex says Government

agreement to change rules on use of agricultural pesticides is a victory

for her 12 year campaign. Georgina Downs, who lives near Chichester,

fought in the courts to argue for a review of crop spraying policies.

Now the Government has accepted recommendations about risk

assessments, to give greater protection to people who live near

farmers fields. Sean Killick reports. For 12 years, Georgina has

been campaigning for tighter rules on crops braying their homes,

schools and buildings. She argued through the courts. `` crop

spraying. She took these images at the end of her garden. For many

years, she has suffered from conditions ranging from rashes to

osteoporosis and problems with their eyes. She argued rules about risk

assessments haven't offered enough protection to residents who face

greater risk. You have long`term exposure, particles in the air,

vapour coming and that has never been accounted for. The fact that

now the recommendations say there should be to clear risk assessments

and that residents should have various different factors of

exposure incorporated in, is a significant victory. Pharmacy rules

are stringent but they welcome the change. Peculiarly human health is

high priority and this report covers sprayer operators and farm workers

as well as residents. As regards human health, yes, we of course

welcome it. Georgina says the rules do not go far enough and her

campaign which has attracted thousands of supporters will

continue until there is a complete ban on spring for a substantial

distance around schools and homes. Time for the sport now.

Redding and Reading are back up to fourth in the Championship after

their second consecutive victory. Bournemouth were in action last

night. Billy Sharp struck a 13th minute goal to give the Royals all

three points against Charlton. Nigel Adkin's side are now four games

unbeaten as they prepare to face Bournemouth at the Mad Stad on

Saturday. The Cherries slide down the Championship table continued as

they lost 3`0 at QPR, Former poole Town striker Charlie Austin put

Harry redknapp's men in front before the break. Junior Hoilett made it

two after Bournemouth failed to clear this cross, seven defenders

and the goalkeeper in the box for Bournemouth there. Matt Phillips

beat Lee Camp at the near post to make it three, Eddie Howe described

it as a harsh scoreline, Bournemouth are 19th.

In the Premier League Southampton will look to beat Aston Villa

tonight after losing their last two games against Arsenal and Chelsea.

Villa are 11th and can be dangerous on the break, Saints of course still

enjoying a fine season, they're seventh. Kris Temple is at St Mary's

for us tonight. This is unfamiliar territory for Southampton. It is the

first time this season that they have lost back`to`back matches. They

are back on home soil for two big games coming up over the next few

days. Manchester City are here on Saturday. It is Aston Villa first.

Saints haven't had much luck. The goalkeeper will be out first six

weeks with a broken hand sustained in a freak incident on Sunday

afternoon. The absence opens the door for this player. He came in on

Sunday and conceded a third of those Chelsea goals. A big test for him

this evening. He has full confidence in the young Argentine. Some of the

big new signings haven't exactly fired yet. Things haven't gone his

way so far since rejoining. Be home record is very good. Aston Villa's

away record is also very good. A break `` a big crowd is sure to turn

up. Meanwhile Portsmouth have continued

to interview candidates for their manager's job today, among them

Steve Claridge. On the field Pompey and Wycombe will try again tonight

in league two after their first match was abandoned in October. You

may remember the terrible storm which battered the south coast that

night, waterlogging the pitch and leading to the abandonment of the

game.. Four soldiers have set off on a

cross Atlantic rowing challenge to raise money for injured troops. The

team are among 16 teams who started the Atlantic challenge and they are

aiming to grow 3000 miles from the Canary Islands to the Caribbean. The

race was due to start on Monday but was delayed because of bad weather.

It is good to see them off and away tonight.

Better weather there than anywhere else. Looking at the National

forecast and it looks particularly bad up north at the moment.

They are looking at gale force wind gusts of up to 90 mph. With that...

We are just out of the warning zone. That doesn't mean we will have some

`` we will not have some gale force winds in our region. We do have some

pictures for you. Dan Smith captured Shetland Ponies in the New Forest

sharing the same patch of grass. Amelia Coffen took this festive

photo of a robin in Knowle near Wareham. And Sue Pratt captured the

sun setting over Oliver's Battery in Winchester.

We were inundated with sunsets. They are on our website. Through the

course of tonight, we will have clear skies courtesy of the sun

going down. The chance of a frost under the clear skies with

temperatures falling away towards freezing. The winds will start to

increase during the second part of the night and we will see some

clouds Berlin from the West. Judges down to freezing in the countryside.

`` cloud spell in. It may be a frosty start for some in the

morning. There is increasing wind and you're having some squally

conditions and gale force gusts are a possibility. The bulk of the day

should stay dry tomorrow. We hold on to the mild conditions before the

weather front which is edging its way into the northern part of the

region. It will move southwards after dark. It will rattle through

bringing with it a brisk wind. The skies were clear and temperatures

will fall away once again. It should stay dry to start the day on Friday

morning. This is the Arctic air we are experiencing. Very short Arctic

air coming our way. The high`pressure pushes the weather out

towards the North continent. The isobars were wind in and it is a

mainly dry on Friday until the evening time when we could have the

odd shower. There will be some sunshine for Friday with increasing

cloud later on in the day. Here is your outlook for the rest of the

week. Cloud around tomorrow and some rain first thing. A bright start the

day for most of us and we can expect further rain towards the evening

time and after dark. With it, squally winds. Perhaps gale force

gusts at around 50 mph. Lots of sunshine and feeling called on

Friday. More cloud for the weekend. Tomorrow we will have reaction to

the Chancellor's Autumn Statement and some karate for you. Not

connected! Good night.