:00:12. > :00:22.Welcome to Wales Today. Uncertainty hangs over Ffos Las racecourse. Why
:00:22. > :00:32.
:00:32. > :00:36.is one of our newest sporting Our other headlines: A shortage of
:00:36. > :00:39.new homes, higher prices and tighter lending. Tonight, a call
:00:39. > :00:43.for action on the Welsh housing crisis.
:00:43. > :00:51.Our cameras finally enter the secret location to film cave
:00:51. > :00:57.drawings which may rewrite history. It's a shellfish showdown. I will
:00:57. > :01:01.find out how the environment agency is flexing its muscles to save the
:01:01. > :01:11.North Wales cockles. Dai Greene is the man to beat in
:01:11. > :01:16.the world Championship 400 metres hurdles.
:01:16. > :01:20.Good evening. The ferry operator Stena Line is cutting its fast
:01:20. > :01:24.service between Holyhead and Dun Laoghaire so that it only runs
:01:24. > :01:28.between April and September. The company, which currently runs it
:01:28. > :01:34.all year round, is blaming rising costs. The conventional ferries
:01:34. > :01:38.between Holyhead and Dublin will continue as normal. Our Business
:01:38. > :01:43.Correspondent is here. Why have the costs gone up? They are blaming
:01:43. > :01:47.three things. The high cost of fuel, which is hitting all of us, high
:01:47. > :01:50.maintenance costs and they are pointing to a reduction on low-
:01:50. > :01:56.level in the amount of freight traffic produces this service.
:01:56. > :02:03.There is not enough to justify the faster service being run all year
:02:03. > :02:09.round. The majority of the turnover, just under three quarters, is
:02:09. > :02:13.between April and September. In a statement, the area director of
:02:13. > :02:18.Stena Line says it has been losing money for several years, and
:02:18. > :02:23.despite efforts to reduce the operating costs, it has not been
:02:23. > :02:30.possible to return the fast route to profitability. The result of
:02:30. > :02:35.this decision is that 77 posts will be closed. Stena Line is a huge
:02:35. > :02:45.company. It applies something like 1,800 people alone on the Irish Sea.
:02:45. > :02:46.
:02:46. > :02:52.The company will be hoping to redeploy some people. The decision
:02:52. > :02:59.of sounds pretty bleak and final. Is this the end of the story?
:02:59. > :03:05.The decision has been made. The fast service will stop on September
:03:05. > :03:09.13th, and it will continue again back in 22nd April off. This is the
:03:09. > :03:15.two hour service between Holyhead and Dun Laoghaire. It has been
:03:15. > :03:21.running since 1996. At its peak, there were up to five services a
:03:21. > :03:25.day. That has been reduced to just one service a day. The two
:03:25. > :03:31.conventional ferry services between Holyhead and Dublin will continue
:03:31. > :03:35.to operate as normal. That is 52 weeks of the year. Thank you very
:03:35. > :03:43.much on that breaking news. Stena Line is cutting its fast service
:03:43. > :03:47.between Holyhead and Dun Laoghaire. Our cameras have been let in for
:03:47. > :03:55.the first time today to what is thought to be the UK's oldest
:03:55. > :03:59.example of cave art, discovered on Gower. Experts say there fake
:03:59. > :04:04.scratchings of a speared reindeer are more than 12,000 years old.
:04:04. > :04:13.Their exact location is being kept secret to protect them. Kate Morgan
:04:13. > :04:19.joins us from near the site. Good evening. This is the highest point
:04:19. > :04:25.on Dowler. We have magnificent views. This area is steeped in
:04:25. > :04:32.history. Besides me is an ancient burial mound. It is one of many
:04:32. > :04:36.historical finds here on Gower, as I discovered earlier today.
:04:36. > :04:40.Hidden away at the back of this case is one of the oldest examples
:04:40. > :04:46.of rock art in the UK. It is not the easiest to find. You may have
:04:46. > :04:51.to look twice to see it, but officials have verified it is about
:04:51. > :04:58.12,500 years old, the All Distin Wales. Archaeologist George Nash
:04:58. > :05:05.discovered it on a field trip. The faint carving is of a reindeer with
:05:05. > :05:11.antlers, ahead, body and legs. are looking at a period when it was
:05:11. > :05:18.very, very cold indeed. The Bristol Channel was not the Bristol Channel.
