22/07/2011 South East Today

Welcome to South East Today, I'm John Young. And I'm Natalie Graham.

Tonight's top stories: Threatened with jail - the man who advertised

a beach party on Facebook and found himself faced with up to 5,000

guests. That the council seem to think I am organising an event like

Fatboy Slim. There will not be hundreds of thousands of people. I

haven't got a stage set up. family at war: the three sisters

contesting their father's will after he married a woman three days

before he died. Also in tonight's programme: The windfarm windfall,

but how much will our communities see of the millions earmarked for

coastal towns? Meet the family - nine kids so far,

and twins on the way. The condoned go asking the monks at

the monastery any stupid questions, because they cannot talk to you.

Remembering Hattie Jacques and friends at the house where she was

Good evening. A Sussex care worker who invited a handful of friends to

a picnic on the beach to mark Brighton's Gay Pride celebrations

has been forced to call it off, after receiving a noise-abatement

order threatening him with jail. Wayne Jones used the social

networking site Facebook to send out invitations to his free event

to protest at the introduction of charges for next month's official

Pride party. But within weeks the numbers had spiralled out of

control, with thousands saying they were planning to attend. Chrissie

Reidy has more. Angry that this year's Gay pride was charging

�17.50 to gain entrance to the park for the day, Wayne Jones decided to

use Facebook and organise a free picnic or his friends on the beach

as an alternative. Yet, out of the blue, he was served with a noise

abatement order from Brighton and Hove Council say he could be fined

and even jailed for organising what they describe as an illegal rave.

Originally what we had planned was for 15 or 20 of us to go through to

the beach, have some picnic food and a few drinks, watch the parade,

and just relax for the day and enjoy ourselves. The council seem

to think that I am organising an event like Fatboy Slim. There is

not going to be hundreds of thousands of people coming down,

having got a stage set up. I haven't got loud music -- loud

music and life bans. I am not a famous person! Initially he not --

invited 20 friends. Then friends invited more friends and soon 2,500

people confirmed they were attending. Within a couple of

months it snowballed to 8,000. Been 2002, the police and council were

criticised when 250,000 people descended on Brighton's beach for a

Fatboy Slim concert. This year with Preston Park being at fenced-off

and licensed for only 52,000 there are concerns that revellers could

descend on the beach and end up being turned away. I think he has

no -- hit a nerve, and that is why we are getting such a prickly

response from the council and a less prickly response from the

police. I think the police have been heavy handed and the council

have been this advice. I think it is a crass way of trying to drive

people up to pay for their tickets at Preston Park. We have been

having people telling us that since November they would have picnics on

the beach. Would you say the council have screwed it up? Yes, I

think they have, actually. Concerned he would face a 20,000

pound fine, Wayne felt he had no choice but to close down the page

and has cancelled the event. Brighton and Hove council turned

down a request foreign interview, but said the people turning up for

a picnic on the beach would not be stopped from doing so, we have a

responsibility to make sure people can have fun in a safe environment.

Three sisters have gone to the High Court to contest their father's

will, after he left his entire four million pound fortune to his wife

in a case described by the judge as involving a family "at war with

itself. George Wharton got married just three days before his death at

the age of 78. His daughters claim there was "undue influence" when

his will was filed, so it should be ruled invalid. Sara Smith joins us

live from the High Court. Why did Mr Wharton get married when he was

so near to death? George Wharton's new wife had been his partner for

more than 30 years and she was known to many people as Mrs Wharton.

She had helped him build up the business, the leisure business,

that they ran together on the Isle of Sheppey. She said they had a

pact to marry if one of them got terminally ill, so when he was in

the last stage of cancer that is what they did. It on the same day,

three days before he died, he wrote a new will leaving everything to

her. What have Mr Wharton's daughters said today? By say their

father would have wanted to include them in the will but he was too ill

to have made the new will in the days before he died and that he was

pressured into it by Mrs Wharton. The risk in a family feud like this

is that it ends up destroying the one thing at the centre of it.

