13/01/2014 BBC Oxford News

Hello and welcome to South Today. In tonight's programme, the flood

waters abate. As rivers return to being roads, we assess the damage

done and what's being done to prevent a repeat.

Also, should plans for a gravel pit and landfill site be blocked amid

fears they could make flooding worse?

And later on, all the action from the weekend's football. Could Oxford

silence the Pompey chimes? Good evening. River levels through

Oxfordshire will remain high for several days yet, but there's real

hope tonight that the worst of the flooding is now over. Most of the

major roads that had been closed are now reopened. Attention has shifted

today towards cleaning up the mess that's been left behind, and

assessing how effectively the situation has been handled. Tom

Turrell's been to meet people caught up in the chaos of recent days.

The scene last week as I made my way into the village of Binsey in Oxford

with the help of Stephen Cobb and his canoe. But what a difference a

couple of days can make. We were looking out and watching it ebbing

away and a huge sense of relief, that we were surrounded by water but

it was going. Just off the Botley Road in Oxford

and the watermark left behind is one of the few signs of just how serious

the situation was. If I had been standing here just a few days ago,

the water would have been right up to my knees. But now the sun is

bright, the ground is relatively dry and the sandbags have been taken

away. At their worst, the floods took two

lives. Today, the 73`year`old man who was killed when flood water

swept him off his bicycle in Wytham was named as Ian Taylor. At the

Environment Agency in Oxford, the respite from the wet weather,

though, means equipment can be brought back for vital maintenance.

Things are starting to get back to a bit more of normality now, we are

seeing the roads opening back into Oxford, levels go down quite

significantly now from where they were over the weekend. Businesses

are starting to get back to normal as well.

But for the Wilsons, the dry spell means they've been able to finish

mopping up after a couple of centimetres covered their living

room floor. In fact, yesterday it was still waterlogged on the floor

but we managed to sweep it with the use of our pump and puddle suckers

and mopped it up, we were able to get rid of it.

As the flood water retreats, the clear`up operation goes on, but with

the ground now saturated, the Environment Agency says it can't

rule out more trouble in the days and weeks ahead.

Rodney Rose is the deputy leader of Oxfordshire County Council. A short

time ago I asked him if, in his view, the recent flooding has been

handled properly. I think in inspiration go to all the

authorities and it is the whole partnership that has done it, from

the Environment Agency to planning, obviously the Fire and Rescue

Service, the highways and district councils, the list goes on. Flooding

is becoming more regular, do we need a new approach to it? If we get this

first year for ten years, it will be so distracted to linger,

destructive. Also for the economy of this city and for the county so I

think we have to look at it in a bit more depth. I gather you have called

a flood summit in March, is there any danger that this could just be

more torque and not action? There are some green shoots coming through

what we have done some modelling on three schemes and this new channel

has been estimated at around ?4 million, if we can do that for a

start, it. Off the 120 million of the channel is estimated to be. It

is not just Oxford city centre as well. Is that not what is needed to

get the investment in and quickly? The economic problems will give us

the spur. Thank you very much. There is some rain in the forecast coming

up later and tonight's Inside Out looks at the effects of the recent

flooding. Jon Cuthill has been delivering supplies by the swollen

River Thames and look in great detail at how much that has been

happening. Meanwhile, as the water begins to

slowly subside, people in one South Oxfordshire village are calling for

the Government to review plans for a new gravel pit and landfill site,

which they fear could exacerbate future flooding. Plans to extract

gravel from beneath fields near Sonning have already been approved.

But the land, close to the River Thames, is currently underwater.

Over that way, just the armed there is the old gravel pit. Gravel has

been exerted from here for decades which is why there are so many lakes

here but the next phase of gravel extraction is worrying people here

as the proposed site is currently under water. We all bought our

houses knowing that the water would come round them all go in them and

we don't have a problem with that but we don't want to see a situation

where it is made worse for somebody else's profit at our expense. If you

take gravel and sand out which drains water very well and replace

it with something that does not, for somebody else's profit at our

expense. If you take gravel and sand out which drains water very well and

replace it with something that does not, flood title probably increase.

A lot of rubble is currently recycled from building sites and the

material that cannot would be buried here once the gravel has been

extracted. Oxfordshire's planners approve the application but want the

Government to make sure they are not going against national planning

regulations which suggests landfill should not be located in a flood

zone. There are assessments being done on flood risk all the time but

they are being done by different companies who are coming up with

completely different results. This is an issue that needs to be

resolved once and for all and that's why this needs to go to the

Secretary of State. In a statement, the time a company said it

recognises residents' concerns but says that it works will not increase

the flood risk. And the Environment Agency has come to the same

conclusion. The issue will affect thousands, nobody wants to see the

bridge at Sonning close because of flooding any more than usual.