:05:18. > :05:24.There was a small trickle. There were rain gear, mammoth, bison
:05:24. > :05:29.roaming across the landscape. -- there were reindeer. In hot pursuit
:05:29. > :05:34.were hunter-gatherers. The team is working to find out more about the
:05:34. > :05:39.cave and the at. They are keen to protect it and that is why we will
:05:39. > :05:44.not revealed the location. Somebody had tried to damage the art when
:05:44. > :05:49.the team arrived this morning. Someone had scraped away at the
:05:49. > :05:59.surface. And I am disturbed to see this happen to such a beautiful
:05:59. > :06:05.cave such as Bass. All we can do is gate it over. I think that will be
:06:05. > :06:11.the way forward. It is not the first Asian discovery here. -- it
:06:11. > :06:16.is not the first ancient discovery here. It is an almost complete
:06:16. > :06:21.skeleton of a 21-year-old man dipped in red paint. Today is
:06:21. > :06:26.another first for the team. They using specialist 3D and laser
:06:26. > :06:30.technology to scan the entire cave to learn more about his past.
:06:30. > :06:34.George Nash plans to explore more caves in the area. He believes
:06:34. > :06:40.there are many more unearthed ancient art works waiting to be
:06:40. > :06:48.found here. George Nash is keen to continue his
:06:48. > :06:53.work that is being helped by the National Museum of Wales. He says
:06:53. > :06:58.he believes there is much more to find, and it could date back even
:06:58. > :07:05.further than 12,500 years ago. I appreciate these are early days,
:07:05. > :07:09.but what has the team learnt today? Well, today they have spent taking
:07:09. > :07:15.soil samples from the cave and scanning every inch of that case,
:07:15. > :07:19.which is 300,000 years old. They now have to piece all that
:07:19. > :07:24.information together. They are building a match on a picture of
:07:24. > :07:27.what the cake would have looked like 12,500 years ago. They can
:07:27. > :07:34.tell us that the floor of the cave would have been a metre higher than
:07:34. > :07:38.it was today. Anybody going in or out would have had to crawl. One
:07:38. > :07:42.lesson they did learn today is the need for protection at that site.
:07:42. > :07:47.When they arrived, the artwork had been vandalised and some of the
:07:47. > :07:50.surface has been scratched away. They tried to improve the damage,
:07:51. > :07:55.but it highlights the need for a gate to keep people out and prevent
:07:55. > :07:58.further damage. Kate Morgan, thank you.
:07:58. > :08:03.Around 90,000 people across Wales are on the waiting list for
:08:03. > :08:08.affordable housing. It's a crisis that's been exacerbated by high
:08:08. > :08:12.house prices and fat incomes. The social housing grant in Wales is
:08:12. > :08:19.facing a cut of 30 %, and there are fears that fewer affordable homes
:08:19. > :08:23.will be built over the coming years. Just a quarter of a mile away from
:08:23. > :08:28.the glitz of Cardiff's waterfront lies and Oldham more diverse
:08:28. > :08:31.community. Not Cardiff Bay, but Tiger Bay. Lardons quirk is its
:08:31. > :08:38.heart, but few who can afford an apartment with a balcony and sea
:08:38. > :08:44.view. -- Loudon squire is the heart of this community. In Butetown, it
:08:44. > :08:47.is the flagship example of housing association projects. Born and bred
:08:47. > :08:52.in the area, Leon Khan is part of the team building much-needed homes
:08:52. > :08:58.and community facilities. anyone else, they will say the same
:08:58. > :09:01.thing. It is much needed. It is issued redevelopment project.
