:00:00. > :00:17.Good evening. People living on the flooded Somerset Levels have been
:00:18. > :00:25.given six weeks to put together a plan for their future. They have
:00:26. > :00:29.been given six weeks to come with a solution.
:00:30. > :00:36.It is an area bigger than Bristol. 65 square miles. This is the
:00:37. > :00:40.Somerset Levels, acre after acre of green fields. And this is that same
:00:41. > :00:46.area now. He has given all of six weeks to come up with a plan. So
:00:47. > :00:49.today in Westonzoyland, farmers residents, drainage boards and
:00:50. > :01:00.councillors getting together and discussing the options. Everybody
:01:01. > :01:04.except death and the amount `` Temple Micro and the Environment
:01:05. > :01:18.Agency know what the problem is The rivers and man made channels have
:01:19. > :01:22.been silted up. But people are adapting to circumstances. It
:01:23. > :01:27.happened in the 70s but when it happened then, that is when they
:01:28. > :01:33.judged the river. Getting around on the levels has become so difficult
:01:34. > :01:36.because everything gets in the way. You can drive down these well used
:01:37. > :01:42.roads and they seem fine but then abruptly, they end in fields full of
:01:43. > :01:49.water and it means a ten minute journey can become an unexpected and
:01:50. > :01:54.unwelcome 45 minute adventure. If things became much worse, losing
:01:55. > :02:00.essential surprise is a real possibility. We had to do 12 miles
:02:01. > :02:02.to get round here. Lots of people depend on that. It's everything
:02:03. > :02:09.cooking, heating, everything. Without it, they have got nothing.
:02:10. > :02:15.For many, it will feel like a very long six weeks until any plan is in
:02:16. > :02:19.place. And that, they say, is just the very first step.
:02:20. > :02:24.Earlier I spoke to David Heath who's MP for Somerton and Frome and asked
:02:25. > :02:32.him if the cost of the clean`up should come from the taxpayer.
:02:33. > :02:37.There are places in my constituency that a flood of this year that have
:02:38. > :02:43.never flooded in living memory. `` that have flooded. And there are not
:02:44. > :02:46.so many people in Somerset as in the big city and I understand previous
:02:47. > :02:50.policy that meant the big money was always spent on protecting the
:02:51. > :02:53.maximum number of properties but we deserve a fair deal and we deserve
:02:54. > :02:57.to know that we will have at least whatever protection is available.
:02:58. > :03:00.Dozens of railway bridges across the West may have to be removed to allow
:03:01. > :03:03.Network Rail to install overhead power lines as part of the
:03:04. > :03:09.electrification of the mainline to London. But one council claims the
:03:10. > :03:18.work is already cutting off communities.
:03:19. > :03:21.Electrifying nearly 300 miles of railway, to make it faster, greener
:03:22. > :03:24.and quieter. This is how we'll soon be travelling
:03:25. > :03:27.to London and South Wales. Electrifying the line will see
:03:28. > :03:30.tired, old, diesel`powered trains replaced by a faster, more reliable
:03:31. > :03:33.fleet. Journey times and carbon emissions will be slashed. Network
:03:34. > :03:38.Rail's Swindon HQ is the nerve centre for this billion pound
:03:39. > :03:41.project. The new broom at the helm is a
:03:42. > :03:46.Californian, fresh from electrifying the West Coast Main Line and
:03:47. > :03:53.redeveloping Reading station. Good to see you. How is the wedding area
:03:54. > :03:56.looking today? Personally, I am excited about what
:03:57. > :04:02.is coming because it will be much better than the existing system It
:04:03. > :04:07.will transform this great Western into a new era of more efficient
:04:08. > :04:09.delivery as we move forward into the next decade.
:04:10. > :04:13.A souped`up version of this machine will lay the overhead cables. It
:04:14. > :04:15.will work nights and weekends to cut down on disruption to rail
:04:16. > :04:18.passengers. But it's those travelling by road who are first
:04:19. > :04:22.noticing a difference. Dozens of bridges are having to be rebuilt or
:04:23. > :04:25.replaced to allow the power`lines through. They've already started in
:04:26. > :04:32.Wiltshire and councillors say they're running late. We have been
:04:33. > :04:35.very disappointed in the preplanning. They haven't planned
:04:36. > :04:40.the projects, we haven't found that the conditions of the wildlife
:04:41. > :04:44.living under the bridges. This has led to delays. Whole communities are
:04:45. > :04:50.blocked off from using the roads and there is a real problem for people
:04:51. > :04:52.and we will call them to sort these out.
:04:53. > :04:56.That's disputed by Network Rail which insists it has carried out the
:04:57. > :05:01.right surveys and has been open with councils about its plans.
:05:02. > :05:05.It was the age of steam that put Swindon on the railway map. Now it
:05:06. > :05:08.is sad that electrification can restore some of that former glory.
:05:09. > :05:14.`` now it is said that. The Bishop of Taunton is opposing
:05:15. > :05:17.plans to rehouse the new Bishop of Bath and Wells away from the
:05:18. > :05:20.traditional palace. The church says the incoming bishop will have more
:05:21. > :05:26.privacy living away from the building in Wells. But the Right
:05:27. > :05:29.Reverend Peter Maurice says he believes the decision to buy the
:05:30. > :05:32.incoming bishop a new home has been badly handled.
:05:33. > :05:35.To football, and it's been a busy but not very successful night for
:05:36. > :05:37.our teams. In the Championship, Yeovil lost 3`2 away to
:05:38. > :05:40.promotion`chasing Derby. There weren't any wins in League One
:05:41. > :05:44.either with Swindon managing a `1 draw away at Walsall while Bristol
:05:45. > :05:48.City failed to climb out of the relegation zone losing 3`1 at
:05:49. > :05:54.Brentford. And in League Two, Bristol Rovers were at home but lost
:05:55. > :05:57.1`0 to Accrington Stanley. Just before the weather, you may
:05:58. > :06:01.have just seen that Bristol author Nathan Filer has tonight won the
:06:02. > :06:11.Costa Book of the Year for his first novel. He is a former psychiatric
:06:12. > :06:15.nurse and his story is about mental illness. Maybe it will change my
:06:16. > :06:18.life, I don't know but it will certainly change the life of the
:06:19. > :06:23.book and it will make more people aware of this story and when I was
:06:24. > :06:28.writing it, I wrote it because I wanted to share it with people and I
:06:29. > :06:32.didn't write it for me, I wrote it because I want people to read it and
:06:33. > :06:38.I think winning a big prize like this means that more people will
:06:39. > :06:44.hopefully do that. Now, to the weather. Same old story, I think?
:06:45. > :06:49.Low`pressure moving south and stays like it has been for the past 2
:06:50. > :06:55.hours but tomorrow, we will find the wins will get towards an easterly
:06:56. > :07:00.component. An inherently cold feed for the next they also add the
:07:01. > :07:03.showers remain eight constant part of the forecast as they will
:07:04. > :07:10.tonight, temperatures between three and five Celsius. As the day wears
:07:11. > :07:15.on, some dry if rather cloudy spells as wins shift and become Chile. More
:07:16. > :07:16.rain spilling out from the south`east and they could be a
:07:17. > :07:26.wintry component. Jeremy Paxman's got Newsnight on BBC
:07:27. > :07:29.Two now, taking on the Treasury Secretary over the new growth
:07:30. > :07:32.figures. From all of us here, goodbye.