30/08/2011 BBC Wales Today

Welcome to Wales Today. Uncertainty hangs over Ffos Las racecourse. Why

is one of our newest sporting Our other headlines: A shortage of

new homes, higher prices and tighter lending. Tonight, a call

for action on the Welsh housing crisis.

Our cameras finally enter the secret location to film cave

drawings which may rewrite history. It's a shellfish showdown. I will

find out how the environment agency is flexing its muscles to save the

North Wales cockles. Dai Greene is the man to beat in

the world Championship 400 metres hurdles.

Good evening. The ferry operator Stena Line is cutting its fast

service between Holyhead and Dun Laoghaire so that it only runs

between April and September. The company, which currently runs it

all year round, is blaming rising costs. The conventional ferries

between Holyhead and Dublin will continue as normal. Our Business

Correspondent is here. Why have the costs gone up? They are blaming

three things. The high cost of fuel, which is hitting all of us, high

maintenance costs and they are pointing to a reduction on low-

level in the amount of freight traffic produces this service.

There is not enough to justify the faster service being run all year

round. The majority of the turnover, just under three quarters, is

between April and September. In a statement, the area director of

Stena Line says it has been losing money for several years, and

despite efforts to reduce the operating costs, it has not been

possible to return the fast route to profitability. The result of

this decision is that 77 posts will be closed. Stena Line is a huge

company. It applies something like 1,800 people alone on the Irish Sea.

The company will be hoping to redeploy some people. The decision

of sounds pretty bleak and final. Is this the end of the story?

The decision has been made. The fast service will stop on September

13th, and it will continue again back in 22nd April off. This is the

two hour service between Holyhead and Dun Laoghaire. It has been

running since 1996. At its peak, there were up to five services a

day. That has been reduced to just one service a day. The two

conventional ferry services between Holyhead and Dublin will continue

to operate as normal. That is 52 weeks of the year. Thank you very

much on that breaking news. Stena Line is cutting its fast service

between Holyhead and Dun Laoghaire. Our cameras have been let in for

the first time today to what is thought to be the UK's oldest

example of cave art, discovered on Gower. Experts say there fake

scratchings of a speared reindeer are more than 12,000 years old.

Their exact location is being kept secret to protect them. Kate Morgan

joins us from near the site. Good evening. This is the highest point

on Dowler. We have magnificent views. This area is steeped in

history. Besides me is an ancient burial mound. It is one of many

historical finds here on Gower, as I discovered earlier today.

Hidden away at the back of this case is one of the oldest examples

of rock art in the UK. It is not the easiest to find. You may have

to look twice to see it, but officials have verified it is about

12,500 years old, the All Distin Wales. Archaeologist George Nash

discovered it on a field trip. The faint carving is of a reindeer with

antlers, ahead, body and legs. are looking at a period when it was

very, very cold indeed. The Bristol Channel was not the Bristol Channel.

There was a small trickle. There were rain gear, mammoth, bison

roaming across the landscape. -- there were reindeer. In hot pursuit

were hunter-gatherers. The team is working to find out more about the

cave and the at. They are keen to protect it and that is why we will

not revealed the location. Somebody had tried to damage the art when

the team arrived this morning. Someone had scraped away at the

surface. And I am disturbed to see this happen to such a beautiful

cave such as Bass. All we can do is gate it over. I think that will be

the way forward. It is not the first Asian discovery here. -- it

is not the first ancient discovery here. It is an almost complete

skeleton of a 21-year-old man dipped in red paint. Today is

another first for the team. They using specialist 3D and laser

technology to scan the entire cave to learn more about his past.

George Nash plans to explore more caves in the area. He believes

there are many more unearthed ancient art works waiting to be

found here. George Nash is keen to continue his

work that is being helped by the National Museum of Wales. He says

he believes there is much more to find, and it could date back even

further than 12,500 years ago. I appreciate these are early days,

but what has the team learnt today? Well, today they have spent taking

soil samples from the cave and scanning every inch of that case,

which is 300,000 years old. They now have to piece all that

information together. They are building a match on a picture of

what the cake would have looked like 12,500 years ago. They can

tell us that the floor of the cave would have been a metre higher than

it was today. Anybody going in or out would have had to crawl. One

lesson they did learn today is the need for protection at that site.