These family disputes over somebody's will cost a great deal

of money, and that comes out of the estate. If these disputes are for

to right the way through the courts, whichever party wins may find that

at the end of the day there is very little money left for anybody.

case continues next week and there may be a judgment as early as next

Friday. In a moment: Top brass on the Kent

coast. One of America's most famous It could be a wind farm windfall,

with the Government launching plans for a multi-million pound annual

investment in our coastal communities in Thanet today. The

Crown Estate, which owns the coastline, earns over �40 million a

year from offshore wind farms and other marine projects, and more

than half of that money is now being made available. But there's

no guarantee any of it will come to the South East, as our Environment

Correspondent, Yvette Austin Lucrative generators of electricity.

Anybody building a wind farm around the UK has to pay the owners of the

sea bed beneath them. Crown Estates, historically the royal family, but

now the Treasury. They are incredible beasts, these things.

Today the economic Secretary saw the money generating machines for

herself and announced some of the cash would be designated for

coastal communities. We are making sure some of the revenues we have

got from offshore wind farms and other marine activities will

support coastal communities and their economic development, whether

it is skills, investing in the local economy, they will hopefully

create more jobs. The amount of money that the Crown Estates earned

from the wind farms is determined by the amount of electricity

generated. And as the number of wind farms increases, so will the

Revenue. Will we are subsidising the building of the wind farms, but

at least some of the money will be going back to coastal communities.

Hopeful recipients might be people like Steve, who have spent �28,000

on a boat to get a job with the wind farm that failed, and now runs

fishing trips. I think of �23 million coming in, shared across

the whole they're, that would not go far around the country. But if

they can build a swimming pool here, that is where the money should go.

Young people today in Ramsgate were hopeful. It does need a lot of help

around here. Every penny is going to count, really. It is quite good

news. He is all right, but we probably won't see no. It would

make a difference if it was put into the buildings or they put it

in two jobs and more jobs for people. Definitely that would make

a difference. The environment charities education and health are

all areas which could get support. So what is the picture when it

comes to investment in offshore wind farms here in the South East?

Well, we're at the forefront of the UK industry, with 30 turbines at

the Kentish Flats development off Whitstable, and 100 turbines at

Britain's biggest offshore windfarm off Thanet. But that development

will be dwarfed by the London Array, which will see 175 turbines being

built in the Thames Estuary. One Kent MP says today's announcement

will build on the economic benefits of renewable energy. We have

benefited from the wind farms. There has been a lot of money

coming into the economy, even if they weren't directly employed jobs.

Now I feel that we are in an excellent place with Thanet

collection -- College To really pull through with the skills and

really become a south-east Hub for the sector. And its not exactly

surprising that a Thanet MP would welcome the prospect of further

government funding, as it's one of the most deprived parts of the

country. The unemployment rate in Thanet is 5.5%. That's more than

double the South East average of 2.5%. And only 39% of new

businesses created in the area manage to survive after five years.

Let's speak to our Environment Correspondent, Yvette Austin, who

is live in Margate this evening. Yvette, how much of an impact is

this new money likely to have, assuming we get any that is? There

is no guarantee, and the �23 million has to be divided across

the whole of the UK. England will get a bigger share, when you

remember that the Turner contemporary gallery in Margate

cost �17 million alone it to build up then you may think that �23

million won't go very far. The individual projects and schemes

will have to bid for the cash in the style of the lottery, a method

there has been successful for some people in the past, but some people

are going to be making a good case for their cash also of -- for their

cash. The Coastal Communities Fund will open for business next April,

and the government says details of how to apply will be announced soon.

