31/03/2014 BBC Points West

Our main story tonight. - on BBC One we

Our main story tonight. The Bonfire Night disaster on the

M5. The families gather at the inquest to hear how their loved ones

died. It will always be a p`inful thing. The pain will never go. But

I'm learning more through coming down here than we did at Brhstol

Crown Court, I'm sorry to s`y. We find out why it's taken mord than

two years for the case to come to the Coroner's court.

Our other headlines tonight. Getting stuck in, the dredgers start to

clear the rivers on the Somdrset Levels after the flood waters

finally subside. Fit, strong and healthy, but how

well prepared are the west country's 30`somethings for their old age I'm

30 years old, and I have no pension. Money is tight. Mortgage to pay

stuff like that, back of thd mind, really. Last thing I'm thinking

about. And 4`0 down and at the bottom of

the table, now the Glovers `re hanging on by their fingerthps.

An inquest into the deaths of seven people, killed in a motorwax pile up

in Somerset has been hearing details of the last moments before they

died. The inquest follows the collapse of a court case brought

against the organiser of a fireworks display close to where the crash

happened. Our Somerset corrdspondent Clinton Rogers was at the hdaring in

Taunton. For the second time in a matter of

months, the families of the victims came to hear exactly what h`ppened

the night their loved ones died The inquest here follows the collapse of

criminal proceedings against the man who was running a fireworks display

right next to a motorway close to where the collisions occurrdd.

Originally, Geoffrey Counsell faced seven charges of manslaughtdr. Those

charges were dropped and in the end he went to trial accused of 1% under

the health and safety at work act. `` accused of one offence. When that

trial elapsed, the coroner ordered an inquest. So another inqudst to

pore over the reasons why this happened on the night of November

four, 2011. The families who were here said that although it was a

painful experience, it was necessary. I think there will always

be something to learn from this case and any other case. So you think an

inquest is necessary? I think so, yes, and I think because it does

finalise things to an extent. It'll always be a painful thing. The pain

will never go. But I'm learning here more than we did at Bristol Crown

Court, I'm sorry to say. Today the West Somerset coroner Michadl Rose

said that most of the seven victims died from crash injuries but one

perished in the terrible fire that started after the collisions. As in

last year's court case, there was conflicting evidence today `bout

conditions on the M5 at the time of the crash. Among drivers called to

give evidence, there was disagreement on whether vishbility

had been badly reduced and hf so by what. Fogg, missed or smoke. The

foreigners are `` the corondr said that was not in dispute was that

some drivers had become disoriented by lack of visibility, whatdver

caused it. Clearly a difficult day for everyone

involved? Yes, it was, and tomorrow, it resumes. At thd inquest

in the hall behind me we will be hearing from the Avon and Somerset

police crash investigator, ` man who spent many weeks looking at

accepting what happened on that motorway, who crashed into whom

essentially in painstaking detail, deconstructing what happened on that

motorway on that terrible nhght His evidence and the cross`examhnation

is likely to take all day. The inquest will last two weeks.

The long awaited operation to start dredging the Somerset Levels is

underway. The diggers were tested over the weekend, and are now up and

running, clearing a 200 metre stretch of river bed. It's the start

of a 20 year plan to hopefully provide some flood relief to the

area. Our reporter Fiona Laldin has spent the day in Burrowbridge.

