10/04/2014 South Today

From floods to tears to anger, residents say early warning signs

were ignored and more could've been done to protect their homes.

People have been crying, they are devastated. This has been

heartbreaking. Turning the tide, how new

sea defences are helping Plans for a huge off`shore windfarm

which would lie off the Dorset coast have been officially submitted to

the Government today. The Navitus Bay development

would see almost 200 wind turbines just more than ten miles

away from the beaches The developers say it could generate

enough clean power It would contribute more than

?1.62 billion to the economy The development would create 1,700

jobs during construction. And it would sustain 140 permanent

posts. But the plans are still being fought

by some protestors, who have taken their concerns to a special meeting

in Bournemouth tonight. Our reporter, Steve Humphrey,

has the details. These are the views that would

change if the big Navitus Bay project goes ahead. The 200 metre

tall turbines will be visible from parts of Dorset, Hampshire and the

Isle of Wight. It will cover an area of 60 square miles of the coast.

There have been demonstrations by supporters of the project and by

opponents. Concerns have been expressed about the possible impact

on tourism. This evening, residents groups arguing that the wind farm

could affect migrating birds and they say the turbines will be very

noisy. They are definitely serious concerns was that we know that

piledriving will most definitely be heard along the shoreline here. We

know that the noise regulations are not being complied with in this

scheme. The people behind the wind farm project dispute those

arguments. They say they are deeply concerned they were not invited to

this evening's meeting. We have seen the agenda for the meeting and we

feel there are inaccuracies and inconsistencies in it. We would

welcome the opportunity to put those right so we have written to

Bournemouth Council today and offered opportunity for us to set

straight some of the inaccuracies we have seen. Bournemouth Council will

eventually submit its views on a project to the planning

Inspectorate, the final decision will be taken by the Secretary of

State for the environment. What we're doing tonight is making an

investigation, we need to see if there are issues. If there are, then

we will be contacting Navitus Bay to have discussions with them on that.

A formal application for the wind farm has been handed to the

Government's planning Inspectorate today. It is expected that a final

decision will be made at some stage next year.

Steve will have a report from tonight's meeting

An inquest into the death of an 11`month`old baby who suffered

a rare complication, following major heart surgery in Southampton has

largely supported the actions of doctors. The parents of

Mahir Choudhary said he seemed well before the operation at Southampton

General, and that the risks werent properly explained to them. But

after a two`day inquest, the coroner has concluded there is NO evidence

to support this claim. More details from Chrissy Sturt.

A longed for child, born after ten years of trying. But Mahir Chowdhury

had a major heart defect. Doctors tried to improve his chances but

there was never a hope for a cure. He was brought here to Southampton

General Hospital for several operations. The last was the most

risky and surgeons wanted to delay it until he was older and more

robust. Last year, it was urgently brought forward when it became clear

that without it Mahir Chowdhury only had months to live. During that

procedure, there was internal bleeding. The surgeon had to try and

stop this and in doing so inadvertently stitched the

coronary, causing a blockage that meant several hours later he passed

away. The parents of Mahir Chowdhury said

that the risks were not properly explain to them. The coroner went

out of the way to support the decisions made by the medical team

here at the hospital, saying of the operation itself that it was the

only chance to give Mahir Chowdhury a reasonable life expectancy and

that the accidental stitching of the artery was an unavoidable attempt to

stop the bleeding. He would have died had it not been done. The

family do not accept this conclusion. The parents still have

some significant concerns about the death of their son. He was 11 months

old and was their only son. They still have significant concerns

about whether or not consent was obtained from them, fully informed

consent. The hospital say it was a difficult case and despite their

best efforts he died of a rare complications.

A 14`year`old boy has been sent to prison for six years for the

manslaughter of his stepfather. Jerome Ellis was told by the judge

at Guildford Crown Court that he should serve half of that time, due

to the exceptional circumstances of the case. James Ingham reports.

His brother, who was found guilty of murder, will be sentenced at a later

date. The suicide of a violinist days

after she testified in court against an ex`choirmaster "could and should"

have been prevented, a report has said.

