:00:12. > :00:15.The Devon and Cornwall Police force is to get 100 new constables,
:00:16. > :00:20.50 extra investigators and a team of 30 online staff,
:00:21. > :00:22.in what's being called a transformation of the service.
:00:23. > :00:26.The Police and Crime Commissioner has found ?24 million to pay
:00:27. > :00:29.for the new officers, despite previous cuts.
:00:30. > :00:42.The news has been filled with stories of police cuts are now
:00:43. > :00:44.118 new recruits are being drafted in.
:00:45. > :00:47.They tried to kick the restaurant draw down to get to us so
:00:48. > :00:50.obviously my husband protected me and they did not get in.
:00:51. > :00:53.I was on a 999 call and they were outside,
:00:54. > :01:00.It has left her feeling vulnerable and had a knock-on effect on her
:01:01. > :01:03.She feels there isn't police support.
:01:04. > :01:05.The police station here is closed, it's boarded-up, but
:01:06. > :01:09.No-one is there at the moment, but Alison Hernandez, the Police And
:01:10. > :01:14.Crime Commission, wants a lot more of this sort of office dotted around
:01:15. > :01:19.the region, in order to connect up the public with the police.
:01:20. > :01:22.The biggest thing coming out of this plan is that I am able
:01:23. > :01:25.to invest in policing to help with that cause, so
:01:26. > :01:29.I am looking to secure ?24 million worth of additional funding
:01:30. > :01:35.for the Chief Constable to deliver a better police force.
:01:36. > :01:37.?10 million has been found from police reserves and
:01:38. > :01:39.there'll be a hike in the council tax -
:01:40. > :01:44.an extra ?3.40 for every band D household - to pay for the
:01:45. > :02:00.And use a fog and support officers. 350 officers at present will be
:02:01. > :02:05.reduced to a minimum of 150 within three years. We're told there will
:02:06. > :02:10.be no redundancies. There are integral to communities. If I can
:02:11. > :02:14.get that to 160, 170, 200, I will. Over the next few years will be
:02:15. > :02:17.looking at how else we can use the budget but we need to have certainty
:02:18. > :02:22.while we set our budget the four years. We set that figure at 150. If
:02:23. > :02:27.we can make it less impactful we will. They will be stretched across
:02:28. > :02:32.the hold-up in Cornwall force. It's a little bit like a drop in the
:02:33. > :02:34.ocean I imagine. But as nothing -- it's better than nothing.
:02:35. > :02:36.NHS bosses are pressing ahead with controversial plans to close
:02:37. > :02:38.four cottage hospitals in South Devon.
:02:39. > :02:40.There have been 12 weeks of consultations over
:02:41. > :02:41.the closure of Dartmouth, Paignton, Ashburton
:02:42. > :02:45.Today managers confirmed they will close ,to the anger
:02:46. > :02:48.of campaigners who marched through Ashburton at the weekend
:02:49. > :03:03.It was an attempt to give the public the impression that they'd have some
:03:04. > :03:07.input into this process. They had absolutely no input in the process.
:03:08. > :03:11.It was a foregone conclusion. All the time they were talking about the
:03:12. > :03:17.fact that the NHS is under increasing pressure from an ageing
:03:18. > :03:22.population and increasing demand. The response is to cut it. Cut one
:03:23. > :03:23.and a half million of expenditures. That doesn't make any sense to
:03:24. > :03:25.anyone involved. Councillors in Dorset are holding
:03:26. > :03:28.further talks aimed at reducing Two theatres may have
:03:29. > :03:31.closed in Devon this week, but that's not stopping
:03:32. > :03:33.Exeter City Council from going ahead with moves that could lead
:03:34. > :03:36.to the creation of a sizeable The thinking is that maybe it's time
:03:37. > :03:41.for the city to join the ranks of south-west towns and cities
:03:42. > :03:43.with performance venues that can Our business correspondent
:03:44. > :03:55.Neil Gallacher reports. The timing of Exeter's move just as
:03:56. > :03:59.the theatre in Barnstable shuts along with one in Ilfracombe,
:04:00. > :04:05.underlines that councils cannot afford to get involved in theatres
:04:06. > :04:09.lightly. All the same, Exeter is asking the question should someone,
:04:10. > :04:14.council or private sector, create a 1000 seater venue somewhere in
:04:15. > :04:20.Exeter? The City Council owns and operates the Corn Exchange. These
:04:21. > :04:25.posters give it pretty good idea of what the offer is in Exeter as far
:04:26. > :04:32.as this theatre goes. A list comedy and B list music. Somewhat dictated
:04:33. > :04:35.by the 500 seat. Capacity Plymouth for example has a 1300 seat theatre
:04:36. > :04:46.and concert hall seating twice as many. We have the theatre and
:04:47. > :04:51.smaller venues. In a way Exeter's offer is complementary to Plymouth's
:04:52. > :04:58.but Plymouth is three times the size of Exeter. At the moment the Corn
:04:59. > :05:02.Exchange can any take 500 people and if we could make changes to that
:05:03. > :05:07.space it is entirely possible we could increase the audience
:05:08. > :05:10.capacity. Exeter is just starting a consultation that could eventually
:05:11. > :05:16.lead to some sort of new venue. One more in keeping with the city's
:05:17. > :05:18.ambitious, self-proclaimed status as the regional capital.
