28/10/2013 Midlands Today

power cuts to thousands of homes. Now we can join the

Hello and welcome to Midlands Today. The headlines tonight: Turning waste

into power ` a new ?16 million research centre converting rubbish

to energy opens in Birmingham. It is a great opportunity to `` for the

West Midlands. We'll be asking an energy expert

whether this form of power could help to bring our bills down.

Also tonight, tracking the cycle snatchers ` how organised gangs and

opportunist thieves are fuelling a huge rise in bike thefts.

From the Big Apple to the Bullring ` why Birmingham is ranked a top

destination for American visitors. On the up ` after starting the

season on minus ten, Coventry City have taken 13 points from five

games. The challenges lie ahead. As long as I keep getting that level of

commitment from the players, I have no complaints at all.

And thankfully for us, the storms missed most of our region on this

occasion. Is that it for this week or is there more to come? I'll have

a full forecast for you later. Good evening. Radical new ways to

turn rubbish into power are at the heart of a new research centre which

opened today. Scientists at the ?16 million centre at Aston University

say they can turn almost any waste into fuel to generate electricity.

Every year we create 177 million tonnes of waste in England and

around 60% of that goes into landfill. So, could this pioneering

work eventually lead to savings on our energy bills? Our science

correspondent David Gregory`Kumar has the story.

We already burn some of our rubbish to produce energy. This is the

Tysley incinerator in Birmingham. But at this new lab at Aston

University, they're pushing things a stage further, burning waste and

rubbish at very high temperatures and turning them into an oil. And

the researchers say turning waste into this oil has big power

generating potential. Birmingham has more than 1 million inhabitants and

they are producing all of the material we require as residue from

anaerobic digestive and foot waste from for example markets. And this

new ?16 million lab is powered by the oil produced by this process.

The big advantage is that if you have got a waste product you think

you might be useful to generate energy, you can test it in the lab

and then if it works out you can bring it here and tested on a

full`size scale. But it works on a small scale too. In India, farmers

burn straw to get rid of it. A team from the new lab have spent the past

two months showing straw can be turned into fuel. Enough to power a

village. And back home, all this provides opportunities for Midlands

manufacturers. You look at the technology we have developed, there

are lots of components within it and more everyday components, expansion

bellows, compression joints. There is a great opportunity for

manufacturers to come along and see if they can supply equipment for the

bioenergy sector. Creating fuel from all sorts of waste is about to break

out of the lab and start generating jobs and power.

And David's here now. So, the big question ` would this actually

result in lower energy bills? I think for you and me household

energy bills, not just yet. The people watching me with interest

might be for example a cider maker in Herefordshire. This would be

another way for them to extract more energy from what is to them a waste

product. Any big company with a lot of waste generated would be very

interested in this idea. In your report, you mentioned that

it could create jobs. How? It has helped to safeguard jobs. The

defence contractor looking to diversify in this area were working

with the team at the lab at the University. They have helped them

come up with ways to build the new plants and it has safeguarded the

future of the firm. If you have the ?16 million nucleus in the

Midlands, the hope is that companies will grow around it.

In the past, there have been plans to build waste incinerators in the

Midlands which have been strongly opposed by people living near them.

How would this bio`energy plant get around that kind of opposition? That

is a fair point. The big incinerator at Birmingham, it is on the edge of

town. This would be at the centre of Birmingham next to a very nice pub.

They are confident the process does not generate the kind of problems

you get with large`scale incinerators. Putting it right in

the centre of campus is a vote of confidence in that idea. Interesting

stuff. Thank you. Plenty more to come tonight,

including claims a failure to go ahead with HS2 could lead to 14

years of weekend line closures. Organised crime gangs and

opportunist thieves are fuelling a huge rise in bike theft. In the

Midlands, almost 18,000 bikes were reported stolen in the last year

with an estimated value of ?8 million. BBC Inside Out has been

investigating and put the thieves to the test tracking a stolen bike, as

Peter Wilson reports. The politicians and health experts

have been telling us to do it for years, to get on our bikes. But as

more of us do, so more and more cyclists are losing out. I am fairly

convinced somebody probably followed me home and saw where I kept my bike

in the garage and then a few hours later broke into the garage and

stole my bike. The BBC Inside Out team lock up their bike in

Birmingham's City Centre. But this one has a GPS tracking device. Just

eight hours later and a thief has struck and the bike is on the move.

