Month: March 2013

Ash Dieback – Chris Gilligan

08:36 Friday 8th March 2013
Bigger Breakfast Show
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

[P]AUL STAINTON: Researchers from Cambridge University are working with the Government to battle ash dieback fungus, a devastating disease that threatens our third most common broad leafed tree. Professor Chris Gilligan is here. Morning Chris.
PROF GILLIGAN: Good morning.
PAUL STAINTON: Now this is an incredibly bad disease for the ash tree, isn’t it?
PROF GILLIGAN: It is imposing a really serious threat I’m afraid for ash trees.
PAUL STAINTON: I read somewhere the other day that it could affect up to 90% of them.
PROF GILLIGAN: Potentially. We should know however that while it will infect the trees, we still don’t yet know how rapidly it will lead to the death of the trees. So that we can work on the spread, think about how rapidly it will move across the country. But some of the work that we will be involved in with other groups is then to work out just how quickly would we see the ash trees dying. And of course then looking to see whether or not we can do something to delay the spread. And also to think about breeding ash trees that will be resistant.
PAUL STAINTON: Right. So you’re unravelling the DNA of the disease, are you at the moment?
PROF GILLIGAN: No, the .. other groups are really unravelling the DNA, which will help us to understand very much how the infection proceeds. The work that’s being done in Cambridge is using mathematics to integrate the knowledge that we have got, in order to be able to predict again how rapidly the disease is likely to spread, where it’s likely to spread, and indeed where we might be able to deploy control locally, if not globally.
PAUL STAINTON: So working alongside these other groups, working with the DNA and the maths, is there a point at which you’re hoping you can get something to cure the disease, or is it just going to be about breeding it out?
PROF GILLIGAN: I think it’s unlikely that we will get anything that can cure the disease. There may be some compatibilities? for some limited use of casual control, but that really won’t be feasible over the large scale in the time available. It’s really looking at genetical control, and also in some specific cases for example looking at the movement of ash saplings to prevent the transmission of the disease on the saplings, which can help then to protect some areas of ash.
PAUL STAINTON: And what sort of timescale are we talking about here? Because obviously it’s important. It’s happening now, isn’t it?
PROF GILLIGAN: It is happening rapidly. It was first detected in Poland back in 1992, and spread right across the Continent of Europe in that intervening time. So that we accept that it will spread reasonably rapidly through parts of the UK, but not necessarily all of the UK.
PAUL STAINTON: OK. Well good luck with your work. Hopefully we can get it sorted soon, otherwise our countryside might look very different in the future Mr Andy Harper. We might be looking at various other trees, rather than ash if things continue.
ANDY HARPER: My garden will look very different. I’ve a very large ash tree on the border of our property, and it’s a splendid thing, attracts the birds of course, and the buds come out very early. It’s a remarkable guide to the seasons. And I just can’t imagine life with that tree not there to be honest.
PAUL STAINTON: No. All them people staring in, looking and pointing. “That’s Andy Harper. There look. Him!”
ANDY HARPER: There’ll be a gap in our hedge. And I don’t want it.
PAUL STAINTON: You don’t want that. “He’s in his undies!”.

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Peterborough Council 2013 Budget Passed

07:40 Thursday 7th March 2013
Bigger Breakfast Show
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

[P]AUL STAINTON: Boy was it a feisty Council meeting at the Town Hall in Peterborough last night. Councillors were gathering to vote on the Budget proposals for the next twelve months, which included the equivalent of 63 full-time redundancies, a reduction in adult social care services, and cuts to the city’s playcentres. The proposal was passed, but only just. 29 voted in favour, and 25 councillors against, with one councillor abstaining. But listeners to the show contacted us this morning saying that the meeting had to be adjourned at one point because the debate became too heated. Continue reading “Peterborough Council 2013 Budget Passed”

It Never Rains But It Pours

17:47 Monday 4th March 2013
Drive BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

