17/12/2013 Midlands Today

Hello and welcome to Midlands Today. The headlines tonight: 22 years

after she went missing in Coventry, three people are arrested over the

disappearance of Nicola Payne. We'll be hearing what the family

have to say about this latest development after more than two

decades of torment. Also tonight: Plans for a second

runway at Birmingham Airport are put on hold for nearly 40 years as

expansion's recommended at Heathrow or Gatwick.

We would like Birmingham to grow but we don't think it is likely to be

the solution to the problem of command in London and the

south`east. As the construction industry gets

moving again, bosses warn of a "skills time bomb" ` not enough

young people are being trained. Celebrating with concerts just a few

hundred yards apart, the bands that brought us two of our best loved

Christmas songs exactly 40 years ago. It has become and injuring

thing for the public. We are part of people's Christmas. `` in during the

thing. And a photograph today of calm and

serenity at Millennium Park in King's Norton. But there's a storm

brewing and it's heading our way soon.

Good evening. Police investigating the disappearance of a young mother

22 years ago have arrested two men on suspicion of her abduction and

murder. Nicola Payne was 18 when she went missing after she set off to

walk to her parents' home in Coventry in December, 1991. Joan

Cummins is in Coventry now, close to where Nicola was last seen alive.

What more do you know about the arrests? What we know is that these

two men are both 49, were arrested early this morning at addresses in

the city. We understand that detectives are also questioning at

51`year`old woman on of perverting the course of justice. Nicola

disappeared in the area behind me 22 years ago this weekend.

Nicola Payne was a young mother with a baby and her whole life ahead of

her when to disappeared in December, 1991. Despite a massive

search, police reconstructions and numerous searches around the city

over the last 22 years, Nicola's whereabouts have remained a

mystery. Speaking just days after she first went missing, her mother

said she feared the worst. I feel she is lying dead somewhere, I

really do. Everybody says it's wrong, but I believe it. Nicola

disappeared on this path on a foggy day in 1991. Today, her father spoke

to the BBC and he said they're not their hopes up. They've been here

before. But they still remain optimistic that finally they will

find out the truth about their daughter. Today's arrests at a

number of addresses in the city has been keenly followed by people in

the community who now Nicola's family and once the mystery is

solved forever. At Christmas it is different because it is a part of

the year that everybody is getting ready and they think, how does my

mum feel? We are a community and we feel for our own. Most people are

shocked by her disappearance. People in the area she lived were shocked

to say the least. We are trying to build up the confidence of people in

that area. The police reveal that a number of items are being analysed

using cutting edge technology. We can't begin to imagine how difficult

this continues to be fun Nicola's parents. Have they said anything

about today's development? Today the family have said they don't want to

do any television interviews. Speaking to the BBC on the phone,

her father said this was obviously a difficult time for the entire

family. He said the police had been keeping them informed of every

development. But there was a word of caution. He said there have been

arrests before and nothing happened. Now they simply want to know what

happened to Nicola Payne. Coming up later in the programme:

The Premier League footballers delivering Christmas cheer on a

hospital ward as their club continues the search for a new head

coach. Plans for a second runway at

Birmingham to expand UK airport capacity are tonight on hold. New

runways at Heathrow and Gatwick are among the options that have been

short listed instead by the Airports Commission. In a moment we'll be

talking to Birmingham Airport's chief executive and a West Midlands

business leader. But first here's Ben Godfrey.

Passengers arriving at Birmingham Airport today caught a glimpse of

its runway extension, close to completion. But you won't see them

turning the soil for a second runway until at least 2050, if at all. The

Government`appointed Davies Commission wants to restrict further

growth here for now in favour of expansion at Heathrow and Gatwick

airports. We would like Birmingham to grow but we don't think it is

likely to be the solution to the problem of demand in London and the

South East. If there's any bitterness,

Birmingham Airport isn't showing it. Today they described their role as

an integral piece of the long`term aviation puzzle. What's puzzling to

some is that a second runway's needed at all. The need for a second

runway is only so it is a kind of like a motorway where you can use

the hard shoulder in a rush hour. It is there to help the airport to get

traffic for these mythical business flights. It is not going to happen.

Each year, nine million passengers pass through Birmingham Airport.

When the new runway extension's completed in April, it will create

capacity for 36 million passengers a year. The airport says a second

runway would bring 70 million passengers and support 250,000 jobs.

