Browse content similar to 25/04/2012. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Drought, what drought? Parts of the region are hit by flooding. | :00:17. | :00:21. | |
boys on the telephone so, get out, get out and take your children and | :00:21. | :00:26. | |
your pet with you and shot all the doors and get to higher ground. | :00:26. | :00:30. | |
Good evening we'll be live in East Devon in one of the worst affected | :00:30. | :00:31. | |
areas. Also tonight - surviving the | :00:31. | :00:33. | |
recession. How three local businesses are battling on despite | :00:33. | :00:36. | |
the economic downturn. Dodging ice and polar bears - an | :00:36. | :00:46. | |
:00:46. | :00:47. | ||
Arctic adventure for a rower from Cornwall. It was one of those | :00:47. | :00:51. | |
expeditions that everyone thought we would fail. | :00:51. | :00:55. | |
And a rare visitor to our shores - find out how this tree frog caught | :00:55. | :00:59. | |
everyone on the hop. Parts of the south west are still | :00:59. | :01:01. | |
in danger of flooding tonight after torrential rain and heavy winds | :01:01. | :01:05. | |
brought down trees and turned roads into rivers. More than an inch of | :01:05. | :01:08. | |
rain and gusts of wind reaching more than 60 miles an hour battered | :01:08. | :01:12. | |
much of the region. A number of roads are still | :01:12. | :01:15. | |
impassable and farmers have had to move livestock to higher ground. | :01:15. | :01:18. | |
There are warnings on three rivers this evening yet the Environment | :01:18. | :01:22. | |
Agency is clear - we are still in a drought. Spotlight's Hamish | :01:22. | :01:25. | |
Marshall is live in Colyford where there remains a warning on the | :01:25. | :01:35. | |
:01:35. | :01:36. | ||
River Axe. You'll have to take my word for it, | :01:36. | :01:41. | |
this is supposed to be a road. It is not one I would be looking to | :01:41. | :01:46. | |
take a vehicle across. The main road that runs between Lyme Regis | :01:46. | :01:52. | |
and Exeter is over there. There are massive puddles on that as well. I | :01:53. | :01:59. | |
spent a big chunk of the day in West Dorset where some people had | :01:59. | :02:03. | |
an early-morning call warning them of imminent danger. | :02:03. | :02:09. | |
Nearly at the end of its journey, but the power was too much for the | :02:09. | :02:13. | |
banks. There was a pond in this garden. This morning you could not | :02:13. | :02:23. | |
see where it started off finished. This woman moved in a year ago and | :02:23. | :02:30. | |
was woken up by a call from the environmental agency -- Environment | :02:31. | :02:36. | |
Agency. The voice on the telephone said, get out and take your | :02:36. | :02:42. | |
children and pets with you. Make sure the house is secured and get | :02:42. | :02:47. | |
to higher ground. Precautions to prevent flooding have increased in | :02:47. | :02:50. | |
recent years. The house has been raised and this builder who | :02:50. | :02:55. | |
recently completed other landscaping work returned to check | :02:55. | :03:00. | |
it was doing its job. We have done some flood prevention, drainage, | :03:00. | :03:07. | |
digging out the pits, etc. Thankfully it is working. About | :03:07. | :03:12. | |
half a dozen properties here were warned, but by mid-afternoon be | :03:12. | :03:20. | |
immediate danger had passed. A few miles away, the rain had fallen so | :03:20. | :03:24. | |
quickly on hard ground it could not sink in, so it went straight to the | :03:24. | :03:32. | |
rivers. Once the drought was announced, we expected a deluge and | :03:32. | :03:39. | |
that is what we got. That tree over there should not be in the river at | :03:39. | :03:49. | |
:03:49. | :03:49. | ||
all. That is how high it is. It has come up very quickly. Since 9 | :03:49. | :03:53. | |
o'clock it has been like this. Although rivers and water courses | :03:54. | :04:00. | |
could not take the amount of rain, those who burst their banks sent | :04:00. | :04:08. | |
the excess water to flood banks. Farmers were asked to check their | :04:08. | :04:12. | |
livestock. There are still three flood warnings in place across the | :04:12. | :04:16. | |
South West. That has reduced from eight as the day has gone on. Just | :04:16. | :04:24. | |
to give you an idea of the problems caused, it is a bit of an East-and | :04:24. | :04:34. | |
:04:34. | :04:37. | ||
West split. Exeter airport at 29 mm. People are looking to see if river | :04:37. | :04:40. | |
levels are rising and to the skies to see if there is more rain coming | :04:40. | :04:46. | |