When they arrived, the artwork had been vandalised and some of the

surface has been scratched away. They tried to improve the damage,

but it highlights the need for a gate to keep people out and prevent

further damage. Kate Morgan, thank you.

Around 90,000 people across Wales are on the waiting list for

affordable housing. It's a crisis that's been exacerbated by high

house prices and fat incomes. The social housing grant in Wales is

facing a cut of 30 %, and there are fears that fewer affordable homes

will be built over the coming years. Just a quarter of a mile away from

the glitz of Cardiff's waterfront lies and Oldham more diverse

community. Not Cardiff Bay, but Tiger Bay. Lardons quirk is its

heart, but few who can afford an apartment with a balcony and sea

view. -- Loudon squire is the heart of this community. In Butetown, it

is the flagship example of housing association projects. Born and bred

in the area, Leon Khan is part of the team building much-needed homes

and community facilities. anyone else, they will say the same

thing. It is much needed. It is issued redevelopment project.

Campbell is a former local headmistress and councillor and she

says lack of housing is breaking up families. It is very difficult for

young people to find a place to live. Many of them who have family

here, family going back maybe 100 years, are being told they must

move on to the estate. That's a familiar story many parts of Wales,

with local people not able to afford to live and work where they

grow. It looks set to get worse. Figures from housing associations

across Wales show the number of new affordable homes being built sell

last year. Although government targets are currently be met, the

economic crisis means social housing grant are facing

substantial cuts. This is a great side. It is affordable housing and

a good regeneration project. These are the types of schemes we have

seen more of recently. We would like to see those sustained moving

into the future. The big risk now is with cuts of may be 50 % over

the next three years, schemes like this stop happening. With more than

90,000 people across Wales on the waiting list for social housing,

the situation is at crisis point. The housing satiation says the

government targets for new builds adjust to their, and although they

are exceeding them, it could take well over a decade to address the

problem. With literally thousands of projects like this one needed in

the most part of Wales. The owners of Wales's newest

racecourse are warned it may have to close if the number of meetings

there is cut. Ffos Las matrons around in Carmarthenshire is facing

the prospect of losing almost half of its fixtures after the British

Horseracing Authority decided to cut the overall number of meetings.

Since it opened in 2009, a day at Ffos Las has become a must for

Welsh horse racing fans. The people who run eight are warning it may

have to close just a few years after it opened. They are worried

about the number of meetings they will be allowed to stage next year.

This year, Ffos Las's business plan relied on buying in extra fixtures.

They were given 16 by the British Horseracing Authority, but

supplemented they can do with 12 more. -- they supplemented their

calendar with 12 more. Compare that with Chepstow, who were given 26 in

2011 and only bottom three. Cows is likely to be left with much few

opportunities to trade. We are saying, here we are, look what we

have done for racing nationally. Look what we're doing for racing in

Wales and for the West Wales economy, and let's have a serious

think about this. Let's be more specific and recognise what sort of

facility Ffos Las is. The owner has prompted millions of pounds to turn

this into a state-of-the-art racecourse. He wants supporters of

racing in West Wales to make themselves head. You cannot keep on

losing money. We would not close it in January next year. We hope and

pray we are going to get our fixtures. Close in the course would

be a disaster for the local economy. Ffos Las has become an attraction

not just for visitors, but also a provider of jobs in the area.

has made such a difference to the economy of the area. To the whole

West Wales area. We have visitors coming from all over. It is very

important for us for jobs. British horsing authority say it

has little choice. They are facing a reduction in levy funding, and

say there is the decline in the number of courses available to race.

Evan Williams is a leading trainer, and he is confident that Ffos Las

will be able to survive, even with a reduced number of fixtures.

are all very proud of Ffos Las. They have done wonders down there.

We have to be realistic. The levy will be low when next year. There

are going to be certain cuts that will need to be made. It will

affect all racecourses. It would be better to have 16 good race

meetings here rather than a lot of race meetings which perhaps are

watered down as far as money is concerned. The fixtures list for

2012 will be finalised at the end of next month. The owners of Ffos

Las will be hoping it will be given We've had A Level, GCSE results and,

as schools go back next week, the Welsh education system is perhaps

under more scrutiny than ever. Tomorrow, the first of two special

reports. We're in Helsinki in Finland. Changes to education there

are being admired around the world, including here in Wales. With the

details, our education correspondent, Ciaran Jenkins.

