12/01/2017 Points West

Welcome to BBC Points West with Alex Lovell and Sabet Choudhury.

Bristol announces some of its biggest ever council cuts.

When they see the scale of the numbers being quoted as cuts, they

can see that that will have a massive impact and is not just in

one or two macro areas, it is across the board.

We'll assess the situation with the city's Mayor.

The paramedic making plans to leave a legacy of hope for others.

We meet the new robotic stars of a Bristol made programme.

And as it now turns much colder tonight the Met office warn of a

risk of ice for many of our districts. Council tax will need to

rise but services will reduce. That's the situation facing

Bristol's 450,000 residents The City Council today revealed some

of its biggest ever cuts. And there was more gloomy news

for the city with the announcement that its planned new arena will be

delayed even further. Let's join our political

editor Paul Barltrop Well, I am standing beside what has

been dubbed by some the bridge to nowhere. It is meant to lead across

to what has been called arena Island, that site for that ambitious

project but it is in trouble. It could end up costing the council

millions of pounds at a time when their finances are in real

difficulty. Today they have been setting out their spending plans for

the next five years. Overall, the money that our councils get from the

government is going down. At the same time, demand is rising, which

means councils are having to put up their council tax. Services, as we

know, are being reduced. Bristol say they have got to save ?100 million

by 2022 and so there will be cuts to services across-the-board.

From libraries to bins, from parks to buses,

Bristol is cutting spending across all departments.

More than ?60 million will go over the next five years.

Residents will have to pay more: Council tax will rise by nearly 5%

with a similar increase likely the following year.

Cuts from the central government only be lost in a position where we

have to take that additional money. The increase in pressure from an

elderly population and more children, it is huge. So people are

paying for that. The mayor who took over eight months

ago has described the changes Among the bigger hits,

?4 million will go from parks. Libraries are under threat

with a ?1.4 million cut. And raising car parking charges

will bring in an extra ?1 million. Plus there's an end to the free

on-street Sunday parking which was initiated by the former

mayor George Ferguson in 2012. They will do anything to get the

money. I drive in from Bath to Bristol to go to the library so if

they are going to do that, that is not great. Putting the car parking

cost up at a time of posterity doesn't feel appropriate. -- of

posterity. this city centre youth

hub works with hundreds We have got to the point where there

have been cuts upon cuts and we have scraped again at the money to keep

the services going and the opportunities going for young

people. I have to say at this point any further cuts are going to

translate into a direct cut to services for young people.

Row is very difficult. It is part of a series of cuts, get up on year.

They are working harder and harder, covering one more work from less and

less staff. To know that is going to carry on for years to come as we

have seen from these figures, it is very demoralising.

Today we learnt how much money will go from different areas.

Much more detail and controversy is still to come.

That wasn't the only big announcement today.

Bristol City Council has revealed it's parted company

with the contractors who were supposed to be building

the city's new arena because they couldn't

The council says it'll open a year later now, so by autumn 2020.

I hope it will because I think Bristol deserves a nice place

where you can host so many people, just because now Bristol is becoming

I think we deserve one and I think we will get one.

Well, they've built the bridge, haven't they?

They have started, so they're going to have to finish.

Do I think it's ever going to happen?

Well, rather like the Rovers' new stadium, I am forever hopeful,

The former mayor George Ferguson was the driving force behind

He remains optimistic it'll be built.

We are so close now, we've got the site,

we've got the planning, we've got the funds,

The operator is absolutely key and this will be a profitable

The council's expected to start negiotiations with contractors

They expressed an interest in the site earlier.

A quick solution is best, as every month of delay has been

estimated to cost taxpayers as much as ?80,000.

Thank you very much for that, Paul. Joining us in the studio now is the

male of restored, Martin Rees. You are adamant that it is going to go

ahead, aren't you, but how with this new contractor? Absolutely. Our

commitment remains strong. We want an arena but has to be the right

deal for the city. People would not thank us if we built the most

expensive Arena in the UK. We have the operator, we have the land and

the planning permission. All the work that has been done in this

pre-construction phase looking at how we build an arena homicide, that

is all still with us. This is not ideal, it is not good news, I am not

pretending it is but it is not back to zero. -- looking at how we build

an arena on the site. A lot of money to save. But looking through what

you have had to say, these are quite brutal cuts, aren't they? It is a

challenge. There are a couple of things. We need to get a grip of the

finances of local government. Whatever was going on, we wouldn't

be facing this situation if we had a proper grip and we have wrought in a

fantastic finance team. We are going to get a grip. But we are staying

true to our principles. Our commitments are on housing, mental

health, primary schools. I have talked about those three things.