So, how many bikes are stolen? Across the Midlands, nearly 18,000

last year. Bike crime is on the increase because more people are out

on their bikes so there are more opportunities for thieves to take

the bikes. The BBC bike is tracked to a Halfords store. The person

riding it has been shopping. CCTV provides video of a teenager

wheeling the bike. A security team track the bike to a block of flats

and question the young man. That is you on the bike yesterday. That is

where you have been on that bike. We have been watching you for the last

four days. The National Bicycle Association is based in Coventry.

So, what's their advice? Bikes come mainly from the Far East. They do

not arrive here with any particular identification on them. What you

need to do when you get a bite is to make quite certain that the shop you

get it from Marx it for you `` a bicycle. The BBC bike is back in

safe hands. Confronting thieves is best left to the police, yet just

one in 20 bikes stolen are ever recovered.

And you can see more on this on tonight's Inside Out, here on BBC

One at 7.30pm. Hope you can join me for that and other stories from

across the Midlands. A woman has been arrested on

suspicion of murder after a man was found stabbed in Wolverhampton.

Paramedics were called to a flat in the city's Market Square to treat a

53`year`old man who'd been stabbed yesterday afternoon. But they were

unable to save him and police arrested a 49`year`old woman in

connection with the stabbing. A cyclist's been killed in a

hit`and`run collision in Worcestershire early this morning.

It happened outside the Duke of York pub in the village of Berrow. The

cyclist was leaving the pub when he collided with a green Audi. A man in

his 30s been arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous

driving. The Manufacturing Advisory Service

has received more than ?2 million in European funding to help companies

in the West Midlands. The money will be used to provide support to small

companies wanting to enter new markets, develop products or to make

changes which will create new jobs. It was the worst storm to hit the

South of England for years, tragically killing four people.

Early forecasts had suggested the driving winds and rain would hit the

Midlands badly too. But in the end, thankfully, we escaped the worst of

it. But there are a number of flood alerts across the region tonight.

Our reporter Cath Mackie joins us now from the banks of the River

Severn in Worcester. Cath, how's it looking?

The river's looking pretty quiet tonight. There are however more than

20 flood alerts on rivers across the West Midlands and there's a flood

warning, which is one step up, on the River Stour in Warwickshire.

That peaked earlier this afternoon. Hopefully, if we don't get another

downpour just yet, that should settle. To be honest, it's a picture

you'd expect this time of year. But what's really been noticeable for

me, as someone who has covered countless severe weather stories for

years, is the high level of preparedness now among the

authorities to reduce the impact of whatever nature might throw at us.

In the past, they'd often be playing catch`up. The thinking now is it's

easier to scale down than up, so what we saw over the weekend, for

example, were teams out clearing culverts to make sure that if the

big storm did arrive, the water had somewhere to go. We are working more

closely with the emergency services and local authorities. We are making

people aware of the risk of flooding to their property. We are talking to

communities and making sure that they are aware of what to do should

a flood occur. There were problems for commuters

this morning. What about this evening? Luckily, it's half`term for

a lot of people, so there were far fewer cars on the road during rush

hour this morning when surface water was making it difficult in places.

The problem this evening as for much of the day is with train commuters.

