:00:12. > :00:14.Good evening. for the news where you are.
:00:15. > :00:16.Torbay's planners have tonight agreed a controversial plan
:00:17. > :00:19.for a hotel, flats and a car park on one of Torquay's
:00:20. > :00:25.The scheme will include an 11-storey building and the regeneration
:00:26. > :00:29.But objectors say it will ruin the site and are already
:00:30. > :00:31.Well, Spotlight's John Ayres was there tonight
:00:32. > :00:45.This decision is hugely controversial. Such was the passion
:00:46. > :00:51.behind this that almost 200 people turned up to watch. The planning
:00:52. > :00:57.officer described this as one of the most difficult decisions she has
:00:58. > :01:02.been involved in. Why is it so controversial? The plan is to put an
:01:03. > :01:07.11 story building right on the side of Torquay harbour for a hotel and
:01:08. > :01:12.flats and a car park and it will see the rejuvenation of the Edwardian
:01:13. > :01:21.pavilion which currently is closed. The default position for this
:01:22. > :01:24.because it's in a conservation area would be to say no, but you can
:01:25. > :01:27.approve an application like this when it is for the greater public
:01:28. > :01:32.good and that being jobs and a boost to the economy. The developers have
:01:33. > :01:37.been involved in this process with the planners for a very long time
:01:38. > :01:38.and so there was great relief from them when it was approved this
:01:39. > :01:39.evening. I think it was a very
:01:40. > :01:42.thorough process. I have been to a lot of planning
:01:43. > :01:46.meetings in my lifetime and I have not seen one like that before
:01:47. > :01:48.with so many people. With half and half in the room,
:01:49. > :01:51.you're never going to please everybody in this process
:01:52. > :01:54.and I think the important thing now is to try and deliver
:01:55. > :02:06.what we have said we would do. The protesters are very unhappy
:02:07. > :02:10.about this. They turned up in force tonight and had a little
:02:11. > :02:15.demonstration ahead of the meeting outside here. The reason they are so
:02:16. > :02:20.unhappy is they do not believe the benefits are there, they do not
:02:21. > :02:25.believe the jobs will be of value but in the end the plan was voted
:02:26. > :02:27.6-4 so it did go through this evening.
:02:28. > :02:29.A Labour city councillor from Plymouth says he apologises
:02:30. > :02:31.unreservedly for making a Nazi salute during a council
:02:32. > :02:35.Councillor Johnny Morris made the gesture during a debate
:02:36. > :02:40.He told Spotlight that he'd been angry about the debate being closed
:02:41. > :02:42.down and let that anger get the better of him
:02:43. > :02:45.with an "inappropriate and offensive gesture".
:02:46. > :02:51.The motion to raise council tax by almost 4.5% was later passed.
:02:52. > :02:54.Cornwall is to push ahead with a controversial bid
:02:55. > :02:58.for European Capital of Culture in 2023, despite critics branding
:02:59. > :03:02.Senior councillors were voting for the second time today
:03:03. > :03:05.after calls for further scrutiny of the proposals.
:03:06. > :03:08.Cornwall's likely to be competing alongside Leeds,
:03:09. > :03:11.Dundee and Milton Keynes for the title at a cost
:03:12. > :03:19.The Liverpudlians launched in style when they won it
:03:20. > :03:24.Now Cornwall is eyeing up this price.
:03:25. > :03:27.With Truro at the heart of it, there will be a Cornwall-wide bid
:03:28. > :03:31.to become the European Capital of Culture 2023.
:03:32. > :03:34.We are coming out of the EU, but all but one senior counsellor
:03:35. > :03:40.today gave the nod for the bid to go ahead at a cost of up to ?336,000
:03:41. > :03:46.Given that we have just voted to come out of Europe to now
:03:47. > :03:49.want to be European Capital of Culture seems,
:03:50. > :03:56.Yes, it would be a lovely idea, but I think it's an awful lot
:03:57. > :03:59.of money and we really need to think, do we need to spend
:04:00. > :04:05.I think there is enough in Cornwall of different types of culture
:04:06. > :04:13.Supporters point to the success of cultural projects like last
:04:14. > :04:16.summer's Man Engine and say if this bid goes all the way,
:04:17. > :04:21.the Cornish economy could get a boost of up to ?100 million.
:04:22. > :04:24.The creative industries are one of our fastest growing sectors,
:04:25. > :04:28.so supporting this is supporting that sector and supporting growth
:04:29. > :04:33.The competition for the crown is likely to include Leeds,
:04:34. > :04:38.Critics are branding it a waste of money when budgets are so tight
:04:39. > :04:43.and question whether post-Brexit the UK will even get its turn.
:04:44. > :04:45.Conservative opposition to the idea is coming from both
:04:46. > :04:51.Had we stayed in the European Union we would be in a completely
:04:52. > :04:55.different position, but this is part of our renegotiation
:04:56. > :04:58.as we leave the European Union, we don't know if it's
:04:59. > :05:02.going to survive, the government has made that clear.