Those are all great but one of the things I saw was the crisis

prevention fund, which helps people in tough situations, people who find

themselves homeless to get food, electricity, all sorts. That has

been cut by 55%. These are just brutal in a way. Surely, with what

you have just said, that is not fair. To say it is a massive

challenges to my old. The point we are making is if we going to keep

money one area we have got to talk about what we are prepared to

de-prioritise. There are many things we didn't do that we could have

done. Secondly, we have two move from this idea that local government

does everything. We have a collective responsibility, so our

commitment on breakfast clubs, that is a group of people who are saying

any school without a breakfast club, we will step in. So we can mobilise

resources in other areas. It also speaks to a wider political issue

here. We cannot as a major city be on the string of Westminster

politics saying whether they are not going to give us resources. We need

to have a serious conversation about devolution of power and resources so

we can take control post-op that is in the long-term but in the short

term, what is the cut if you had to pick one, that you dislike the most,

that would keep you awake at night? What do you want to do the least? We

have a series of cuts that are going to impact on early intervention.

Coming from a public health background I know that tackling

inequalities,... Children services being one of those? A lot of cuts

are being made on that side. We believe in the concept of children's

centres. We are committed to protecting the intervention that

comes about, investment in parenting, early physical and mental

health, that is central to the future of the city but what we are

doing is working out how we can continue to deliver those

interventions as a City Council but with health service, with the

Bollettieri sector and community groups as well. That is what we have

to do -- with the voluntary sector. We want to take control of our

future. We know what is needed in Bristol and we need more power at

the local level. We have run out of time to stop so many different

things we would like to talk about. People can see this tomorrow on the

Bristol city website. Yes and we will put it forward and there is

another period of consultation so people have plenty of time to have

their say. Said they can react. Thank you very much Marvin.

The West is braced for icy road conditions tonight

and into the morning after rain, sleet and snow through the day.

Local councils are asking people to take care when they're

They're also urging them to check on vulnerable neighbours

who might be affected by the freezing conditions.

Our reporter Andy Howard is at a gritting depot in Gloucestershire

Yes, it seems on the whole that today has been more wet than white

but we have had snow across the West. It started in Somerset and the

county council that were saying that resident should look after elderly

neighbours and relatives in this cold snap. Then it went to Bristol

Airport, sleet reported there and then further onto Bath, the

university had some snow on the campus. Slow pictures of the day

have the BB is sent into us by Peter who lives in Wiltshire. His kids

playing in the snow and to prove it was a good covering, here is their

snowman, the only snowman I have seen today. A bit muddy but it the

focus back here tonight off the vote five is on this, the gritting

operation. -- the M5. We set up to be running our gritting throughout

the night to cope with icy roads that we are expecting in the early

hours of this morning. You are well connected, what is the latest? We

expect wintry showers this evening. No accumulation of snow forecast for

Gloucestershire but that sleet and snow we are expecting will mean

there is icy services in the morning -- icy surfaces in the morning. We

are going to try and minimise the risk to road users in the county.

Have you got enough salt? We have 20 insult across -- we have plenty in

stock across the county. We are on top of things in terms of keeping

our roads moving. Be lack of snow means that easier night for the guys

here but they will be out and you can of course watch the ten o'clock

news for the latest from points West and your latest radio station --

your local radio station will have the latest.

Let's get a bit more detail on all that ice and Ian,

what's the impact likely to be overnight and into

Well, certainly there is a risk of ice about that is going to be the

focus of our attention through the course of the night. I think I would

rather be take issue with the idea that there will be no further snow

tonight. There is certainly a risk that some parts of the region will

see that, albeit in the shape of snow showers, so by definition much

more hit or miss. I wouldn't walk Gloucestershire out, nor for that

matter parts of West Somerset up onto the top of Exmoor and perhaps

other districts as well. It is going to be a tricky night. Gauging as to

when to get the work underway for the gritters, the snow, sleet and

rain, of course waiting for the right time to quit will be

difficult. Ian, thank you - and don't forget

Ian will have the full forecast And do send us pictures

of what the weather's been like where you are today

- any snow? You can email us,

[email protected], or get You're watching BBC

Points West with Alex and Seb. A Gloucester company gets government

backing for a world first. And find out why we will be getting

a pig's I of the studio later in the programme. -- I view.