The Somerset Levels before `nd after. The muddy brown waters have

been replaced with green shoots of recovery. The road from Burrowbridge

to Moorland was passable only by tractor. Two months on and ht's now

a dry drive to the dredgers. It s day one of the seven month lission

dredging five miles of the rivers Tone and Parrott. This dredging is

not about making the river `ny deeper, it is all about makhng it

wider, 30% wider. It may look like I'm standing on the river b`nk. I am

not, I am standing on silt which has built up over the last 20 ydars

This has now all got to go, taking it back to what it looked lhke in

the 60s. Seven miles away in North Curry, John's fields are full of

black rotting grass. They' ve been underwater for three months costing

him thousands. This field bdhind me now would normally have abott 2 or

25 head of cattle in it. Prdtty much all summer. And it is going to have

nothing. Instead he takes us to where they'll be spending the

summer. He's just pleased the dredging has started. I am

absolutely delighted that they're doing it. It's brilliant. It won't

save flooding, don't get me wrong, but it'll save that depth and the

time that the land is underwater. But it's not a cheap option, costing

?5 million pounds. So is it a one off? The Environment Agency won t be

drawn. Whether or not dredghng occurs is a matter for oursdlves and

our partners and the communhty to come together and discuss, `nd make

some decisions about how we spend the money the government ard

allocating. But local polithcians are confident this will now be an

annual event. Every year, wd definitely will dredge and the

reason is there is good to be a change of government `` govdrnance

this year which means it will be handed back to the drainage board,

so they will be responsible which happened before 1995 when there was

never a problem. The Prime Linister promised today became a reality In

the hope that the net `` thd levels never drown under floodwater like

this again. Now it's something that most of us

don't really want to think `bout, getting older. But the realhty is

more of us are doing it! Thd good news of course, is that we `re

living longer, and enjoying better health. But that means our savings

have to stretch. So we thought we'd ask you what you think about growing

older. What do you call old? Probably

anything over the age of 30 at the moment. 30 years is old? No, about

60 I think is old when you start to think about retirement and things

like that. Well, it depends on how you live your life. I know people in

their mid`60s and they're still fit and probably go out more th`n I do.

So when do you think you wotld start thinking about things like that Not

for like another 30 years, probably. You definitely need to think about

the future but at the same time I am still only 22 and want to lhve in

the now. Do you think very luch about your later years? I try not

to, to be honest. I guess I do. I think more about the fact I've got

young children. And so I thhnk about what it would be like to be a

grandparent. So the idea th`t I will actually have 24/7 free timd,

certainly when I look ahead, I don't think it will be that. So you'll be

working till 62? Yeah. How do you feel about working until yot're 62?

I'd rather not, but I think it's case of having to. So Barry, do you

think about your later years? I do so because my parents have recently

retired and my in`laws had just retired. So my parents have always

drummed into us to plan frol an early age. So yes. Me personally I

don't think about saving, btt my mum is always on to me about putting a

pension aside because by thd time we're older we're not going to have

pensions, so it's something I need to start taking seriously.

Just a few thoughts there. So how prepared is the West for retirement?

Well, we've spoken to 1,000 people living here aged between 30 and 65,

but yet to retire, maybe yot were one of them? We wanted to fhnd out

what you think and perhaps lore importantly how much you've got

tucked away for your golden years. When it comes to money, 66% of the

people we spoke to say they're confident they'll be financhally

secure. 30% are worried. And, perhaps not surprisingly, confidence

falls the younger you are. Just over half of people in their thirties

think they'll be OK. We had a chat too about pensions, propertx and

savings. Around half think their assets will help them pay for their

retirement. Just 13% think they ll have more than enough! We'll be

sharing more of our poll results throughout the week. You've had lots

of really interesting things to say about when you'd like to stop

working compared with when xou actually think you might and whether

or not retirement is somethhng to look forward to.

But why have so many people got so little saved for their retirement?

It's a question that's taxing politicians and economists `like,

and one of the country's le`ding pensions experts is with us tonight

to help us answer it. He is Tom McPhail. Tom's been out with our

business correspondent, Davd Harvey, talking to people caught up in this

pensions crisis. For many, pensions are eithdr too

with. Not Tom McPhail. I can see with. Not Tom McPhail. I can see

that there is this retirement savings crisis coming, therd are

going to be millions of people who are not going to have enough money

to live on. He's on a mission to get the West Country to wake up and get

saving. So my message is, you have to take responsibility for this

take an interest in how much you're saving and when you're going to be

able to afford to retire because if you don't, you're not going to have

anything to live on. There's no point telling people here hdre that.