Train companies reporting delays and possible cancellations into tomorrow

morning. The advice as always if travelling by train, check with the

train operator first. Thank you. A new report says increasing the

capacity of the main rail routes between London and the north as an

alternative to HS2 would lead to 14 years of weekend closures. The study

for Network Rail is due to be published tomorrow. But in a

separate development, the Prime Minister has hinted he would cancel

the scheme if the Labour Party withdraws its support. Our transport

correspondent Peter Plisner reports. Remember this? Major disruption

after engineering work on the West Coast Main Line over`ran back in

January, 2007. This work was part of the last upgrading of the line which

itself took more than a decade to plan and complete. The report made

public today talks of a huge amount of disruption, including 14 years of

weekend route closures and much longer journeys for passengers.

Those opposed to the scheme, many of whom live near the proposed route,

maintain that the report is seriously flawed and that upgrading

the existing lines would bring bigger benefits to more passengers.

And they could be about to get their way. Senior Labour Party figures

like the former Business Secretary Lord Mandleson are now turning their

back on the project. Frankly, there was too much of the argument that if

everyone else has got a high`speed train, we should have won too.

Regardless of need, regardless of cost. And that and other comments

led to this statement from David Cameron yesterday. These

multi`year, multi`parliament infrastructure projects, they cannot

go ahead without all`party support. You will not get the investment.

Could high`speed rail be about to hit the buffers? Probably not at

this stage, but it's possible the plans may have to be moved to the

sidings. And Peter joins us now from the

proposed site of the Birmingham HS2 station. Peter, why is the support

of the Labour Party so crucial to the survival of HS2? As David

Cameron said, it is a cross`party issue. The support of all parties.

It spans several years and several governments. We now the Labour Party

is lukewarm on it. Ed Balls said a few weeks ago there could be no

blank cheques for HS2. If the Labour Party withdraws support, David

Cameron can scrap the scheme and then blame the Labour Party.

A new business case for HS2 is being published tomorrow. Why is that

necessary? The business case is vital to show the viability of the

scheme. A previous business case has not done that. It has been shot to

pieces by those opposed to the scheme. The numbers did not stuck

up. Tomorrow we are told the business case will be much more

robust. The government is now going on the offensive and wants to prove

the case for HS2. It's also being discussed in

parliament later this week. What's that all about? It is the third

reading of the bill which effectively does what it says on the

tin, paving the way for HS2. There will be more authority for more

expenditure on HS2 and more planning. The publication of the

business case tomorrow will help win more support. There will be a vote

on the bill and HS2 is becoming an electoral liability. We will bring

you more details on that later in the week.

This is our top story tonight: Turning waste into power ` a new ?16

million research centre converting rubbish to energy opens in

Birmingham. Shefali will be along with your

detailed weather forecast in a moment.

Also ahead, making the numbers add up ` how taxpayers in Warwickshire

are having their say on where the council should make cuts.

And forget the Premier League, it's League One where are clubs are

having a great run of form. A New York magazine has named

Birmingham as one of its top winter destinations for 2013, praising it

for its culture and choice of restaurants. Last year, nearly 52

million tourists visited New York City, whereas 33.8 million made the

trip to Birmingham. There are currently 67 Michelin`starred

restaurants in New York. In Birmingham, there are four. The

latest star was awarded last month. Top attractions in the Big Apple

include the Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty. In

Birmingham, the canals and Thinktank Science Museum often draw in the

crowds. Joining me now to discuss the profile of the city is Emma Gray

from Visit Birmingham and Anne Tonks, a New Yorker who now runs

Opus restaurant in Birmingham. Good evening to both of you. Emma, it's

your job to sell the city overseas, give us your 20`second sales pitch.

