:00:00. > :00:00.starting over on BBC Two in a moment. They'll be live in Kiev
:00:00. > :00:12.assessing what chance today's deal has
:00:13. > :00:18.Good evening. A retired official has come forward to say that he took the
:00:19. > :00:22.decision to stop dredging on the Somerset Levels 20 years ago.
:00:23. > :00:25.Ken Tatem says he stands by his judgement even though the lack of
:00:26. > :00:32.dredging has been blamed for making the floods worse. Scott Ellis
:00:33. > :00:40.reports from the Levels. I have been taking a closer look. I
:00:41. > :00:48.have dredged some up myself. Here it is. A bucket full of silt and stop
:00:49. > :00:51.this is not soil that is what of farmland. This is silt that has been
:00:52. > :01:01.brought in on the tide and settled on the bottom of the river. The vast
:01:02. > :01:04.majority of people here are elated that dredging is going to get
:01:05. > :01:10.underway, but there are some people who think that this process of the
:01:11. > :01:15.tide coming in and bringing up silt is natural and is no point
:01:16. > :01:18.intervening. Ken Tatem was flooded manager on the Somerset Levels in
:01:19. > :01:27.the 1990s during which time he called a halt to dredging, and
:01:28. > :01:35.everyone agreed. It is as shallow gradient. When you
:01:36. > :01:41.dredge at the top end you are making their gradient shallower and getting
:01:42. > :01:51.less flow. He says the government wants to dredge the river simply to
:01:52. > :01:54.win over locals. The area's MP knows Ken Tatem and has respect for his
:01:55. > :02:00.views but remained in favour of dredging. There are a lot of other
:02:01. > :02:03.people who have said we have got to get the mud out of the river. This
:02:04. > :02:08.river ran efficiently until maintaining the five when there was
:02:09. > :02:13.a fundamental policy change. We have got to get active what it was
:02:14. > :02:20.before. The policy change was giving more
:02:21. > :02:26.room to wildlife. Environmental groups are still keen that dredging
:02:27. > :02:29.is not seen as a simple solution. It is like having a plughole that you
:02:30. > :02:33.are clearing to stop your bath filling up with water. In the
:02:34. > :02:36.long`term it was be more efficient to look at how much water is coming
:02:37. > :02:50.into the system and also the grip that is blocking the channels in the
:02:51. > :02:53.first place. Everyone agrees eight kilometres of dredging is just part
:02:54. > :02:59.of the answer. Reducing the speed at which water drains onto the levels
:03:00. > :03:02.is also wouldn't. There is more water coming down from the catchment
:03:03. > :03:06.area. That's what needs to go somewhere else other than my front
:03:07. > :03:19.room. I want to live a normal life. I not ask to be flooded.
:03:20. > :03:22.Ken Tatem has another solution. Greater use of this dream during
:03:23. > :03:30.flood periods to take water north away from the moves. `` this drain.
:03:31. > :03:33.It is a large areas of storage with no properties at risk. The
:03:34. > :03:39.difficulty is you are asking a set of farmers who do not get funded at
:03:40. > :03:43.the moment to accept flooding. That is a difficult negotiation. In the
:03:44. > :03:50.long run if you are going to help this area that has got to be done.
:03:51. > :03:56.Dredging is just one idea. There are many more. Somerset takes its final
:03:57. > :04:02.20 year plan to the secretary of state on March seven.
:04:03. > :04:13.A man's been in court charged with murdering the Gloucester hairdresser
:04:14. > :04:16.Hollie Gazzard. Twenty year old Hollie was attacked at the salon
:04:17. > :04:19.where she worked on Tuesday evening. Asher Maslin, who's 22, appeared at
:04:20. > :04:22.Cheltenham Magistrates' Court and was remanded until next week.
:04:23. > :04:25.A pilot has had a lucky escape after a small plane crashed into a field
:04:26. > :04:28.in Gloucestershire today. The fire service says the person walked away
:04:29. > :04:31.uninjured after making an emergency landing in a field in Sandhurst
:04:32. > :04:35.Shrien Dewani, the Bristol man, accused of organising his wife's
:04:36. > :04:39.murder in South Africa, is to take his fight against extradition to the
:04:40. > :04:44.highest court in the UK. Mr Dewani's lawyers have won the right to a
:04:45. > :04:47.Supreme Court ruling. Last month the High Court ruled he could be
:04:48. > :04:51.extradited as long as the South African government gave assurances
:04:52. > :04:55.about his treatment in the country. Those assurances were received
:04:56. > :05:00.today. Mr Dewani denies plotting to kill his wife, Anni, during their
:05:01. > :05:04.honeymoon in 2010. A zoo in North Somerset has taken
:05:05. > :05:09.delivery of its first elephant ` an African adult called Buta. Noah s
:05:10. > :05:12.Ark Zoo in Wraxall has opened a 20 acre park to house up to ten
:05:13. > :05:15.animals. It's Europe's biggest elephant enclosure and was opened by
:05:16. > :05:20.Ann Widdicombe, the former MP, who is a supporter of the zoo. But some
:05:21. > :05:29.experts have questioned whether these animals should be held in
:05:30. > :05:35.captivity at all. The elephants have 20 acres all for themselves. But
:05:36. > :05:39.then that 20 acres they have got their field, they have got weeds,
:05:40. > :05:49.they have got one lows, we have got a pool. There is not any thing these
:05:50. > :05:53.elephants have not got. Bristol Rovers have moved up to 16th
:05:54. > :05:55.in League Two after beating promotion`chasing Burton 2`0 at the
:05:56. > :05:59.Memorial Stadium. David Clarkson got the first before John`Joe O'Toole
:06:00. > :06:02.scored his 14th goal of the season to seal the victory. It gives John
:06:03. > :06:05.Ward's side their first back`to`back wins in the league since August and
:06:06. > :06:16.moves them further away from the relegation zone.
:06:17. > :06:23.Newsnight is starting on BBC Two. Now let us get the latest weather
:06:24. > :06:28.forecast. It was not a bad end to the week.
:06:29. > :06:33.The weekend is not too bad for the first half. Saturday is dry, bright
:06:34. > :06:42.and sunny. Low`pressure spreads and on Sunday. Not much Clyde tonight.
:06:43. > :06:55.Not much Clyde tomorrow morning A dry and bright start. Plenty of
:06:56. > :06:59.winter sunshine. Change is on the way. Saturday night into Sunday this
:07:00. > :07:10.area of low`pressure advancers from the Southwest. Rain and showers and
:07:11. > :07:14.a strengthening wind. Sunday, leaden skies, grey and overcast. That
:07:15. > :07:23.low`pressure eventually pushes through. Fund the into next week.
:07:24. > :07:31.The winds die down on Monday that they come back on Tuesday as another
:07:32. > :07:33.low treasure pushes on. The National forecast is after this.
:07:34. > :07:40.National forecast in a few seconds. Some rain around on Monday.
:07:41. > :07:47.If you remember, this time last week, we had some very vicious
:07:48. > :07:51.weather costing the country, the storm on Friday night. Much quieter
:07:52. > :07:58.this Friday night and a much quieter week. Come the weekend, the Atlantic
:07:59. > :08:06.is still a little fierce. We will have some wind and rain in the
:08:07. > :08:07.forecast, too, but not all of us. In fact, for some of us, the weekend