Proposals for Oxfordshire's first Park and Ride site outside the city

of Oxford itself have been approved by councillors. The owners of the

Bicester Village shopping outlet will fund the ?3 million car park on

land close to the complex off the A41. It will serve both the site and

drivers heading into Bicester itself, and regular buses will also

run into central Oxford. The aim is to have the facility up and running

before next Christmas. Traders in Bicester have welcomed the scheme

which they say should help reduce traffic congestion which has been a

problem at peak times. An organisation in West Oxfordshire

which uses horses to help people deal with emotional problems is at

risk of closing down, if it can't find a new site by the end of this

month. Hope Through Horses, based near Chipping Norton, has been

running for seven years. It provides support for people with things like

eating disorders, depression and also autism. The therapists are

currently renting the land, but the owners need it back. Some of the

horses could be put down if they can't find a new home. The end

result is Hope Through Horses has to close and that means that a lot of

people will find themselves with nowhere else to turn to because we

are from the end of the line for many people. We need this kind of

environment for this approach to work.

While many local councils have done away with weekly bin collections,

Milton Keynes has been singled out for Government praise, because it

has managed to maintain them, while still cutting costs. The town is now

planning to go a step further by using food waste to fuel its fleet

of rubbish trucks. Time to get rid of rubbish on bin

day for recycling and glass as well. Every day, 16 crews are collecting

across Milton Keynes and they gather almost 200 tonnes of rubbish and

about 60 tonnes of recycling. In a new report, offering guidance to

other councils, Eric Pickles has highlighted Milton Keynes as an area

she's kept `` which has kept weekly collections and is saving money.

Lots of local authorities say they have to reduce things, we think it

is nonsense and we are the proof that it is nonsense and you can have

weekly collections, high recycling rates and actually deliver a better

service and that is what we are proving. I seem to be ahead of most

other councils. I like it weekly, I would not like it to go to

fortnightly. The council is adapting lorries to

run on low`cost fuel made from recycled food waste. It is using

?1.8 million of government funding and anticipates the move will save

?150,000 a year and help to retain weekly collections. The council says

a new waste facility opening in 2016 will help save more money and reduce

the amount of rubbish going to landfill.

That's all from me for the moment. Action from the football involving

Swindon, MK Dons and Oxford coming up in a few minutes as South Today

continues with Sally Taylor. was cordoned off while a forensic

examination took place. Still to come: Maybe it is an old wreck, but

it has had its moment. And this battery`powered car designed on the

Isle of Wight. It was decades ahead of its time. A shmpshire town that

was promised superfast broadband three years ago says BT still hasn't

got them all connected. The town won a competition called the race to

infinity run by BT. Despite beating other towns, many people are still

waiting for a fast internet connection. Outside Whitchurch, Paul

runs a photography business and there is no shortage of work, but it

is on the return from the job that his problems begin. He needs the

internet, it is so slow the process can take hours. It is painfully

slow, it is intermittment. We do our wedding alup withes `` albums on

line and the speed sois that slow I have had to leave them uploading

over night. The town should be an example for others. It entered and

won a competition run by BT called the race for infinity. The prize `

superfast broadband for all. But the celebrations soon came to an end,

three years on and that promise still hasn't arrived. Then the pub

was the centre of the campaign. We were promised faster broadband for

all the premises in the exchange area. It is awfully frustrated. We

were used as a PR exercise by BT to promote their service and it hasn't

been delivered. The roll out stalled, deadlines were missed and

some estimate that 20% of homes and businesses are still in the internet

slow lane. BT says the majority of homes do have access to superfast

broadband and that these cabinets will soon have the whole town

connected and it will investigate any issues and said it will meet

with residents in the coming weeks. Online speed tests confirmed just

how bad the service for some still is. Connections can be as low as one

or two megabits per second. In theory a Superfast package would be

up to 70. Until that is available, the frustrations will continue. The

most senior officer at the Isle of Wight council is set to have his pay

cut by more than ?10,000. The authority has already scrapped the

role of Chief Executive and other changes to senior management and

services are planned in the drive to save money. Funding cuts isn't the

only major issue the council is having to deal with. Laura Trant

reports. In times of austerity it no surprise the Isle of Wight Council

is making savings. But it's the Managing Director who will be next

in line to tighten his belt. Dave Burbege has taken on extra duties

and faces a pay cut of more than ?12,000 from his ?123,000 salary. If

our MD can bring his salary down below 100,000, then so can others

and they can move forward. The council has a large budget gap and

proposed areas of saving are cutting down on senior managers and removing

free car parking and reducing residential care for older people.