We have seen an 11% increase in visitors. We have had a lot of

people coming to Birmingham. They really enjoy the industrial heritage

we have. From a North American point of view, they like that. They like

the fact we are the home of Cadbury 's chocolate. The cultural diversity

we have as a city helps the food scene. It is such a great city they

find the English way of life very interesting. Do people understand

what Birmingham is about? What is the most common perception of the

city? People do not know of Birmingham. They think it is

Birmingham, Alabama. People are surprised by the proximity to

London. They like the fact you can use it as a base and tour the rest

of the country. Ann, you've been here 15 years. What has it got that

other cities do not have? I moved to Birmingham about 20 years ago and to

me the extremely exciting thing about Birmingham is that it was a

city that was changing. I have lived through so much change, cultural

change, massive change in the restaurant industry. It has been a

city where I have felt like anything could happen. We are still lagging

behind New York in terms of Michelin`starred restaurants. We

have a long way to go. We should be very proud that we have more

Michelin`starred restaurants outside of London than any other city in

Britain. But it is not just that. One of the great things we have in

Birmingham is a great explosion of independent restaurants. Many of

them boast home`grown talent. So many chefs in the city from

Birmingham which is something we should be very proud of. Things are

going well but what more does the city need to do? The physical

development has put us in a good position to get more visitors. The

next thing we need to focus on is our international connectivity. More

flights into Birmingham, extending the networks we have. Thank you very

much. All our councils are having to make

budget cuts. If you held the purse strings, where would you make the

savings? A free budget simulator's been put online to help taxpayers in

Warwickshire have their say on where the council should be making cuts.

The county has to save ?92 million over the next four years. BBC

Coventry and Warwickshire's political reporter Sian Grzeszczyk

has more. They are not experts and have not

been elected to make the big decisions. They have spent more time

campaigning against those who do. But now they have come together to

see if they can make the numbers add up. I have been fighting to save my

local library. I fought to try and preserve our village fire station. I

am a 51`year`old single parent. I am fighting proposed cuts for disabled

children. Disses Warwickshire county council's budget simulator. Every

decision they make as a consequence `` disses. Far and rescue, it is

life and death. These other cuts are cuts to services and it is not life

and death `` Fire and rescue. You can set the budget for each

department. If they get the sums wrong, they risked putting up

council tax. Your budget does not balance. You need to adjust your

choices so that the council tax does not have to increase by more than

5%. We did not have enough more information about the consequences

of the cuts. It is exceedingly difficult and you feel personally

you are cutting people's benefits by doing this. We were not able to

balance the books at all. We did not think we had enough information to

enable us to make a call on some of the cuts. What does the council

leader make of their concerns? I can understand that. It is very

difficult. We have been going through this process for weeks, even

months. If we are going to make the really am porting decisions, I need

people to respond to me and tell me what they value. So far more than

200 people have tried the budget calculator which will be available

on the website until the end of the month.

Let us turn our attention to sport now.

Ian's here with tonight's sport. And not a lot to shout about in the

Premier League. No, three defeats for West Brom,

Aston Villa and Stoke. So we'll move swiftly on to the Championship where

no`one made a more explosive impact than Lee Novak. The Birmingham City

substitute had only just come on, midway through the second half, when

he volleyed in from close range to earn the Blues a one`all draw at

Derby. Guaranteeing a very happy 41st birthday for his manager Lee

Clark. It is a terrific finish, to watch the ball coming out of the sky

like that and delivered the quality technique. The players and the staff

were delighted for him because he has a fantastic work ethic. I have

worked with him for a long time. I think he can deliver for the club.

Coventry City have been outstanding throughout October. 13 points from

five games must give Stephen Pressley a great chance of being

named Manager of the Month in League One. Wolves are also unbeaten since

mid`September. And both teams won again at the weekend.

Stephen Pressley is working a minor miracle at Coventry City. And his

latest success came away to Walsall. Frank Moussa scored the only goal of

a close`fought game. And Coventry would now be lying fourth, if only

they hadn't been deducted ten points in the summer. It has been a really

productive last eight or nine days for ourselves. Beating the league

leaders on Tuesday and coming to the difficult away venue and winning

again. The players deserve so much credit. Wolves arrived at Bradford

in reflective mood. Having lost only two games all season, they weren't

fazed when they fell behind early in the first half. A goalkeeping howler

allowed James Henry to make it 1`1. And five minutes later, Richard

Stearman popped up to score the winner, leaving Wolves three points

behind the leaders Leyton Orient with a game in hand. A big game for

them and they were cheering every throw in, every tackle. They drove

the side through. To win under those circumstances is a fantastic result.