A 40-year-old man has been jailed for six years after admitting

causing death by dangerous driving. Jonathan Wenham, who's from

Brighton, knew he was above the drink-drive limit when he crashed

his BMW into a tree in the city, killing one of his passengers,

Nicholas Messenger, from London. A soldier who was awarded the

Victoria Cross after rescuing injured comrades under fire in Iraq

has now received an honorary degree from Sussex University. Lance

Corporal Johnson Beharry received his degree today from the

university's Chancellor, the actor Sanjeev Bhaskar, at a ceremony in

Brighton. The father of a man from Kent who's

in intensive care after a motorbike crash in Indonesia says he fears

his son will die, unless he's moved to a better hospital. Richard

Plummer, who's from Maidstone, has no travel insurance and his family

is facing a bill of up to �100,000 to bring him home. His father's

flown to his bedside in Bali, but says he's been shocked by the lack

of equipment and poor hygiene at the hospital.

One of America's most famous military leaders was at Dover

Castle today, on a social visit to a British soldier who's become a

good friend. General David Petraeus has just stepped down as the US

commander in charge of international forces in Afghanistan.

He'd previously spent 20 months leading the military campaign in

Iraq and his next job will be running the Central Intelligence

Agency, the American secret service. Robin Gibson met him this afternoon.

The American general and the British Brigadier, strolling in the

grounds of Dover Castle. A special relationship. He is the former

commander in Afghanistan, the new director of the CIA, and some say

he could run for president. He has come here to see a friend and

colleague, Brigadier Simon will see, his regional commander who lives in

Dover Castle. He has known and work with the general for years through

the Pentagon, Baghdad and elsewhere. I should think you do not get many

social days out. This is the first one I've had in a long time. I'll

be going to the United States to be reunited with family and preparing

for the next chapter in life. have the Stars and Stripes flying

here. Isn't that something? It's really wonderful. I've never seen

it before. Yes, thank you for everything, Simon. It may be a

social call but they have not scrimp on the bomb and circumstance.

The Stars and Stripes flying over the tower. And in the garden before

lunch the ubiquitous Scottish pipers. I sent an e-mail and got a

response within five minutes. He was on an aircraft over the

Atlantic going for his testimony to be the new chief of the CA. He said

he would love to come over and 22nd July would work. Amazingly due was

not the only four-star American general of the castle today.

General Barry McCaffrey was in the grounds. He could not resist saying

hello. You are the man who shouted out, hello Dave. None of us could

do that. But you know him well. has been one of the most brilliant

and capable people in our military for years. The day the general came

to lunch. A social call that will live in the memory for a long time

A Sussex care worker who invited a handful of friends to a picnic on

the beach to mark Brighton's Gay Pride celebrations has called it

off, after receiving a noise- abatement order threatening him

with jail. Waiyne Jones used Facebook to send

out invitations to his party, and within weeks 8,000 people said they

were planning to attend. Also in tonight's programme: The

carry on in Kent today to commemorate Hattie Jacques in her

home town. And a weekend wonder all weekend thunder? And what about

next week? Join me later for the She already has nine children - and

is due to have twins in the autumn - so Tania Sullivan, a mother from

Kent, is well qualified to set up a website to share her tips on coping

with the challenges of family life. Tania and her husband Michael, from

Rochester, have two teenagers who've already flown the nest, but

seven of their children are still cared for and schooled at home.

Every week they get through 21 loaves of bread, 56 pints of milk

and some 35 loads of washing - but they say they wouldn't have it any

other way. Lynda Hardy's been to meet them for tonight's Special

Report. Meet the Sullivans: Dad Mike and two-year-old Oliver, Mum

Tania and 10-month old Joseph, then 11-year old Caitlin, eight-year-old

Harry, six-year-old Eddie, then Sid who's five and Paddy who's four.