Concern has come from the very top in Wales that our schools are not

delivering for our pupils. I have come to Finland to find out what

lessons we can learn from the best education system. Join me tomorrow

night from 6:30pm. Still to come this evening on Wales

Today: Ronan Keating tells us he's looking

forward to taking his clothes off and wading into the cool waters off

Holyhead. The thought of getting off a

perfectly good boat into a freezing cold sea is daunting.

Cockle fishermen in Flintshire have welcomed steps to remove a thousand

tonnes of mussels from the Dee Estuary which could affect their

livelihood. The mussels have settled on a sandbank and are

smothering the cockles. Live to Matthew Richards who's down by the

water. Thanks. I'm at the banks of the

Menai Strait which is traditional mussel territory, but a rogue

colony has settled along the coast off Flintshire and is jeopardising

the cockling industry. Dredgers have been brought in to bring the

invading shellfish back here. A perfect pair side by side on a

seafood platter, but cockles and mussels are bad bedfellows in their

natural habitat. Mussels grow in clumps which collect mud. When that

surrounds a cockle bed it can smother them. And that's what's

started happening off the Flintshire coast. This has always

been Cockle country but a trip along the shoreline reveals

evidence that a bigger species has been trying to muscle its way in.

Environment Agency Wales has brought in boats to sweep a massive

area known as South Salisbury. The bed is the size of 100 football

pitches and has become home to more than 1,000 tonnes of mussels.

couple of years ago, there were really good numbers of cockles but

over the last couple of years the numbers have gone down but the

number of muscles has gone up. What we are hoping to do is remove some

of those to give it the cockles much more of a chance to thrive and

increase. That is what the fishermen want a. They want more

cockles and not so many muscles. The week-long operation will see

the mussels taken to the Menai Strait where they've been

established for generations. They'll then be left to mature over

the next 12 to 18 months before being harvested and sold. The Dee's

cockle fishermen like Andrew Rodber say they're more than happy to see

the mussels move on. There is more demand for cockles and there is

more money involved. We can either let nature take its course and see

what happens or do something about it. It is a worry. The last thing

we want is to smother all the cockles and kill them because it is

our livelihood. 50 fishing licences are issued for the Dee's cockle

beds every year and regulation is essential to maintain the

population. This unusual intervention will also boost

numbers as well as increase the mussel harvest on the other side of

the North Wales coast. In the last hour, those boats have

deposited the cockles. They are just heading off into the distance

now. Let's find out a little bit more about the science involved.

Professor Chris Richardson is a lecturer at Bangor University. Why

are they such bad partners? Cockles live in sand and muscles live on

rocky shores. The cockles are providing habitat on which the

muscles will settle. The larvae come in and they settle on the

surface of the cockles and they will overcrowd them, they will

suffocate them, and they will all join together and aggregate using

threads. These have got threads to which they attach and they ensnare

the Cockle so it is living underneath, being pushed it down.

That is one of the problems cockles face. But if this has always been a

place for cockles and mussels, why have we got muscles over there?

Generally, the tide comes in and brings with it Lavi. They find this

ideal habitat for them to settle on. They settle, they to make their,

and after a number of years, they will push down. They are competing

for food. In doing so, they also produce material as a product of a

feeding. Dafydd Hewitt around the cockles and they become smothered.

-- they ate too much weight around the cockles. Thank you very much.

At the World Athletics Championships, Dai Greene qualified

second fastest for the final of the 400 metres hurdles, reflecting his

genuine chance of taking gold in Thursday's final. The Swansea

Harrier won his semi-final in Daegu, as Sachin Krishnan reports.

As you would expect in a World Championship semi-final, Dai Greene

was facing some formidable opposition in Daegu. Among the

seven other athletes in the blocks was the defending champion Kerron

Clements from the United States and the former Olympic Champion Felix

Sanchez. But such is the progress Greene has made over the last few

years he would have been disappointed not to have finished

in the top two to guarantee his After making a good start, Greene,

from Llanelli, kept his form in the home straight and even had the

luxury of easing down to lead the His time of 48.62 seconds was the

second quickest of all the qualifiers for Thursday's final.

