The latest news, sport and weather from ITV News Anglia. On today’s programme:
A council leader in Norfolk defends his controversial social media video, as more farmland in the East is earmarked for another huge solar project.
The growing calls for e-bike users to have a licence after figures show a dramatic increase in accidents.
And the visitors taking a voyage back in time as a replica of Christopher Columbus’s ship docks in Ipswich.
For more of the biggest news stories in the UK and around the world, visit the ITV News YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@ITVNews
• Subscribe to ITV News In Full on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ITVNewsInFull?sub_confirmation=1
• Get breaking news and more stories at http://www.itv.com/news
Follow ITV News on TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@itvnews?lang=en
Follow ITV News on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/itvnews/
Follow ITV News on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/itvnews/
Follow ITV News on X: https://twitter.com/itvnews
These programmes may be edited to comply with copyright agreements.
Now, the latest from ITV News Anglia with Becky Jgo and David Whitley. [Music] Good evening. Welcome to ITV News Anglia. Here are Wednesday’s main stories. A council leader defends his controversial social media video as more farmland in the east is earmarked for another huge solar project. We’ve got far more responses for that than we’ve had in any planning document ever before and we’re talking about it now. Um, it’s made what’s going on in Norfolk into a national story. Plus, the growing calls for ebike users to have a license after figures show a dramatic increase in accidents as the holidays come to an end. Why many people with disabilities were put off traveling to a foreign destination this summer. [Music] and join us on board a replica of the ship that Christopher Columbus discovered the Americas. [Music] Hello from Becky and me and welcome to the program. First tonight, a Conservative council leader has defended a spoof video showing him blowing up solar farms and pylons, saying he’s trying to raise awareness of a very serious problem. Yeah, Daniel Elmer, who’s leader of South Norfolk Council, says the authority is getting hordes of applications which would see entire villages enclosed by green schemes. And it comes as protesters try to stop what’s being built as one of the biggest solar farms in Britain, planned between Swaffham and Dirham in Norfolk. The county could become the biggest solar producer in the UK if all the proposed schemes go ahead. Natalie Gray reports. [Music] It was bold, brave, and a little bizarre. The leader of South Norfolk Council rocket launcher in hand, the star of his own Grand Theft Auto style video. [Music] But the message couldn’t be more serious. Some of the largest solar farms in the UK have been proposed for Norfolk given its flat terrain and abundance of fields and farmland. Councils like South Norfolk are drowning under the numbers of applications for more. Fill in our survey and help us protect South Norfolk’s beautiful environment from unnecessary solar farms. So, it’s a bit of fun with a with a serious message, basically. Absolutely. And, you know, it worked. We’ve got far more responses for that than we’ve had in any planning document ever before. And we’re talking about it now. Um it’s made what’s going on in Norolk into a national story. And that’s important. It’s important that people understand what’s going on here. It’s important they can empathize with us. And it’s important they can take those issues away and fight on our behalf. Solar panels will be across here. Meanwhile, at Bradham near Darham, they’re trying to fight off one of the largest solar farms in the country. The hydro facility would cover 4,000 acres of farmland, equivalent to 1,360,000 parked cars or 2 and a half thousand football pitches. This one, they argue, is more solar factory than farm. So, it doesn’t seem very good at all. It’s the industrialization of the countryside. This is where we’ve grown fruit and uh uh barley and wheat for centuries and that’s going to be destroyed. We won’t have food. We’re just going to have panels. It’s 4,000 acres and five different projects. But they’ve linked them together into one project so that the approval is from the Secretary of State and not from local planning. So local residents, local council will not have a say in the final decision. None of the protesters are against renewable energy. They say solar panels have just been put in the wrong place. Instead, they argue they should go on rooftops, car parks, and brownfield sites. The government says solar power is a vital part of the energy mix to meet its net zero targets so we become less reliant on fossil fuels. And the company behind the high growth plan says it can help with that. It’s a 720 megawatt solar and battery development that if it is consented, it would generate enough clean energy for around 360,000 homes, which saves around 25 million tons of CO2 over the project life cycle. The High Grove opposition group is planning more protests later this month. Campaigners determined to be heard. Meanwhile, the leader of South Norfolk Council says they’re getting hordes of applications and somebody needs to listen. No wonder scores of people have appreciated the council’s creative campaign. Natalie Gray, ITV News. Well, let’s go live to our political correspondent, Emma Hutchinson in Westminster. Emma, a