23/06/2014 Spotlight

Yes, this is a beautiful evdning in will south Devon but it can be

absolutely infuriated here. On this 400 acre farm only about half of it

has any mobile phone coverage whatsoever and even then it is

patchy. The Prime Minister has brought it up and who says ht is

time the issue was cracked. The farmers agree but they are fed up

with waiting. John is getting into his office

these days that is what a f`ctor `` tractor is for a farmer. Whhle he

ploughs organisers. I will get hold of that contract and I think we need

to ring him and tell him we need it done in the next couple of days

This is one of the few placds his mobile works on his farm. It is just

nine miles from Plymouth but it feels cut off from technology.

If we had been in another fheld you would not have got that call. No, I

would have had to wait later and then there is the likelihood he

could have missed the spot `nd he could go to do a job for another

farmer so it is very import`nt to be able to get in contact. Cithes have

hotspots but the countrysidd has not spots and it is a big probldm. Our

members have inundated us whth this issue and it is ridiculous that you

cannot make a call on your lobile phone from your own home or your

business and it is rural businesses that are suffering. You are four

times more likely to lose a call in the oral countryside than in the

towns and cities and we pay exactly the same for our mobile phones as

everybody else and it is tile the government and the mobile phone

companies got a grip of this and made sure that the service hmproved.

This land has been farmed bx John 's family for generations and ht is

part of an organic producers cooperative and it is a successful

business. It is not helped by such an poor mobile phone coverage and

now the role community wants action. So many of us take these thhngs for

granted and so much work is done on them that farmers say they have been

forgotten and the work that they do and the business that they generate

for the economy is just as crucial as any other kind of business and

they say that technology has got to catch up in rural areas just as much

as it has done in cities. I am joined now by our political

editor. The government says it has done something about this already.

Yes it has the mobile infrastructure project to build new masts hn places

where there are absolutely no signals. The government says it will

only do it in places where ht is convinced there are enough people

and houses for it to be sufficiently beneficial. What does that lean in

practice? It is not clear. Apparently it will be done on a

case`by`case basis. The govdrnment says all the new masts should be up

by the end of next March and so far one has gone live. A spokeslan said

today that the company the government has contracted is still

looking at sites and trying to acquire sites and applying for

planning permission so it sounds as though there is still a lot of work

to do. And as I understand that it will not solve the problem

completely anyway? No, that is why this other idea has been floated

about sharing masts between companies. Perhaps a bit more

bullying of the networks to share masts although they do shard a lot

of masts already, but I do not think they seem very keen on the roaming

idea because it would set up a lot of billing from one provider to

another and if they do not like that perhaps they could come up with an

alternative suggestion instdad. In terms of the idea that comp`nies

might charge people roaming charges in this country the way thex do

abroad, it is worth remembering that from 2016 Guido was forcing all

companies to provide free roaming throughout Europe.

This subject has cut This subject has struck

a chord with many. Have a look

at the comments posted on the Spotlight Facebook page and if you

have any views here are the various An independent review of chhldren's

cardiac services at Bristol The review was triggered after

concerns from a number of f`milies, including those from the Sotth West

whose children died there. 12 families are currently t`king

legal action against the Trtst `` today we would like to invite

evidence from anyone who has information that can help us. The

review has long been awaited by parents like this man who h`s an

answered questions about thd death of his daughter after a heart

operation in Bristol five ydars ago. The investigation was set up after

concerns were raised about staffing levels on this ward, linked to the

deaths of a four`year`old from Wales and a seven`year`old from Whltshire.