Last year the airport was given special permission to display the

Olympic rings on its new control tower. It symbolised a desire to

switch from regional hub to international gateway. This is a

city in growth mode. We are seeing record numbers of visitors. The key

is that had we been high up the priorities it might have accelerated

the process. Local businesses are also

frustrated. This automotive parts supplier says

further airport expansion would boost their business in long

distance destinations like Malaysia. You always feel that Birmingham is

left behind. We are the second city, and you would think there would be

more support for us in the UK economy.

In the Commons this afternoon, local MPs queued up to question the

Transport Secretary. People in the West Midlands will be staggered they

have got to wait until 2050 before any consideration will be given to

its expansion. There is more availability at Birmingham airport.

I want to see the airport able to prosper along the lines of other

airports. Last month, a new aircraft hangar

opened here, creating 150 new jobs. And tonight the leader of Birmingham

City Council is claiming the commission has failed to acknowledge

this region's potential for aviation growth.

Joining us from our studio in London this evening is Paul Kehoe, chief

executive of Birmingham Airport. Good evening. Can you put time into

lobbying for expansion and not be disappointed? I welcome the report

because many of the things in it, we suggested. This was a 100 year

option. He certainly put us in the middle of that at 2050. We

originally said that 2037 was the earliest we wanted to consider

building another runway. So we are not far within the time frame is

micro`timeframe. `` within the time frame. Businesses and MPs are

disappointed. I just putting a brave face on it? Now, because we know

that Birmingham has got the right ingredients. I have never worked at

an airport where we have got such support. I'm convinced we have got

all the ingredients to make this work. The new hangar, the new

control tower, and from next year the new extension. Halfway down the

years, we are going to get HS2 as well. We are already the best

connected airport in the country. I am still hopeful, and why? It is a

big world. It does all seem to be about London and the south`east

again. A lot of people in London can't see beyond the M25. But it is

a two horse race now. There are eggs in a couple of baskets, he threw all

Gatwick. The problems at Heathrow are so great that it is likely to be

Gatwick. That supports an opportunity in Birmingham. But 2050

is so far off. In 2003, we were talking of 2035. These are long`term

investments. We are talking of infrastructure for over 150 years.

I'm not surprised they are looking so far ahead. You don't consider

cracking on yourself with an extra runway? Now, we wanted to preserve

that option for the future. We have got four times the availability. We

can create thousands of jobs in the next few years from our own growth.

What we were hoping for was a bit of acceleration, perhaps bringing the

future forward. We haven't got that. It is business as usual at

Birmingham airport. We have got some great assets to deploy.

Well, what about the impact on the West Midlands economy? I'm joined in

the studio by Jerry Blackett, chief executive of the Greater Birmingham

Chamber of Commerce. What do you think of this report? I would echo

what Paul has said. It is a 230 page report. Read the detail, the fact

they are not committed to a single hub, these are things we have been

lobbying for. But it is very south`east and London centric. It is

muddled thinking. On the one hand, government is talking ambitiously

about rebalancing. It is putting down high`speed rail plans. It has a

30 year view of what kind of country this could be, what kind of economy

we could have. On the other hand, the airport vision is lacking. It

doesn't tie into a clear view of what the cities outside of London

could be going. We know we have got great economies, great cities.

Aviation is key to it. We do have some more work today. But this is

only an interim report. We have still got more time to convince the

elite in London that indeed investing outside of London is

critical if we are serious about rebalancing the UK away from this

huge dependency on London and the south`east. We want London and the

south`east to prosper. But we're not making the most of our great cities.

Coming back to HS2, if it were to happen, the distance between London

and Birmingham airport would be about 38 minutes. That is less than

two Gatwick. Indeed. We're winning the rational argument, I think. It

just seems again that Birmingham and the Midlands is being overlooked.

Not for the first time. It is a long game. Are very long game! Let's

remember that we have won some things that we have won something

silly and sounds of the government's determination to move

away from a single hub error `` we have won something today in terms of

the government's determination to move away from a single hub airport.

We will convince London and the south`east to follow our story.

Thank you. The Heart of England NHS Trust has

breached its licence by forcing patients to wait too long in

accident and emergency. The trust is now legally obliged to find ways of

improving its performance by bringing in expert help from

elsewhere. The region's construction industry

is warning of a skills time bomb, with two thirds of contractors in

Birmingham struggling to recruit young workers. The construction

industry training board says a new generation need to be made more

aware of the opportunities in building. Sarah Falkland reports.

Parkgate, the latest addition to Shirley High Street. Shops,

restaurants and homes. It's all cost ?85 million. The construction

industry is on the up again. Thereon more jobs to be had. Nearly 20% of

the British workforce is set to retire in the next decade. 68% of

contractors here in Birmingham say they are struggling to recruit.

