11/11/2011 South East Today

Welcome to South East Today. A special programme today live from

the Turner Contemporary in Margate. Today, the Queen has been visiting

the area for the first time in 18 years. We are so excited, the

children are absolutely buzzing, they are so thrilled to see the

Queen. What a memorable day. Thousands turned out to greet Her

Majesty and she not only visited the new gallery but went walkabout

in the old town and also met veterans to mark Armistice Day.

Also in tonight's programme: Hundreds of sham marriages but so

far only nine illegal immigrants have been deported following the

Sussex fake wedding scandal. BELL TOLLS.

Remembering the fallen - the south- east marks Armistice Day.

Aiming for the World Championships - the 16-year-old go-karting ace

with ambitions to be the next Lewis Believing that welcome to a special

edition of BBC South East Today -- good evening and welcome. We are at

the Turner Contemporary Gallery, because the Queen has been visiting

here today, not just here, not just to see Rodin's The Kiss, but to see

this building as part of the huge regeneration plan that is actually

trying to change the face of the town of Margate and of Thanet. It

is a town that has had a big knock as the years have gone by but it is

starting to turn itself around. This visit by the Queen is seen by

many as a really significant day for the people of Margate.

After a chilly weight, the chauffeur-driven car arrived at the

Turner Contemporary, and the crowd went wild. Margate hasn't seen a

day like today for nearly 20 years and there is a real sense of

excitement and the next -- anticipation here, particularly

from the entire school of hadn't been in Broadstairs, he turned out

to see Her Majesty. That hadn't been. It is the best thing in the

world. A I hope we can see the Queen again. It is fantastic to see

the Queen here in Margate. They are so excited. We came down at 8

o'clock to set up our picture and we are so excited. The children are

buzzing, they are so thrilled to see the Queen, what a lovely

memorable day for them. Inside the gallery, the atmosphere was more

muted but no less enthusiastic. Politicians, dignitaries and

artists were amongst the invited guests as the Queen viewed the

gallery's exhibits and enjoyed a lunch of halibut and vegetables.

is such an change, beating the Queen in Margate, in a gallery that

couldn't have existed in my teens - - meeting the Queen. I am thrilled

for Margate, really. Before it opened, they had hoped the gallery

might attract 150,000 people in its first year. To date, more than

300,000 have visited. There is a real sense that what they Gallery

and other things that the town has, it has really moved on. What we

have is an international gallery, rooted very firmly in the locality.

To date's visit by the Queen crowns and opening here that has exceeded

the everyone's expectations -- today's.

I am joined by the director of the Turner Contemporary art gallery,

and I should imagine, it's usually exciting day for everybody. It has

been incredible, a lovely day for all of the visitors and especially

for the town and for the art gallery. How did you manage to

persuade the Queen to come here? invited Her Majesty and she

graciously accepted the invitation, so it is a huge moment and very

special when she said she was coming, and we have done lot of

planning and preparation round of this visit. What did she make of

it? It is contemporary art, items that are slightly off-the-wall as

well as the more usual to dimensional paintings. I think she

was -- I think she thoroughly enjoyed her visit, she spent time

with the students in the studio and she liked a lot of the work

upstairs, particularly the works by Turner, but the prince was

interested in the work behind a bit. The reason she came as well is

because this gallery is part of the whole plan to regenerate Margate.

Was that clear in the understanding of why she had come today?