:05:03. > :05:05.And we could possibly create another competition
:05:06. > :05:08.post-Brexit into which Cornwall could contribute, it's just
:05:09. > :05:12.that this competition we're too late, we're not organised
:05:13. > :05:19.When Liverpool's year ended, organisers insisted there
:05:20. > :05:24.Those behind Cornwall's ambitions argue even taking part in this first
:05:25. > :05:37.Fredrik Lindegren put the successful bid together for Umea, in Sweden,
:05:38. > :05:40.which was the European Capital of Culture in 2014.
:05:41. > :05:49.If you look at it from a cultural, political point of view,
:05:50. > :05:53.I would say it is definitely worth it if you have an united agenda
:05:54. > :06:00.There is always a possibility not to do it, but if you do it,
:06:01. > :06:06.then do it together and do it with your own city and region
:06:07. > :06:09.as the grounds for what you are trying to accomplish.
:06:10. > :06:13.What sort of benefits have you experienced as a result
:06:14. > :06:22.If you look at it from a tourist perspective, you can see a high
:06:23. > :06:25.increase in overnight stays at hotels, you can see
:06:26. > :06:31.an increase of investments, private investments in the city,
:06:32. > :06:34.but for me, working as head of the culture department,
:06:35. > :06:38.I would say that the most important is the awareness of how
:06:39. > :06:41.investments in culture actually can make a difference
:06:42. > :06:46.What do you make of a British county bidding for the title
:06:47. > :06:51.of European Capital of Culture when we are working to leave the EU?
:06:52. > :06:55.Well, of course it's a little bit puzzling,
:06:56. > :06:59.but I think that the strongest connections we have in Europe
:07:00. > :07:04.is within the culture field, so your decision,
:07:05. > :07:07.despite your decisions, I think it's very wise to continue
:07:08. > :07:11.to cooperate on a cultural level that will help us to unite further
:07:12. > :07:21.A man has appeared at Plymouth Magistrates Court
:07:22. > :07:24.in connection with an alleged attack on a special police constable
:07:25. > :07:27.at the city's railway station on Saturday.
:07:28. > :07:30.23-year-old Jonathan Feasey from East Taphouse, near Liskeard,
:07:31. > :07:33.has been charged with causing actual bodily harm.
:07:34. > :07:36.He was granted unconditional bail and ordered to appear
:07:37. > :07:41.before magistrates again on the 20th of March.
:07:42. > :07:43.Doctors in Cornwall are launching a new scheme to stop people
:07:44. > :07:45.with long-term medical conditions becoming addicted
:07:46. > :07:51.Contracts between the GPs and their patients will be drawn up
:07:52. > :07:56.It comes after clinicians noticed a rise in patients being admitted
:07:57. > :08:02.to the Royal Cornwall Hospital after overuse of painkillers.
:08:03. > :08:06.What we began to notice was that many of the patients with long-term
:08:07. > :08:12.painful conditions were displaying the same kind of features in how
:08:13. > :08:16.they presented and how their lives were as I had seen when working
:08:17. > :08:22.in a drug addiction service and that was a real concern.
:08:23. > :08:24.The work of a forgotten poet from Devon, born
:08:25. > :08:26.nearly 200 years ago, is being revived
:08:27. > :08:30.Edward Capern was a postman and he won plaudits
:08:31. > :08:33.from the Prime Minister and all the big literary
:08:34. > :08:37.Liz Shakespeare is now publishing two new books about him -
:08:38. > :08:49.a novel about his life and a selection of his poems.
:08:50. > :08:57.Winter is not quite finished with us yet. There is more forced to come.
:08:58. > :09:03.Certainly quite a cold night tonight and shower was around which gives us
:09:04. > :09:08.the risk of ice and some frost first thing tomorrow. The week ahead is a
:09:09. > :09:12.real mishmash. Lots happening, lots of changeable weather. It will
:09:13. > :09:17.remain windy and cold. Showers and some sunshine but also the risk of
:09:18. > :09:22.some frost around, certainly overnight tonight. One line of
:09:23. > :09:30.showers clears southwards, another one approaches. Once that goes
:09:31. > :09:34.through, some perhaps more persistent rain along the south
:09:35. > :09:39.coast on Wednesday and then after that we get slightly less cold air
:09:40. > :09:44.for a time, but once we get rid of the first batch of wet weather,
:09:45. > :09:49.cooler conditions arrive from the north-west. Just about everything
:09:50. > :09:54.over the next 24 hours. Wintry showers through the night to come.
:09:55. > :09:58.The chance of some ice forming on untreated roads and pavements even
:09:59. > :10:04.though temperatures may be a couple of degrees above freezing. Tomorrow
:10:05. > :10:09.morning some sunshine, isolated showers then a line of perhaps more
:10:10. > :10:15.frequent showers, some more persistent rain. That will please
:10:16. > :10:22.past replaced by sunshine. Briscoe winds and eight or 9 degrees will be
:10:23. > :10:25.the maximum. Thursday may well start of bright and drive but later on
:10:26. > :10:34.that day we will see a range settling in. Thursday probably the
:10:35. > :10:38.driest, more much whether on Friday. Temperatures up into double figures
:10:39. > :10:42.them they start to lower. Next weekend it will be quite cold,
:10:43. > :10:49.showers around and the continued risk of seeing some overnight frost.
:10:50. > :10:53.Stay warm. Have a good night. More news and weather from the spot 19
:10:54. > :10:55.tomorrow morning. Have a good evening.