their way. And David will be here with a full | :04:46. | :04:48. | |
forecast later in the programme. Businesses in the south west have | :04:49. | :04:51. | |
tonight greeted the return to recession with responses ranging | :04:51. | :04:53. | |
from anxiety and indifference to defiant optimism. In 2008, | :04:53. | :04:56. | |
Spotlight began following a handful of small firms which were starting | :04:56. | :05:00. | |
life in the credit crunch. Today, with the news that we are in the | :05:00. | :05:03. | |
first double dip recession since the 1970s, we've been back to see | :05:03. | :05:10. | |
how they're doing and how they're feeling. | :05:10. | :05:13. | |
It's hardly been holiday weather in Looe just lately as the colour of | :05:14. | :05:17. | |
the river makes all too plain. In his B&B overlooking the water, | :05:17. | :05:22. | |
Derek Braithwaite might have an excuse for feeling browned off. | :05:22. | :05:25. | |
He's seen the business grow annually, but this year it's less | :05:25. | :05:29. | |
clear where the growth is coming from. All the same, he has no | :05:29. | :05:37. | |
regrets, despite this latest economic twist. I think | :05:37. | :05:42. | |
psychologically it is bad news for people who are planning their | :05:42. | :05:46. | |
holidays and bad news for business confidence in Britain as a whole. | :05:46. | :05:55. | |
At some stage, this recession has got to get better. | :05:55. | :05:59. | |
Lack of growth certainly hasn't been an issue for South Devon based | :05:59. | :06:02. | |
Creative Garages. They turn garages into living space. A smart | :06:02. | :06:04. | |
proposition, given that many people can't move house either because of | :06:04. | :06:09. | |
job insecurity or the difficulty of getting a mortgage. Talk now of | :06:09. | :06:19. | |
:06:19. | :06:20. | ||
recession doesn't worry the boss. If anything, might increased demand | :06:20. | :06:25. | |
because people are going to say, hang on, we cannot consider moving. | :06:25. | :06:31. | |
Is my job at risk? People are not going to take that big step and | :06:31. | :06:36. | |
move house, but the need for another bedroom, and other kitchen, | :06:36. | :06:41. | |
or whatever, is still going to be there. | :06:41. | :06:44. | |
Our third small business is the Green Door restaurant at Woodbury, | :06:44. | :06:47. | |
near Exeter. In the early months chef Mark Pulman struggled to make | :06:47. | :06:53. | |
it as head of his own enterprise, but now he's a seasoned businessman. | :06:53. | :06:58. | |
I it was in business for two months before we went into recession, so I | :06:58. | :07:05. | |
don't really know what it is like to be out of recession. -- I was in | :07:05. | :07:09. | |
business. You have to keep going and if you are doing the right | :07:09. | :07:13. | |
thing, customers will keep coming back. I must be doing something | :07:13. | :07:16. | |
right. So four years in, our three | :07:17. | :07:19. | |
businesses all still have their heads above water. Times are far | :07:19. | :07:22. | |
from easy as today's growth figures have underlined, but so far, life | :07:22. | :07:25. | |
goes on. There's already evidence that the | :07:26. | :07:29. | |
recession is having an impact on businesses in our high streets. So | :07:29. | :07:32. | |
what are people cutting back on to save money? We've been asking | :07:32. | :07:41. | |
people on the streets of Exeter how they are affected. | :07:41. | :07:48. | |
Just shopping cheaper, going for the Budget plans. By close less | :07:48. | :07:53. | |
often, no holidays, that sort of thing. A everyday living. Shopping | :07:53. | :08:03. | |
:08:03. | :08:10. | ||
has gone an awful lot. -- gone are an awful lot. Spending money on | :08:10. | :08:17. | |
commuting, petrol prices are massive. I am lucky. I don't have a | :08:18. | :08:23. | |
mortgage, the house is paid for and we can live on a were pensioners, | :08:23. | :08:33. | |
:08:33. | :08:35. | ||
but it has affected our savings. would just have to tighten our | :08:35. | :08:39. | |
belts a bit more. Earlier, I put some of the issues | :08:39. | :08:42. | |
raised in our reports to regional economist Kevin Butler, a former | :08:42. | :08:45. | |
south west agent for the Bank of England. I began by asking him how | :08:46. | :08:53. | |
the south west economy was fairing. Rather like the economy as a whole, | :08:53. | :08:57. | |
a flat picture and not much growth in the last 12 months. But there | :08:57. | :09:02. | |