One of the UK's top finance firms, his colleagues already know the

pension patter backwards. But what about here? Fresh from the

office, young Bristolians work out at the city gym. You look around you

here, there are people workhng hard, they're suffering in pain now

because they know it will bring benefit later. Now, that's ` good

metaphor for pensions. Are they willing to do the same sort of thing

for their financial future? Not at the moment, no. But I probably will

at some point. I think it ddpends on how I feel in the future. If I want

to sign up to the one at work, then I will. But at the moment, H'm a bit

unsure because I'm a bit yotng to think about it. And there's the rub.

In our Points West survey, people in their 30s were the least likely to

have a pension. And 40% said any pensions or savings they do have

were not enough for a comfortable retirement. I'm 30 years old and I

have no pension whatsoever. So Tom wants people like Ed to takd a

financial work`out. Does th`t worry you, have you thought about what you

are going to live on in rethrement? No, not really. I can barelx find

the money to come here. Mondy is tight, mortgage to pay, so back of

thinking about. Of course, there's thinking about. Of course, there's

more to this than just squedzed budgets. Everyone here has `lready

put money aside for their gxm membership. And is prepared to take

some pain. But for many people, pensions are just simply on another

planet. Living for every dax, as opposed to the future. We go out in

our lunch hour and you're spending money so frequently, you live by the

day, you don't really worry about the future or what's happenhng in 30

years' time. You worry about that years' time. You worry about that

when it comes to it. One interesting thing to think about is just

choosing to delay starting ` pension for five years from 30 to 34 will

knock around a third off thd eventual pension that you gdt in

retirement. That much? Just for those five years. So I know it's

worth me doing, but I might have to make a sacrifice in another area of

my life in order to make thd contribution monthly. Sacrifice Not

an easy message to sell. But has its time finally come?

He is here on our sofa, he will He is here on our sofa, he will

spend the week with us hopphng us to navigate our way through all this.

Tonight, we were focusing on people in their 30s but do we all need to

do more? There was a lot of positive news coming out of that we search,

some good attitude in the wdst towards retirement. A lot of people

confident about their retirdment. But it was also, when you look at

the younger generations, thd thirtysomethings, that confhdence is

lacking. There is more work to be done there. People are worrhed that

they make their sacrifice in the old it `` younger years and then they

will get a pittance in their older years anyway. The worrying thing if

they do nothing at all is that the consequences could be even worse. It

is good that people are savhng for retirement, we looked at thd assets,

pensions and things, compardd to the national figures there is more work

to be done. How does the West compared to the rest of the country?

In the West, 70% of people we polled said they would use a company

tension to provide for their retirement. Nationally, onlx around

half the population is in a pension. There is an interesting scrhpt and

see. We also know that nationally, the savings rates going into

pensions are not enough, thd contribution rates are unlikely to

lead to good levels of penshons so that poses interesting questions

about what savings rate we `re seeing in the West. You are with us

with us for the week, what `re you looking at? We have had a btsy week,

we have been to the care holes, not to talk to the residents but the

staff who work all about john a pension. We have been talking to

them about how that has been going for them. We have been talkhng to

property experts who have bden looking at bricks and mortar as an

alternative to pensions, whhch a lot of people are interested in. And we

have been to a fire station to talk to some fire crews. If you want to

know why, you have to wait tntil Thursday! He is the perfect tease!

Thank you, Tom. Now as well as asking peopld lots of

questions in our survey abott their finances, we also wanted to find out

about attitudes towards olddr people. Here are the thoughts of

79`year`old comedian, Barry Cryer. The other thing I find when you get

older, you become invisible. There's a conversation going on and

you're the old one in the corner. I do notice that, you're invisible.

And you probably wouldn't know what they're talking about anywax, the

younger ones. In fact, 71% of people in our poll thought that elderly

people were treated with less respect than they were 40 ydars ago.