Elsewhere, Brett Morse from Cardiff came 12th in the discuss final.

The Wales Football squad has got together ahead of a double-header

of Euro 2012 qualifiers. Gary Speed's side are bottom of Group 6

having lost their opening four matches of the campaign. They

entertain Montenegro on Friday before facing England at Wembley

next week. We are in a little bit of a

development period where we are trying to play a little bit

different and learn how the management team wants to play. Bala

take a little bit of time but we want to start getting results and

get confidence going as quick as possible going into the next

campaign. Wales' unbeaten world light-

heavyweight champion Nathan Cleverley will defend his WBO title

against unbeaten British and Commonwealth champion Tony Bellow

in October. The pair had been scheduled to meet in May but Bellow

failed to make the weight. Promoter Frank Warren says he hopes the

winner of the fight in Liverpool will go to meet veteran American

Bernard Hopkins. Now, they say they've been training

and the cold is their greatest fear. This evening a team of celebrities

will set off from Holyhead to swim to Ireland. The group includes the

singers Ronan Keating, Jenny Frost and the Strictly Come Dancing star

Pamela Stephenson. The goal of the 50-mile adventure is to raise �1

million for charity. Here's Roger Pinney.

Ireland's that way. The celebrity swimmers lining up in Holyhead this

afternoon. And there were plenty there to lend their support.

They'll need it by all accounts. The Boyzone star Ronan Keating

admits to not being much of a swimmer. Pamela Stephenson says

fitness isn't a problem, it's weather and wildlife she's worried

about. The cold and also the jellyfish, which is the nastiest

jelly fish in the world, almost. I would not like one of those to

stingy on the mouth or across the face. Dolphins, giant turtles.

sharks. I love a shark, as long as they don't mistake me for food.

you looking forward to it? Not one bit. The camaraderie has been great

but when they get down to it, it will be ridiculous. The thought of

getting off a perfectly good boat into a freezing cold sea and you

can't see and the other way is daunting. There are, of course,

easier ways to get to Ireland. And there to wave them off tonight will

be Catherine Roberts. She's battled against cancer for ten years. The

million pounds the swimmers hope to raise will help pay for research

into the illness. It is a fantastic. Raising a million pounds, that is

going into research as well. Hopefully, in time to come, they

will find a cure. So it's all ready now for the off. Ahead of them more

than 50 miles of sea. Swimming in relays they hope to arrive in

Ireland in 30 to 40 hours. Quite a challenge.

Some parts of the country have fared better than others but this

summer has been very mixed if not disappointing. Some of you will say,

what summer? According to the met Office, it has been the coolest

summer in the UK for 18 years. As far as August goes, it has been

cooler and duller than average with a lack of sunshine, but it has been

drier than normal. 80 mm of rain is just over three inches and that is

below the average. It looks like September is going to get off to a

try and settle start. I can't promise much in the way of sunshine

but it should become a little warmer. It is dry and cloudy for

most of us tonight. Temperatures falling as low as nine degrees

Celsius. Tomorrow's chart shows high pressure on our doorstep which

means quiet and settled weather. This low pressure is the remains of

Hurricane Irene. This is the picture for 8pm in the morning. The

odd spot of light rain or drizzle here and there. No guarantees, but

parts of Carmarthen Show may well be brighter with some sunshine.

Temperatures starting off at 13 degrees Celsius in Cardigan. As we

go through the day, not much changed. It is a try and cloudy

story. If you are lucky, the sun will break through. Temperatures

not great, but a little bit higher than today's. The wind will

continue like. Mostly dry in Conwy tomorrow. Perhaps a little bit of

sunshine breaking through. Some tide times. The outlook for the

next few days, plenty more dry weather on offer, a few bright

spells, some sunshine breaking through and becoming warmer

although it may turn more and settled over the weekend. Our

picture is from finesse a Jones. A rainbow taken from her garden in

Denbighshire. Enjoy the settled weather over the next few days. Get

Tonight's main headlines from the BBC. Libya's rebel leaders have

issued an ultimatum to supporters of Colonel Gaddafi. Surrender by

Saturday or face an all-out assault. Many of the troops have been trying