Frances Andrade killed herself at her home in Guildford a week

after giving evidence against former music director Michael Brewer, who

was jailed for six years. A serious case review said she was "let down"

by mental health services. It was a suicide that could have

been avoided. A concert in memory of her life. In the 1970s, Frances

Andrade, an aspiring violinist, was accepted into a prestigious music

school. She became disruptive in class and was referred by a sick I

addressed to live the music director and his wife. She said it was the

damage yours wanted but he was abusing her. He had continued to

teach. In court, she was labelled a fantasist and a liar. The choir

director was jailed for six years, guilty of the abuse of Frances

Andrade when she was 14 and 15 years old. His wife, Hillary, was jailed

for 21 months. Frances Andrade had her day in court. So why did she

take her own life? A serious case review says you was let down by

mental health services who failed to realise how vulnerable she was as

she fought for justice. Proper care measures and adequate risk

assessments were not in place as she made increasingly serious suicide

bids. There have been calls for improvements to the support offered

to sex abuse survivors. Until the Government really invests

in supporting survivors and victims, then these kinds of

tragedies will continue. Surrey Police say improvements to pre`trial

support have been made but this week, in a newspaper article, there

will warning that victims of sexual crimes still face an unacceptable

ordeal in the courtroom. The former chief prosecutor is now part of a

labour task force which will be proposing a new law to give better

protection to victims before, jarring and after the court process,

which may include judges cross`examining victims rather than

barristers. The governance as it is spending more money than ever before

to help police and health officials deal with victims of sex abuse.

Campaigners are calling for a national enquiry into abuse at other

music schools. Frances Andrade's legacy may be enabling other victims

to speak out. The Transport Minister, Baroness

Kramer has been in Portsmouth this morning visiting the new Northern

Bridge in Cosham. She also officially opened the

city's new park and ride scheme. It's been built at a new junction on

the M275 at Tipner. It's the first motorway junction to be built

in the South for 20 years. Still to come in this evening's

South Today... Roger Finn returns

to the South's countryside, in search of the most endangered

mammal in Britain. People living in an area of

Basingstoke that was flooded with polluted ground water, are demanding

to know why they were so badly affected. Sewage contaminated many

homes in Buckskin. Now they've written to the Borough and County

Councils, to ask whether either authority was aware of the risk of

flooding. Joe Campbell reports. The waters may have gone but for

residents of Buckskin, what happened in their community remains the main

topic of conversation. I still say that the number of properties that

were lost in such a small area was very confined, was disgraceful.

People have been crying as they have come out of the bungalows. This is

heartbreaking. As the flood came, millions was spent on flood

prevention measures. Good all of this had been avoided? How many

signatures have we collected? I've got 120. Today, residents were

fording a dossier to the county council, outlining concerns that

they feel was ignores `` were ignored. People are angry,

devastated. What more can I say? They are horrified. That is a long

time to know something and not put any plans into action to prevent it

happening. They ought to be ashamed of themselves. The dossier has been

delivered to the authorities by opposition politicians. A review is

already planned to see what lessons can be learned.

This June will mark the 70th anniversary of the D`day landings.

2,500 Allied troops died in the operation that

paved the way for the end of the Second World War. Portsmouth played

an important role. Veterans came to the city's D`day museum today,

as the programme of events marking this important anniversary,

One of the obstacles photographed... It was probably the

worst 24 hours of my life, the smell of engine oil, it was hell on earth.

Frank took part in the second wave of the Normandy landings in June

1944. His memories have not faded. Today, he was reunited with a World

War II Jeep as Portsmouth announced its series of events. This was the

centre of the operation. Portsmouth was never found `` has never failed

to a member D`day. It will be marked by events from the 50 the 8th of

June. Because of the age of the veterans involved, it may be the

last chance we have with them in attendance. For D`Day veterans, the

importance of attending cannot be overstated. We were so young, 18 or

19 or 20`year`old boys. British people do not realise how free they

are. In June we're planning a special

series of reports to commemorate D`day and we need your help on one

of them. On June 2nd 1944 ` that's four days

before the invasion ` a group of tanks were parked up in

Waterlooville waiting to go. Now, have a look at this

picture, a little girl ` she was then called Janet Colman ` was out

with her mum. She was filmed being made a fuss of by a tank commander

called Jock Fisher. They even sat her on the tank. We're trying to

find her. We think she is about three or four here so now she'd be

in her early to mid`70s. These images were taken in or

around Stakes Hill Road in Waterlooville. Of course she might

have got married and changed her name, but do you know where Janet

Colman is now? There's more detail on our Facebook page and if you have

any idea where she is you can contact us via email, Twitter

or on our Facebook page. Tony is he with the sport and also

the Poole Pirates start the defence of their title.