[C]HRIS MANN: The Environment Agency is urging the Government to do more to prepare for extreme weather, in the wake of figures showing there was flooding in one day of every five in 2012, but also drought in one day in every four. Lord Smith is warning that Britain needs to prepare and adapt to avoid flooding and drought disrupting daily life. He says better protection is needed for homes and businesses. The report highlights how rivers such as the Ouse, the Tyne and Tone went from their lowest to their highest levels since records began, in the space of just four months. Craig Woolhouse is from the Environment Agency. (TAPE)
CRAIG WOOLHOUSE: Well we saw last year that total contrast between drought in the first three months, when many people had restrictions on their water use, through to over 8,000 homes being flooded through a sequence of flood events in the last nine months of the year, right across England and Wales. So a real contrast, and almost half last year were either drought or flood. So if that’s the future model that we’ve got to think about, then we’ve got to prepare better to cope with those variations in our climate, and be ready to live with that. We can build flood defences to help protect homes and businesses, protect agricultural land, and we can provide storage reservoirs so we’ve got enough water during drought. But I think it’s going to take all of us to shift our thinking to cope with the changing climate over the next ten, twenty, thirty years.
CHRIS MANN: Well the Environment Agency, you in fact, are tasked with preparing us and looking after us when these things happen. As you said there was flooding but there was also drought. Were you taken unawares by what was coming up?
CRAIG WOOLHOUSE: I think everyone has been surprised by the real shift from drought to flood last year. It’s something we haven’t experienced in the last hundred years of record. It has been quite unprecedented, that shift from very low flows in rivers to very high flows, some of the highest on record, some of the lowest on record. So that has been a surprise. I think the floods, we’ve seen 8,000 homes flooded, but we’ve also had the benefit of the 200,000 homes protected through the flood defences we’ve built. (LIVE)
CHRIS MANN: Craig Woolhouse there, from the Environment Agency.
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Immunis – Peterborough’s Zombie Apocalypse

07:50 Monday 4th March 2013
Bigger Breakfast Show
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

PAUL STAINTON: Now picture the scene. Zombies have taken over the planet, and very important landmarks and people in Peterborough are under attack. Well that’s the premise behind a new web comic called Immunis. It’s seeking funding. It’s been dreamt up by two people from Peterborough, Anthony Ashley and Sean Reidy. Morning chaps. So you’ve been dreaming about zombies.
CREATOR: Constantly.
PAUL STAINTON: And you’ve written it all down into a comic, but you need some cash.
CREATOR: Yes we do. We’re looking to raise money to kickstart it, if you like.
PAUL STAINTON: So tell us all about it. Tell us what happens. Tell us what’s going on in this comic. Continue reading “Immunis – Peterborough’s Zombie Apocalypse”

2015 A War Of Words

08:38 Friday 1st March 2013
Bigger Breakfast Show
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

[P]AUL STAINTON: So, the LibDems are cock-a-hoop this morning after holding on to Eastleigh in Hampshire in the Parliamentary by-election, caused of course by that resignation of former Cabinet Member Chris Huhne. Mike Thornton retained the seat with a much reduced majority, whilst their Coalition partners the Tories were pushed into third place by the rise of Ukip, who recorded their best ever Westminster result, made in Ramsey of course, master minded by Lisa Duffy. Labour finished an incredibly distant fourth. Well the LibDem’s Leader Simon Hughes was a relieved man. (TAPE)
SIMON HUGHES: I’m very pleased as well as relieved of course. We worked well. We didn’t squeak in by 50 votes or 500 votes. It was a majority of nearly 2,000. Mike was an excellent candidate. He had a credibility locally to fight a good campaign. It was a consolation that, in government, this was the first time since we’ve been in the Government, we defended one of our seats. (LIVE)
PAUL STAINTON: Well, victory for the LibDems, but Ukip are claiming the moral victory, annd Ramsey councillor Peter Reeve hailed the result as a huge step forward for the Party. (TAPE)
PETER REEVE: Before, Ukip was very much seen as a party against the EU. But people are actually paying attention to what we’re saying. The media’s giving the coverage to what we’re saying. And I think when people look at us and actually get a chance to really appreciate what it is that Ukip are saying, they suddenly realise that, oh my goodness, there’s a party saying exactly what I think. (LIVE)
PAUL STAINTON: Well as I mentioned, Labour finished a very distant fourth, a result they say is “impressive” considering their previous results in that constituency. So is this just a protest vote, or is it a defining moment in UK politics? Have people had enough of the status quo, and are beginning, like they are in Italy, to look for alternatives? Let’s speak to Stewart Jackson, the Conservative MP for Peterborough. Are you worried this morning Stewart? Continue reading “2015 A War Of Words”