24/09/2013 Look North (North East and Cumbria)

Welcome to Tuesday's Look North. In tonight's headlines: On the eve of

the fire strike, our brigades prepare for the walk—out. The union

raises concern about the plan to use volunteers. The Windscale Chimney

Demolition begins at the site of Britain's worst nuclear disaster.

Ray Mallon's stepping down. But will Middlesbrough decide it's had enough

of elected mayors? And TV's Starsky treads the boards, playing the

father of some rather headstrong daughters. In sport, we are live at

the Stadium of Light ahead of Sunderland's first match since the

sacking of Paolo Di Canio. Tomorrow is the day when the

country's firefighters go out on strike. For four hours emergency

call outs will be handled by volunteers. In Teesside, with its

heavy industry and chemical plant, there is real concern. Cleveland

Fire Brigade says all its near 50 volunteer firefighters and drivers

are trained up and prepared to work during the strike, called after a

two year dispute over pensions. But the Fire Brigades Union says that

will have its risks. The daily check of the fire engines

at the Grangetown Station in Middlesbrough. Tomorrow, though,

routine will be disrupted. Between midday and four o' clock many of the

Cleveland Brigade's firefighters will be on strike. To provide cover,

nearly 50 members of the public have been recruited. We would be really

worried about the level of that cover, and the training that those

people have received, and the dangerous situations that they are

potentially going to be in. However, the man in charge of the brigade

says the auxiliaries are prepared, and ready to work alongside

non—striking firefighters. Obviously firefighting from outside of a

building, playing a supportive role to the professional firefighters

that are there. We have trained them in health and safety, how to be

safe, how to make sure they are safe and their colleagues are safe, and

how to do the job that we have asked them to do so they are ready in

relation to taking up that limited role. That preparedness aside, all

of our region's brigades are asking us to take greater care around the

home. Tyne and Wear has even posted these warnings online.

The message to the public, to be honest, is that it is a different

day. There will be a limited response available in the Tyne and

Wear area. At the public can help. Please be extra vigilant. Make sure

you have a working smoke alarm on each level of your property. If you

are a business, please review your risk assessment to make sure things

are safe. But it's on Teesside where tomorrow's focus will surely be.

That's thanks to the recruitment of these volunteers, here on a training

exercise, rather than bringing retired firefighters back to duty or

offering a reduced service, as our region's other brigades are planning

on doing. Well, Ian is in our Tees newsroom

now. Ian, while people may be concerned about firefighters being

on strike, the timing of it could have been worse, couldn't it? Yes,

it could. The unions picked just four hours between midday and four

o'clock. It is outside of the rush hour and it is also in term time,

which reduces the risk of hoax calls. The chief fire officer told

me that during the 2002 straight, fire calls dropped by 80% because

people were being extra vigilant. Is there a concern on Teeside because

of the high number of hazardous sites? We would think it would pose

a greater risk on Teeside because it is so industrialised. There are 41

hazardous sites, but they have struck a deal with the unions and in

the event of a major incident they will leave picket lines and attend

to it. Thank you. A lorry driver was taken to hospital

after his vehicle tipped over on the A66 in Cumbria this morning. It

happened near the village of Troutbeck, between Penrith and

Keswick. Police say the HGV rolled over after manoeuvring to allow an

emergency vehicle to pass. The 43—year—old driver is not thought to

be suffering from life—threatening injuries.