The council has another pressing problem ` the Island's schools. With

some of the lowest GCSE results and the worst level of secondary school

pupil absences in the country, Hampshire County council has been

brought in to run Children's Services. A council report describes

its schools as in a "parlous state" Children's outcomes were temporarily

damaged by the recent schools reorganisation Schools felt

abandoned because of council failings And an infusion of people

is needed to energise the system, along with stringent improvement

targets. My nephew has started school and is coming along well. But

it does worry you. It is my grandchildren now, but I'm as

concerned for them as I was for my own. And very poor. My daughter goes

to one that is classed as good. But the secondary school, if I was to

choose one, I would struggle. Today the council's employment committee

recommended to approve the managing Director's pay cut. It's expected

that ` along with numerous other cuts will be rubber stamped in

February. Recents fear that floods could result in additional homes in

their area. The area which is less prone to flooding is already being

targeted by visitors. Our correspondent is at a public meeting

there. Ress dents angry at this idea aren't they? `` residents. Yes,

hundreds are expected here for a parish council meeting to here Llan

plans for `` ` plans for 600 new homes. They fear a decision could

result in many hundreds more. Arun district council last week agreed

580 new homes will be built in the district in the next 15 years. It

was originally proposed 1,000 would be built on the West Bank of Arun at

Littlehampton and 2,000 other would go. But recent flooding of those

areas caused councillors to rethink the precise allocation. That's

caused anxiety in the areas where there is less of a flood risk.

They're worried their quota could now be increased. There is a fear

that that might very well happen, yes. Where are the houses that were

going to be built in the flooded area now going to be built? And we

may well find ourselves disadvantaged in that respect.

Tonight developers will be outlining plans for 600 new homes. Residents

fear added pressure on infrastructure specially roads, but

the council says development can bring benefits too. We are looking

to see how we can use new development which we have to provide

for to help deliver some of those improvements that people would like

to see. The existing bypass was actually funded by development

itself. So there is a good example of what can be achieved. Well the

developers who will make the presentation here say their plan

will bring benefits, including jobs, open spaces and infrastructure. The

meeting starts in the next hour and I will report on it in our programme

at 10.30 tonight. Thank you. And now sport and Tony is here and we start

with boxing and great success. Yes Ebony Jones is off to Serbia for

another event and got another gold medal. She is a star to watch for

the future. Jones is celebrating more international success in the

ring. The teenager from Heart of Portsmouth boxing club won gold at

the European Nations Cup, beating an opponent from Russia in the final.

It's Ebonie's latest success after a gold at the European championships

last year and a bronze medal at the world championships. Southampton

fans saw more speculation about their left back Luke Shaw in the

Sunday papers yesterday, one report said Manchester City were bidding

?30 million for him. Last week a source told me Shaw was highly

unlikely to go anywhere anytime soon. Another Saints star Adam

Lallana got the winner against West Brom on Saturday. Adam Lallana

scoring the only goal and handing his mum a very public happy birthday

greeting. Onto the football league action and

Neither side managed to break the deadlock and they occupy the final

play`off place in the two. Swindon's results remain patchy on

the road but that impressive form at the County ground continues. Goals

from Yaser Kasim and Nile Ranger put them on course to get the points

against Peterborough. The visitors made a fight of it in more ways than

one, the spectacular effort from Nathaniel Knight`Percival found the

net but after reducing the deficit, they were reduced to ten men.

Tempers flared on the touchline. The MK Dons remained unbeaten in 2014

after seeing off Shrewsbury. The opener claimed by Dele Alli and the

Shrews refused to be tamed showing an equaliser, only for Chris Long to

put the home side back in front. After the break, Dean Bowditch gave

them a question after his return from injury and that strike ensured

that the goal by Jo Jacobson was only a

helped it in. And there was nothing the keeper could go about Gomez's

third. Several local sailors featured prominently amongst the

podium finishers at the pre`Olympic regatta in Rio's Guanabara Bay.