A 30-year-old man has appeared in court charged with murder

after a collision in Bristol on Tuesday night.

Shakrun Islam from Chipping Sodbury is alleged to have killed

27-year-old Kyle Clarke after he was trapped under

Plans to build a tunnel for the A303 past Stonehenge have been unveiled.

The government says it's now the only plan it's looking

at in order to make that part of the road a dual carriageway.

It's part of a ?1.4 billion upgrade of the busy

We're launching the next stage of the formal consultation

on a major upgrade to the A303, the main A-road into

This involves the development of the 1.8 mile tunnel passed

Stonehenge, which will protect the World Heritage site

from traffic, reduce local congestion and speed up journeys

I will now be talking to local people, Mr Speaker,

about precisely to the west of that tunnel which route it should

Some people say the proposed tunnel will be too short.

There'll now be a consultation on the proposals in March,

with the preferred route announced later this year.

A woman has died after a car crash in Bath.

A car hit a warehouse building on the Lower Bristol Road

150 buses were trapped inside a nearby depot, while police

The road reopened this afternoon, and First Bus says services are back

A paramedic says she's determined to leave a legacy

and save the lives of others, after being told she has

As a last hope, Kath Osmond, who worked for the South

Western Ambulance Service, had cutting edge treatment

Andrew Plant has been following Kath's journey,

and she's been telling him about her fight to find a cure -

and the memories she wants to leave behind.

Melanoma, it's a bit like a dandelion, so if you pick

a dandelion that's gone to seed, as you pick it, couple

Kath Osman spent 16 years saving lives, but six years ago

discovered a mole that changed her life forever.

Your hope is that you respond to the drugs and you respond well

and you get years out of these treatments but that's

She tried every treatment but she found herself

Private treatment that promised the chance

That's where the running man challenge kind of

Kath's ambulance colleagues organised this dance called

the running man and it went viral on the Internet, viewed by tens

of thousands of people, which helped bring in donations.

Basically the news came back that the melanoma was not only

coming back or hadn't responded well but it was aggressive.

She's using her time to make sure her partner Sara

and their three children are taken care of and to warn others

I am really keen to help as many people as I can to get that message

out there that a tan is not a good thing to have.

I've been kind of on the cutting edge of science and unfortunately my

cancer is developing quicker than science is developing.

My hope is that something out there can buy the enough time that

that sort of magic bullet is there and would have brought me

Kath believes that one day skin cancer will be a durable disease.

Kath believes that one day skin cancer will be a curable disease.

She's now busy making as many memories as she can with her family.

As you may have heard in the national news,

a Gloucester company has won government backing for its plans

to build the world's first tidal lagoon in Wales.

It aims to use the power of the tides to generate electricity

and if it's successful, more could be built,

Building tidal lagoons - it's a brand new industry.

And this unassuming building in Gloucester,

It's already developed plans to build the world's first

Today, an independent review gave its backing,

saying the government should seize the opportunity to move

It's a day the company's been waiting for a long time:

We can now be serious as a nation about needing on tidal, being world

eating and serious about our intent to build turbines, generators in the

UK, which means we can own the industry and importantly we know

there is a future of Fleet projects after Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon.

The sea wall holds back the rising tide on the left.

A gate is then opened allowing the water to flow into the lagoon

through large turbines, generating electricity as it goes.

When the tide goes out the whole process is reversed.

Some environmental groups are in favour of this clean energy.

As anglers we are concerned about the impact on fish, that marine and

migratory fish will be chopped up in the lagoons and the late on their

migration. -- and he delayed on their migration.

The Swansea Bay scheme could be operational in just four years.

If it's successful, Tidal Lagoon Power wants to build

a further five tidal lagoons, including one in Somerset,

Now, they do say never work with animals, but I don't expect

A new nature programme made in Bristol is using

remote-controlled animals to film real ones.

Spy in Wild hits our screens tonight.