It was Britain's worst nuclear disaster. The fire in Windscale Pile

Number 1 scattered radioactive debris across Cumbria in October

1957. Nearly 60 years after the event, demolition of the 400 foot

tall chimney has finally started. Adrian Pitches has this exclusive

report from Sellafield. The twin chimneys at Windscale were

a symbol of Britain's post—war nuclear confidence. But the fire in

Reactor Number 1 in 1957 shattered that dream. This is a replica of the

fuel rods used in the reactor in pale number one. One it was in full

operation, there would be 70,000 of these, stacked inside these groups,

fuelling the reactor. It was designed to produce plutonium for

Britain's independent nuclear deterrent. When fire broke out in

leading 57, heroic workers used scaffolding poles to shove the polls

out and try to dump the fire down. It will be a century after the fire

before the clean—up is finally complete. We commenced the

decommissioning in 2008. It goes right the way through to 2050. The

fuel will be the first to come out of the reactor. But there is also

the whole infrastructure around us that needs to be removed and taken

back. That will take us to 2050. This is the 400 foot tall chimney

for pound of one. Demolition work has finally got underway. It will be

brought down, stage by stage, so that one of the last landmarks of

will finally disappear. At the top of the 400 foot chimney, demolition

work is underway as men cut chunks of concrete by hand. But why does

the chimney have to come down? It is an old structure, 70 years old. It

is not required any more. It requires an awful lot of care and

maintenance which, financially, is not test value for money. We can

remove this in a good time scale and that will save a lot of money for

the site. Therefore, we are removing a hazard as well. By 2020 the last

Windscale chimney will be gone and with it the last visual reminder of

Britain's worst nuclear disaster. It was one of the big political hot

potatoes — elected mayors. In Middlesbrough, they voted

overwhelmingly in favour of having one. But, 11 years on, they're about

to decide whether to keep the role, or go back to the old—style set up

with elected councillors running the show. Down the road in Hartlepool,

they voted to get rid of the mayoral office earlier this year. So will

the Boro follow suit? Gerry Jackson's been hearing from both

camp, and from the colourful incumbent who'll be stepping down

whatever happens. Every day, Middlesbrough's first

elected mayor gets a reminder of the town's first ever mayor. But which

model do the people want now? It's almost 12 years since Ray Mallon was

elected with the strongest mandate of all the region's mayoral

elections. He's standing down in 2015 and this week the town will

decide whether that will mark the end of the experiment. So, what can

a mayor do? Among his powers, to decide the size of the council

cabinet and who sits on it. To set the budget and make strategic

decisions. Thirdly, and perhaps most importantly, to be a highly visible

figurehead, a central motivating force to inspire regeneration and

redevelopment, for example. So, who might want to fill his shoes of the

people don't abolish the office first? Middlesbrough is a great town

with some big challenges. It needs a single point person who is

completely accountable so people can hire the right person for the job or

fire them if they are not happy. They council based system we will

not get that accountability or results. The alternative, the ruling

party having all the power the way it was and the way it still is in

many parts of the region. In a place like Middlesbrough, that almost

certainly means Labour. One—man, with a large personality, can't do

all the work by himself. The mayor that we have got now does cooperate

with the rest of the council, not just the Labour group, and I think

that works. For the future, there are dangers in the system and we

need to go back to the leader in cabinet system for Middlesbrough.

I'm still undecided. It is cost, really. I think it's going to be

more expensive than just having one man as mayor. I'll be voting to say

we go back to the way we were. Why? I think it's probably a bit more

democratic. And, from the man himself, no recommendation either

way. One of the things that frustrates me is when you find

senior politicians that retired a decade earlier and they are still

commentating. Back—seat drivers? Exactly. You won't get any more of

that from me. You might not get any more interviews from the year 2018.

North Yorkshire Police have announced plans to build new

multi—million pound headquarters in Thirsk. They say the current site,

in a grade two listed building in Newby Wiske, is too expensive and

difficult to maintain. There are problems with the power supply and

parts of the site are empty. It costs us over £1 million per year to

maintain. Some of that money needs to be better invested. It's probably

a better like owning a classic car. You love them, they are very

expensive to maintain and at some point you need to spend your money

on a new car, which comes with a better efficiency and a better way

of doing business. Thousands of teenagers from across

the North have converged on Tyneside for a big jobs and training fair. A

range of skills, from snake handling to crime scene investigation, is

being showcased at the fair in Newcastle. It's hoped the event will

inspire the youngsters aged 14 to 19 as they prepare for the world of

work. Snake handling? Unite A new breast cancer drug which has been

trialled here in the North has been approved by the NHS and is being

launched. The manufacturers of the injection form of Herceptin say it

could save the health service £20 millio. It's for patients with an

aggressive form of the disease. The new injection is less invasive and

drastically cuts patient treatment time.

A senior North East Labour MP says his party should scrap plans for a

new high speed rail line. Former North East minister Nick Brown says

Labour would be better off investing in the existing East Coast line

rather than spending £50 billion on the HS2 line. Our Political Editor

Richard Moss is at the Labour conference in Brighton where the

future of our railways has been discussed. Earlier I asked him for

more details.. You will remember yesterday that Ed

Balls casts some doubt on labour's commitment to the high—speed rail

line. They said they would still support it but there would not be a

blank cheque. At the moment it is costing £50 million. The Shadow

Transport Secretary came out with a similar line yesterday. But Nick

Brown, former Minister for the north—east, said the party should go

further and scrap the high—speed rail line. I think we should cancel

it. I think High Speed Two is costing far too much money for what

it is. My fear is that it will eat is out of all rail investment and

other important items of expenditure will not just happen. I am

particularly anxious about the East Coast mainline, which is our rail

connectivity with the rest of the country. It also requires

investment. It would be better to spend money on that. Well, that was

Nick Brown. With me now is Ian Wright, the shadow industry minister

and MP for Hartlepool. He has a point, doesn't he? £50 million, you

could have a Teeside Metro, improve the A1, should Labour scrapped? I

always listen to a man I think his approach is sound. But I think we

are right, we should not have a blank cheque. It always portrayed as

cutting the journey time from Birmingham to London. It should be

about increasing capacity across the network. We could have trains being

built here, that could feed HS2, so that we could have a proper

industrial benefit. Ed Miliband's speech, she went out of his way to

talk about fracking, a bit of an open goal when some of them referred

to the north—east being desolate. Every MP in the north—east knows

that their communities doing the right thing and struggling. What the

speech said today was that it doesn't have to be like this,

Britain could do a lot better. We listen to you, we hear your concerns

and we need to put in place processes... How is he going to

create jobs? Things like high touchy bringing investment, giving people

more confidence and pay in their pocket will drive the economy. We

have great strengths in the region. We are an exporting, outward looking

region. One more day of conference to go. Here, the talk is of energy

freezers and that rail line. Plenty more to come in tonight's programme.