The US Masters is always a wonderful place to watch the golf, so it will

be exciting on the radio, the TV, across the BBC. A tremendous events.

We have Justin Rose there, flying the flag.

Rose won the US Open title last year and is currently ranked

eighth in the world. He heads out onto the first

tee in a moment at Augusta where's he's enjoyed mixed fortunes in

recent years but said this week he's in the prime of his career.

He'll tee up alongside Ernie Els and Phil Mickelson.

Major victory experience will help them. You do come here looking to

increase your tally of major championships. You know you have

faced those emotions before and come through. It has a huge benefit,

turning up here this week. Poole Pirates new Polish double act

helped the defending league champions get off to a flying start

at Wimborne Road last nights in the Elite league.

Chamakh Pavlitski and Machek Janofski starred in the 52`37

victory, which included this 5`1 in heat 15 to wrap up a convincing win

for Neil Middleditchs's side. who are without the injured

Darcy Ward through injury. Now for the second in our series of

reports on women in sports coaching. Female coaching numbers remain low

in the UK. In an effort to change that, an initiative which is

offering females the chance to gain sports coaching qualifications has

been launched. It's being trialled here in the South

and if successful will be rolled out around the country.

As Alexis has been finding out, Shortbread intervals now.

As 68, Rita Hollington is a late starter in sports coaching. She has

been an informal mental for her fellow female runners. Now, thanks

to Project 500, she has a formal convocation as a sports coach. When

the opportunity came with the projects to do a sporting course, I

jumped at the chance because that will give me the skills and

knowledge to do that hopefully more successfully.

Remember the arms! Rita has inspired women to get active. I did not know

anyone when I moved here, and then I joined the running group. Now I am

doing a lot marathon. The project is across the South. John Driscoll is

Executive Director of the company that runs Project 500. The majority

of coaches, both men and women, volunteers. If you give up your time

to coach, you don't want to give up your time and money away from your

family in order to gain qualifications. Really get that

connection! Lindsey Fraser is a former Olympic diver, she is now a

coach. She thinks that when today's professional athletes retire, they

will not be attracted by the idea of coaching. The athlete at the top end

get paid a lot of money, so for them to go into coaching, they would have

to be very committed to the sport. We all were because we did not get

paid when we were diving or coaching to start with. She has been a torch

bearer for women in the coaching world. I take part in a conference

every year and to start with there were only five women coaches out of

the 200 there and this year, there were probably 25%. It is increasing.

Netball is perceived as an all women sport. The proportion of female

coaches has always been high. Kim is optimistic that with the help of

Project 500, others will follow. There is a lot of helpful women in

coaching. They may not realise what is out there for them. Come and have

a go and get the best you can out of your sport as a coach.

The end of a very interesting series. Are things changing in terms

of sports coaching? Yes, but it is a slow process. With the help of

Project 500, it will increase even more. It will hopefully be a

countrywide thing. It is such a key thing. We all remember our first

coaches. My first cricket coach, he taught me how to play a defensive

shot. I then played alongside him as an adult. How did you fare? It was

good. Are mother my football coach, he is to tie the goalkeeper's

shoelaces together to make him dive on frosty ground!

Now do you remember Finn's Country? A few years back, Roger Finn spent

a couple of summers indulging his passion for the countryside with

regular features on South Today looking at wildlife and some of the

country characters who share his love. Well, this spring he's at it

again. And he's starting this evening with the story of

a much`loved, but very endangered little creature.

One of the few parts of the country where it still has a stronghold

is in a little corner of the Sussex coast.

