22/01/2017 Spotlight

Campaigners who raised ?80,000 to fund a legal challenge

against the building of a wind turbine in a Devon area

of Outstanding Natural Beauty are celebrating victory

The Secretary of State has overturned permission given

by South Hams District Council for the 112-foot high

Green energy systems have become a more common sight

The plan for land near Frogmore was for a smaller turbine than

When the council gave it the go-ahead, around 100 people raised

A planning inspector backed them, and the Secretary of State has now

You really have to think long and hard, what is my understanding

of it, and I am I correct in thinking

that the council have made the wrong decision?

You have to have a lot of faith in yourself,

especially when you are asking the local community

to fund and invest in what you think is a bad decision.

Councillors had gone against advice from officers.

Today the chairman of the committee told me he was disappointed

We all know renewable energy is needed, we all want green,

And also on the economic grounds, of the agricultural industry,

we all know dairy farming is going through a bad patch,

perhaps a little bit better now, but anything to reduce

The farmers who brought the application tell me

they are disappointed that this decision.

They say all they were trying to do was lower the carbon emissions

The farm needs energy 24 hours a day.

They say they do not have the money to appeal.

There could be a 2% rise in the portion of council tax used

to fund the police to bring more officers into Devon and Cornwall.

The rise could see an extra 40 officers

being employed coming after a spell when numbers have been reducing.

The Police and Crime Commissioner Alison Hernandez has told today's

Sunday Politics that, if it happened, it would be

A family's been reunited with a memorial bench

which was swept out to sea during storms at

It was carried 60 miles from Port Isaac in Cornwall

The woman who found the bench used social media to track down

the family of the teenage boy commemorated on the seat.

This is not just the story of a bench, but of fate,

Archie Thomas died 32 years ago today, at the age of 15.

He came with his family to Port Isaac for holidays every year,

He liked nothing more than to stand with the fishermen chatting

away for half the day, so when he died we wanted

to have this memorial bench for him there,

something that was so important to him.

The bench was found by Cathy, out walking her dogs.

There was Archie's bench washed up on the beach.

I straightaway saw it was a memorial bench,

which I had empathy for the family, because my brother died eight years

Which is why I knew this had to be somehow found

It is one of those things that has brought us amongst

these wonderful people, and also made so many

contacts with old friends, it has reopened our eyes

Help to get the bench back to Port Isaac came

from another North Devon family with their own commemoration bench

For them to turn up and find it gone would have been awful for them,

so at least they know what has happened to it, they have been able

to bring it back to where it is rightfully supposed to be

A real sense of homecoming, isn't it?

And what a lovely journey it has been for all of us.

Thanks to community spirit, and amazing connections,

Archie's bench is back with it belongs.

Archie's bench is back where it belongs.

Twitchers have been out in force in Devon

The Bohemian waxwing is more usually seen in eastern Europe but in recent

days has been spotted close to the A38 at Heathfield

It's said to be too cold for them in Russia.

It has been another dry day across the south-west.

We have had a little bit of cloud, and we run the risk of further

Further east, where we see clear skies we have the risk

of freezing fog patches, so for Dorset, Somerset, tomorrow

Further west, slightly milder, and I think most towns and cities

Rural areas could get down to minus figures.

Tomorrow that freezing fog towards the east will be

For most of us, a bright start to the day.

It is going to be another beautiful day.

Dry, plenty of sunshine, with temperatures up on today.

It looks like staying settled as we head through the week.

Some more cloud through the middle part of the week.

The wind picks up towards the weekend, but it turns milder.

That is it for us. We're back at 20 past ten. Good evening.

of freezing fog. Already warnings in place from the Met office. I will

concentrate on the fog as we go through the