:09:01. > :09:05.Campbell is a former local headmistress and councillor and she
:09:05. > :09:09.says lack of housing is breaking up families. It is very difficult for
:09:09. > :09:14.young people to find a place to live. Many of them who have family
:09:14. > :09:20.here, family going back maybe 100 years, are being told they must
:09:20. > :09:24.move on to the estate. That's a familiar story many parts of Wales,
:09:24. > :09:28.with local people not able to afford to live and work where they
:09:28. > :09:32.grow. It looks set to get worse. Figures from housing associations
:09:32. > :09:36.across Wales show the number of new affordable homes being built sell
:09:36. > :09:39.last year. Although government targets are currently be met, the
:09:39. > :09:44.economic crisis means social housing grant are facing
:09:44. > :09:50.substantial cuts. This is a great side. It is affordable housing and
:09:50. > :09:54.a good regeneration project. These are the types of schemes we have
:09:54. > :10:03.seen more of recently. We would like to see those sustained moving
:10:03. > :10:04.into the future. The big risk now is with cuts of may be 50 % over
:10:04. > :10:07.the next three years, schemes like this stop happening. With more than
:10:07. > :10:12.90,000 people across Wales on the waiting list for social housing,
:10:12. > :10:16.the situation is at crisis point. The housing satiation says the
:10:17. > :10:21.government targets for new builds adjust to their, and although they
:10:21. > :10:25.are exceeding them, it could take well over a decade to address the
:10:25. > :10:34.problem. With literally thousands of projects like this one needed in
:10:34. > :10:38.the most part of Wales. The owners of Wales's newest
:10:38. > :10:47.racecourse are warned it may have to close if the number of meetings
:10:47. > :10:51.there is cut. Ffos Las matrons around in Carmarthenshire is facing
:10:51. > :10:57.the prospect of losing almost half of its fixtures after the British
:10:57. > :11:03.Horseracing Authority decided to cut the overall number of meetings.
:11:03. > :11:07.Since it opened in 2009, a day at Ffos Las has become a must for
:11:07. > :11:11.Welsh horse racing fans. The people who run eight are warning it may
:11:11. > :11:17.have to close just a few years after it opened. They are worried
:11:18. > :11:23.about the number of meetings they will be allowed to stage next year.
:11:23. > :11:28.This year, Ffos Las's business plan relied on buying in extra fixtures.
:11:28. > :11:34.They were given 16 by the British Horseracing Authority, but
:11:34. > :11:41.supplemented they can do with 12 more. -- they supplemented their
:11:41. > :11:50.calendar with 12 more. Compare that with Chepstow, who were given 26 in
:11:50. > :11:54.2011 and only bottom three. Cows is likely to be left with much few
:11:55. > :12:00.opportunities to trade. We are saying, here we are, look what we
:12:01. > :12:04.have done for racing nationally. Look what we're doing for racing in
:12:04. > :12:14.Wales and for the West Wales economy, and let's have a serious
:12:14. > :12:17.
:12:17. > :12:25.think about this. Let's be more specific and recognise what sort of
:12:25. > :12:29.facility Ffos Las is. The owner has prompted millions of pounds to turn
:12:29. > :12:35.this into a state-of-the-art racecourse. He wants supporters of
:12:35. > :12:45.racing in West Wales to make themselves head. You cannot keep on
:12:45. > :12:47.
:12:47. > :12:50.losing money. We would not close it in January next year. We hope and
:12:50. > :12:54.pray we are going to get our fixtures. Close in the course would
:12:55. > :13:00.be a disaster for the local economy. Ffos Las has become an attraction
:13:00. > :13:10.not just for visitors, but also a provider of jobs in the area.
:13:10. > :13:17.has made such a difference to the economy of the area. To the whole
:13:17. > :13:22.West Wales area. We have visitors coming from all over. It is very
:13:22. > :13:28.important for us for jobs. British horsing authority say it
:13:28. > :13:32.has little choice. They are facing a reduction in levy funding, and
:13:32. > :13:36.say there is the decline in the number of courses available to race.
:13:36. > :13:40.Evan Williams is a leading trainer, and he is confident that Ffos Las
:13:41. > :13:45.will be able to survive, even with a reduced number of fixtures.
:13:45. > :13:51.are all very proud of Ffos Las. They have done wonders down there.
:13:52. > :13:56.We have to be realistic. The levy will be low when next year. There
:13:56. > :14:01.are going to be certain cuts that will need to be made. It will
:14:01. > :14:04.affect all racecourses. It would be better to have 16 good race
:14:04. > :14:09.meetings here rather than a lot of race meetings which perhaps are
:14:09. > :14:13.watered down as far as money is concerned. The fixtures list for
:14:13. > :14:23.2012 will be finalised at the end of next month. The owners of Ffos
:14:23. > :14:43.