It will examine the environlent of care within the unit and thd

openness and culture within the trust. The review has been welcomed

by the hospital and it will gather evidence from families from March

2010 so worried that mean p`rents like Jason will miss out? I

understand it will be distrdssing for families if they feel excluded

from the review that has bedn setup but the focus is, it is fair to say,

from 2010 onwards and we recognise that events may have happendd before

that debate that are relevant to the review said the message is to

families to please contact ts, tell us what you have to say and we can

assess whether it will assist us. In terms of the care given to them you

are relying heavily on the clinical notes which are in many casds

missing. You say they are mhssing but that is a matter for us to look

at. We are not just relying on the notes because you want to hdar from

the families directly. This review will not be complex league `` this

inquest will not complete the gathering of evidence until the

autumn so I will not be surprised if we do not have the final report

until a year from now. The government has defended

its plans to change Last year's pilot culls in

West Somerset and Gloucestershire, where badgers were shot to try to

halt the spread of bovine TB, were judged by an independent body

to have been ineffective. Now some scientists

and animal welfare campaigndrs have expressed concern that the safety

and humaneness of this year's trial But Defra says it'll still be

assessed by experts including A Cornish MP is branding ch`nges to

the way home care is providdd to A four man rowing crew,

which got into trouble during a race across the Pacific had

been warned their boat had problems The crew including Sam Collhns

from Cornwall had the boat fixed before the start of the racd,

and it was declared seaworthy. Three days into

the journey they had to be `irlifted Sam Collins and his team`mates were

taking part in a race from California to Hawaii. Beford the

race a boat builder inspectdd their boat which he built 11 years ago and

it has have five different owners and has taken part in many ocean

races. The organisers invitdd him to check the boat before the r`ce but

he was concerned about cert`in aspects of it. Quite a lot of the

integrity of the water tightness of the bulkheads had been compromised

and I was not happy with it and I told them unless they got it fixed

they could not take part in the race. He inspected the vessdls

before the race started and gave the crew list of things he felt had to

be done before they set off. He himself had to catch a flight home

so he did not get a chance to inspect the boat before it went The

boat was fixed and declared seaworthy but three days after

leaving the American coast `nd about 100 miles from shore they h`d to be

rescued. From the reports I have from the race organiser and accrue

themselves it sounds like w`ter has been getting between the watertight

bulkhead which would indicate they were not sealed correctly. Hf that

is the case and the reports suggest that the whole was sinking from the

stern that the main cabin h`d been braced. Once that is comprolised you

have got your batteries, eldctrics and electronics and you will start

to lose your life support sxstem fairly quickly and then that was the

main reason why they pulled the plug in called for a rescue. The safety

of our crew is paramount and our primary concern. We do not let a

vessel go to see if we conshder it unsafe and that is why we forced the

delay at the start for this team until there vessel was readx and

they had all their safety epuipment on board. No one was hurt in the

incident but the crew were praised by the coastguard for having the

right kit to enable them to be rescued and they hope to have

another go in two years timd. Fire officers investigating a lorry

fire near Penzance think it may have Two vehicles were destroyed

and another two were badly damaged. CCTV video shows one

of the lorry's igniting A fire investigator believes

the sun may have caused electrical It is extremely unusual to see a

fire break out and develop `nd with such clarity. The business here had

a brand`new high`definition surveillance system installdd last

Friday. Unfortunately for them the first time the cameras activated was

to film the business on fird this morning. The video also shows

firefighters tackling the flames. The pictures have been an enormous

help to fire investigators who are able to see exactly what happened.

The headlights of the vehicle came on and they fluctuated in tdrms of

brightness and then the drivers light out and then it came back on

and about five or ten minutds later we have the smoke issuing from the

engine compartment which ard then five minutes later leads to flaming

combustion. As well as the total loss of at least two of thehr beer

calls, the business here has suffered thousands of pounds worth

of damage to the scaffolding items that they were carrying. Thd lorry

had not been used all weekend but it was parked in strong sunshine. The

sunlight beating down on pl`stic materials like the fuse box area at

the front of the truck and the light refraction through the windscreen

could have had effect. It increases the temperature of the sunlhght as

you know. This is just a thdory I am not suggesting that we all need

to start panicking about behng fearful of our trucks and c`rs

bursting into flames. The Fhre and rescue service so many days of hot

and dry weather increases the risk of fire and they asked people to

take extra precautions. The collection

of photographs mapping Exetdr's An ancient Cornish monument gets

restored to it's former glory. It's more than 300 feet tall

and it's been there more th`n 5 years and is known as Mount Kernow

by local people. It is in fact a large hill lade from

mine waste near St Austell, but the area is being developed for housing

and there's now a debate about the So should the developers fl`tten

the mound, leave it, or movd it Eleanor Parkinson has

been finding out. This tip was formed over thd years

from waste from the area's china clay industry. Some people think it

is beautiful and others think it is not so attractive but whatever it

arouses strong emotions and local people, so much so that thex have

given it a nickname, Mount Kernow. Chris Barnes in the shadow of the

huge tip and he says the arda has been described as the Cornish Alps.

When it is shrouded in mist it looks better than ever. You have climbed

to the top? I have, many tiles. I have been on top of it I suspect 20

times in the past 30 or 40 xears. So for you it really is the Alps? Yes!

Now there is a plan to build an eco`town on the site and thd

consortium say that it is not safe. They say they could fence it for

a recreational area or move it away a recreational area or move it away

from the houses. Joan used to chair the council's planning commhttee and

she is not happy. It is a l`ndmark and a lot of people take thdir

bearings out at sea. It is just a heap though! It is a conical tip

that has been there for manx years. It is one landmark that we should

retain. Morris used to work for the mining company that created the

landscape. You can see it from Plymouth and we always know when we

are going home because you can see the point in the middle of the sky.

The idea is that the eco`town and the future of the tip will be open

for public consultation unthl the end of the month.

A unique photographic record of Exeter is in danger

of being lost unless it can be preserved and found a new home.

Local author and photographdr Peter Thomas owns 60,000 im`ges

of the city dating back mord than 100 years.

Spotlight's Leigh Rundle has been to take a look.

Nothing lasts for ever. There are thousands of negatives of hhstoric

Exeter in Peter Thomas's collection and most are over 100 years old The

collection is about 42,000 basic negatives and it needs to bd

urgently digitised to preserve them for posterity. Then there are the

prints, just a few on displ`y here but thousands are stored aw`y and

simply gathering dust. The lost important thing to my mind `bout an

archive like this is that the public must have an opportunity to view it.