:05:19. > :05:20.It's 100 years to the day that the small fishing village
:05:21. > :05:22.of Hallsands in Devon was washed away.
:05:23. > :05:24.But as Sophie Pierce reports today's villagers say
:05:25. > :05:26.they still feel vulnerable, because the authorities will no
:05:27. > :05:36.These differences are all that protect Hallsands from the sea.
:05:37. > :05:38.They were repaired by villagers at their own
:05:39. > :05:41.expense in 2014, and they have recently paid for more.
:05:42. > :05:43.They are unhappy the village is being left exposed, unlike
:05:44. > :05:51.Two years ago the then Government minister Oliver Letwin visited
:05:52. > :05:57.I think what I need to do is have conversations with the Environment
:05:58. > :06:01.Agency about that, because I found in my own constituency there
:06:02. > :06:03.was a time when there were parts of my
:06:04. > :06:05.constituency which were scheduled for retreat.
:06:06. > :06:08.The residents didn't find that a very attractive proposition,
:06:09. > :06:11.we changed that, and I think we probably need to find a
:06:12. > :06:17.A few months later villagers learned that nothing had changed and
:06:18. > :06:22.The shoreline management plan says that there's
:06:23. > :06:26.nothing worth saving in this village - we beg to differ.
:06:27. > :06:28.You can't just say to some people, your houses
:06:29. > :06:32.are going to fall in the sea and there's nothing were going to
:06:33. > :06:39.We pay our council tax and our national taxes the same
:06:40. > :06:43.While the authorities are sympathetic, they say
:06:44. > :06:48.Do we spend ?1 million protecting the coast here or
:06:49. > :06:52.do we spend that ?1 million protecting adult services, special
:06:53. > :06:58.educational needs, youth clubs, libraries, mending the roads?
:06:59. > :07:01.It's a balance and unfortunately it is not
:07:02. > :07:05.an infinite pot of money and we have to make priorities.
:07:06. > :07:08.As it happens there is more shingle on the beach today than there has
:07:09. > :07:13.been for many years, and it acts as a natural defence.
:07:14. > :07:16.Some in the village now feel that keep campaigning is a
:07:17. > :07:27.waste of effort, as the authorities are unlikely to change their minds.
:07:28. > :07:35.Time now to look at the weather, and Holly's here with the forecast.
:07:36. > :07:43.It's a very cold picture this afternoon and the most of us it has
:07:44. > :07:47.been a fairly cloudy days so far. Grey skies in this photo. But not
:07:48. > :07:52.the case for all of us, some have had sunshine. Lovely blue skies in
:07:53. > :07:56.the Channel Islands and elsewhere you have seen the blue sky breaking
:07:57. > :08:02.through. We should see some that this afternoon but it is very cold
:08:03. > :08:08.and windy. We've had cold air pooling over the continent and it is
:08:09. > :08:11.being drawn up on this at South or south-easterly wind. Through the
:08:12. > :08:14.coming days there is more of an Atlantic feed and that means it is
:08:15. > :08:19.less cold but we start to season outbreaks of rain. This is a picture
:08:20. > :08:23.so far, very cloudy for many, brightness over the Channel Islands
:08:24. > :08:26.starting to feed into parts of the South coast and also parts of North
:08:27. > :08:30.Devon have seen brightness coming through and hopefully more should
:08:31. > :08:33.emerge as the afternoon wears on. These are the top temperatures but
:08:34. > :08:37.it feels much colder. Especially when you factor in the strong wind
:08:38. > :08:42.which is almost gale forced to the West. Tonight we have clear skies
:08:43. > :08:47.meaning the temperatures drop again. We'll see some frost in places,
:08:48. > :08:50.outbreaks of rain into western fringes and here it is milder but
:08:51. > :08:56.further east you might catch frost and ice. Tomorrow has a different
:08:57. > :09:00.look. Some outbreaks of rain, don't take it too literally, we are all at
:09:01. > :09:05.risk of seeing some but many may not see too much. Temperatures are
:09:06. > :09:10.little higher than today but still pretty bleak. For the channel
:09:11. > :09:11.islands, spells of rain perhaps a bit of sleet and a fresh to strong
:09:12. > :09:12.wind. Justin will be live in Hallsands
:09:13. > :09:17.tonight speaking to villagers, But from the Lunchtime News team,
:09:18. > :09:36.have a good afternoon. TV: He's not your father.
:09:37. > :09:59.WOMAN GASPS so why not pay your TV licence in
:10:00. > :10:03.weekly instalments, too?