:14:43. > :14:46.Las will be hoping it will be given We've had A Level, GCSE results and,
:14:46. > :14:49.as schools go back next week, the Welsh education system is perhaps
:14:49. > :14:52.under more scrutiny than ever. Tomorrow, the first of two special
:14:52. > :14:55.reports. We're in Helsinki in Finland. Changes to education there
:14:55. > :14:56.are being admired around the world, including here in Wales. With the
:14:56. > :14:59.details, our education correspondent, Ciaran Jenkins.
:14:59. > :15:03.Concern has come from the very top in Wales that our schools are not
:15:03. > :15:09.delivering for our pupils. I have come to Finland to find out what
:15:09. > :15:13.lessons we can learn from the best education system. Join me tomorrow
:15:13. > :15:15.night from 6:30pm. Still to come this evening on Wales
:15:16. > :15:19.Today: Ronan Keating tells us he's looking
:15:19. > :15:25.forward to taking his clothes off and wading into the cool waters off
:15:25. > :15:30.Holyhead. The thought of getting off a
:15:30. > :15:33.perfectly good boat into a freezing cold sea is daunting.
:15:33. > :15:36.Cockle fishermen in Flintshire have welcomed steps to remove a thousand
:15:36. > :15:40.tonnes of mussels from the Dee Estuary which could affect their
:15:40. > :15:45.livelihood. The mussels have settled on a sandbank and are
:15:45. > :15:52.smothering the cockles. Live to Matthew Richards who's down by the
:15:52. > :15:55.water. Thanks. I'm at the banks of the
:15:55. > :15:58.Menai Strait which is traditional mussel territory, but a rogue
:15:58. > :16:03.colony has settled along the coast off Flintshire and is jeopardising
:16:03. > :16:11.the cockling industry. Dredgers have been brought in to bring the
:16:11. > :16:13.invading shellfish back here. A perfect pair side by side on a
:16:13. > :16:19.seafood platter, but cockles and mussels are bad bedfellows in their
:16:19. > :16:23.natural habitat. Mussels grow in clumps which collect mud. When that
:16:23. > :16:30.surrounds a cockle bed it can smother them. And that's what's
:16:30. > :16:34.started happening off the Flintshire coast. This has always
:16:34. > :16:38.been Cockle country but a trip along the shoreline reveals
:16:38. > :16:41.evidence that a bigger species has been trying to muscle its way in.
:16:41. > :16:45.Environment Agency Wales has brought in boats to sweep a massive
:16:45. > :16:50.area known as South Salisbury. The bed is the size of 100 football
:16:50. > :16:53.pitches and has become home to more than 1,000 tonnes of mussels.
:16:53. > :16:58.couple of years ago, there were really good numbers of cockles but
:16:58. > :17:02.over the last couple of years the numbers have gone down but the
:17:02. > :17:07.number of muscles has gone up. What we are hoping to do is remove some
:17:07. > :17:12.of those to give it the cockles much more of a chance to thrive and
:17:12. > :17:16.increase. That is what the fishermen want a. They want more
:17:16. > :17:18.cockles and not so many muscles. The week-long operation will see
:17:18. > :17:21.the mussels taken to the Menai Strait where they've been
:17:22. > :17:25.established for generations. They'll then be left to mature over
:17:25. > :17:28.the next 12 to 18 months before being harvested and sold. The Dee's
:17:28. > :17:34.cockle fishermen like Andrew Rodber say they're more than happy to see
:17:34. > :17:40.the mussels move on. There is more demand for cockles and there is
:17:40. > :17:44.more money involved. We can either let nature take its course and see
:17:44. > :17:49.what happens or do something about it. It is a worry. The last thing
:17:49. > :17:52.we want is to smother all the cockles and kill them because it is
:17:52. > :17:55.our livelihood. 50 fishing licences are issued for the Dee's cockle
:17:55. > :17:56.beds every year and regulation is essential to maintain the
:17:56. > :18:00.population. This unusual intervention will also boost
:18:00. > :18:09.numbers as well as increase the mussel harvest on the other side of
:18:09. > :18:15.the North Wales coast. In the last hour, those boats have
:18:15. > :18:19.deposited the cockles. They are just heading off into the distance
:18:19. > :18:27.now. Let's find out a little bit more about the science involved.