are some signs of optimism going forward. Which sectors might help | :09:02. | :09:07. | |
to drive the South West economy forward? There is some evidence of | :09:07. | :09:10. | |
improvement in construction, although the market is very | :09:10. | :09:15. | |
polarised between businesses that have strengthen their balance | :09:15. | :09:18. | |
sheets and I in a better position to bid for work and those | :09:18. | :09:26. | |
businesses that have a high level of debt. Manufacturing as well. | :09:26. | :09:29. | |
Although Abbey National numbers were down, actually, but businesses | :09:29. | :09:34. | |
I had been speaking to recently have been quite positive, | :09:34. | :09:39. | |
particularly about sales to markets outside the eurozone and, and some | :09:39. | :09:47. | |
positive noises coming from those companies selling in the Middle | :09:47. | :09:56. | |
East. Some people might be feeling gloomy, but some of the businesses | :09:56. | :10:01. | |
we have been following over the last few years are looking to the | :10:01. | :10:05. | |
future and saying, things can only get better. Are they right to feel | :10:05. | :10:11. | |
optimistic? If you take the example of the tourist business, again, | :10:11. | :10:15. | |
talking to one of my contacts last week, the story there was we are | :10:15. | :10:19. | |
still seen plenty of visitors coming through, but there is a | :10:19. | :10:23. | |
squeeze on discretionary spending. So very often the amount of money | :10:23. | :10:27. | |
spent in a shop or restaurant is down a bit. Nevertheless, people | :10:27. | :10:35. | |
are coming and people holiday at home has been helpful to this | :10:35. | :10:39. | |
business. Thank you. Controversial plans to use a Devon | :10:39. | :10:42. | |
quarry as a transit site for ash from Plymouth's planned incinerator | :10:42. | :10:44. | |
are still being debated tonight at County Hall in Exeter. | :10:44. | :10:47. | |
Environmental campaigners say the idea is misguided and they want it | :10:47. | :10:57. | |
:10:57. | :11:10. | ||
This quarry is an imposing sight, but in recent months it has -- it | :11:10. | :11:20. | |
:11:20. | :11:21. | ||
has become a controversial one. There had been plans to change it | :11:21. | :11:28. | |
and bring in at ash from a nearby incinerator. Beat developers said | :11:28. | :11:38. | |
:11:38. | :11:40. | ||
that it would be recycled and used for road building. The product is | :11:40. | :11:47. | |
used across the UK, mainly further north. Is it hazardous or none | :11:47. | :11:54. | |
hazardous? It is a non hazardous material? Is it toxic or dangerous? | :11:54. | :12:01. | |
It is not. The developers say that over the next few years, a faulty | :12:01. | :12:10. | |
lorries could visit the site and only 11 it would have ash. | :12:10. | :12:14. | |
Environmental campaigners have lobbied hard. They have even sent | :12:14. | :12:24. | |
out leaflets to key people, but during the debate one local | :12:24. | :12:33. | |
resident spoke in favour of the proposal. Paula is a trained | :12:33. | :12:37. | |
geologist and takes a different point of view from most of the | :12:37. | :12:43. | |
residents. Would you want lorries of that size, of that amount | :12:43. | :12:51. | |
rumbling past a house? What I don't understand how they make the | :12:51. | :12:58. | |
Testament. Tonight, campaigners said they are delighted. This | :12:58. | :13:08. | |
campaign has been going on for the year. 95 % of the town said no and | :13:08. | :13:11. | |
it just the vindicates us that the end of the day. This is what | :13:11. | :13:15. | |
democracy and localism is about. Already, those wanting to develop | :13:15. | :13:25. | |
:13:25. | :13:34. | ||
the quarry are considering an appeal. | :13:34. | :13:37. | |
With the local elections just a fortnight away, the battle for | :13:37. | :13:39. | |
votes in Plymouth is intensifying. Labour needs to gain just four | :13:39. | :13:42. | |
seats to take control from the Tories. One issue at the forefront | :13:42. | :13:45. | |
of some voters minds is the Conservative decision to approve | :13:45. | :13:48. | |
plans for a large incinerator on the edge of Devonport Dockyard. As | :13:48. | :13:51. | |
Jenny Kumah reports, it's being built in one of the city's most | :13:51. | :13:53. | |
marginal wards. A few years ago, and stew that were not that | :13:53. | :13:55. | |
interested in politics, but the prospect of having an incinerator | :13:55. | :13:58. | |
on their doorstep has turned them into active campaigners, who have a | :13:58. | :14:01. | |