And you can share your thoughts on any of the issues raised in our

poll, on the Points West Facebook page or on Twitter, using the

hashtag #bbcolder. We'd lovd to know what you think. And a bit later

in the programme we'll be fhnding out how we can improve the puality

of our later years. Network Rail has announced details

of ?700 million of improvemdnts in the West. Over the next fivd years

the government money will ftnd 6 projects including new trains, extra

lines from Bristol Parkway hnto the city, and upgrading Bristol Temple

Meads station. It's linked to the electrification of the Great Western

rail line which is due for completion by 2017.

The West of England Local Enterprise Partnership has handed in a bid for

?500 million from the Government Growth Fund. The partnership, which

is made up of business people and councillors, unveiled its plans this

morning. They include money for superfast broadband in Bristol, an

aviation technology centre `t Filton and a scheme to harness tid`l energy

in the Severn Estuary. A decision from Westminster is expected in

July. Jenny Jones' achievement winning

Britain's first ever Olympic medal on the snow will not be marked with

a bronze postbox. South Gloucestershire Council had wanted

to celebrate Jenny's medal hn the snowboard slopestyle with a postbox

of the same colour in her n`tive Downend. But Royal Mail has turned

down the request, saying thd painting of postboxes was unique to

London 2012 when Britain was the host nation, and won't be rdpeated.

It was their worst display of the season according to the man`ger and

it's left Yeovil Town fans seriously doubting the club's ability to avoid

relegation. Saturday's 4`1 home defeat to Barnsley left the Glovers

bottom of the table and thrde points from safety. Yeovil gave aw`y 2 000

free tickets to the game, btt the fans went home disappointed.

We need a miracle now. The last few weeks we played well, we've been a

bit unlucky at times but we showed some commitment. But today, it

wasn't there. It's all catch up now, the games are running out f`st. And

I don't think we'll do it now. We'll keep our hopes up until the last

ball is, until it's mathematically impossible. It was supposed to be

the day Yeovil climbed out of the relegation zone. But it was grim

watching for the bumper crowd. Having impressed against sides at

the top of the table, Yeovil were a pale imitation. Nerves led to

mistakes which led to Barnsley goals. The home fans were stunned,

as they were on the touchline. The manager described it as thehr worst

performance of the season. Our boys didn't seem to put any part of

Yeovil's game together todax. That was like a group of lads off the

street that were just put together and thrown out there and asked them

to play. It was hugely damaging result leaving them bottom of the

table again. Charlton, the team just outside of the drop zone, h`ve three

games in hand. Crucially, Ydovil play them next Tuesday, aftdr

visiting Blackpool, another side still in danger. Two fixturds where

only a win will do. While there s still a chance, we're not going to

give up. But somehow got to drag the players out of this slumber that

they had today. Certainly, ht's mathematically possible but if we

play like that we will be bottom by a million miles. Yeovil havdn't

looked out of place in the Championship, winning many `dmirers.

But it's points not plaudits they need now to extend their st`y.

Remember, tonight's Late Kick Off will have a recap of all of the

weekend's goals. And their studio guest is Bristol City's Wadd

Elliott. That's BBC One at 01.2 pm. Bristol Rugby scored a record 8

points yesterday against bottom side Ealing to guarantee themselves a

place in the end of season play`offs. They ran in 12 tries

against the West Londoners hncluding this one from Iain Grieve from

inside his own half. Bristol remain top of the Championship with three

games of the regular season left. Now, if you heard the comedhan Barry

Cryer earlier in the progralme, you'll know he thinks that `s you

get older you become invisible. But are there are positive things about

retirement? I think this tile of life is a window of opportunity

When you're a kid, when I w`s a kid, you had to do what grown`ups

told you to. When you work xou do what your boss tells you, when

you're a little bit older, hopefully a lot older, I go in a nurshng home

and have to put my hand up to go to the toilet. Now I can do wh`t I

like. Wonderful. That was Glyn Davies, who's retired and clearly

loves it. But if you're not finding getting older wonderful, is there

anything or anybody that can help? Alice Bouverie's been taking a look.

For many years, I believe that older people have been airbrushed out of

the picture. There are about to paint themselves back in ag`in. The

biggest generation in history is retiring. And what everyone wants is

a good quality of life. The old stereotype is you put your slippers

on and sink back into the sofa and have your tea in front of the TV.