:18:27. > :18:33.Professor Chris Richardson is a lecturer at Bangor University. Why
:18:33. > :18:37.are they such bad partners? Cockles live in sand and muscles live on
:18:37. > :18:43.rocky shores. The cockles are providing habitat on which the
:18:43. > :18:48.muscles will settle. The larvae come in and they settle on the
:18:49. > :18:54.surface of the cockles and they will overcrowd them, they will
:18:54. > :18:59.suffocate them, and they will all join together and aggregate using
:18:59. > :19:04.threads. These have got threads to which they attach and they ensnare
:19:04. > :19:10.the Cockle so it is living underneath, being pushed it down.
:19:10. > :19:16.That is one of the problems cockles face. But if this has always been a
:19:16. > :19:22.place for cockles and mussels, why have we got muscles over there?
:19:22. > :19:28.Generally, the tide comes in and brings with it Lavi. They find this
:19:28. > :19:32.ideal habitat for them to settle on. They settle, they to make their,
:19:32. > :19:41.and after a number of years, they will push down. They are competing
:19:41. > :19:50.for food. In doing so, they also produce material as a product of a
:19:50. > :20:00.feeding. Dafydd Hewitt around the cockles and they become smothered.
:20:00. > :20:07.
:20:07. > :20:09.-- they ate too much weight around the cockles. Thank you very much.
:20:09. > :20:12.At the World Athletics Championships, Dai Greene qualified
:20:12. > :20:15.second fastest for the final of the 400 metres hurdles, reflecting his
:20:15. > :20:21.genuine chance of taking gold in Thursday's final. The Swansea
:20:21. > :20:24.Harrier won his semi-final in Daegu, as Sachin Krishnan reports.
:20:24. > :20:28.As you would expect in a World Championship semi-final, Dai Greene
:20:28. > :20:31.was facing some formidable opposition in Daegu. Among the
:20:31. > :20:33.seven other athletes in the blocks was the defending champion Kerron
:20:33. > :20:40.Clements from the United States and the former Olympic Champion Felix
:20:40. > :20:42.Sanchez. But such is the progress Greene has made over the last few
:20:42. > :20:52.years he would have been disappointed not to have finished
:20:52. > :20:55.
:20:55. > :20:58.in the top two to guarantee his After making a good start, Greene,
:20:58. > :21:08.from Llanelli, kept his form in the home straight and even had the
:21:08. > :21:13.luxury of easing down to lead the His time of 48.62 seconds was the
:21:13. > :21:20.second quickest of all the qualifiers for Thursday's final.
:21:20. > :21:23.Elsewhere, Brett Morse from Cardiff came 12th in the discuss final.
:21:23. > :21:27.The Wales Football squad has got together ahead of a double-header
:21:27. > :21:30.of Euro 2012 qualifiers. Gary Speed's side are bottom of Group 6
:21:30. > :21:33.having lost their opening four matches of the campaign. They
:21:33. > :21:43.entertain Montenegro on Friday before facing England at Wembley
:21:43. > :21:44.
:21:44. > :21:46.next week. We are in a little bit of a
:21:46. > :21:50.development period where we are trying to play a little bit
:21:50. > :21:53.different and learn how the management team wants to play. Bala
:21:53. > :21:56.take a little bit of time but we want to start getting results and
:21:56. > :22:03.get confidence going as quick as possible going into the next
:22:03. > :22:06.campaign. Wales' unbeaten world light-
:22:06. > :22:07.heavyweight champion Nathan Cleverley will defend his WBO title
:22:08. > :22:14.against unbeaten British and Commonwealth champion Tony Bellow
:22:14. > :22:17.in October. The pair had been scheduled to meet in May but Bellow
:22:17. > :22:20.failed to make the weight. Promoter Frank Warren says he hopes the
:22:20. > :22:22.winner of the fight in Liverpool will go to meet veteran American
:22:22. > :22:28.Bernard Hopkins. Now, they say they've been training
:22:28. > :22:31.and the cold is their greatest fear. This evening a team of celebrities
:22:31. > :22:34.will set off from Holyhead to swim to Ireland. The group includes the
:22:34. > :22:37.singers Ronan Keating, Jenny Frost and the Strictly Come Dancing star
:22:37. > :22:41.Pamela Stephenson. The goal of the 50-mile adventure is to raise �1
:22:41. > :22:45.million for charity. Here's Roger Pinney.
:22:45. > :22:49.Ireland's that way. The celebrity swimmers lining up in Holyhead this
:22:49. > :22:53.afternoon. And there were plenty there to lend their support.
