20/03/2014 BBC Oxford News

Hello and welcome to South Today so it's goodbye from me

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

Words of warning that came true The construction worker who said someone

would be killed the day before he was crushed to death by machinery on

a building site. Also tonight: Homes are evacuated

after a gas leak caused by railway workers fracturing a pipe.

Fears over more parking chaos ` the controversial decision to allow

buses to stop in a village on the way to Heathrow and Gatwick.

And later on: How hairdressdr Adam Wilde will be gracing the Wdmbley

turf against the team that broke his heart.

Good evening. A health and safety advisor has told a court th`t a fork

lift truck driver from Oxfordshire warned "someone's going to die" the

day before he was killed. M`rk Williams from Nuneham Courtdnay died

in 2011 when the machine he was operating toppled over. Joe Campbell

was in court. Mark Williams's stark warning

brought a site safety meeting to a halt. Those responsible for health

and safety on the project c`lled a follow`up meeting in the arda where

he was working. But Amy Dixon said his worries had been about others

safety and he raised concerns after safety barriers were removed. He was

alarmed somebody might be struck by the handle to movement in adrial is

around the site. He also asked for another piece of blank to bd moved

away from the area. People working for the company said they wdre

unaware it was because he h`d concerns about the limited space he

was being asked to work in. 24 hours later, the father of two yotng girls

was dead after the machine he was operating toppled over. Expdrt

testimony was given from thd head of safety on the Olympic construction

site. He said he had been angered to hearing court claims that workers

might have cut corners when it came to safety. In the past, he `dmitted

the industry had had safety concerns raised in the past and that the

industry had tended to shoot the messenger. But the company `nd the

subcontractors denied breaching health and safety laws.

A gas leak in Bicester this afternoon meant 150 people had to

temporarily leave their homds. Chiltern Railways says that a piece

of equipment being used to build the new Oxford to London line d`maged a

gas pipe in London Road. Adhna Campbell sent this report.

In the last few minutes, police have been told they can remove the tape.

They are about to take away this called in. Until now, roads and

surrounding alleyways were closed off to the public. Neighbours were

concerned and we have been smelling gas all afternoon, which is

beginning to fade away. The engineering works in the last hour

or so have been stopped. Up until this point, neighbours were worried.

Because of the distance to the petrol station, I am a little

worried. There has been a lot of panic and a lot of neighbours have

already gone. Police are now leaving the `rea

which they say is now safe. A man's been charged with a public

order offence after threats were made interrupting a hearing at

Oxford Crown Court into the murder of Jayden Parkinson. On Monday

Jayden's ex`boyfriend Ben Blakeley admitted killing her, but claimed it

was manslaughter, not murder. At that hearing, 23`year`old Rxan

McCann allegedly made threats to someone in the public gallery. He's

due back in court in June. There is growing concern for a flood

alleviation scheme in Oxfordshire. Peter Rawcliffe lives in Sotth

Hinksey, the village has bedn repeatedly flooded. Temporary

barriers were put up in Jantary but Peter says Oxford needs far more

substantial protection. His group, the Oxford Flood Alliance, wants a

channel built called the Western Conveyance. It would take flood

water away from the city centre towards South Oxfordshire. Ht is

vital something is done and the only plan that will work in our view is

the Western Conveyance. This disruption has been happening very

frequently. The idea is to dig in the fields around the streal. Most

of the time it would look as it does now with river banks and gr`ss but

if it ever flooded, the are` would become a waterway heading to the

Thames at Sandford. Tomorrow members of the flood alliance will leet with

local councillors, Thames W`ter and First Great Western to disctss the

?125 million project. Could there be a more simple answer? Tom B`llance

has worked on the Thames for most of his life. He's made a film `bout

flooding and is convinced clearing existing streams of trees and

rubbish and blocking off thd A3 's underpasses from flood water, would

do the job. It could be dond quickly over a couple of years and tp to ?5

million would easily deal whth what I am suggesting.

But the Oxford Flood Alliance believe only their channel will make

the difference, and say tomorrow could go down in history as the day

the city's long standing flooding problem was finally solved. Councils

in our region are being givdn a share of more than ?180 million from

the government to fix potholes caused by one of the wettest winters

on record. Councils in our reason are given...

More than ?4 million has bedn allocated to Oxfordshire.

Buckinghamshire will get ?2.5 million and Swindon will receive a

quarter of a million. The Ddpartment for Transport says it hopes most of

the repairs will be completd before the summer.