But of course it doesn't have to be like that at all. And just recently

a whole raft of new initiathves have started encouraging people to be

proactive and think about how they want to their life to look like as

they get older. The biggest decision most people will have to make is

about housing. That's where this showroom comes in. With demdntia,

recognising the time of day. Look closer at the bathrooms and bedrooms

and everything's fitted with the latest technology designed to help

people stay in their own holes longer. We've been trying to catch

people before it's too late to say, have a think about all the things

that can make a difference. A lot of people think that they will be

forced into residential homd, it's simply not the case. It's a bit like

making a will, people think, I don't want to look at that, it won't

happen to me. And if you don't want to live on your own, that c`n be

arranged too. Through a schdme called Homeshare which pairs up

people with different needs. It s just good to have somebody dlse

living in the house. Becausd I'm disabled, I wouldn't be abld to get

up. If something happened dtring the night, if there's a fire. It worked

out quite well, it's very useful for me because I didn't have anxwhere to

go at the time. And it's re`lly quite reasonable as well. And also,

just the companionship. ??WHICH The reality is that for people getting

older, isolation and loneliness is a real issue. The Bristol Olddr

People's Forum recently found out that 51% of their members lhve alone

which brings a whole range of challenges. If I wasn't with this

team, I wouldn't be doing anything at home, I don't think. But also a

whole range of solutions. Wd've got our cooking with friends cl`sses,

it's an opportunity to get dverybody together. It's so important to get

older adults out and about, give them a voice, stop them getting

isolated, empowering old adtlts to make active decisions. Link`ge is

just one organisation working in Bristol trying to make older age

better. Along with 80 others in the city it's now bidding for ?6m of

lottery money. The thing about the lottery bid is that older pdople are

at the very heart of it. Thdy have to be involved and have to be doing

things as opposed to being done to. If we get the money, I hope that

what we'll find is obviouslx, we're going to have a lot more older

people involved with a bettdr quality of life and being able to

find that they're asset to the community. The hope is that in 035

stereotypes of older people will be very different from what thdy are

now. Vibrant, celebrated for who they

are. Not condemned for what they cost.

Thought`provoking, and therd will be much more tomorrow, as well.

Villagers from Marshfield in South Gloucestershire were given ` glimpse

of royalty this weekend when William, Kate, Harry and Be`trice

turned up as wedding guests. They were at St Mary's Church to see

their friends Lucy Meade and Charlie Budgett tie the knot. By thd time

the ceremony was over more than 100 people had packed the streets to try

and spot the young royals as word spread they were there.

Then they look lovely? Another one we won't invited to! `` that we were

not invited to! We are dodging a few showers at the

moment, I have just been looking at the tops of some beefy thunderstorms

over my shoulder. Tomorrow hs going to be driver the bulk of thd day but

the issue through the morning will be Fog, as well as low cloud. Once

we clear out of the way, yot will be brighter and warmer. Further showers

return as we head into the dvening. For the time being, we have heavy

and thundery showers about, drifting their way northwards over the course

of the evening, leaving Sah`ran dust over vehicles, as this warm air drag

up from north`west Africa and Iberia. Into tomorrow, the return of

some showers into the evening. For the rest of this evening, if you

have not seen a shower, you will. Some with lightning and heavy

downpours. They will clear ` way towards the first part of the night

and then some fog. To form, as well as areas of low cloud. `` fog starts

to form. The rush`hour tomorrow will be under low visibility in places.

It will probably take a good part of the morning for all of that to clear

away with the low cloud. Improving through the afternoon, sunnx spells

becoming more widespread so it will continue until we start to see some

of the showers reappearing hnto the evening. Some could be heavx in

places, much as we have seen today. Somewhat more scattered. Cabbages

eventually up to 1517 degreds, pleasantly `` 15 ` 17 degreds,

pleasantly warm. It was nice, having enough warmer

winds, even if they have Saharan sands! Feel a 20. `` we will see you

at 10pm.