18/04/2013 Look East - West

Good evening. In the programme tonight, four men from Luton are

jailed for a total of more than 30 years after talking about blowing

up this Territorial Army base. The price of bread -- bed blocking.

This is not about throwing people out of hospital before they are

ready. Nobody will leave hospital until they are absolutely ready to

go. Say no to new travellers sites. Campaigners gather to make their

voices heard. And the Essex man whose record is not broken by

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 604 seconds

Four men have been jailed for a Hello. First tonight, protesters

have turned out for a meeting in central Bedfordshire to voice their

anger over plans for seven new travellers' sites in the area.

Proposals for the sites will go before full council tonight for

approval but campaigners argue the locations have not been properly

assessed. Anna Todd is outside the meeting now.

Yes, as you can see, there are still a large handful of

enthusiastic young protesters. But most people have now gone into the

council chamber behind me for yet another meeting in this lengthy and

controversial process of finding new travellers' sites for

Bedfordshire. They are now seven sites on the shortlist, that has

been whittled down from 150 a couple of months ago. Earlier, I

spoke to one campaigner who lives near a proposed site. Obviously, we

have used on travellers and how they react with the local community

but if it is in the right place with the right family, why not have

a traveller in your community? But this is the wrong side, wrong

village, wrong place. What is the - - what has the council had to say

about this? It does have an obligation to provide sites.

council received more than 3,000 representations ahead of a meeting

in February. Tonight 22 people, members of the public, will speak

at the meeting for three minutes each. It will be quite a long

evening. The council does have a statutory obligation. They have to

provide 66 pitches for travellers in the next 10 years. And up to 180

by 2031. The fact is, in central Bedfordshire, we have a large gypsy

and traveller population. Than been the vast majority, there are no

problems. But there is a public perception that there might be.

the shortlist is given a Yes vote tonight, that will call to public

consultation in May. The Dalai Lama will pay his third visit to

Cambridge in 40 years. The Tibetan spiritual leader hasn't been to the

city since 1993. He'll give a talk at St John's College. Students

wrote to him asking him to come to the university.

It's just two weeks to go until the local elections. In

Northamptonshire the big election issue is of course, the cuts. The

Conservative run county council has started a four year programme to

slash �170 million from its budgets. Currently the Conservatives hold 54

seats, the Lib Dems are in second place with 10 and Labour have just

six. But with the number of seats being slashed by 16, how will the

council chamber look after May the second? Stuart Ratcliffe reports.

Northamptonshire is a county of contrast, rolling countryside of

food -- dotted with large centres of population. Traditional

industries co-existing alongside motorsport and high-tech

Engineering. Like all councils, it has had to make cuts. Street lights

have been switched off and lollipop patrols axed and it is these issues

which Labour feel will deliver results. People are fed up with

this happening in Northamptonshire. If we cannot make gains and take

control now, then I don't think we can ever. The Liberal-Democrats

also feel that the axe has cut too deeply but they also feel under the

stewardship of the Conservatives, standards in the county's children

services have dropped to an acceptable levels. We have had

disastrous reports. The report into how they look after young children.

We have been warning for years that these were cut too far. And here we

are, we have the county council inadequate in all four categories.

That is disgraceful. But the Conservatives say overall they have

a record to be proud of. The county was recently voted the most

enterprising in England. And despite having to make cuts, they

say they have done all they can to limit the impact. As a result of

that, we have had for eight years the lowest council tax in England.

We have not increased the county council tax for the last four years

at all. Although certain -- sort of things weigh on people thinking

about their own livelihood and their own housekeeping. But this

year's elections will be very different because of boundary

changes, the number and it -- the number of councils Elek --

councillors elected will be reduced. Predicting the outcome will be

harder than ever. To some extent, these changes are dictating the way

the parties are fighting these elections. Labour will be targeting

Northampton, Kettering and Corby. In the rural areas, both the

Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats will be working hard to

maintain support as well as in some urban strongholds. But the real

challenge to all three parties is managing the potential impact of

the UK Independence Party. Voter apathy could also throw up some

surprising results. For more information on the local elections

and a full list of the candidates in your area: And a reminder that

this week's Sunday Politics featuring the leader of the Green

Party will be on at the later time of 2pm on BBC1.

Retail expert Mary Portas chose it as one of 12 towns to take part in

her high street revolution. Now almost a year on more money is

being ploughed into regenerating Bedford's High Street. The �3

million investment by the council, lottery and local firms aims to

boost local business. Hidden behind scaffolding, this building dates

back to around 1,800. It used to be almshouses known as Duke's role.

Today the shopfront is damaged and in need of repair but it is being

restored with the help of an old photograph. When it is finished, it

will be very good. It will enhance the High Street as well. It will

bring in more customers. It will be better for the tenants. Upstairs,

the vacant first floor is also being transformed into a flat. It

is part of a �3 million heritage initiative funded jointly by the

council, the lottery and local businesses. That is good because

the town is dying. We do have retail parks. I think that has

taken away business. I suppose anything that can help with the

town is good. There are a lot more things they could be doing far

better than that, like something to draw tourists in. Not just make the

place look pretty. Recently, Bedford was picked as one of 12

pilot errors in the Mary Portas project, a scheme to boost high

street trade. Shopkeepers are now lose -- using the internet to boost

sales. But so far, only �13,000 has been spent. It is important it has

been allocated correctly. We need the shopkeepers to undergo

retraining. That -- -- that has to be at a suitable time for them.

These things take longer than we want but I am pleased it has

started. A further nine properties will be refurbished. A spelling

mistake on a war memorial in Cambridgeshire is finally going to

be corrected, more than 90 years after it was made. When the

memorial was put up in the village of Shepreth, the name of George