A star from a '70s cop show takes to the stage. We hear from one half of

Starsky and Hutch. And pat therapy. Why ponies are on the guest list at

a County Durham nursing home. Don't hold your breath waiting for the sun

to come out tomorrow, although it should brighten up again later in

the week. Join me shortly for the details.

Now, four—legged friends aren't what you'd normally expected to find in a

care home, but one in County Durham is welcoming animals at visiting

time. Miniature ponies are the latest guests at Hollie Hill Nursing

Home in Stanley. It's part of a therapy programme to promote well

being. Meets the most unusual visitors to

Hollie Hill Nursing Home so far. They bring with them a raft of

psychological benefits. For some of them it is the very basic seeing

something unusual going on in their living room. For others, it is

possibly a reminder of something they did in the past. Some residents

kept horses themselves. The American miniature horses are from a centre

in Darlington, which have seen a rise in the number of care homes

signing up for visits. It's one of those ideas that many people thought

was mad and would not work. And it is just, from day one, is absolutely

snowballing. Welcomed by all residents, particularly former

blacksmith Cyril. The one you were stroking, did you like it? Was it

bringing back memories? Beautiful, wasn't he? It is very brave of you

to bring him in. Supposing he does a wee? It is wonderful. It must be

terrible if every day is the same. Additional funding has been secured

by the home, so activities like pet therapy can continue. It is hoped

this will not be the only time residents hear the pitter patter of

tiny hooves. One of the stars of the Seventies

cop show Starsky and Hutch is appearing in the musical Fiddler On

The Roof at Theatre Royal in Newcastle over the next five nights.

Paul Michael Glaser is playing the lead role in the show which has been

directed by Strictly Come Dancing judge Craig Revel Horwood.

Rehearsing for his latest starring role, Paul Michael Glaser has grown

a beard for the part of Tevye in Fiddler On The Roof. When I decided

to do this, I thought, that is a good excuse not to shave. It is a

classic, probably one of the most beautifully written musicals in

theatre. The actor is of course best known for playing David Starsky, one

half of the detective duo in the '70s TV series Starsky and Hutch.