Just having breakfast in this house is quite an operation. Was any of

this plan? Did you envisage such a large family? A Aydin think so, but

it has been gradual. -- I didn't think so. You have one trial at a

time and adapt slightly, and then they fit in with the routine -- one

child. Tania's now writing a blog about life in their big and growing

family. Larger than average families are not very much seen, so

there's a lot of curiosity and questions about the large families,

just the logistics and the howls and Wise. People automatically

assume it is much harder than it actually is. After breakfast the

meal table becomes a large desk as the children are home schooled.

is quite fun, because you have lots of activity going on, whether we

are at home or outside doing something. It's always hectic.

works full time and the family say they're careful with budgeting,

buying clothes in sales and baking their own bread and cakes. So with

twins on the way in November, will that be it for the family? We never

know. Obviously the older ones are getting bigger, so they hope --

will power. We just have to wait and see. There is plenty of room it

yet. Going out takes time, as everyone gets strapped into the van.

Today they enjoyed themselves at a wild animal park. One large family,

It was the last day of term for many schools today, but one 11-

year-old from Crawley won't be spending the summer on his X-box or

out with his mates in the park. Instead, Charlie Doherty's cycling

from Brighton to Scotland, raising thousands of pounds for charity.

It's not the first time we've introduced you to Charlie. He

joined us live here in this studio in January, and told us how he's

given away all his birthday and Christmas money every year since he

was four. And this afternoon I met up with him, for our Story Update.

Getting ready for a bike ride with his mum, but this is no ordinary

bike ride. There's a lot to carry on this one - tents, food, water -

and fundraising kit, too, for Mary's Meals, a charity that

provides school meals for children in East Africa. The three and a

half week's worth of directions alone add to the load. Still,

Charlie's got the wheels for it. makes it really solid and easy to

start. They can lock and unlock. And if the face on the right rings

a bell, that's because back in January we told you about his

basketball birthday party, raising money for the same cause. This boy

has been handing over his birthday money to charity as long as he can

remember. Why does he do it? Because there are starving children

all over the world, and sometimes I think that when I think about it,

why do we have all of this? Like this bike, even, when some people

have nothing and they cannot even afford food, drink or anything. I

just can't get it, how we live like this and they live like that. I

think it's unfair. He has persuaded his school chums it is unfair to.

What do they think of the charities chosen? Very good. It is amazing

that he is doing it all. It sounds really hard. What I think is so

amazing is that he has arranged a whole thing himself, and I think

that's incredible for a boy of his age, to do that. I think it is

brilliant. He came up with the idea and made it happen. That is Charlie

through and through. And his mother's not going to argue with

that. You get the impression, she doesn't like to argue with him.

mums I was saying I wouldn't to attend the journey. I don't know

how far we will get, but we have to give it a try, because he says we

are not even trying. So there we go, Charlie in the lead, and mum

following behind. You get the sense we have not heard the last and this

young fundraiser. He is an inspiring young man. You

may have noticed he is a Sea gulls fan. He has given up tickets to the

first match there. And if you want to contribute to

Charlie's fundraising efforts, we've put a link on our Facebook

site: facebook.com/bbcsoutheasttoday.

His father was one of the leading lights of British Formula One. And

now Martin Brundle's son Alex is hoping to follow in his famous

footsteps. The 20-year-old is a rising star on the Formula Two

circuit and hoping success at Brands Hatch in Kent this weekend

could get him a shot at F1. Neil Bell has the details. It's

difficult to imagine Alex Brundle doing anything else but motor

racing. He may only be 20 but he's already a veteran having made his

go kart racing debut aged just eight. But he is well aware he has

big boots to fill. His father Martin was one of the worlds top

drivers in the 80's and 90's winning Le Mans and the world

sportscar championship as well as driving in over 160 grand prix.