Lee`on`Solent's Alain Sign and Dylan Fletcher took gold in the 49er

class, their victory came after complaints from several sailors

about the unhygienic water conditions, and debris in the bay

leading to problems in races. Giles Scott won in the Finn. And

Lymington's Nick Thompson took silver in the laser. Aldershot

Farnham and District runner Emilia Gorecka made a terrific debut to her

senior cross country career on Saturday at the Great Edinburgh Run

event. The 19`year`old finished third in the women's 6 kilometre

run, she had held second placed for much of the event before her legs

tired near the finish. Charlotte Purdue was 5th. In the men's 8

kilometre race Andy Vernon from Fareham was second. Well done to

them and not bad weather up there. Where was that bay? I think we will

be saying it a lot. Better get used to that. Did you know that cars were

once manufactured on the Isle of Wight. Forty years ago, the concept

of a small, battery powered city car was revolutionary. The car passed

its safety tests with flying colours, but after four years the

business collapsed. In the first of three reports about the south's

forgotten car makers, our Transport Correspondent Paul Clifton looks at

a car that was ahead of its time. The electric Enfield 8000. If you've

not heard of it before, don't worry. Most people haven't. Even on the

Isle of Wight, where it was designed and built. But in the 1970s it

featured on the children's programme Blue Peter. Cars like this may be

the answer to towns and cities of future. It's given me many years of

service. Today Barry owns three of them. Why do you keep three of these

cars? Because I love them. When I was in the town I had a lead coming

through the window to the back of it. To plug it in and go? Yes. It

has done less than 6,000 miles? Kilometres. Oh, it iskph teshgs it

hasn't been very far? No. A team of 12 people made the car in this old

hangar that once stood beside Cowes airport. The electricity council

ordered 60 cars, which had a top speed of 48mph. The Queen Mother

tried one. Well... Hidden at the back of Barry's garage is one of the

early models. Well! My goodness. A blast from the past. John designed

and built it. It was very aerodynamic, which was important.

And the whole formula, the whole concept was very advanced, as you

might say. The first five cars were built on the island. After a strike

by the workers, production was moved to a Greek island and the cars were

shipped back to Cowes forfeiting out. But this car had the similar

problems as today's electric cars. It cost twice as much as a mini and

its range was less than 60 miles. Just over a hundred cars were built

and a handful remain. This one has seen better days. They also made

this car, a luxury saloon. Only one was built. Barry owns this one too.

When you left this project, what else did you do? I became a deck

chair attendant! And then? Well, one day I was on the deck chair, yes

yes, any way, I designed Fuss 2, which brought the world land speed

record back to Britain. John's design reached 650mph. But the

Enfield 8,000 was way ahead of its time, paving the way for today's

electric city cars. A great looking car. Tomorrow we are are going to

look at what was called the scout car. You might know about that. It

was before the First World War and made in Salisbury. Paul is loving

this series. On to the weather. What is it looking like? Well it is

unsettled, some rain, was some sunshine as well and ice.

Raymond's dog is getting ready for the next bout of rain. Alan took

this photograph of tufted ducks on the lake. We had some beefy showers

today and tonight further showers associated with that, some quite

gusty wind and even some thunder and hail. Once the showers disappear,

there the risk of ice on untreated surfaces. So the showers could be

heavy and thundery, pushing in from the South West. Moving east. Eastern

areas holding on to the ground and `` cloud and rain. And there is a

Met Office yellow warning in force for icy stretches on untreated

roads. Temperatures tonight down to two Celsius in towns and city, but

down to freezing in the countryside. So there may be a frost first thing

in parts of Dorset and ice with mist and fog patches. The mist and fog

patches may struggle to lift during the morning. But they will clear, as

will the rain in the east and the cloud and we will see some sunny

spells developing. In fact a pretty decent day, probably the best day of

the working week with temperatures up to five to eight Celsius. The

winds light tomorrow as well. Tomorrow night we see further rain.

Not amounting to much. Patchy rain and maybe some hill fog as well,

with taechltds `` temperatures down to three to eight Celsius. The winds

pick up speed on Wednesday and that is due to a weather front pushing in

from the west. A gusty wind is expected with wind gust of 30 to

40mph. Inland up to 20mph. The rain band lingering for much of the day

on Wednesday and clearing overnight into Thursday. So it will be a soggy

and windy day on Wednesday. Here is your outlook for the rest of the

week. A lot of sunshine tomorrow after a damp start in the east and

an improving picture and on Wednesday we see a lot of rain and

strong winds. Further showers, could be thundery for Thursday and fry. ``

Friday. Thank you. More at 8 and 10. 25. Tomorrow in sport. A big FA Cup

tie, because the winners play Liverpool, born mouth play Burton.

Join us tomorrow. Good night.