Which is why Vasile, who's from Romania, is among the 300 strong

workforce here. He has his own ideas as to why young British people might

not want to work in construction. They don't like it because it is

outside. Most of the time may you outside. Maybe it is difficult for

them. So JCB has joined forces with the

construction training board and embarked on a skills drive. This

industry expert says there's a lot up for grabs. Birmingham, as a

centre itself, has plans of ?17 billion of construction projects for

the next 5`10 years. The library is just the tip of the iceberg. Within

those, we can create up to 1000 apprenticeships over the next few

years. 12`year`old Tiger`Leigh's convinced.

He's on a pilot project at Greenwood Academy in Castle Vale, which offers

construction classes to pupils who've had difficulties at school.

Back at Parkgate, the project manager's confident that the 'skills

time bomb' feared by some won't go off. The workforce is out there. It

is about getting out onto the site and learning the trade. It is not in

a textbook. No staff shortages here ` the

project's on schedule for its spring opening.

Our top story tonight: 22 years after she went missing in Coventry,

three people are arrested over the disappearance of Nicola Payne.

Shefali will be along shortly with the detailed weather forecast for

the Midlands. Also ahead: The only British boxer

to have landed an amateur world title ` can he land the pro title

too? West Bromwich Albion's hunt for a

new head coach after the departure of Steve Clarke continues this

evening, with Gianfranco Zola, who resigned as manager as Watford

yesterday, the new bookies' favourite. But life goes on at the

Hawthorns, and today the club delivered some festive cheer to

hospital patients in the Black Country. Here's Dan Pallett.

What a moment for six`year`old Subhan Ali. He'd left the ward for

an X`ray and returned to find four of his Albion heroes waiting for

him. He has now got a better reason to skip his daily wash. Yes, the

patients on the children's ward at Dudley's Russells Hall Hospital were

full of Christmas cheer today. People like Sam Taylor and his Dad

Andrew were thrilled. Amazing! It has made your day, your year. Yeah.

It is going to be the best Christmas.

But there was one thing missing. The club photo still shows Steve Clarke

at the helm, but he was sacked on Saturday and that's affected the

squad. It has been a massive influence to me. Coming to the later

stage of my career, I am looking to doing my coaching badges. I am

looking to go forward. The last 18 months, he has been a massive

influence. Gianfranco Zola has emerged as a bookies' favourite to

replace Clarke. But whoever takes over now has a battle on just to

keep the Baggies in the top flight. At the moment we have got to get out

of the position we are in. It is all well and good talking about top half

finishes, but at this moment we are in a fight with half the Premier

League to get into that top half. We need to get out of the position we

are in. I don't think we can look ahead any further.

It's going to be in interesting festive period at the Hawthorns. But

today they showed they haven't forgotten what Christmas is really

about. So what's the mood of West Brom fans

tonight? Dan is downstairs here at the Mailbox in the BBC WM radio

studio for the football phone`in with Paul Franks and Hawthorns

favourite Richard Sneekes. What are they saying? The debate is raging.

West Bromwich Albion and the sacking of Steve Clarke is dominating. Port

is on air. Let's have a quick talk with Paul. What the fans been

saying? It is very mixed. Some are saying it was wrong to get rid of

Clark. Others are saying it is fine, the calendar results have not

been good. But now, with four key games coming up, they are saying,

well, who are we going to get? Whoever comes in as head coach has

got to work with the same group of players. Quite a few fans are saying

there is an imbalance within the squad. So, no managers spend on who

is going to come to the hawthorns, Richard? Gem Franco Zola, to be

frank. `` GN Franco. They would like to see somebody like that. They will

need somebody experienced as an assistant, somebody who has been at

the mission manager. `` a premiership manager. And he is the

favourite, and the head coach. He is. He has just resigned at

Watford. The football he would like to play is the kind of football West

Brom fans would like to say. They want to act fast because there is a

lot of games coming up. And the football phone`in continues

on BBC WM until seven o'clock. Birmingham's Frankie Gavin has a

unique place among British boxers. He's the only Briton ever to win an

amateur world title, but in 2014 Frankie plans to become a

professional world champion as well. And the next step on that path comes

in Leeds this weekend, when he defends his Commonwealth title. Just

a warning, Nick Clitheroe's report contains flashing images.