keen eye on the local elections. wake up in the morning thinking | :14:01. | :14:09. | |
about fund-raising so we can get money to help with the legal fees. | :14:09. | :14:16. | |
It is all about this, just about this. Hopefully the 3rd May would | :14:16. | :14:22. | |
change things, but I am not sure. 90 in seats are up for election. | :14:22. | :14:27. | |
Labour need to gain for to take control from the Tories. The ward | :14:28. | :14:35. | |
where be incinerator is planned to be built is a key one. In December | :14:35. | :14:42. | |
last year, also then Conservative members of the City Council's | :14:42. | :14:47. | |
planning committee voted in favour of building an incinerator. All | :14:47. | :14:51. | |
five Labour councillors voted against it. But the seat is not | :14:51. | :14:55. | |
necessarily an easy target for Labour. The contracts have been | :14:55. | :14:59. | |
signed and there will be big financial penalties if it does not | :14:59. | :15:06. | |
go ahead. We are bound by the decision and that is why I am | :15:06. | :15:10. | |
working with the community groups to move forward with other Labour | :15:10. | :15:14. | |
councillors to try to overturn that decision. But the manifesto is | :15:14. | :15:19. | |
clear. We descend the decision to build the incinerator there. A good | :15:19. | :15:23. | |
some residents angry at the Conservatives because of the | :15:23. | :15:30. | |
decision, how would their candidate persuade people to vote for her? | :15:30. | :15:34. | |
There are great benefits to this as well. We will be pumping energy | :15:34. | :15:44. | |
:15:44. | :15:44. | ||
directly into the dockyard. It will help to keep jobs in their area. | :15:44. | :15:54. | |
:15:54. | :15:57. | ||
There are no Liberal Democrats on inner-city council -- Plymouth City | :15:57. | :16:07. | |
:16:07. | :16:09. | ||
Council. People need to stand up and make their voices heard and | :16:09. | :16:15. | |
persuade the council to change their mind. UKIP also have a | :16:15. | :16:25. | |
:16:25. | :16:26. | ||
candidate standing in this ward. There's one other candidate | :16:26. | :16:28. | |
standing in the local elections in Plymouth and that's Mark Burton | :16:28. | :16:31. | |
representing UKIP. A Devon village is about to become | :16:31. | :16:33. | |
the first in the country to open an underground community shop. | :16:33. | :16:36. | |
Villagers in Exbourne couldn't get planning permission to build in the | :16:36. | :16:40. | |
usual way, so instead they dug a hole in the side of a field. It's | :16:40. | :16:47. | |
taken them ten years, but the shop is due to open soon. The transport | :16:47. | :16:52. | |
system is almost non-existent. We have a large population of older | :16:52. | :16:59. | |
people who do not have their own transport. | :16:59. | :17:02. | |
Now, he's already rowed for 81 days across the Indian Ocean, but that | :17:02. | :17:05. | |
wasn't enough of a challenge for this Cornishman. Last year Billy | :17:05. | :17:08. | |
Gammon from Trevose and his crew mates rowed 500 miles to the 1996 | :17:08. | :17:11. | |
position of the Magnetic North Pole. Their challenge, which is being | :17:11. | :17:13. | |
broadcast on BBC1 tonight, shows them contending with razor sharp | :17:13. | :17:23. | |
:17:23. | :17:31. | ||
ice and polar bears. Billy and his crew mates headed for the 1996 | :17:31. | :17:37. | |
position of the magnetic North Pole. For the 36-year-old, he knew it was | :17:37. | :17:42. | |
not going to be an easy journey, but navigating the boat through the | :17:42. | :17:47. | |
ice was more hazardous than the crew had anticipated. Things change | :17:47. | :17:52. | |
on day 12 and from that moment onwards, conditions were hazardous | :17:52. | :17:58. | |
and volatile. It was a case of changing out a strategy. Whilst we | :17:58. | :18:02. | |
were getting satellite imagery, the reality on the ground was very | :18:02. | :18:09. | |
different. But the ice was not to be their biggest hazard. All the | :18:09. | :18:15. | |
training had -- all the training we have done in terms of polar bear | :18:15. | :18:21. | |
evasion, that was it, it was like. There was a lot of adrenalin and | :18:21. | :18:31. | |
:18:31. | :18:32. | ||
fear. The crew were at sea for 30 days and living quarters were | :18:32. | :18:38. | |
intimate. You find out about yourself and too much about other | :18:38. | :18:46. | |
people. The boat was designed to be able to fit onto a plane. It was | :18:46. | :18:50. | |
very much an adventure into the unknown and when we got up there, | :18:50. | :19:00. | |