There are fears there'll be parking chaos when up to 150 airport`bound

coaches start picking up passengers in the Oxfordshire village of

Lewknor each day. From next month, Oxford Bus Company's airlind coaches

will stop there as they travel to Heathrow and Gatwick. But local

people say parking is already a nightmare. Tom Turrell has the

story. Quintessentially English, the

village of Lewknor is 20 minutes from Oxford. But the people here say

it's been used as a giant c`r park for commuters catching the Oxford

Tube to London. The bus service is very popular now. There are more

cars than can physically park on the verges available at present outside

the village and it forces c`rs into the village, displacing reshdents'

parking and making it congested There are worries things will get

worse. At the moment, these coaches which ferry people to Gatwick and

Heathrow pick up and drop off here at Thornhill Park and Ride hn

Oxford. But the airport service is changing and in two weeks' time the

150 coaches a day will soon stop at Luton as well. `` place`macro as

well. I have written to the traffhc

Commissioner and the Secret`ry of State for Transport to say, hang on,

let us stop this for a whild until we sort out the basic infrastructure

car parking spaces. So, how does the car parking spaces. So, how does the

coach company feel about thd impact it might have? We don't want people

to park there. Would you want to risk missing your plane bec`use you

missed the coach because yot couldn't park because it was full?

There is limited parking thdre and it is full from early in thd morning

so we are not advising people to park there. The extra coach pick`up

point is an extra service which will be welcomed by many, but not, it

For the first time in Milton Keynes, For the first time in Milton Keynes,

electric car drivers will h`ve to electric car drivers will h`ve to

start paying to charge. New rapid charging points are being installed

which opens up the option for taxis to go green. Sinead Carroll reports.

It might look like an American gas pump, but this point is purdly

electrical. You take the pltg out of the socket and plug it in the car

like a petrol pump and you can start the chart on your mobile phone app.

It would chide an electric car in about 20 minutes. The Milton

reforms are. And local authorities reforms are. And local authorities

are not helping. Her hold onto some negative ide`s around

HIV. Nowadays, it's very, vdry different to how it was in the past.

It's no longer seen as a terminal condition, it's a chronic condition.

Someone newly diagnosed with HIV, and a healthy immune system, could

have a near normal life expdctancy. It's hoped the speed and silplicity

of these new tests will encourage more people to come forward.

They're outdated, filthy and too cold to swim in. Just some of the

complaints people living in Reading have made about their local swimming

pools. Hundreds of people h`ve signed an online petition c`lling

for improvements. The Caversham mum behind the campaign has told our

reporter, Nikki Mitchell, pdople are going to neighbouring towns to swim,

because pools in Reading ard so grubby.

I've had somebody say it's ` shame we can't take a photograph of the

smell in the changing rooms. The temperature of the pools ard too

cold. And the list of compl`ints goes on, with many people b`cking up

their comments with photogr`phs Not one of Reading's six public pools

has escaped criticism. The changing rooms, there is scum in the corners,

haven't been cleaned for a long haven't been cleaned for a long

long time by the look of it. The swimming pool could do with a big

refurbishment. The floors are disgusting and the showers, the

curtains are just not very nice I think it's just very dated, with a

lot of Reading Borough Council facilities really haven't moved on

in 40 years. It's swimmers who are moving on instead. Driving to places

like Coral Reef in Bracknell, or to Maidenhead and Windsor. Clare

Newman's petition for improvements in Reading has around 700 shgnatures

so far. It angered me that people feel that they have to drivd out of

town, drive somewhere else, and invest in somebody else's borough

just to be able to go swimmhng and have somewhere nice and cle`n,

comfortable, warm where thex can take their kids and feel happy about

doing so. The social charitx which runs Rivermead leisure pool has

promised new play and water features and a full redevelopment of the

changing rooms in time for the summer holidays.

Reading Borough Council says it is fully aware there are a number of

issues that need addressing at pools in the borough with some facilities

dated and increasingly diffhcult to look after. The council says it is

actively looking to improve things, but it needs to balance this need

for investment against ?40 lillion in savings that it has to m`ke over

the next three years. I learned to swim at Reading Baths.

`based experience? Good. And a big weekend ahead?

It is a massive cup final for Gosport Borough. It is very exciting

for them, of two `` off too FA Trophy Final. And things st`rted to

feel that little bit more rdal for everyone involved earlier. Players

and staff boarded the coach at Privett Park, eagerly antichpating

what the next few days might bring. It should be a special day. It

should be really, really good. We've been supporting Gosport since the

early 80s. I never thought H'd ever see them at Wembley. It's going to

be a great day for the time, for the club, and I'm so excited. 10,00

from Gosport and more, hopefully. It's going to be amazing.

Among the Gosport party is @dam Wilde. The 34`year`old has been a

fixture on the non`league football scene since the turn of the century,

playing for a host of clubs across the south. His dreams of a long

professional career never qtite materialised. So he now owns a

hairdressing salon. As I fotnd out on a visit to his shop this week,

the game and the opposition is especially poignant for him.

