BBC transcripts
17:26 Tuesday 30th August 2011
Drive BBC Radio Cambridgeshire
ANDY BURROWS: A couple of years ago he swam the Channel for Sport Relief. Now the comedian David Walliams is to tackle a 140-mile swim along the Thames from Gloucestershire to Big Ben in London. He starts next Monday. Earlier on I spoke to Michael Worthington. He’s from the Outdoor Swimming Society, and I asked him what kind of challenge David Walliams has set himself. Continue reading “Swimming the Thames”
17:47 Friday 26th August 2011
Drive BBC Radio Cambridgeshire
ANDY BURROWS: If your local pub shuts, could you and a few mates get together and reopen it? Well that’s exactly what’s happened in Cumbria today, where 300 people have each stumped up £250. Earlier on I spoke to Peter Couchman. He’s the Chief Executive of the Plunkett Foundation. That’s an organisation which promotes the development of community-owned pubs and shops. (TAPE) Continue reading “Plunkett Foundation Helping Rural Communities”
17:20 Thursday 25th August 2011
Drivetime BBC Radio Cambridgeshire
ANDY BURROWS: The latest official figures show there’s been a significant increase in net migration. That’s the difference between the number of people coming to live in the UK, and the number emigrating. The figure was 239,000 last year, a rise of nearly 21% on 2009. Victor Aveling is an asparagus farmer from Cambridgeshire, and he explains why he relies on migrant labour. (TAPE)
VICTOR AVELING: I used to employ all British people, and we had a lot of ladies from the local town picking strawberries and that sort of thing. Over the years it got more and more difficult to recruit. People did not seem to be available to do that work. You would find that people would come and they would work for a day or half a day. That’s enough for them. It’s too hard.
ANDY BURROWS: We know plenty of the arguments don’t we here in Cambridgeshire. That was Victor Aveling, an asparagus farmer speaking to the BBC today.
Victor Aveling is Chairman of the Asparagus Growers Association, and President of the N.E.Cambridgeshire Conservative Association.
===========
08:20 Thursday 18th August 2011
Peterborough Brealfast Show
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire
ANDY GALL: Let’s speak to Shaun Fricker, Head of Sixth Form at Jack Hunt School. Good morning to you Shaun.
SHAUN FRICKER: Morning.
ANDY GALL: What a morning! Well done. Full of the joys of autumn. Are you as nervous as many of your students Shaun?
SHAUN FRICKER: We always are, every year.
ANDY GALL: Right. Why are you nervous though? Your job’s done now. You should feel OK, yeah we’ve done our .. Continue reading “Shaun Fricker on University Entrance, Life Skills and Citizenship in the Curriculum”
07:12 Wednesday 17 August 2011
Peterborough Breakfast Show
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire
ANDY GALL: Neil Darwin is Director of Economic Development at Opportunity Peterborough, and can speak to us now. Good morning Neil.
NEIL DARWIN: Good morning Andy.
…………..
ANDY GALL: Alconbury have been chosen as the Enterprise Zone by the Government.
NEIL DARWIN: Indeed.
ANDY GALL: Peterborough did apply but wasn’t selected.
NEIL DARWIN: That’s right.
ANDY GALL: Your thoughts this morning?
NEIL DARWIN: We’re really pleased. The important thing was we got an Enterprise Zone in the area, and it’s fantastic news that we have indeed got one. The important thing is that having Alconbury deisgnated means that it’s good for Peterborough, irrespective.
ANDY GALL: Does it mean though that because Enterprise Zones in the ’80s, when they came about, they were sort of blue-chip companies would be drawn to them, but then they became sort of employment blackspots.
NEIL DARWIN: Indeed. It’s a very interesting policy line the Government have taken. Some of them did work in the ’80s. Some of them failed miserably. And again, what the Government have done this time is say that they’re going to focus on growth, growth-focused areas. What they mean by that is they’re going to put them in places like Alconbury, rather than in the middle of Blackburn or Burnley or places of that ilk.
ANDY GALL: But what kind of industry is it going to attract in the current climate?
NEIL DARWIN: At the moment we’ve been talking to Urban & Civic who own the site down there. They’re very keen to try and attract overseas business to the area. And there’s still plenty of demand for that, around some of the modern technologies that are coming forward. So biotech and all those sorts of things. So it’ll be interesting. From a Peterborough perspective it will be very interesting to see how it takes off. And actually the important thing for Peterborough residents is actually having, as Urban & Civic have described in the proposal, up to 6,000, 7,000 jobs. It’s having those jobs on the doorstep, because it’s actually very commutable from Peterborough. So there’s a real win-win there, in terms of having jobs on the doorstep.
=============
07:33 Monday 16th August 2011
Peterborough Breakfast Show
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire
ANDY GALL: More on the ongoing GP surgeries consultation at NHS Peterborough. The Primary Care Trust is looking at closing and expanding certain surgeries, as it looks to save money. Well one set of campaigners angry at the possible closure of Alma Road surgery say other bigger Trusts in places like Manchester and Liverpool only have 6 or 7 Executive Directors, but NHS Peterborough have 12. We can speak now to Geoff Catlin who is one of those campaigners. Good morning Geoff.
GEOFF CATLIN: Good morning Andy.
ANDY GALL: So why do you think NHS Peterborough has too many directors? Continue reading “A Severe Case of Boardroom Bloat at NHS Peterborough and Cambridgeshire”
08:07 Monday 15th August 2011
Peterborough Breakfast Show
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire
ANDY GALL: First it was free iPads. Now Cabinet Members at Peterborough City Council are being offered free iPhones. The Peterborough Liberal Democrat councillors have criticised the idea, saying it’s not appropriate in the current climate. It’s thought that the handsets cost around £500. Earlier we spoke to Cllr Darren Fower, and he said that the Cabinet Members should be leading by example. (TAPE)
DARREN FOWER: Cost is a major factor in today’s world. We’ve also got this situation where up until recently in the last couple of years Cabinet Members have benefited from free Blackberries. And if you look at some of these individuals, they’re not poor. They have got a lot of money about themselves anyway, and I think really as senior members of the Council they need to be looking to lead by example. And like you say, securing these items that are about £500 a pop, times that by the number of councillors, that’s a lot of money being spent. (LIVE)
ANDY GALL: Now we were hoping to speak to Cllr David Seaton, the man in charge of this area, but he’s unavailable, but we’ve been sent a more than capable replacement, Cllr Matthew Dalton, Cabinet Member for Communications at Peterborough City Council. He joins us now. Good morning Matthew.
MATTHEW DALTON: Good morning Andy.
ANDY GALL: So thank you for coming in. Now could these iPhones make you a saving then? Continue reading “New Toys for Peterborough Councillors”
17:54 Thursday 11th August 2011
Drive BBC Radio Cambridgeshire
ANDY BURROWS: New statistics from the Office of Rail Regulation have today revealed that rush-hour overcrowding on some trains is worsening. That’s in the South East of the country. But what’s the situation here in Cambridgeshire? We’ve talked lots about increased capacity on services like First Capital Connect. Guy Dangerfield is from Passenger Focus. He may well be on a train right now. Are you packed in like a sardine, Guy Dangerfield?
GUY DANGERFIELD: I’m actually on a bus Andy. But it’s quite busy, so apologies for the background noise.
ANDY BURROWS: What are services like out of Peterborough and Cambridge at the moment? Have people felt the benefit of recently expanded services? Continue reading “Guy Dangerfield on Recent Improvements to Train Capacity in the East of England”