29/05/2017 Points West

Good evening from Points West.

New figures show the average cost of a home in the West

has risen to ten times the region's average income.

The figures have brought renewed attention to what many

are calling a housing crisis.

Our business correspondent Dave Harvey's been looking at how

the different political parties are proposing to tackle it.

If you're starting out as a young person, very expensive.

After years on the council waiting list in Bristol,

Carly and her young son Vinny have just moved into a home

they can afford.

They rent it from a housing association, after the council

approved their application.

Carly knows she's one of the lucky ones - 14,000

others are still waiting.

This is why you have got young people going

on the council register.

Then there are umpteen thousands of people on there as well.

As a country we are suffering from a housing crisis.

And that is the one thing everyone agrees on.

We need to build more homes, and make them cheaper.

The only way of tempering the price rising within the housing

market is to get a bigger supply of housing.

In Tetbury, they're doing just that.

Over 900 new homes have gone up.

All the parties want to build a lot more.

In fact, both Labour and the Conservatives

have picked the same number - 200,000.

It will be a challenge.

The Conservatives made the same pledge two years ago,

and last year fell short by 40,000 homes.

And even if they are built - what about those prices?

In Tetbury, as everywhere now, a third of these new homes

are designated "affordable".

Sold to housing associations, rented out at 80% of the market price.

The trouble is, it's 80% of a high figure.

And therefore 80% of that is still unaffordable.

And it becomes a vicious circle, that you get older, wealthier people

taking up the limited properties that there are and the whole thing

becomes totally unbalanced.

Price absolutely matters.

And one way that can happen is by Government providing us

with grants to build affordable housing, so every pound

they give us, we put ?6 of our own resources into that.

And as a result of that, we create low-cost homeownership, or we create

an affordable rented property.

And that's exactly what they're doing here in Weston,

where they are putting the finishing touches to some 14 new homes.

All of them specifically for people on low incomes.

And that is where the parties disagree.

Labour say half of all their new homes - 100,000 -

will be built by councils or housing assoiciations.

The Conservatives say they will encourage councils

to build more new homes, but most of those 200,000 new homes

will come from private developers.

A 27-year-old man has been jailed for attacking a man

with a machete in Bristol.

It happened on Sturminster Road in Stockwood last August.

The 36-year-old victim suffered serious head and arm injuries.

Martin Grant from Birmingham, who pleaded guilty to grievous

bodily harm, was jailed for 11 years and three months at

Bristol Crown Court.

The driver of a car that was involved in a crash

in Cheltenham has been arrested by police after running

away from the scene.

At 4:15pm this afternoon, a dark grey Renault Megane went

the wrong way down Fairview Road.

It went past a no entry sign and hit two vehicles.

The driver was eventually found almost three hours later.

There are no reports of injuries.

Thousands of grapevines are being planted in the West

as growers take advantage of a boom in English wine.

An estimated one million vines have been planted

across the country this year.

Pam Caulfield reports from Wiltshire.

This vineyard is just five weeks old.

It's a brand new venture for a family who've farmed this land

for the last century.

We are lucky on a farm that the soil is free draining

and we are about 150 feet above sea level which is ideal.

And we have got a plot here that's very sunny all day

as well, so hopefully this is the right conditions.

And it has got a slope on the field that the frost will run off of.

It's a big investment - with 9,000 vines here.

A special planting team was brought in from Germany,

but they're not the only ones to diversifying into wine.

One million vines have been planted across England this year.

That is the equivalent of 100 plots like this.

So in a few years' time, we can expect to see many more

bottles of English wine on our shelves.

So why are people getting a taste for it?

There are now more varieties of English wine than ever before.

And the current exchange rate is also making it more affordable.

Export is a growing aspect of what we do into North America,

into the Far East and we are certainly seeing many vineyards

winning contracts right across the world and that is really

exciting for us.

But it can be a risky business - earlier this spring there

was an unprecedented frost.

First time in 16 years we have ever had that problem,

and it didn't affect us in the way that I thought it might have.

Nothing keeps a good English vine down.

It takes at least three years to go from seed to shelf,

but to create these award-winning Wiltshire wines, it's

been a worthwhile wait.

From wine to cheese, and a west country soldier's become

a record-equalling champion cheese-chaser after running

and tumbling his way to victory down Cooper's hill in Gloucestershire.

Chris Anderson's in the infantry with One Rifles and today joined

dozens taking part in one of the West Country's stranger

bank holiday traditions.

Scott Ellis reports.

APPLAUSE.

Before the annual event on Cooper's Hill -

a minute's applause in tribute to those killed or injured

in Manchester, after which the games began.

Gravity, a steep slippery slope and an 8lb double Gloucester getting

the better of everyone.

Including - in the white t-shirt - TV presenter Ben Fogle.

Do you know what, I've wanted to do this for probably the best

part of a decade now.

When I was filming things like this for TV, I was never allowed to,

health and safety, so I have come along on my own today and I did it,

I have done that now and, yes, I can tick that one off.

The origins of this cheese-rolling tradition are possibly pagan

or linked to grazing rights.

What's certain is the internet has turned a village event into

an international bucketlist must.

I saw this on the news ten years ago and thought,

"That looks so stupid, I have to do it."

Once you get up to the top so scary.

It was really cool.

In my town, we run with bulls in the street,

so it's quite similar.

That's why I came, it's another stupid race!

What's more dangerous, cheese rolling or bull riding?

Cheese, I think, yes!

You can tell from our faces that it was mainly just mud.

It was a lot slippery.

Injuries were few and minor.

The local rugby team acting as a safety net.

It was a bit like a rugby match.

They are running a bit quicker than in a rugby game.

They'd go all the way to Brockworth if we didn't stop them.

Despite an international field, honours went to Brockworth

local Chris Anderson.

The soldier has now won 20 overall, to equal the cheese rolling record.

One more next year and then we'll see, maybe one each

year after, if I can.

I'm 30 next year, so I'm not getting any younger.

I'm 30 next year, so I'm not getting any younger.

I'm 30 next year, so I'm not getting any younger.

Let's take a look at the weather for the coming week.

Here's Alexis Green with the forecast.

Good evening.

The weather for the week ahead is fairly mixed.

We'll have some lovely, dry, sunny days and feeling

warm in the sunshine, but there's the chance of rain

and it will turn fresher later on.

Tonight they will be a fair amount of cloud with lows of eight to nine

Celsius in the countryside, 11 to 12 Celsius in built-up areas.

A good deal of sunshine tomorrow, but the risk of a scattered shower.

The showers will be mainly late.

Temperatures of 19, possibly 20 Celsius.

Tomorrow night, a few clear spells and the risk of an odd,

isolated shower and there may be low cloud and mist in the early hours

of Wednesday morning.

Lows tomorrow night of nine to 10 Celsius.

Wednesday, a lot of dry weather, sunshine and a potential high of 21

Celsius, maybe 22 in some parts.

We're keeping an eye on this weather front,

which moves through later on during Thursday, giving some

rain through Friday.

The rest of the weekend will be fresher with some sunshine.

And that's all from Points West on this Bank Holiday Monday,

we're back with more news tomorrow, but for now, from me

and all the team, goodnight.