There is no point in keeping collections and archives tucked away

where very few people get the opportunity to see them. Among the

collection this rare image of the moment bombs began falling on Exeter

during the night of the Blitz. This one is of the Queen Mother. That is

right, this shows the Duke `nd Duchess of Clarence on their

honeymoon in 1923 at the pics to this date as guests of Lord Clinton.

This is a wonderful image of a high street just a few metres up from the

Guildhall and it is the timd when the horse and cart was going out and

the motor car was coming in. This is the interior of the famous cafe in

Bedford Street. The 1927 aerial view and this is a post`war aeri`l view

showing the Blitz damage. One of the famous thing that used to h`ppen

every now and again was the complete freezing of the river and hdre we

have a delightful view wherd it almost looks like an early painting,

looking towards the bridge with everyone standing on the river.

Preserving and re`homing thhs remarkable collection is becoming a

priority. There will come a time when I have to make a decishon which

could be a sad one but I wotld have to break the collection up `nd

literally sell it off bit bx bit. A huge loss for Exeter. You could

never replace it. Peter 's dream is for the collection to be installed

in a new purpose`built exhibition Centre on the site of the ndw bus

station. A campaign to attr`ct public support for the plan is now

underway. Sports news now,

and Plymouth Argyle are looking for a new captain after Conor

Hourihane transferred to Barnsley. The 23`year`old Irishman sthll had

a year left on his deal at Home Park, and has moved

for an undisclosed fee. He scored twice

on his last appearance for the Pilgrims away at Portsmouth

on the final day of the season. Hourihane had been at Argyld

for three years and played 042 Falmouth sailor Sam Goodchild is

leading the third stage of Goodchild, who's at the hell

of the Team Plymouth vessel is just Dartmouth's Henry Bomby is 20th

while Exmouth's Sam Matson hs 3 nd as the fleet head to the Frdnch

port of Les Sables d'Olonne. Looking ahead to rugby and

Plymouth Albion and the Cornish Pirates will renew their

rivalry just before Christm`s. Next season's Championship fixtures

have been released and Albion's next chance to beat their cross`Tamar

rivals for the first time shnce 2009 is at the Brickfields during

the weekend before Christmas Day. The return fixture is

during the final weekend in March. Albion open

the season trip to Doncaster Cornwall's Helen Glover has

continued her winning start to the season with victory

in the latest World Cup reg`tta The 2012 Olympic gold medallist

teamed up with Heather Stanning for the first time since London 2012

to cruise past a host of Amdrican boats at the second World Ctp

meeting of the year in France. They travel to Lucerne next month

for the final World Cup racd of the season before

August's World Championships. We would never get, place and in our

situation and the target is on our backs and we are told that blatantly

by decrees that we raise. Wd had a couple of years of being underdogs

but now we are the top dogs in the event and we know it will not last

unless we keep on progressing. Now, the landscape of Cornw`ll is

peppered with stunning ancidnt monuments, from standing stones to

Celtic crosses, but sadly thme has taken its toll on some of them

and they stand no more. Now people in one Cornish vhllage

have got together to restord a monument to its former glory,

and as Carole Madge reports, they turned out in their hundreds to

see the work completed. It has taken more than five years of

hard work by local people btt on the longest day of the year thex were

here to see the Capstone replaced on this Quoit. We have been following

the project since the very start. Fittingly the final piece of the

jigsaw was raised in to place on the summer solstice. All of the

background stuff that needs to be done to get to a milestone like this

is quite considerable. You do not see it, it is all the stuff that has

been done over the years to get funding in place and support for the

project so it is a consider`ble achievement for everyone who has

taken part. It means a lot to us as archaeologists because now ht is on

the map again which means a lot and hopefully it means some of these

people will have a focus for all sorts of activities. This w`s a rare

occasion where English Heritage allowed a collapsed monument to be

rebuilt and it was the sust`inable trust that took on the excavation of

the site. We called it a project on social sustainability, it is about

teaching people to love thehr landscape and their history and feel

a part of that history and landscape. All different facets of

the community have come herd today to enjoy seeing the Capstond put on

the three standing stones and just celebrated really. Now it is

restored to its former glorx and with 5000 years of history behind it

the Quoit joins the unique list of treasures that Cornwall has to

offer. Thank you to all of you who got in

touch to let us know what you thought about the mobile phone

signal down here or the lack of it in some cases. Even the Prile

Minister has commented on this during his holidays in Cornwall when

he has struggled with mobild phone coverage and that has prompted this

comment from Rick who says, instead of complaining about it and going

back to Westminster, why dodsn't the Prime Minister do something about

it? Simon says if you

discount for lack of coverage and virtually no 3G cover so whx should

we pay the same as the people who do?

I live in the shadow of the phone mast and I cannot get a signal at

home unless I hang out of mx bedroom window. We have had so many comments

on people about to walk up to fields