rather comical take on a serious uh subject and Norfolk’s MPs have their concerns as well, don’t they? Yes, they do. This is a big project that straddles two parliamentary constituencies and has united MPs on opposing sides of the House of Commons in opposition to this proposal. The Midnorfolk MP, Conservative MP George Freeman, says he’s opposed because he says it will have detrimental effects on the rural economy, on agricultural land. And the Southwest Norfolk MP, Labour MP Terry Jeremy says he’s opposed as well, concerned about the use of prime agricultural land and what that could mean for food security. He’s raised his concerns with the Secretary of State. He’s also made a formal opposition to the project written a a formal objection to the the inqu the consultation and the planning process. Uh there is a role for uh solar farms on poor quality land. There’s particularly a role for solar on agricultural buildings and other properties. But for me, grade two and above farmland is precious and food security in this country really should be a priority. So on this one with 20% grade to and above agricultural land being used, I’m afraid it’s not a proposal that I can support. So Emma, what happens next for this particular plan that we were talking about? Well, this is an ongoing process, so the planning process will take a while. There has been consultation, but ultimately this is a big project. So the final decision will be made here at Westminster by the Secretary of State for Energy, but that decision is not like to be made for at least two years. So probably not until 2027 at the earliest. All right, Emma, thanks very much. Nor South MP Clive Lewis is calling on the government to urgently improve living standards in the east of England, saying our region is missing out on public investment. The Labour MP says many in his Norwich constituency are struggling and rents in the city have risen by more than 20% in the last four years. And in my own city of Norwich, we don’t see the prosperity that governments have often boasted about. What we see is a region where too many people are running faster and faster just to stand still. In Norwich, wages remain below the national average. One in five workers earns less than the real living wage. One in six is trapped in secure work. Zero hours, agency, or short-term scraps dressed up as jobs. Three teenagers have been arrested in Ipsswitch after a man was stabbed in the early hours of this morning. Police were called to White House Park following reports of an altercation between a group of teenagers and four adults. A man in his 30s has been taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries and is said to be in a serious condition. Officers are appealing for any witnesses to contact them. The last surviving World War II pilot from the 100th bomb group based in Norfolk has died at the age of 103. Major John Lucky Luckadoo from Tennessee was part of the US Army Air Force group at Thorps near Dis which became known as the bloody hundth. He flew more than 20 missions over Nazi occupied Europe between 1943 and 1944. Essex police is stepping up patrols to stop hair coursing after an unusually high number of cases for this time of year. Officers say the season is already well underway because of the hot, dry weather and the early harvest. They’re investigating nearly 50 incidents in July and August and are deploying unmarked vehicles and drones in hot spots. The new town of Northstone and Cambridge Hill will get a temporary town center that’s been long called for by residents. A meanwhile hub, as it’s called, with cafes, bars, and other services will be built before a permanent one at a later date. People living there have previously complained about a lack of facilities. A golden retriever who spent almost 700 days at a dog charity in Norfolk has finally been rehomed in Harfordshire. Murray was a year old when he arrived at the dog’s trust in Snetton. He’s now enjoying his forever home with a family in Bishop’s. What a great name. Murray. What a great name for a dog. I love that. And why was he there for so long? He looks absolutely adorable. About time he had had a forever home and he’s got one now. Thank goodness. Uh next tonight, ebikes have surged in popularity in recent years, but there are now growing calls for riders of these batterypowered bicycles to carry licenses and register their vehicles on a database. A petition demanding tougher restrictions has reached more than 50,000 signatures, asking the government to take into account that many of these bikes can pose a higher risk compared to using pedal power alone. Yeah. However, sustainable transport campaigners say it is unnecessary. Nick Smith has this. Ebikes are now a common site in our towns and cities, but incidents with other traffic and pedestrians are on the rise with government data showing over 11,000 reports just last year. Christine White has been campaigning for stricter ebike laws since her elderly father James died due to complications after being hit by an ebike two years ago. The bike collided with the 91year-old veteran whilst he was on the pavement barely meters from his home. When ridden sensibly and safely, I think ebikes are a great mode of transport. The problem is so many people abuse this trans transport now because at the moment any person of 14 and over can hop on the bike and off they go. They don’t need any previous experience. Whereas personally I would equate an ebike with a 50 cc moped. The only