I've been speaking to the director and series producer and meeting

Well, with this series we are using animatronic animals

I mean, they can go in and become part of the animal family

and therefore get a perspective that you couldn't get in any other way.

And with this series we are looking at the animal behaviour

that is like our own, so to get an animal or something

that looks like an animal in the actual animals,

that looks like an animal in with the actual animals,

we are starting to unravel incredible stories.

It is difficult, because not just has it got to look like,

it has got to smell like, move like, react like,

so we have got here a very good example that is kind of freaky

and we are recording from its point of view as well,

take us through what you have been working on here.

Well, we want a full range of movement within the spy creature,

so the head is very important, so left and right, up and down

movement and the head roll and also, certainly with this creature,

he can walk, so he has got this lovely quadrapegal gait,

very similar to the real pigs and that all helps get it

What about the smell? Smell is very important for the meerkat, which we

have over there. I worked closely with a scientist and she recommended

we put the smell of the meerkat group with a film onto the spy

meerkat. I said good idea, what is involved? And they said you are

going to have to put to all over. It was a magic moment because he smelt

like part of the team and he was trusted to babysit the answers. --

we had to put faeces all over the spy meerkat.

for example the egret it was looking at elephants, wasn't it,

Did you see any characteristics that you just were not expecting?

Every time we deployed easily got reactions we were never expecting.

That was the beauty of the series. We were always went out to film

something specific. We had a baby langur monkey made

and it went out to film baby-sitting behaviour among these monkeys

because the mums give the babies But what ended up being most

extraordinary is that one of them picked up our spy monkey and then

dropped it and then They came around it as though it

was her own baby and the scientist that was there said this

is the behaviour that happens when a baby monkey dies

and they were doing it We wanted to uncover all this

incredible behaviour that people hadn't seen and make people

understand that they are just Yeah, and that is what we love

to see as well stop we can obviously Yeah, and that is what we

love to see as well. We can obviously look forward

to the series starting. There are going to be

four actual programmes and then the last one,

which is the fifth, looks behind the scenes and sees how we actually

got these incredible animals in among them and the disasters

that often unfurl! Thank you so much for

coming in with them all. That is on at 8pm on BBC One and the

guys behind the camera were picking up the baroque controls!

Ian Fergusson has that all-important weather forecast.

What is happening at the moment is forecasters in the Met office are

breathing a sigh of relief because a quite convert catered forecast

scenario has worked out as planned. Let me take you through -- because a

quite complicated forecast. We saw snow as expected. As you saw earlier

in the programme, further out into parts of Wiltshire, similar picture.

Tomorrow, the threat of snow will be isolated, in the shape of showers.

More particularly across western Somerset as the day wears on.

Elsewhere the underpinning is it will be a notably cold day and that

will be exacerbated by a strong wind but otherwise a dry and sunny day.

Our attention now turns to the threat of eyes. Whether you have had

rain, sleet or snow, as all of that cleared eastward, we do have this

risk of seeing the icy stretches developing on untreated surfaces. As

we head through the next 12 hours or so you can see the snow exiting out

of the London, South East area and for us you will see signs of

disturbances running in from the north-west, which could usher in

some snow showers across some parts of our area as we run through the

night and at times into tomorrow. For the rest of this evening it will

be a case of watching out for is no showers. Some of those gathering to

the north-west. More particularly, Exmoor will be adding to the threat

of icy stretches on road, as they will elsewhere. Most areas will be

driver stop temperatures down to freezing, maybe a degree above. Road

temperatures a good deal below that. As we head into tomorrow there could

be a threat of snow showers across the likes of the Cotswolds. A bit of

uncertainty first light. Elsewhere a generally dry picture barring the

chance of a few showers at times out towards the West. You will notice

those wind speeds that have been around there. If you are exposed to

that wind, it will feel bitterly cold. Do not take those temperatures

you see there as face value. It is cold but with the added wind chill

it will feel colder. In the weekend we get a push and shove between mild

Atlantic air trying to get in from the West. It will ultimately win on

Sunday but there are signs that next week cold air will start to flood

back in from the east. It is difficult because so many

people were hoping it wouldn't snow but there were definitely those who

were looking out the window wondering. You! Yes! It did so a

little bit. Heading back to Stroud them at the snow. See you at 10pm,

goodbye.