:19:00. | :19:01. | ||
it exceeded all our expectations. And you can see more of Billy's | :19:01. | :19:03. | |
journey in the hour-long documentary Rowing The Arctic on | :19:03. | :19:10. | |
BBC One tonight, at 10.45pm. Packing staff at a farm in Devon | :19:10. | :19:14. | |
had a bit of a shock when a tree frog hopped out of their bananas. | :19:14. | :19:17. | |
The tiny green amphibian had managed to survive a cargo shipment | :19:17. | :19:26. | |
from abroad. Spotlight's Johnny Rutherford has the story. This is | :19:26. | :19:32. | |
what shocked Packer's as it leapt across the salting bay. No-one was | :19:32. | :19:36. | |
sure which consignment of fruit and vegetables it had jumped out of. | :19:36. | :19:40. | |
But guys were packing this morning and we had a whole range of fruit | :19:40. | :19:50. | |
and veg and out it popped. We have seen Snell's in the past, but they | :19:50. | :19:57. | |
don't normally make it this far. -- snails. It was obvious the frock | :19:57. | :20:07. | |
:20:07. | :20:10. | ||
was not local, so did it come from Europe? -- the tree frog. We are | :20:10. | :20:20. | |
:20:20. | :20:29. | ||
going to take it to a vet. It is European. Not for the bananas? -- | :20:29. | :20:39. | |
:20:39. | :20:52. | ||
not from the bananas? So it was from be lettuce. -- the lettuce. | :20:52. | :20:58. | |
For now, it will be living here. A wild beaver rescued from a slurry | :20:59. | :21:02. | |
pit on a farm near Plymouth has been found a new home. The young | :21:02. | :21:05. | |
beaver is now being looked after by Derek Gow who's licenced to breed | :21:05. | :21:08. | |
the animals in captivity at his farm near Lifton. A large male | :21:08. | :21:11. | |
beaver escaped four years ago, but Derek says this one is much smaller | :21:12. | :21:21. | |
:21:22. | :21:27. | ||
and younger than the one who's Let's see what is happening with | :21:27. | :21:32. | |
the weather. We have had some torrential downpours of rain. We | :21:32. | :21:36. | |
had wet and windy weather last night, but the showers today have | :21:36. | :21:42. | |
given some hefty rainfall totals. We will see some of the same again | :21:42. | :21:52. | |
:21:52. | :21:58. | ||
tonight. This is the brain for we have seen today. Top of the league | :21:58. | :22:02. | |
is Bridport - 37 mm of rain. The average across the South West of | :22:03. | :22:11. | |
England for much of April his 50-60 mm. We have had half the total | :22:11. | :22:17. | |
month's rainfall in just a few awards. Some very wet and dangerous | :22:17. | :22:27. | |
:22:27. | :22:30. | ||
conditions. There are now three flood warnings on a work rivers. | :22:30. | :22:35. | |
The low pressure that has been close by during the night and today | :22:35. | :22:42. | |
has hardly moved at all. It would take its time to get away from us. | :22:42. | :22:46. | |
You can see that great brute of clouds stretching round ours. That | :22:46. | :22:50. | |
was the wet weather we saw last night. Now we are close to the | :22:50. | :22:54. | |
centre and we had the slow-moving and heavy showers that will | :22:54. | :22:59. | |
continue for the next few hours. By midday tomorrow, the isobars will | :22:59. | :23:02. | |
have owed and doubt and there will be a change in the direction of the | :23:03. | :23:12. | |
:23:13. | :23:14. | ||
wind. Perhaps some brighter weather in between the showers. There is | :23:14. | :23:18. | |
the main area of rain that is moving up towards Scotland. You can | :23:18. | :23:28. | |
:23:28. | :23:28. | ||
see some bright colours on our radar pictures. Does indicate the | :23:28. | :23:33. | |
heavy showers. As the night wears on, be sure where risk remains | :23:33. | :23:40. | |
along the south coast of Devon, Cornwall and Dorset. Although the | :23:40. | :23:50. | |
:23:50. | :23:54. | ||
winds remained strong -- remain strong, they are not as strong as | :23:54. | :23:59. | |
they were last night. Tomorrow, more of their Chavez to come. Again, | :23:59. | :24:08. | |
one of them could be -- again, some of them could be heavy. | :24:09. | :24:18. | |
:24:19. | :24:22. | ||
Temperatures tomorrow or up to 12 Celsius. There is that for cars for | :24:22. | :24:32. | |
:24:32. | :24:36. | ||
the answer surely. -- there is the forecast for the Isles of Scilly. | :24:36. | :24:46. | |
:24:46. | :24:53. | ||
Here are the times of high water and a look now at tomorrow's serve. | :24:53. | :24:58. | |
The promise of some brighter weather on Friday, at least a bit | :24:58. | :25:03. |