It's only when you get this close to a boxer that you see just how hard

they hit. I wouldn't want to get in the ring with Frankie Gavin. Plenty

of his potential opponents might not fancy it, either. So that's why he's

having to be patient as he waits for the world title shot he craves. I'm

not in boxing for the fame. I am in it to be the best in the world. The

more you know and the more money you earn, which is good because I have a

family, but rather I would win war titles.

As an amateur, Frankie was world and Commonwealth champion. But there

were disappointments, too. He missed out on the Beijing Olympics because

of problems making the weight. But since turning pro there have been 17

straight wins, 12 of them knockouts. If we are standing here in 12

months, we will be talking about him as world champion? Definitely.

Within 18 months. But it is also about money, politics and the right

man in the right place at the right time.

Former world champion Amir Khan is a potential target, but whoever steps

into the ring with Gavin faces a man with utter determination. I hate

losing. Even if I am playing with my five`year`old stun on the computer,

if he is winning, I will turn his pad off!

Future opponents have been warned. In 1973, Wizzard and Slade were two

of the biggest bands in the country, one from Birmingham, the other from

up the road in Wolverhampton, and both battling it out in December for

the highly prized Christmas number one. 40 years on, and with both

songs now Christmas classics, the battle resumed as both acts last

night played live at different venues in Birmingham, a couple of

hundred yards apart. Ben Sidwell had tickets for both. There is some

flash photography in this report. It was the night that Christmas 1973

returned to Birmingham. It is bringing the knee back to my youth.

`` bringing me. Almagro I had posters on my wall. I can't believe

40 years has gone. It is shocking. 40 years ago Slade and Wizzard, led

by singer Roy Wood, dominated the UK singles chart. Between them in 1973

they had five number ones and released two of the biggest

Christmas hits of all time. When I wrote it, I didn't even think

it might still be around. People say, do you get fed up of it? I say,

no way, it is wonderful. 40 years on and they are still packing them in.

Down the road, the man responsible for that other song is playing here

at the Symphony Hall. I can still remember the day we

recorded. It was the summer of 1973 in the `` New York. It was 100

degrees outside. They thought we were crazy English men. Neither of

us knew the other one was doing a Christmas song. Strange. Any other

year, it would have been great. In the end Slade won the chart

battle and got the Christmas number one. From humble beginnings in

Walsall, 'Merry Xmas Everybody' is now thought to have been heard by

42% of the world's population. I keep thinking, everybody must have

this record by now! How does it keep on selling? Well, more people keep

getting born. I am 26 and I the song. It has got us in the mood to

party. Our kids are six and seven and they love it. So it's bands the

generations. If I knew the secret, I would be a very rich man. This time

of year, it is for a time. `` it is time.

That choir playing their they were the sons and daughters the original

choir from Erdington and Birmingham on the original recording. Amazing.

No complaints about the weather today, albeit a bit chilly, but it

is December after all. Here's Shefali to take us through the

forecast. is December after

It is December and it is about to turn to winter. That is why we are

beginning to feel then it in the air. Today was basically the calm

before the storm. The stormy conditions will be arriving tomorrow

in the shape of heavy rain and wind from the West. We have basically got

back to back systems. The second will be more potent, only because of

the steep area of low pressure pushing it along. Right now out

there it is fairly calm. We have got some showers in the far south`east

of the region but they will clear later on. After that it is going to

be relatively dry and clear. Again, this area will attract some itch ``

patchy mist and fog. The wind later in the night will pick up and

probably clear that. The wind is picking up ahead of the system for

morning. Temperatures remain above freezing for most places around. It

is going to be a wet and windy start to tomorrow. The rain is pushing

eastwards through the morning. It is not going to be persistent but it

will be heavy in places. By the afternoon kitchen start to show

signs of easing a bit. Temperatures will be on the slow side. We have

temperatures of 9`11d. It is not going to feel that mild with a

winds picking up two `` with wins picking up to 40 mph. Tomorrow

evening we have strong winds and potentially two inches of rain

falling in a short space of time. This will all be clearing eastwards

tomorrow night. In contrast, the end of the night will be much drier.

Again, temperatures remain above freezing. On Thursday we have got

the slackening isobars can indicate in calm conditions. You can see

those speckles of white which represents now on the highest

ground. `` which represent snow. Tonight's headlines from the BBC: At

least one new runway is essential at an airport in south`east England,

according to a Government commissioned review, with any

expansion plans for Birmingham to be put on hold until 2050.

And police investigating the disappearance 22 years ago of Nicola

Payne in Coventry have arrested three people.

That was the Midlands Today. I'll be back