difference is that one’s electrically driven and one’s got fuel in it. Yet the moped has to have training tax insurance and doesn’t ride on pavements. People are dying as a result of these bikes. And unless there’s more regulation, they ride around with impunity. To be used legally on public roads, an ebike’s top speed without pedaling shouldn’t exceed 15 1/2 m an hour, but increasing numbers are being seized, which have top speeds in excess of 40 m an hour. People we spoke to in Norwich say they’ve become a concern. Yeah, I think there should be a license. The capabilities of how fast they can go, it just makes it really dangerous. Some of those things can be quite lethal. And the amount of times I’ve nearly got off my bike turn and someone’s come whizzing past me, he’s nearly hit me. Bring back the cycling proficiency. People need to be learning how to cycle properly. Pro- cycling campaign groups say incidents involving legal ebikes are conflated with the rising problem of illegally modified bikes. We don’t need a stricter licensing scheme in respect of ebikes. What we need is actually the application and enforcement of the existing scheme. What we have is legal ebikes are a machine where there’s a power assist which cuts off 15 1.5 mph. It’s not a fast vehicle. What we hear about in the news all the time is illegal machines which are not ebikes. It’s actually an electric motorbike and they’ve been marketed as electric bicycles and that’s something that needs to be cracked down on. A government spokesperson told us it is bringing in new powers for police forces, allowing them to instantly seize ebikes being used antisoccially. However, there are no plans to introduce a bespoke licensing scheme. So, for those who’ve suffered tragedy at their misuse, they will keep pushing for riders to be more accountable with better training and stricter rules. Nick Smith, ITV News. Right, it is coming up to 30 minutes past 6. Thanks for joining Becky and me. Still to come on the program, all aboard the visitors taking a voyage back in time as a replica of Christopher Columbus’ ship docks in Ipsswitch. And further thunderstorms to come through this evening. More heavy rainfall tomorrow. I’ll have all the details coming up shortly. Oh, has felt different. Not autumn yet though. Not autumn just yet. It’s not. It’s not till the 22nd of September. I’m going to cling on to it. Uh now, for many of us, the kids are back at school and the summer holidays are over. Yes, they are. Uh but perhaps you’ve already started thinking about next year’s holiday. Well, for twothirds of families that have accessibility requirements, a summer holiday won’t be on the cards. That’s according to a new study that also found nearly half of disabled people actively avoid going abroad due to accessibility concerns. Amate Birdie has more. Navigating a busy airport can be challenging at the best of times. And when you’re visually impaired like Warren Wilson from Elely in Cambridge, the stress of it can be enough to put you off going on holiday altogether. having uh you know some kind of system in place whereby when you arrive uh say at the main entrance of an airport, the customer service point is there or there are staff waiting around that area who recognize a cane or a guide dog. Um or there are also uh hidden disability badges, sunflower lanyards, maybe they recognize those and they they’re trained to go up to people and just ask people, oh, how are you doing today? You know, can can you know do you need any help? Can we help you at all? That sort of thing can go a really long way. Actually, a recent survey of 1,200 individuals and families with at least one person with accessibility needs found almost 23 may not travel abroad this summer. Nearly half said they’d avoided going abroad over the past year due to accessibility concerns, and more than 23 agree that booking travel for people with access needs is a major barrier. The research was commissioned by accessibility technology company Trans Report and they say it isn’t just disabled people who are missing out. We know that within the aviation and hospitality industry that businesses lose two billion a month by ignoring the needs of disabled people. When we think that one in four people identify as disabled within the UK and actually many more people that do not choose to identify with that word but indeed have access needs, there is a huge um opportunity for increasing revenue. Professor David Ross and his wife Karen have enjoyed many holidays abroad over the years, but not without challenges. Now they’re sharing their learning and top tips in articles online to help other disabled travelers. Your average traveler probably thinks couple of months before, oh, I’d really like to go there. I mean, for a traveler with additional needs, that could take months of preparation. The most important thing before you even get on that plane or boat or whatever, is to make sure you’ve got insurance to cover you for that trip, particularly if you’re going outside Europe. If you’re flying, see what the airline provides, what what what support they will give you. A lot of that is online now. It’s freely available. just researching wherever you’re going beforehand, making sure that you’ve got all the things you might need to try and explain exactly what your needs are. It’s really important. David and Karen say more needs to be done to make holidays accessible for everyone so fewer are missing out on the joy of travel. Amirit Birdie, ITV News. Now, plans