09/03/2017 BBC Wales Today

Tonight's headlines: 11 million tonnes of coal are mined at the UK's

Now the United Nations is to call for an investigation into its effect

We've got a case that is so strong, so awful, but if ever it got heard,

I think people would stand up and say for goodness' sake,

how on earth could you allow this to happen to people?

The mine's operator has accused local people

Also tonight: Two decades after she was murdered

by her husband, remains found near Newport are confirmed

Her daughter says she finally has closure.

I'm just relieved that it is her so that we can get closure,

I can finally lay her to rest, which is what she deserves.

The academy set up by former Wales football captain Craig Bellamy

Now concerns are raised following its closure.

No mention of it in yesterday's budget, but today, some hope

It's a mile a day for these children and teachers say it's

improving their health and learning.

11 million tonnes of coal being mined metres from people's homes.

Residents living alongside the Ffos-y-Fran opencast coal pit

in Merthyr Tydfil have long campaigned against it.

Now BBC Wales has learnt that a United Nations report will call

for an independent investigation into claims it may be

The mine's operator has accused those living near the mine

Our environment correspondent Steffan Messenger has

It's a dark scar, cut into the hillside,

This is Ffos-y-Fran, the size of some 400 football pitches.

Since 2007, a private company's been digging here,

Right, what you are looking at on the mountain there,

that there is the bowl of the opencast mine.

Absolutely phenomenal amount of dust.

On a fine day, you will find where the wind is blowing and oh,

it is coming over us, you know what I mean?

These photos some locals claim show how pollution from the mine has

They had been promised when the planning application went

through that modern mining methods would mean they

For more than a decade, they've held protests,

attempted legal action, and petitioned the local

council, the Welsh and Westminster governments.

I have got the posters for the public meeting.

Chris and Alison Austin claimed they've been betrayed

Nobody is interested in trying to resolve this issue.

There have been times we've been sitting here,

We've got a case that is so strong, so awful, that if ever it got heard,

I think people would stand up and say, for goodness' sake,

how on earth can you allow this to happen to people?

How can you allow this to happen to communities such as this?

But now, BBC Wales can reveal that the United Nations,

which has a role in protecting human rights worldwide, is set to make

Following an official visit to the UK, a report by its chief

legal adviser on pollution will criticise the way

local people's concerns in Merthyr Tydfil have been handled

I came across a number of pressing issues but this was definitely

I heard allegations of very high rates of childhood asthma,

cancer clusters among the community, and despite those allegations,

I didn't hear any evidence of a strong intervention

by the government to investigate, any strong reaction

There needs to be an independent and thorough investigation

of what sort of health effects may be linked to the operation

Mr Tuncak said that the case raised many concerns about the UK's

approach to eat environmental regulation, different layers

of government shirking responsibility and not enough

funding being handed down to make sure big companies

In a statement, the mine operator Miller Argent said some local

residents had been spreading fake news about pollution.

It criticised the UN special rapporteur for not visiting

the mind during his trip, accusing him of being biased

The mine, they say, is heavily regulated and has

never been prosecuted for any environmental breaches.

It also supports around 200 jobs in one of Wales' poorest areas.

Merthyr Tydfil Council criticised Mr Tuncak for not

speaking to its officials, claiming his report would be

I think the community years really frustrated and in my view,

is rightfully frustrated by the system.

We showed a video of our interview to some of the local

Finally hearing somebody who has some authority and all the years

There's a basic human rights about clean air, about no pollution,

and he's carefully analyse what needs to be done.

And I've got faith that something will happen now.

The special rapporteur's report is due to be presented to the UN's

human rights Council in Geneva in September.

The UK Government will then formally respond to his recommendations.

A surprising intervention from the UN?