really wanted to see what the economic impact and benefit of

having the gallery was on the town and she spent a lot of time out of

the town this morning before she got to the gallery. You are

confident it is having an impact? We have had 300,000 visitors, which

is issued accolade, since April this year, and we are hoping to get

thousands more -- a huge accolade. Admission is free and we believe we

are really transforming Margate. Thank you very much for being with

us. Regeneration really is the name of the game for Margate. It is a

town that as I said has suffered so serious knocks as the years have

gone by, not least when the package holiday destinations dried-up, with

the advent of cheap flights to holiday destinations and a decade

or so ago, it is fair to say Margate was a town that many people

saw as being on its uppers, but now things seem to be a little bit as -

- on the up, as Mark Norman reports. The crowds gathered opposite a few

of the new shops that have opened in the New Town since the Turner

Contemporary became a reality. A visible sign of the regeneration

that has happened here and that Margate has been striving for for

almost two decades. It is really exciting. It just means such a lot,

to put Margate back on the map, for them and for everybody else, to see

what has happened here over the last year or so. It just shows

there is a lot more that has happened here. There is always

negative stuff about Margate, and it is in the writ -- middle of a

regeneration, it is still going on, still a lot can happen, and people

who are negative that I they need to get on to do something to

improve it or shut up. Latest figures available from 2009 show

that day-trippers bring in �175 million a year to Thanet. 35 the

businesses have opened in Margate's old town in the last 18 months --

new businesses. But problems remain. 37% of retail space in the town

centre remains empty. Walk along the seafront from the turn and you

come to Arlington House. Empty shops, but plans for an 83,000

square foot Tescos superstore. Residents say it is too big and

went regenerate their end of town, it will ruin it. The small shops in

this area are all very, very concerned that Tesco is going to

Kevin and is going to wipe them out, because they undercut on prices --

going to come in. It could sound the death-knell for other shops in

the area. While Arlington House residents fight for their future,

the Council are also looking at wider projects. The visit from Her

Majesty the Queen has just actually completely topped all of the very

positive things that have happened over the past 18 months that I

think we are all very much begin forward to continuing with the

regeneration projects that are still on going. It has been an

exciting day for businesses in the heart of Margate. It is there up to

businesses across the town and the region to build on this mood of

optimism. Is there genuinely grounds for

optimism? Let's talk to some people who should know. Daniel Goldman,

you are a cafe owner in the town. You have been here since 2003.

That's right, I have been trading since the beginning of that year.

How much has it changed? Very much so. We have seen how the cafe

culture has taken off and with the investment in the Turner

Contemporary, the rise in visitors we have had. When you see something

like 35 new businesses in the old town opening up in 18 months, is

that competition of good news? is not competition, it is great for

business. It is good to see and the nice thing about the old town, they

are all independent traders and there is a really good feel to the

town and we are getting consistent visitors. Let's talk to sue Horton.

Your role is to encourage regeneration not just in Margate

but across Thanet. Are you genuinely seen a difference? Yes, I

think it can only be good for the whole area, not just Margate, the

whole of Thanet, because anyone who is investing in this area, it is

going to improve the business coming into the town, investment in

the can and Thanet as a whole. important is this building to

actually making a difference? If you are unemployed, or 18, 19 or 20,

don't feel you have prospects, does it make her any arts having

international art gallery on your doorstep -- does it make any odds?

I think so, it brings interesting to the area, people can focus on

something else, a new career that they not -- may not have thought

other the past. It is offering training opportunities to younger

people and giving them more opportunities generally, and

blinking back in with the trading opportunities that we delivered to

the unemployed -- linking back. Thank you very much. Today of

course is also the 11th of the 11th, it is Armistice Day, and the Queen,

when she was touring the old town and looking at some of the new

businesses, also to have tiger that scheduled to that -- talk to some

war veterans and here some of that -- and here some of their stories.

We have also been looking at how you have been marking your

Armistice Day across the south-east. Even though the Queen's arrival was

just moments away, at 11 o'clock, Margate fell silent.

BUGLE PLAYS. Then a chance for veterans to share

their memories with the Queen. Never in my lifetime did I ever

think I would meet the Queen. Ever. What did she say to you? She just

said that we did a good job and she is as proud of us as we are as

proud of her. Particularly be the 11th of the 11th of the 11th, how

can you top it? You can't. Acts of remembrance right across the south-

east. BELL TOLLS.

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 62 seconds

11th November is always an extremely poignant day for veterans,

a chance to look back. Here in Margate, in the future, they will

remember it as the day the Queen visited Margate.

Sorry, we seem to have lost the sound link to Margate. In the rest

of today's news: Only nine illegal immigrants have

been deported following the scandal of hundreds of sham marriages in

East Sussex, according to official figures. More than 370 weddings

conducted by the Reverend Alex Brown in St Leonards between July

2005 and July 2009 were thought to be bogus. Last year, the Border

Agency told us they'd be taking a tough stance with those who tried

to gain the right to live in Britain by taking part in a sham

marriage. Colin Campbell reports. They married to try and stay in

this country, and for many, it appears to be working. It seems

totally inadequate. I think the citizens of Hastings and the rest

of the country would normally expect the consequences to have

been felled by the people who committed this crime well before

now, so I will be urging the Border Agency to take more serious action

to get rid of the people who committed these crimes if possible.

The Border Agency reviewed 379 weddings conducted by Reverend Alex

Brown. Around 170 individuals, predominantly men, buried by the

priest, have had residency applications rejected -- married.

But only nine have been deported. Worryingly, 27 have vanished. Over

a year ago, the Border Agency sounded optimistic about tracking

down the offenders. We would have to be able to find most of them if

not all of them, but if you are in the country illegally and you know

that, sometimes people disappear and you have to work that bit

harder to find them. Most of the sham weddings involved east

European women marrying West African men who wanted to cheat the

system. This lady was paid �1,500 cash to marry a Nigerian who was

facing deportation. I think he wanted to documents. For working.

The UK Border Agency say the 170 people that got married here then

applied for residency, which has been rejected, still have the right

for appeal and that that action will be taken once procedures are

exhausted. 70 suspected bogus marriages have now been deemed to

genuine. Loving relationships, not marriages of convenience.