Port Vale also found themselves a goal down at home to Gillingham. But

Chris Robertson scored soon after the break. And Tom Pope's

well`placed header sealed a 2`1 victory for Vale. We have got to

give plenty of credit to Coventry. Starting the season on `10 points.

It is a great effort. The one worry for the fans is that their players

are catching the eye of scouts from higher up the football pyramid and

January is not far away. We should also say well done to

Burton Albion who are in the league two play or so after winning again.

`` play`off zone. But our rugby clubs are really struggling to find

their form. Yes, we told you on Friday about Worcester's woes at the

bottom of the Premiership. I'm afraid they've now lost their last

six games after their latest heavy defeat 40`6 away to Exeter. And the

Warriors are now eight points adrift at the bottom. Gloucester are just

above them. They lacked discipline, according to their Director of Rugby

Nigel Davies, after they lost 15`13 away to Bath.

Tomorrow evening, we're live at St Andrew's before Birmingham play

Stoke in the Capital One Cup. Look forward to that.

A two`year conservation project to monitor rare bats has been disrupted

after thieves stole thousands of pounds of specialist equipment. The

tracking devices were taken from woodlands in south Warwickshire,

home to one of the most important breeding locations for Barbastelle

bats in the country. Scientists are appealing for their return so they

can continue to monitor the mammals. It is one of the only northern

populations we have got which is breeding. We really want to know

where the bats of foraging, feeding and roosting and how they are

getting to those sites. That is what we need the transmitter and receiver

for. It is a specialist piece of equipment which can only be used for

tracking animals therefore it cannot be used for any other purpose than

this. It is frustrating. It is basically valueless.

Let's turn our attention to the weather. Shefali is here. We did not

get away with escaping the weather entirely.

As far as rain went, quite a bit in one or two spots. Earlier we heard

from Worcestershire that there was a flood warning. There is a reason for

that. It was the wettest plays in the region `` wettest place. Seeing

as the stormy activity was running south and drifting in that

direction, it was all is going to be the southern flank of our region

that would be affected. But as far as this week goes, no more storms on

the horizon. It will be quite blustery, autumnal feel to things.

It will be cooler than last week. We will see a mixture of rain and

showers. Judging by the isobars at the moment, still quite breezy.

These will slacken later. A cluster of showers to the north`west feeding

through the Cheshire gap later. The next system to come through will be

this from the West. Coming later on Wednesday. A bit more detail on

that. This evening and overnight, still showers there starting to

develop. We are looking at clear skies. This will send temperatures

down. Locally it could be a little cooler than seven or eight. A lot of

the showers will concentrate themselves in the northern half of

the region later in the night. Tomorrow is a daytime version of

tonight. There will be a lot of showers across the northern half of

the region. Further south, it is dry with sunshine. A lot of sunshine in

between the showers. Some could be heavy. Temperatures on the poolside.

Average for the time of year. `` on the cool side. A fairly brisk rest

of the `` brisk westerly breeze. Tomorrow night, the showers will

eventually die away. Clear skies across the board. In rural areas,

temperatures could fall low enough for a touch of ground frost.

Wednesday, dry with some sunshine and then showers on Thursday.

Tonight's headlines: Four dead after hurricane`force winds batter

southern Britain Turning waste into power ` a new ?16 million research

centre converting rubbish to energy opens in Birmingham.

That was Midlands Today. I will be back at 10pm.

This is Malcolm, who owns Iceland. He's the one

that's going to present us with the ten grand. When we win it.

You've just got to make it as bearable

Here we are in the PR nerve centre of Iceland

at the end of 96 hours of total hell.

But we haven't tested for dog or cat either.

Is this the warmest supermarket around?