Lucy, this is a very unusual story. I have been asking around today and

it is almost unheard of for the United Nations to comment on a UK

environmental issue. What is interesting is actually the

responses we have had back to this story from the different authorities

across the UK because they almost seem to underline what he has been

saying. The UK Government told us that this is a matter for the Welsh

Government two Duo. The Welsh Government said we are supporting

the local authority. It could be argued we have somehow been shifted

round the houses as it were on this today and that is the criticism from

the United Nations. They say someone somewhere needs to stand up and take

responsibility and react to the allegations. This is the most senior

adviser from the United Nations on the environment. He comes at this

from a human rights perspective. The council says he should have come to

talk to us. There will be pressure on Welsh and UK ministers to

initiate some sort of investigation or response. Already today we have

had reports from environmental charities, calling for that to

happen. Police have confirmed tonight that

a body found in a reservoir in Monmouthshire last month

is that of Sandie Bowen, Her husband, Mike Bowen, was jailed

for her murder but never revealed This is where Sandie

Bowen was found. In a now near empty

Wentwood Reservoir. Her body had been

there for two decades. Anita Giles, Sandie Bowen's

daughter, never gave up hope She is now being supported

by trained police officers. I am just relieved that it is her

so that we can get closure, I can finally lay her to rest,

which is what she deserves, Sandie Bowen went missing in 1997,

from her home in Monmouthshire. Her husband, Mike Bowen,

said he dropped her off at Newport railway station

where she was catching a train to Folkestone in Kent,

to visit her daughter. Hours earlier, he had found out

she was having an affair. Police later discovered he had also

been having an affair. Her daughter, Anita,

reported her meeting when she failed to arrive in Kent and made

an emotional appeal. I just want my mum to find me,

just to let me know she's all right. Or contact the police

station, anything, just Police carried out a huge search

of the Monmouthshire countryside, At the time, police divers probed

a then fuller Wentwood Reservoir. But there was no sign

of the 53-year-old. Eventually, police found her blood

at the home she shared A year later, he was convicted

of the murder of Sandie Bowen. He's never said what

he did with her body. Mike Bowen has recently been

released on licence. I don't think he should

have been given parole. I don't think anyone

should be given parole, I am supporting Helen's law

where the person that's convicted of murdering someone should not be

allowed parole until they've given Had mum not been found

and he hadn't been given parole, he may well still be

in prison today. After two decades, the search

for Sandie Bowen is over. Murdered by Mike Bowen, he then

dumped her body in this reservoir. He believed it would

never be discovered. Now, police are looking

into what further action 17 men have been sentenced

at Newport Crown Court, following the largest drugs

operation ever carried The men were arrested following 14

police-raids involving 300 officers They admitted a variety of offences,

including possession with intent to supply class-A drugs,

including crack cocaine and heroin. The sentences range from 16 months

to four years in prison. 12-year-old boy remains

in a critical condition after he collided with a minibus,

when he was cycling in Trefriw He was airlifted to a hospital

in Liverpool with serious injuries following the incident on Crafnant

Road. North Wales Police are

appealing for witnesses. Job losses at a newspaper site

in Newport are to be reviewed BBC Wales understands Newsquest had

been given ?245,000 in grant aid to expand a sub-editing hub

and protect jobs until 2020. But the company announced

it was closing the hub, It says improved workflow across its

papers has cut the workload. The Charity Commission has

confirmed its looking at concerns about Welsh footballer

Craig Bellamy's football academy in Sierra Leone which has

been forced to close The Craig Bellamy Foundation,

set up in 2008 offered five-year scholarships to children

as young as 11. The former Wales Captain is said

to be devastated by the news and is co-operating fully

with the authorities. Just amazed by the warmth of the

people but also their thirst for football. This is a promotional

video for the foundation when it launched back in 2010. A few years

earlier, the Wales international striker had visited the area and was

struck by their love of football. He set up an academy in a small fishing

village which offered five-year scholarships to children and created

a youth football league which at one point docking around 2500

youngsters. Interviewed at the time, he said it was one of his proudest

achievements. It gave me an opportunity to give something back

to people that needed more than anyone. It has been very rewarding

for me as a person and hopefully I can change 's lives. Craig Bellamy

came to my house and visited me. But now the foundation has closed. It

stayed open recently but despite Craig Bellamy putting in a reported

?1.4 million of its own -- his own money but it has got into financial

difficulties. In a statement, the Charity Commission have said... The

former Wales captain is now a youth coach at Cardiff city and was

unavailable for comment today. However his solicitor has told me he

is devastated by what has happened to his foundation in West Africa. A

statement released on his behalf says Mr Bellamy has recently

appointed a new legal team to investigate any irregularities in

the management of his financial affairs. It says that team will

assist all government agencies in their investigations and if

necessary, take action against those responsible for any wrongdoing.

Still to come in the programme tonight: Turning the tide

I like running because it is healthy.