have been submitted to build a 30 million pound cancer center named after Sir Bobby Robson. The facility for research and treatment is being built in Newcastle and is being funded by the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation, named after the former England and Ipsswitch town manager who died of the illness in 2009. And while cycling now in stage two of the men’s tour of Britain started and finished just down the road actually from Sir Bobby’s old stomping ground setting off from Stow Market and then riding a 108 mile circuit through villages like Debbenham where the riders were greeted by these school children. That’s not a bad way to mark your first day back at school, is it? It then wound through the likes of Lavinham and Sudsbury. The weather though proved to be a little inclement, should we say. in. Look, a number of riders uh going down there just before the finish. And for the second day in a row, the stage was won by Dutchman Olaf Koi. Those washing machines were going overdrive, weren’t they? Football and Colchester United kicked off their football league trophy campaign at League One Wickham. The youth took the lead through Jaden Williams, the striker, finishing off the move at the second attempt. There it goes. Wickham did level things up with this just before the break, but Colchester took all three points in the opening group game with Jack Tucker’s late winner. The ITV Evening News is at 6:30 and here are the headlines with Lucretzia. Coming up on the ITV Evening News, the deputy prime minister admits she didn’t pay enough stamp duty on her second home. Angela Raina says she has considered resigning but hasn’t yet. What will the PM do? Also, should police be policing culture war debates? The boss of the Met says no after the arrest of Father Ted co-creator Graeme Ninham. Why children could soon be banned from buying energy drinks. And are we farewelling Downtown Abbey? Join us at the premiere of the hit show’s third film. Those stories and more at 6:30. Someone not too far from here is very excited about that. I’m a big Downtown Abbey fan. Not of the film so much, but this one could be brilliant. You never know. Maybe you should be a writer on the on the show. Get Becky on because she’ll make it. Uh then when was the last time you had a glass of me? I’m not sure I’ve ever had me. You had me? I tried it for the first time this summer, actually. It was very nice. Is it was it sweet? Like a honey alcoholic. Well, it seems the ancient alcoholic tipple is becoming popular again. Certainly with Becky. A man from Peterborough has actually become a me maker after looking for a job that he could do after suffering two heart attacks in his many years. Bob Karachelope says he took the plunge after receiving nice comments from people at a party. We went around and tried these people. That’s really nice. I’d buy that. These are people that I’d never met before. And from that point, it’s like if these people are prepared to say yes, I will buy that. And can I get some of that now? It’s a case of we need to get licensed just like that. Look how many different It’s a different shades as well, isn’t it? Is that depending on what it’s different fruit that’s in? I don’t I’m not an expert. I just like the taste of it. Well, exactly. That’s all you need to know. Uh well, if you’d like to see more on Bob’s story and find out how the business is going, uh you can pop over to ITVX. Yes. And that’s where you can watch an extended interview with him. And you know where to go by now. Click on categories, then news, head to the Anglia region, and Bob’s your uncle. See what you did there. Uh right. Uh now when he was only 54 years old, he died. But Christopher Columbus squeezed a lot into his life during the 15th century. In the days before we knew what the world looked like, the explorer famously set sail on the high seas in search of new lands. He had three ships during his life as a sailor. And the last one that was called the Santa Mariah is the one in which he voyed to the Americas. Tanya Mercer is in it. So it’s standing on a replica on it, not the actual thing. You look the part there. Step aside, Pirates of the Caribbean, Captain Jack Sparrow. This is We found your place, Tanya. This is where you should be with your sea legs. Yes. Good evening and welcome aboard the now Santa Maria. And isn’t she a beauty? It is, as you say, a replica of Columbus’s 15th century vessel. And it is essentially a floating museum dedicated to that legendary voyage of 1492 when the Americas were discovered. It sailed into Ipsswich last night and Desire can tell us a little bit more. Just how similar is this vessel then to Christopher Columbus’s time? What was life like? Well, we try to make it as faithful as possible to the original. But of course, with the nowadays comforts as we live here, the crew lives here. So, we have, for example, bathrooms. We have a kitchen. We have bang beds, which is not bad at all at all compared to the past, which would be like 40 people living on board here in the main deck, even if it rains, even if it’s waves coming on board. So, the conditions would be very hard to leave here. And well, instead of the captain, of course, that would have his own cabin, but the the rest would be sleeping here. Wow. Very noisy and very smelly, I imagine. Deser, thank you very much. Let me just give you some figures about this incredible ship. It weighs 200 tons. It measures 28 m in length. It’s got four mass, over 300 square meters