In other news, a man who was caught on CCTV swinging a cat around his

head has handed himself in to Margate police station. The

pictures coming up are quite upsetting. They were filmed in

Ramsgate last month. RSPCA officers are now questioning the man in

connection with the incident. An inquest has heard that a woman

from Kent died after her learner- driver daughter accidentally ran

her over when she had fallen to the floor during a lesson. 41-year-old

Susan Duke suffered serious head injuries in July when her 17-year-

old daughter Lauren Duke reversed over her in a car park in Cuxton.

She was taken to hospital but died two days later.

Witnesses to come forward on the A new smartcard that makes it

quicker and easier for passengers to buy train tickets is being

trialled from today in Sussex. It's called "the key" and, like London's

Oyster card, is designed to be topped up. Southern Railways have

launched the pilot scheme on the line from Brighton to Seaford as a

greener alternative to paper tickets.

A fierce campaign is underway against plans for a windfarm in

Sussex. A development company called Galliford Try Renewables

wants to erect five turbines to generate enough electricity to

supply Polegate and the nearby village of Westham. Protestors say

the turbines would be far too big and blight the area. Our

environment correspondent Yvette Austin reports.

Lying at the foot of the South Downs, the fields of Shap them. The

views across to the Pevensey Levels. Amongst residents, the concerns are

that the landscape will be wrecked by giant wind turbines. No. 1 would

be there, number two behind the big house on the skyline, number three

where the Masters, number four over there and number five a bit further

to the right -- where the mast is. They are too big, too close, they

will impact, they will make too much noise and disturb people's

lives day and night. This won't generate enough electricity to be

worthwhile and the children and grandchildren, of which I have a

few, will have to pay the bill. It will come out in their electricity

bills and their taxes, and they will get very badly -- bad value

for money. The five turbine is will be clearly seen for miles around.

Each one would be 415 ft tall, from its base to the tip of the top

blade. That is more than twice the height of Nelson's Column and

almost as tall as the London Eye. Supporters say they are a must for

future energy needs. Solar power and offshore wind are not going to

make up enough to make the sort of cuts in carbon emissions we needed

the timescale we need, so we need to be thinking about the

environment and not our own backyards. The Government wants 15%

of all other energy to be from renewables by 2020. The current

figure is less than 4%. The company behind the project says it feels it

is helping to meet the target and says it has carried out extensive

studies and consultation with a leading environmental bodies and

they have not objected to the scheme.

It's the opening round of the FA Cup this weekend with several of

the south-east's clubs in action. Charlton travel to Halifax on

Sunday, and tomorrow Crawley go to Bury, with Gillingham away at

Bournemouth. The Gills will be without their loan strikers Jo

Kuffour and Frank Nouble. That means a big chance for their

teenage goalkeeper, Paulo Gazzaniga, who is standing by to deputise for

the injured Ross Flitney. We have been at Bournemouth before, played

there many times, played them in the FA Cup. I remember it was the

day I got carried off with my injury. So we have got them result

Bournemouth, it is one we look forward to and have no fear of

going there. Four years ago, Hastings teenager

Jack Barlow had never been near a racetrack. Next week he sets off

for Dubai determined to return home as a World Champion. If that wasn't

enough, the 16-year-old has set himself a five-year dealine to

break into Formula One, as he told Neil Bell.

The conditions may have been a bit murky this morning, but Jack

Barlow's aim is crystal clear. Ever since he came across a go-kart

track on a family holiday for years ago, he has been hooked, and has

established themselves as one of the most outstanding prospects in

the country. Next week, he takes off -- he heads off to take up some

of the best around in Dubai at the world finals. You have to learn

your place, you can't buy your way into it. You did pretty well last

year, can you do better this year? Last year was a really good year, I

was leading on the RAST -- last lap and finished 4th, but I feel like I

have matured and have a really good chance this year. During his brief

but highly successful career, Jack has met his heroes Lewis has up --

Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button, they also began go-karting. Victory

in Dubai would be a massive boost to his chances of joining them in

Formula One. You see a lot of drivers now, Jenson Button and

Lewis Hamilton have won the Formula One title, and ever since then, go-

karting has got a bit begat and everyone wants to be like Jenson

Button and Lewis Hamilton and guided tour. It is just money,

because sometimes you can't fund four or �5 million of to get into

F1, but that is what Jack wants to do. At if it doesn't work out, we

can say we tried. We have had for grid years of racing it, it has

brought us closer together, caused arguments as well, about money, but

he loves what he does. Competition in motor sport is intense and

worldwide, but it Jack Barlow continues his current rate of

progress, success appears to be a racing certainty.

He has got bags of conference. -- confidence.

A woman from Eastbourne is on track to raise �1 million for charity.