With less than two months until the local elections,

there are questions tonight about who is in charge

The party's former chairman in Wales has quit, telling BBC Wales that

Our political correspondent Daniel Davies has this report.

A breakthrough in last year's assembly elections, and in June,

the moment Ukip longed for, Brexit.

Ukip leader Paul Nuttall came a disappointing second at the recent

The party's former chairman in Wales has had enough.

Chris Smart is quitting and hopes to rejoin the Conservatives.

I took his claim that Ukip is unravelling to some party big

guns, opening an office in Pontypool today.

Well, the party is certainly not unravelling.

Chris has had various frustrations with the party

organisation in Ukip, as have I.

I have got a lot of sympathy for him.

But in Wales, we are going forward and in the assembly,

we are there every day the assembly sits, making waves and I hope

changing things for the better in Welsh politics.

Mr Smart says he is disappointed by feuding at the top of Ukip.

Their only MP, Douglas Carswell, knows something about that.

He was here today, so a chance to ask...

Is there any truth to these rumours that you tried.

It is absolutely not for me to decide who gets a knighthood.

You know, people ask me if it was me who stopped Nigel

I have as much say in that as I do to say who becomes

The council elections in May will be the first Wales wide vote

Places like this, Torfaen, voted to leave.

So can Ukip harness that support and get councillors elected?

But I just think Labour is just totally lost its way completely.

With Brexit won, the question, what is Ukip for, just won't go away.

But opponents have written them off before and have come to regret it.

What are Ukip's prospects for the local elections?

Well, Chris Smart thinks they will struggle to get off the ground. He

declined our invitation to come on the programme and expand on his

views, saying, I do not want to slack of Ukip publicly, which makes

a change from some in the party who have specialised in slapping each

other off in recent times. Ukip does not have a separate structure in

Wales. We are told this weekend, they will appoint a full-time

official to coordinate their election campaign. They will be

fewer campaign candidates than the other parties. They are not geared

up to contest elections everywhere. But in communities like this, they

say they can give a good account of themselves. The Welsh Government has

been accused of vetoing the new candidate. The UK garment has

reopened the points process after its choice of candidate was rejected

by ministers in Cardiff Bay. The new board begins in April but it will be

some months before a replacement is in the post.

The fall out from yesterday's budget continues.

One project not mentioned by the Chancellor was a city

Many in the area had been expecting it to be given the thumbs up.

Well today Phillip Hammond confirmed that it could be agreed this month.

Our economics correspondent Sarah Dickins is here.

It is quite interesting because many people in Swansea involved in this

?1.3 billion deal did expect it to be announced in the budget. They

even thought that morning. We have heard talk about the northern

powerhouse for Manchester in the past and this year Chancellor Philip

Hammond did mention what he called the Midlands engine. No mention of

Swansea. Plaid Cymru 's Jonathan Edwards was unhappy and now the

Chancellor has written to him saying he thought he was overoptimistic and

expecting it but the Chancellor did say the UK Government is committed

to the plan. They hope to get it finalised by the 27th of March. And

there has been a reaction from the director-general of the CBI. Yes, he

has been in Wales today talking to businesses. She was really pleased

that the Chancellor in the budget was trying to improve the UK and

Wales' productivity and she particularly liked the fact that

what he wants to do is to give equal status to vocational training, if

you like, as academic and this is how she put it.

The Chancellor yesterday mentioned this idea of parity of esteem.

The idea that it's just as good to go down the vocational route

I do hope that the Welsh Government embraces those principles

and certainly, I think our business members, our members here,

will be hoping to work with the government here to see how

that can be not necessarily replicated.

I think Wales can do things differently but those principles

are enshrined in whatever you choose to do here.

You will have noticed she was very careful there not to tell the Welsh

Government what to do but you know, we at the moment have a situation

where there are A-levels in England and Wales and while the curricula

might be different, employers and universities understand the standard

of A-levels. These vocational training is will be called T levels

in England. The decision for Wales is whether to follow that for the

sake of ease of understanding or whether to do something different.

Football and Newport County have sacked their manager,

Graham Westley, after five months in charge.

It follows a string of poor results which have left the exiles 11 points

from safety at the bottom of the Football League.

Westley will be replaced by first-team coach Mike Flynn

Ben Davies has signed a new contract with Tottenham Hotspur. He has made

43 appearances for Spurs since leaving Swansea in 2014.

