:00:12. > :00:18.A new campaign to engage thousands of people
:00:19. > :00:28.It might have been mis-sold until now but a lot of people are going to
:00:29. > :00:29.be seeing what it can do for them. The plans for a green business
:00:30. > :00:41.park which are making And rain won't be of any concern to
:00:42. > :00:46.us but cloud cover could be, details at the end of the programme.
:00:47. > :00:49.There's a big push to tell 900,000 people in the West
:00:50. > :00:51.that they're about to get a new leader.
:00:52. > :00:53.Today it was confirmed that six candidates will be on the ballot
:00:54. > :00:56.paper for the so-called metro mayor, covering Bristol, South
:00:57. > :00:57.Gloucestershire and Bath and North East Somerset.
:00:58. > :00:59.But getting voters interested could be the challenge.
:01:00. > :01:05.Here's our political editor, Paul Barltrop.
:01:06. > :01:07.The government is pumping money into publicising the contest,
:01:08. > :01:10.from billboards on the streets, to adverts on social media -
:01:11. > :01:13.though that's sparked plenty of critical comments.
:01:14. > :01:18.The latest is a video with something of a local flavour:
:01:19. > :01:29.We may not always see eye to eye but we care
:01:30. > :01:31.about where we live and we
:01:32. > :01:33.need to make a living and get around.
:01:34. > :01:36.These things excite us all which is why we are acting on the
:01:37. > :01:51.All this excitement, 900,000 people will come under the new Mayor.
:01:52. > :01:52.Especially when even the name has proved difficult.
:01:53. > :01:54.The government don't use the term 'metromayor'.
:01:55. > :01:57.They prefer to talk about a 'mayor', but different to the elected mayor
:01:58. > :02:01.The new person will take charge of the snappily-titled West
:02:02. > :02:04.That's been abbreviated to WECA, and it's already been
:02:05. > :02:06.holding meetings involving the leaders from the three
:02:07. > :02:10.But, yet again, the name's proving a thorny issue!
:02:11. > :02:20.It is the West of England combined authority.
:02:21. > :02:23.I want it to be called the west of England combined authority
:02:24. > :02:25.and we will have a West of England combined authority Mayor.
:02:26. > :02:27.And there's plenty of that on their own video,
:02:28. > :02:33.put out to encourage people to vote on May the 4th.
:02:34. > :02:36.Well, you've been letting us all know your feelings about the mayor.
:02:37. > :02:43.Quite a few of you have been saying there's no need for a mayor.
:02:44. > :02:47.Glyn says he won't vote and wonders how many others feel that way.
:02:48. > :02:49.Ed Clarke is from the independent think
:02:50. > :02:51.tank Centre for Cities, which has been campaigning
:02:52. > :02:57.I asked him earlier if he understood the frustrations.
:02:58. > :02:59.It's an interesting case and this is part
:03:00. > :03:01.of the general climate when it
:03:02. > :03:06.comes to how people consider politicians at the moment.
:03:07. > :03:11.What we need to be clear about is the fact
:03:12. > :03:17.that it doesn't come with a whole stretched
:03:18. > :03:23.It's quite a slimline office and they are not going to come with
:03:24. > :03:26.It's essentially about making decisions
:03:27. > :03:28.that are being made in that place better,
:03:29. > :03:29.so making decisions across
:03:30. > :03:32.Regardless of decisions made, it is another level
:03:33. > :03:35.of bureaucracy especially at a time when councils are making cuts.
:03:36. > :03:41.I think it is because it helps with those things.
:03:42. > :03:44.There is the capacity for savings and also the capacity to do things
:03:45. > :03:47.better, so when we are making planning for housing and transport
:03:48. > :03:52.You think that is better than preserving
:03:53. > :03:58.I don't think it is an either-or, so essential
:03:59. > :04:05.services will continue to be delivered but it is a way of
:04:06. > :04:07.think it is an improvement because
:04:08. > :04:09.you can make decisions which really matter
:04:10. > :04:13.geography of the area they live and work their lives in, so when you're
:04:14. > :04:16.commuting you don't think about what local
:04:17. > :04:22.authority you are in, but
:04:23. > :04:25.where you live, and that is all about transport and housing and
:04:26. > :04:28.these things need to be planned for across the whole city region.
:04:29. > :04:30.Do you think it has been badly sold and
:04:31. > :04:38.marketed and that is why people are not interested?
:04:39. > :04:41.A whole load of things are going on in politics which
:04:42. > :04:48.means people are rather sceptical more broadly.
:04:49. > :04:51.To an extent we could say there isn't a whole load of
:04:52. > :04:54.confidence for the Metro Mayor but in a year's time when we see these
:04:55. > :04:57.things coming through and the quick things
:04:58. > :05:00.they can do, like bringing in
:05:01. > :05:03.an effective travel card which means you can travel across the city
:05:04. > :05:06.region on one smart card ticket, things like that will be important,
:05:07. > :05:10.and also enacting a plan for housing so people can see how this is going
:05:11. > :05:14.to be achieved rather than at the moment which is rather
:05:15. > :05:16.ad hoc, so it may have been mis-sold up until now
:05:17. > :05:21.but a lot of people will be seeing next year
:05:22. > :05:25.but a lot of people will be seeing next year what a mayor can do for
:05:26. > :05:30.It will be the most directly visible leader of the city region
:05:31. > :05:35.they will have had so I think this can be a real benefit.
:05:36. > :05:39.Centre for Cities will be part of our debate on the new mayor.