A foggy morning at Medmerry near Southsea. A team of conservationists

are checking traps for Britain's fastest declining mammal, but water

vole. Last year, in September, she was a sub adult female that the

court and tagged and she is still here, so she has survived the

winter, flooding and storms and she is still here and breeding, that is

great. They can have up to five or six litters a year, so a single bowl

can equal a couple of hundred voles quite quickly. Water voles are being

studied because their habitat change dramatically last year. The ancient

seed events single banks was intentionally breached, allowing

coasts to absorb the impact of the waves. With salt marsh on the

inside, and fresh water habitat house side `` outside. Water vole 's

love freshwater. On this side where the seed water is coming in, there

is a problem, the water is getting more salty. The hope is they will

get over to hear them aware they will find a freshly made paradise

waiting for them. It is low`lying flatland and we historically have

had a lot of farming here, which is `` which has drained the land. It is

now amazing wetland habitat. There is the sort of vegetation water vole

's love. They are looking for evidence that they have moved in. It

has been put in quite a neat pile and it is about the size of a suite.

It is a marker to say it is my territory, to let all of the other

water voles no. There are evidence `` there is evidence of feeding here

as well. They come back and eat it all the time and there is more

behind you there. They are here in strength! They are positive signs

and water vole 's need good news. They have been decimated, mainly by

mink. We have had a night of the said increase in water voles. There

are only a view sites where we have natural ovulation is still occurring

and this is one of them. They are in there already and starting to breed.

When we come back in September, this will hopefully have come up,

suitable for voles and other species as well. The new Saltmarsh is

proving popular with waterfowl. The research project will follow the

water vole is for five years, looking at the new habitat and the

well`established areas nearby. This is a controlled edge. We are looking

at males and females and their territory.

It is really important that we look after and conserve them because they

are just a view of the population we have left.

More from Finn's Country next week. But in the meantime, whilst filming,

Roger came across some of the curious items and tools used in the

countryside in years gone by. So we though we'd set you a challenge.

In this series, we have an extra interactive treat. A mystery object

found at the rural life Centre in Surrey. This is the first one. What

is this? You can make a guess on our Facebook page and everything will be

revealed next week. I am perplexed! It looks like a bell. I think we

should let the viewers have a call on that.

That's all on our Facebook page, BBC South Today, and we've already had

some guesses. Gilbert Payton suggests it's a mallet. Steve Arbor

says it's for tolling a bell. And Richard Hingley thinks it might be

a beer tap. All wrong! Roger will give you the answer next week.

Time for a look at the weather. Speaking of coaching, you don't need

any coaching on the weather forecast. No, it is dead quiet. We

have lots of sunshine. Dave Corben captured the sunrise

from the Banjo Jetty in Swanage. Carey Lock took this photo

of a red squirrel And Barney enjoying the bluebells

this afternoon at Micheldever Woods It is a fairly quiet period

weather`wise over the next few days. That is an stoop high pressure. We

are looking at some mist and fog patches. Frost is not for everyone,

it will be where we have the clear skies. Hard to see where the clear

sky will be but there is the chance of a spot of rain for parts of

Oxfordshire. Temperatures will fall to around six up to nine Celsius.

Colder in the countryside. It will be a foggy start tomorrow, that will

lift swiftly and we will see lots of sunshine across the region. The

varying amounts of cloud, so not wall`to`wall sunshine. Expect a high

of 14 or 15, maybe even 16 Celsius. We have clear skies tomorrow night

so there is the risk of a touch of frost on Saturday morning. There

will be some cloud but under clear skies temperatures could fall a

notch lower than tonight, lows of between five and eight Celsius was

the milder along the south coast. We are spending a dry start to the day

on Saturday and high`pressure remains in charge. It is late on

Saturday that we see this cold front move southwards across the country.

It introduces more cloud, so the sunshine could turn hazy through the

afternoon but it will stay dry for much of the day. Sunday is pretty

good if you are running the London Marathon. We could see highs in the

afternoon for the stragglers of 17 Celsius. It will be a cold and

cloudy start for the marathon. We are spending a lot of cloud to start

each day, there may be some mist and fog as well, but it will not stay

that way. It will feel pleasantly warm. Sunday, we could see

temperatures soar after the cloudy start. Up to around 15 or 17

Celsius. Long may it continue!

That's all from us. Thanks for being there.

Don't forget you can keep up to date on the BBC News website

We will have more bulletins at 8pm and 10:25pm

but from all the team here this evening, a fond farewell.