The roof at the Principality Stadium will be closed

for Wales' Six Nations clash with Ireland tomorrow night.

Alun Wyn Jones and his team have had a final run-out at the stadium.

Wales will be unchanged from the team that lost to Scotland

Ireland are more than happy to go with our decision so in fairness,

for the supporters, that will add to the occasion. It will be a fantastic

atmosphere and that is what it is all about. Teams coming to Cardiff

and wanting to play at the stadium, make it as great an occasion as

possible. It is closed, so I am really looking forward to that. We

have got to be confident in what we feel we can achieve. The last time

we were here, 65 minutes against England, if we can match that, you

know, and just build on that, and learn from that experience against

England then we are not going to be far off.

We've heard lots in recent years about obesity and a lack

Well, a growing number of schools here in Wales are hoping to turn

the tide by encouraging pupils to run or walk a mile every day.

They say it's having a big impact on the children's health

and improving their learning, as our Education Correspondent

It is two o'clock at this primary School and it is time for the daily

Mail. Everyday, all 114 children run or walk a mile around the school

playground. The Daily Mail began five years ago and the idea has

spread across the UK. -- the Daily Mile. Does running make you happy?

Yes, I like running with my best friend. Can you run very fast? Are

you going to show me? Why do you like running the Daily Mile at

school? Because it just makes you fit and healthy and it is just fun

to do. But the Daily Mile is not just about improving health and

fitness, the teachers here tell me that running or walking a mile every

day at school also improves their concentration and even their

behaviour in the classroom. And if the children's behaviour and

concentration is good, they are more likely to learn and that is good

news for everyone. Children are much more focused and definitely more

eager to work after having that time out from lessons. They are much more

engaged coming back into class. A really big difference. Most

definitely. Both of my children have got asthma. It keeps them fit and

healthy. It is brilliant for them. Exercise. And they really enjoy it.

Fabulous. Healthy. And good exercise for the children. With more and more

schools across Wales taking part, in time, the Daily Mile could be as

important a part of the school day as maths and English.

Time for the weather forecast now and Behnaz is here.

It is going to get much cloudier through tomorrow. It was a lovely

afternoon. These were the scenes. Temperatures reaching a high of 17

Celsius. The warmest day of the year so far. We will start to see the

cloud increasing tonight. The potential for some missed as well.

Initially, it will be chilly with clear skies but the cloud is pushing

up from the south-west and with that we will see some and Merck,

especially across Pembrokeshire and Ceredigion. The odd spot of rain on

the hills. Temperatures no lower than six Celsius. The winds are

light and going from a south-easterly direction. Tomorrow,

high pressure is controlling our weather. We do have this Weatherford

nearby and we will see quite a bit of cloud around but it should be a

largely dry day again. First thing tomorrow morning, poor visibility. A

lot of cloud. The odd spot of rain on the hills. Most of us getting

away with a dry day. Some limited amounts of bright weather. The best

of sunshine for Powys, Wrexham, Denbighshire and Flintshire.

Temperatures ranging between ten and 14 Celsius. It will be a bit

blustery along those coastal areas. If you are going to the rugby

tomorrow night, some good news. Temperatures around 10 Celsius.

Battlefield quite comfortable as long as you are wearing plenty of

layers. For the rest of Wales, lot of cloud around. Some mist and fog

Tembi is not dropping too much. Those are the type of temperatures

we would expect in the daytime in March. And on Saturday, yes, we will

see in that cold weather front just eating in. Bring a little bit of

rain across Bath and and. Of the bulk of the country, yet again, a

dry story. We will see quite a bit of cloud on. A little bit of rain

for Anglesey in the morning. But it will be rather grey with

temperatures getting up to around 13 Celsius. Winds are light and coming

from a westerly direction. A little bit more cloud to come, turning

cooler as we head into Sunday. BBC Wales has learned

that the United Nations is to call for an investigation into the impact

the UK's largest opencast mine, in Merthyr Tydfil, is having

on the health of local residents. Also, human remains found

in a reservoir in Monmouthshire have been confirmed as being

Sandie Bowen, who was murdered He had never said what

he did with her body. I'll have an update for you here

on BBC 1 Wales at 8 and again From all of us on the

programme, goodbye.