There is a lot of expectation on your shoulders from a young age,

which I found difficult. But he was able to help me out side of the car,

but in the car you have to find your own way. Alex will be racing

at Brands Hatch this weekend in the highly competitive Formula 2

Championship. This season's winner will get a test drive for the

Williams Formula One team. It is a fantastic platform and it teaches

the drivers a lot. And the champion gets a Formula One test, and there

is no better way to get on to the grid than getting yourself in one

of the cars. Turning into the corner, picking up the throttle,

and I have to get it on hard and early. While Alex is hurtling

around the track, his dad will be striding through the pit lane in

Germany there will be keeping close tabs on his son's progress. He is

critical. If I won the race from pole position with the fastest lap,

he would criticise how I sprayed the champagne, but I need that. It

is an endurance exercise and you need encouragement. There will be

thousands cheering on the winner this weekend, but it Alex makes it

to Formula One, his dad will broadcast his exploits to millions.

She was the strict matron who tried to keep the likes of Barbara

Windsor and Kenneth Williams in line. Who was she? The Carry On

actress Hattie Jacques, of course. Widely loved in the series, but

it's not widely known that she was born in Sandgate, near Folkestone.

It's a secret no more, though, as Claudia Sermbezis explains, she's

earned a blue plaque. Good evening, Miss Haggard. Carry

It was Hattie Jacques quintessential performance which

cemented the image of the no- nonsense matron with a gleam in her

eye. Ah, Matron, what now? sorry to trouble you, doctor, but

I've been thinking about this camping trip. She was born

Josephine Edwina jakes in this house in 1922. The plaque is very

important to us, and someone like Hattie Jacques is a national

treasure, but I think she was only there for a couple of years and

then moved to another house in Sandgate. This afternoon to

celebrate the plaque and Hattie Jacques's live, a tea party was

thrown. How would Godfry became friends with the producer of the

Carry On films and got to know Hattie at cast parties. She was fun,

she really was. I think she was always very much like she was on

stage. Four of fun, always enjoyed life -- full of fun. We just really

enjoyed meeting her in those days. Matron, this is the men's! Galway,

Dr Sopor. Hattie Jacques appeared in 14 Carry On films from 1958

until 1974 and was close friends with her co-stars, particularly

Joan Sims and Kenneth Williams. Doctor, I must confess I am not an

expert in these matters... In Carry On Cabby, that was her favourite,

in 1963, she was given a more romantic role, and that was her

favourite film of the whole series. Home again, home again. She also

had a long professional partnership with Eric Sykes and starred in his

long-running sitcom in the 1970s. This is the third plaque to

commemorate her life, the other at her former home in at Earl's Court

She was a legend, and now to a legend who carries on whatever the

This little globe is being shoved out the way, and about time too. We

do have some shower power tonight. The showers are just gathering to

the North West at the moment, and as you can see, they are creeping

towards us, and in the next couple of hours they will make their way

into the north-west of the region and then spread elsewhere. They are

showery, so I mean some places will not see anything at all, but my

guess is how they are developing at the moment means we will see

showers after dark tonight. After about 9:00pm, until the early hours,

most of us will see a few showers with temperatures getting down to

11 or 12 degrees. Into tomorrow morning it will look like it starts

as a horrible weekend, but the showers move away quickly and by

10am the last of the showers will have gone, maybe just a little one

poking in later on. Most places will be dry after that with sunny

spells, although maybe not as much sun as we have seen today. In the

east of Kent, they have not fared quite so well because of the change

of direction of the winds, and a strong north-westerly means cooler

temperatures will come in around the East Kent Coast line, but other

than that it shouldn't be too bad a day. The good news starts after

that. Although the winds will get stronger into Sunday it looks as

though the cloud will be moving away and the weather front gets

close, but no cigar. It moves away and for the rest of Sunday it is

beautiful and sunny, although the north-westerly wind will be noticed

along the north Kent coast. We will be judging the annual sandcastle

competition in Folkestone, and you can turn up at 11:00am and enter.

You have two and a half hours to create your masterpiece. It will be

sunny, but breezy, and that is true across the whole of East Kent on

Sunday, but after that it doesn't go downhill for the working week.

If anything the sunshine increases and the temperature, at last, gets