:05:40. > :05:42.It is on the 19th of April and if you'd like to take part
:05:43. > :05:45.or send a question to the candidates let us know at:
:05:46. > :05:53.This is the huge green technology development which could be built
:05:54. > :05:57.It was dreamt up by Dale Vice, the founder of the green energy
:05:58. > :06:00.It includes offices, a nature reserve, and a brand
:06:01. > :06:12.Here's our Gloucestershire reporter, Steve Knibbs.
:06:13. > :06:16.These are ambitious plans - a green science and technology
:06:17. > :06:18.business park on one side - which Ecotricity claims
:06:19. > :06:22.will attract up to 4,000 jobs, and on the other side a high tech
:06:23. > :06:24.sporting facility with a new 10,000 seat Forest Green Rovers
:06:25. > :06:28.And everything pushing the boundaries of sustainability.
:06:29. > :06:41.Somebody asked the question, would we adhere to
:06:42. > :06:44.green standards and the answer is we want to do better than that, so our
:06:45. > :06:47.buildings will be the most sustainable buildings that have been
:06:48. > :06:49.Today, companies interested in building
:06:50. > :06:51.and being part of the ecopark quizzed Dale Vince
:06:52. > :06:54.A vision of tapping into and promoting the green
:06:55. > :07:01.When you put like-minded businesses like this together, they start
:07:02. > :07:05.sparking ideas and opportunities to work with each other and spin of new
:07:06. > :07:07.businesses, and that helps grow the sustainable economy and also
:07:08. > :07:09.local services and the economy to support
:07:10. > :07:15.Then they build up opportunities to move abroad.
:07:16. > :07:17.But with a project this size come concerns -
:07:18. > :07:20.many locals in Eastington say junction 13 - the gateway to Stroud
:07:21. > :07:26.Ecotricity say they'll fix this with a new dual carriageway
:07:27. > :07:29.But also the ecopark isn't part of Stroud's recently
:07:30. > :07:31.published local plan - and those opposing the park say
:07:32. > :07:38.there's just no clearly identified need for it.
:07:39. > :07:41.We have very high employment in the local area, so the risk of a
:07:42. > :07:44.shortage means there is no requirement for extra jobs, and we
:07:45. > :07:53.need development space for all businesses in the near future.
:07:54. > :07:56.It is the biggest and most complex planning decision made here since
:07:57. > :08:03.It is still early days and hasn't even gone through planning yet.
:08:04. > :08:05.If it does go through planning it will
:08:06. > :08:09.be at least three years before the first ball is kicked in anger at
:08:10. > :08:11.what is hoped to be the most sustainable
:08:12. > :08:12.football stadium in the
:08:13. > :08:24.Workers at Mini in Swindon took part in a 24 hour walk out today,
:08:25. > :08:27.The Unite Union is protesting over plans to ditch the company's
:08:28. > :08:31.It claims some workers could lose up to ?160,000 in retirement income.
:08:32. > :08:35.The parent company, BMW says it has to act now to secure the long term
:08:36. > :08:49.A young girl who is being treated for leukaemia for the second time
:08:50. > :08:52.has been praised for thinking of others during her
:08:53. > :08:54.13-year-old Tatiana has spent the last month
:08:55. > :09:01.She decided to use her time to raise money for a charity
:09:02. > :09:03.which supplies Lego to hospitals, so other children have
:09:04. > :09:25.think it is nice to be helping think it is nice to be helping
:09:26. > :09:27.others and making a change. To somebody's life.
:09:28. > :09:32.Today her dad had his beard shaved off so he could help
:09:33. > :09:42.Before I hand you to Ian, take a look at these pictures
:09:43. > :09:46.Taken by our cameraman Simon Graham near the second Severn crossing.
:09:47. > :10:07.These sunsets dictated by the cloud covered and for many of you very
:10:08. > :10:12.little of that for a fair part of the day. Tomorrow might well be a
:10:13. > :10:15.different story with the computer models struggling with cloud amounts
:10:16. > :10:24.and I suspect tomorrow will be more of the same so take it with some
:10:25. > :10:28.caution. There will be variation. For the rest of tonight a fair
:10:29. > :10:34.amount of cloud with the temperature nowhere near as chilly as last night
:10:35. > :10:38.around 6-8. Tomorrow it is all going to be about how much cloud is across
:10:39. > :10:44.us to get the day under way and how much of that tends to break up and
:10:45. > :10:48.retreat. In coastal lady is the best chance of seeing sunshine and the
:10:49. > :10:56.more reliable sense of things. A mix of cloud cover and land, some of
:10:57. > :11:01.that fragile. A Friday right the way through and the temperature in the
:11:02. > :11:02.low teens. Looking beyond that, more of the same with
:11:03. > :11:07.weekend and we could see the low 20s by Sunday. Here is Darren with the
:11:08. > :11:14.national weather. Hello. The weather has been a big
:11:15. > :11:19.news in North America across the Masters in Augusta, for the first
:11:20. > :11:23.time the par-3 competition was abandoned, the storms moving away
:11:24. > :11:28.and sunshine windy for a while. Temperatures about 17, which is on a
:11:29. > :11:31.par with what we had today in the south-east of Wales, blue skies
:11:32. > :11:35.around here. That's from one of our weather watchers. More sunshine over
:11:36. > :11:39.the next few days. Little or no rain once again, it's looking dry and as
:11:40. > :11:42.we get more sunshine, especially in England and Wales this weekend, it
:11:43. > :11:47.will be warming up. In stark contrast with what we are seeing at
:11:48. > :11:53.the moment, dhil chilly out there where we have clearer skies across
:11:54. > :11:55.the West Country, eastern Scotland, north-east England.