:22:53. > :22:56.They'll need it by all accounts. The Boyzone star Ronan Keating
:22:56. > :22:59.admits to not being much of a swimmer. Pamela Stephenson says
:22:59. > :23:07.fitness isn't a problem, it's weather and wildlife she's worried
:23:07. > :23:12.about. The cold and also the jellyfish, which is the nastiest
:23:13. > :23:22.jelly fish in the world, almost. I would not like one of those to
:23:22. > :23:29.stingy on the mouth or across the face. Dolphins, giant turtles.
:23:29. > :23:34.sharks. I love a shark, as long as they don't mistake me for food.
:23:34. > :23:40.you looking forward to it? Not one bit. The camaraderie has been great
:23:40. > :23:45.but when they get down to it, it will be ridiculous. The thought of
:23:45. > :23:50.getting off a perfectly good boat into a freezing cold sea and you
:23:50. > :23:54.can't see and the other way is daunting. There are, of course,
:23:54. > :23:58.easier ways to get to Ireland. And there to wave them off tonight will
:23:58. > :24:02.be Catherine Roberts. She's battled against cancer for ten years. The
:24:02. > :24:09.million pounds the swimmers hope to raise will help pay for research
:24:09. > :24:13.into the illness. It is a fantastic. Raising a million pounds, that is
:24:13. > :24:18.going into research as well. Hopefully, in time to come, they
:24:18. > :24:22.will find a cure. So it's all ready now for the off. Ahead of them more
:24:22. > :24:32.than 50 miles of sea. Swimming in relays they hope to arrive in
:24:32. > :24:42.Ireland in 30 to 40 hours. Quite a challenge.
:24:42. > :24:42.
:24:42. > :24:47.Some parts of the country have fared better than others but this
:24:47. > :24:51.summer has been very mixed if not disappointing. Some of you will say,
:24:51. > :24:57.what summer? According to the met Office, it has been the coolest
:24:57. > :25:02.summer in the UK for 18 years. As far as August goes, it has been
:25:02. > :25:07.cooler and duller than average with a lack of sunshine, but it has been
:25:07. > :25:12.drier than normal. 80 mm of rain is just over three inches and that is
:25:12. > :25:16.below the average. It looks like September is going to get off to a
:25:16. > :25:20.try and settle start. I can't promise much in the way of sunshine
:25:21. > :25:26.but it should become a little warmer. It is dry and cloudy for
:25:26. > :25:31.most of us tonight. Temperatures falling as low as nine degrees
:25:31. > :25:37.Celsius. Tomorrow's chart shows high pressure on our doorstep which
:25:37. > :25:42.means quiet and settled weather. This low pressure is the remains of
:25:42. > :25:48.Hurricane Irene. This is the picture for 8pm in the morning. The
:25:48. > :25:54.odd spot of light rain or drizzle here and there. No guarantees, but
:25:54. > :25:58.parts of Carmarthen Show may well be brighter with some sunshine.
:25:58. > :26:03.Temperatures starting off at 13 degrees Celsius in Cardigan. As we
:26:03. > :26:08.go through the day, not much changed. It is a try and cloudy
:26:08. > :26:15.story. If you are lucky, the sun will break through. Temperatures
:26:15. > :26:23.not great, but a little bit higher than today's. The wind will
:26:23. > :26:33.continue like. Mostly dry in Conwy tomorrow. Perhaps a little bit of
:26:33. > :26:35.
:26:35. > :26:39.sunshine breaking through. Some tide times. The outlook for the
:26:39. > :26:43.next few days, plenty more dry weather on offer, a few bright
:26:43. > :26:46.spells, some sunshine breaking through and becoming warmer
:26:46. > :26:51.although it may turn more and settled over the weekend. Our
:26:51. > :27:00.picture is from finesse a Jones. A rainbow taken from her garden in
:27:00. > :27:10.Denbighshire. Enjoy the settled weather over the next few days. Get
:27:10. > :27:12.
:27:12. > :27:17.Tonight's main headlines from the BBC. Libya's rebel leaders have
:27:17. > :27:26.issued an ultimatum to supporters of Colonel Gaddafi. Surrender by
:27:26. > :27:31.Saturday or face an all-out assault. Many of the troops have been trying