of sail, and more than 3 kilometers of rope. Now that is not easy to sail. Well, it’s quite challenging because for example the main sail waits over two tons. So it’s quite hard. You need a lot of people down there. Sometimes you need to fight against the weather, the waves coming, you know, on board the wind. No, it’s it’s a bit hard. Now Ipsswich is one of the oldest ports in Britain. It’s got a rich maritime history and earlier today people came to welcome this vessel. The mayor was among them and he said it’s very fitting that it should be here. The history so the history within our town goes back so many years. The invention of the rudder was here in Ipsswitch and that’s a crazy thought to to hear. Uh the architect of HMS Victory Nelson ship he’s buried here and was that was designed here. So yeah, the history with maritime is is huge. Well, people have been coming aboard all day and it has been a huge hit with visitors. Absolutely amazing. Um I was absolutely thrilled when I saw on Facebook social media um that it was coming into Ipsswitch Docks. I’ve got my grandson today. So apart from the weather, I thought it was a really lovely place to bring in to see some history. It was a really nice experience because at home I have a small replica of Santa Maria and now I’m on a big a really proper ship. Well, the ship will be docked here until Sunday. Tickets are available online and on board before it starts making its homeward journey back to Spain. Fabulous. We love that. Ash told us the most amazing fact just now. Come on. Quick quick about. So basically you would have navigated with the sun and the moon when you’re on these boats. So if you knew how to navigate, you would never share that skill with anybody. But that’s where the idea of a pirate comes from. The cornea would have been damaged throughout navigation and they would have a little patch over their eye. And you said that you never shared you could navigate because then you’d never go over. You’d never be a you’d never share that because you were invaluable. They wouldn’t throw you over the You wouldn’t walk the plank. No. Brilliant. I better learn how to navigate then. Right. Let’s talk about the weather. And uh warm today, but an autoutminal sort of wind and lots of rain and huge huge showers today. I don’t think these sunflowers near where to find the sunshine. We’ve just seen a little bit of sunshine pop out over the last few hours. There’s still a few more hours as well of a thunderstorm warning. And in a few spots today, we’ve had almost a week and a half’s worth of rainfall. Now, not everybody has got to see that much rainfall, but it just indicate how large those showers are. And I think if you had have avoided the showers today, you would have been very lucky. So, they are fading as we head through this evening. There is more showers on the horizon. However, there’s also a little bit of summer as well by Friday. Here’s the details. [Music] Greater Anglia sponsors ITV Anglia weather. [Music] Well, it certainly has been a busy day of weather. We’ve had heavy and often thundery downpours and a Met Office yellow warning still in place for the next few hours. Those showers though will continue past that Met Office yellow warning expiring. So, as we head through the next few hours, it’s all about low pressure that’s been introducing this fairly lively weather today and then into Thursday, the next band of rain pushes through. So, another day of some heavy showers and also some really quite blustery weather as well, although not quite as windy as today. So those showers continuing for a couple of hours, but eventually it will turn dry tonight and briefly then the winds drop out. So actually quite a fine start to Thursday morning. Good spells of sunshine around. Temperatures dropping back to 13° C. But on Thursday, you can very quickly see that weatherfront pushing in from the middle of the morning onwards. There it is sweeping its way northwards. The possibility of one or two rumbles of thunder in there yet again. And a very similar day to today, but perhaps just a little bit more sunshine in between those fairly large showers and feeling a little bit fresher as well despite the sunshine. Maximum temperatures of around 19° C. Now, here are your times of high water at Chromemer 10 to 5 in the morning and then again at half 5 tomorrow evening. Let’s just take a look from Thursday into Friday. Very quickly, the weather starting to settle down. You’ll see these little ridges of high pressure building in. So making for quite a calm day on Friday with just the outside chance of an isolated shower. So through Friday, good spells of sunshine from very first thing in the morning. There is the possibility there may just be an isolated shower that may develop as the cloud bubbles up. It’s feeling slightly warmer as well, particularly as the winds are light and with so much more sunshine around. Maximum temperatures of 21° C. Although this is what we would expect for this time of the year. Then as we head into Saturday, a fine dry day to come with light winds, highs of 22 degrees. But it’s all changed on Sunday. It starts off fine before a weather front spreads in during the middle parts of the day. Greater Anglia sponsors ITV Anglia weather. Right, there’s a bit of summer coming, but it’s summer till the 22nd of September. That’s barbecue, people. That’s barbecue. Don’t you worry, I’ll keep it going as long as possible. I do want to run an umbrella. Tell it. See you tomorrow. [Music]