Margaret Fox has spent the last 30 years raising hundreds of thousands

for local charities. Today, she hopes to raise the final �3,000

needed to reach the �1 million target. It is all in aid of the air

ambulance and I hope everyone out there could come down and give us

their support and help us raise that one million, because this is

my final push, and that I have got my million. That is all I want out

of life. That is it from the studio, I will be back on Monday, but from

all of us here have a good weekend. I will have you back to Margate,

where the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh have spent the day

visiting the Turner Gallery, the old town and back row people. --

the RNLI. What a memorable day for the people there.

Yes, hopefully you can he be now, we have but another coin in the

meter. -- he may now. This is an international picture from the

Canadian artist Jack Walker. The theme of the expected -- exhibition

is of nothing but youth, and you can see all sorts of work by great

pop artists by Peter Blake and David Hockney and Henry Moore and

even original paintings by Turner himself of. Watercolours are part

of Kent and local wildlife and so forth. Cheek by jowl is a work like

this, a photograph of youngsters from the technology college then by

the road. -- down the road. There has been a whole palette for the

Queen and the Duke to look at today. Once they had been in the gallery,

they moved into the RNLI the building to see the work being done

there, and our reporter is that the building now.

This lifeboat station has been here a lot longer than the gallery, it

was built in 1970 died after the previous Lifeboat Station was

washed away -- 1979. The peer was washed away in a storm. This boat

will go out in all weathers. -- pier. They told me today that royal

visit or no royal visit, if they had had an emergency call today,

they would have answered it and I think they are all pretty pleased

that it didn't happen. It was Queen Victoria who made the

lifeboat service Royal in 1854. Today's Queen had a glimpse of how

the modern service operates, meeting the 30 volunteer crewmen as

well as fundraisers and supporters. It is fantastically special for the

table volunteers here. The RNLI is a charity, we are run by its

volunteers, so to meet the Queen is a record for the effort they put in.

The royal couple also met a former sailor who had served under Prince

Philip 60 years ago in the Navy. actually said, you are the second

person we have met who served on that. They met them in the old town

this morning. Up are those without a royal appointment, it was getting

the best base for the best view -- It is part of my culture. She is my

Queen and that is why I am here. This whole school turnout for the

visit. They are so excited, it is fantastic. One other children said

he knew he would recognise that because he had seen his face on the

money, which I thought was charming. -- he knew he would recognise their

because he had seen her face on money. As the Queen toured the old

town, one Posy was presented by a boy born 11 years ago today, his

11th birthday on the 11th of the 11th. She asked if it was my

birthday and I said yes. It might not have been the nicest day to be

beside the sea, but it didn't seem to put anyone off. I have seen the

Queen today for the first time in my life, so happy to see how.

first time I have seen how come to Margate. Something I have not seen

before. Mid-afternoon, having made everyone's day, she was off, back

to the royal flight home. And I think it did make everyone's

day that the Queen was here, in their town, walking around Margate

and they really felt... Sarah, thank you very much. There

were thousands and thousands of people in the area looking at what

was going on, taking photos, and we know that because the hundreds of

you have been up loading them to our Facebook page. We can take a

look now. If you want another look, go to Alla Facebook page. -- our.

If you have taking your own, you can add them to the collection, we

would like to be able to see all of them. If we take a look here, this

is one of J M W Turner's paintings and you can see that beautiful blue

sky in the background. Sadly, we didn't have that today in a Thanet.

Will it improve over the next day? Rachel has all the latest.

It certainly was a dull and damp picture today. As we move through

picture today. As we move through tonight, we have further rain that

will clear through tomorrow and it will be that dry and brighter

picture over the weekend and it did in the week. The reason is we have

a cold front spreading eastwards, which will clear through the

morning tomorrow and we will start to draw much milder air from the

near Continent, so temperatures will be around what we would

normally see in May. As we move into tonight, we will hold onto

that cloud, some light patchy rain and drizzle where the cloud get fit.

Overnight temperatures very mild for the time of year, hardly

changing from the daytime values. As we move through tomorrow morning,

the rate will clear eastwards, brightening up into the afternoon -

- the rain. Very mild the time of the year, highs of around 16

degrees, 61 in Fahrenheit. It is worth mentioning that tomorrow is

your opportunity to film Something For the BBC's film Britain in a day,

you can see more at the website. Tomorrow night forestay dry, cloud

going away, lows of around nine degrees. Remembrance Sunday will be

more in the way of hazy sunshine as we move into the afternoon, while

for the time of that year, up to 14 degrees, 16 as you move towards

London. Into the new week, and more in the way of sunshine but

temperatures 10 average for the time of the year, highs of around

time of the year, highs of around 12 degrees. A dry and brighter

picture all round. Rachel, thank you very much. That

is all we have time for this evening. It has been a really, full

day in Margate, people have really enjoyed the royal visit from Her

Majesty the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip. It has

been a day of colour and excitement that we will leave you with some

images that show you exactly what has been going on with the Royal