Adam Wilde owns his own ear salon, but all he can think about hs a trip

to Wembley. `` hair salon. @nd playing on this important football

field. I will be a bag of nervousness, goodness knows what I

will be like the walking onto the pitch and living every boy's dream,

it will be nerve wracking. This FA Trophy Final is extra speci`l, he

may cut hair now, but 15 ye`rs ago did not quite make the gradd as a

professional footballer, out of all clubs Cambridge United. I w`s only

21, 22, playing league football and you are released, your heart is

broken, really, back to the reality of going to work, get a job, ,

normal sort of person. So gdtting back into that and playing for other

sites was quite hard to takd. Leaving Cambridge, his full`time

career may have been over, but he had a successful non`league career

playing for the likes of Salisbury and Worcester, then Gosport. You're

always hope and you will get that chance to get back into league

football, and it did not work out, but it is fine, I've had a great

career and am happy with it. This Sunday, Gosport and big unddrdogs,

with Adam likely on the wing. No one expected us to win. And no one

expected us to win. With a group of players, we perform better tnder

pressure and when we are up against it and it will be the same `gainst

United in the final. There will be no fear cuts this Sunday, Adam will

be living the dream. `` there will be no hair cuts.

Good luck to them. And BBC Radio solid all have a special song

tomorrow. `` BBC Radio Solent. Reading striker Jason Roberts has

confirmed he's to retire from football due to injury. Robdrts

helped the Royals to promothon in the 2012 season after arrivhng from

Blackburn, but also played for Wigan West Brom and Bristol Rovers and had

a loan spell at Portsmouth. The 36`year`old has tried in vahn to

recover from a hip injury and hasn't played since December 2012.

British Swimming are considdring a formal appeal against the ddcision

by UK Sport to turn down thdir requests for funding to be

reinstated to the Aldershot based GB Synchronised swimming squad. The

team are currently in Paris competing in the French Open, their

first ever international colpetition together. This afternoon, the duet

finished qualifying in ninth place. But say that if they don't receive

any funding this will be thdre last ever event. The number of young

girls doing synchronised swhmming, and I accept its not everyone's

sport, has doubled since London It's doubled! So that's an

indication of how inspirational London has been. Those young

children have got nowhere to go because that is no funding for them

to compete and represent thdir country at European, World `nd

Olympic level. Staying with Olympics for the

moment. Olympic sailor Paul Goodison hasn't ruled out another shot at an

Olympic medal in Rio in 2016. Goodison won gold in Beijing in

2008. But injury ruined his chances of a repeat at Weymouth and Portland

two years ago. He's currently part of Ben Ainslie's Extreme 40 team,

competing this week in Oman and he's keeping his options open with the

next Games over two years away. At the moment, I don't really know

what's in my sailing career coming up in the next three or four years.

I've obviously got a good idea where I'd like to be in two or three years

time. But at the moment, evdrything is just kind of waiting to see how

it pans out and see how I fdel as the Olympics get closer. Sed what

other opportunities arise and where my heart lies. At the moment, I ve

got no real desire to get b`ck in my laser to go laser racing. So really

enjoying the other sailing `nd we'll see where that leads.

Paul Goodison sailing in all man this week `` Oman.

He is a very good hairdressdr, did you get your fear cuts `` h`ir cut?

No, I didn't. And the weathdr next? I will just lie in the middle of

this. And we have some lovely pictures.

Today is the Spring Equinox in astronomical terms. Here we have

some pink blossom in Portsmouth captured by Bradley Hawkins. The

strong winds were blowing the sand about on Studland beach. Picture by

Robin Boultwood. And a male Bullfinch taken today in Milborne St

Andrew in Dorset by Heather Hogg. We are expecting rain overnhght and

once it pushes through, it will turn colder through the course of the

night. That rain band could be heavy, but whisking through on a

brisk south`westerly wind and, once the skies clear, temperaturds fall

rapidly. A very chilly start to tomorrow, articulate for

northernmost areas, old and above freezing along the south co`st. A

dry start with lots of sunshine tomorrow, possibly some showers

more likely in northern and western areas, Berkshire, Wiltshire,

Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshird, elsewhere dry and decent sunshine.

Breezy with a high of 10`11dC. We had a high of 12 today, so

temperatures the press with the cooler air. We are expecting showers

tomorrow night, even longer spells of rain at times, donning whntry

over hills, maybe some snow over the Cotswolds. Elsewhere, falling as

hail or sleet. But mainly r`in. A chilly start to Saturday, the risk

of some frost. A weather front pushes through on Saturday, some

showers drifting inland in the afternoon. Showers becoming few and

far between on Sunday, and we are sheltered down in the south, showers

more likely for the northern part of the country and the wind will ease.

Through the rest of the week, we expect some showers few and far

between, once the band of r`in pushes through tonight, colder air

behind it, staying cold unthl the early part of next week. Thd middle

of next week, milder air returns and turns more settled.

Tomorrow, we see some of thd wonderful ways you have been raising

money for Sport Relief, including a teacher revealing his sporthng alter

ego to his pupils. Join us tomorrow if you can. Thanks for watching

Good night. Good night.