It's a character he looks back on fondly. He just had Sony levels to

him. Let's say I had the freedom in the role to play all of those

levels. That is what made it enjoyable. What do you remember most

about that time? Being younger. You know, we all tend to look back on

the past, and the nostalgia makes it all very lovely. There were good

times and bad times. It was a real roller—coaster ride. Fiddler On The

Roof has been choreographed and directed by Strictly Come Dancing

judge Craig Revel Horwood. Paul plays a Jewish father whose

headstrong daughters want to choose their own husbands, breaking with

tradition. Obviously Craig Revel Horwood is known here as a judge on

Strictly Come Dancing. It can be quite mean to contestants. Has he

ever been mean to you? What is he like as a director? No. He's very

good as a director, very creative and supportive. Great. Newcastle's

Theatre Royal is the third stop in a UK tour of more than 20 cities. The

show runs until Saturday. Good to see him happy! Time for

sport now and, less than 48 hours after sacking Paolo Di Canio,

Sunderland are back in action at the Stadium of Light. I don't know if

Jeff is going for the top job, but he is there for us tonight. Thanks

Carol an intriguing night ahead of us here and we're not just talking

about what happens on the pitch. Peter Brown managed by Sir Alex

Ferguson's son, and at stake is a place in the Capital One Cup. It

will be interesting to see the fans reaction to the sacking of Paolo Di

Canio. He was forced out by player power, despite being popular with a

lot of supporters for his hardline approach, his charisma and the fact

that they beat Newcastle 3—0. Here is what Alan Pardew had to say about

him this afternoon. With my union hat on, I was disappointed. Because

he has attacked the job with his passion and enthusiasm. It hasn't

worked out. So, there is some sympathy for him and the club. I'm

not going to throw any criticism on what he did in Sunderland. He

entered that with good faith. He did an honest job, one that he thought

was right. I am sad to see him go. Someone who saw every ball kicked

under the regime is Sunderland correspondent Nick Barnes. Margaret

Byrne said that it became obvious it was not working. Is that fair

enough? Anything, it was an understatement. I think it was clear

two three weeks ago. The public criticism of John O'Shea, of all

people, who has been under Alex Ferguson at Old Trafford, I think

that underlined that the cracks were appearing. They gradually got wider

and this weekend it all fell apart. Former coach Kevin Ball is in

charge, still a popular figure. Is there anything he could do to get

the job, and would he wanted? I am not sure he would want it. He has

been here a lot of years, since he was a player. He's been in charge

before as a player. He denied Manchester United title at Old

Trafford. He won against Fulham. I don't think he will want the job in

the long run, but it is in safe hands for the time being. Gus Poyet

is odds—on with a lot of the bookies. What do they need? I think

they need a manager with steel. Somebody that can inject a bit of

grit into the side. They have the fight against relegation, even after

five games. The list of games coming up, they need a bit of steel. I

think they need that sort of manager. His name has been

mentioned, there is talk of him being offered the job already, but I

believe that is nonsense. They will take their time. It may be the

weekend before an appointment is made. I will let you get into the

commentary position for tonight 's game. Changing sports, and on onto

basketball. We looked ahead to the start of the season of the Durham

Wildcats. Tonight it is the return of the most successful club in

British basketball history. Newcastle Eagles have won the title

in five of the last eight seasons and twice they have done the clean

sweep. Last season, they finished up with nothing and hat to watch

Leicester take the honours. My expectation of them is greatness.

The words of Eagles player—coach Fab Flournoy, who spent a long, hot

summer brooding over his side's failure to win any trophies —

although many clubs would have been delighted with three runners—up

finishes. This is why the New Yorker can afford to raise the bar so high

for his troops. The Eagles have won the league five times, in addition

to five play—off titles, five BBL Trophies and two BBL Cup triumphs.

That's 17 trophies in the last nine seasons. Here's Flournoy unveiled a

new team name and his squad for the coming season, with several of the

new faces former Eagles players. We know the history of The Eagles,

historically they are the best team in the British league. Losing is not

acceptable here. It was not acceptable when I was here, and I am

sure it is not going to be acceptable. I was disappointed, but

not disheartened. At times, you need that. I am take into my comics and

superheroes. With every great superhero you have to have the great

villain. Without The Joker, Batman cannot be great. We have do have the

lens and teams out there. After a season playing in Slovakia, what is

the best thing about returning to Tyneside? I know I will get my money

on time! The worst thing about coming back to Tyneside? It's cold

here. The weather is just... You don't notice it when you are here,

but it is likely to be rain and cold.

Durham may have already claimed this year's County Championship title but

they still have to play Sussex in the final game of the competition.

After picking up their third County Championship title in six years

against Notts in front of a home crowd at Chester—Le—Street last week

they've found it tough going at Hove. Local lads Mark Stoneman and

Scott Borthwick both reached the milestone of a thousand Championship

runs this summer though as Durham struggled to 164.

That's all from the Stadium of Light. There is full match

commentary on BBC Newcastle. We will have the best of the action on

tomorrow's Look North. Did you hear that Eagles player

saying it is usually wet and cold? We haven't had heart to tell him

that this is better than it has been for a long time, this summer. You

would be culled as well, if you run about in your vest and pants. ——

cold. We saw temperatures peak at 20 in

Keswick. This just about sums up the weather, a lot of drizzle clinging

to the dandelions. Tomorrow, mostly the same. Cloudy for many. A cheap

rain and drizzle around. Generally fairly misty conditions. You can see

that blanket of cloud over the top of us today. You can see the blue on

the radar indicated where the rain and drizzle was. It wasn't

particularly heavy, but there was a damp feeling to things, especially

across Northumberland. We hold onto that patchy drizzle as we go through

the evening. A lot of cloud, misty conditions. When the cloud does

break, we will see fog patches forming. The upside is, once again,

fairly mild. The temperatures stay in double figures, 12 Celsius, 54

Fahrenheit. A great start for most of us. There will be patchy rain and

drizzle around. It is mostly in the east. The West, Cumbria is seeing

some breaks. The breaks will be few and far between, but where the sun

does come out we will see highs of about 18 or 19 Celsius. That is the

mid—60s Fahrenheit. Cooler across those thicker areas, the thicker

cloud in the East. So, that is the picture for tomorrow. This weather

front is what is producing the thickest cloud and the patchy rain

and drizzle. It hovers around for the next day or so. By the end of

the working week and into the first half of the weekend, things start to

brighten up. By the second half of the weekend, this could be heading

our way. In the meantime, a lot of cloud around. Thursday sees the

cloud begin to broken places. Temperatures are typically in the

mid teens. Friday and Saturday, largely dry. There will be gaps and

some blue skies and sunshine. Where the sun comes out for any length of

time, could see 18 or 19 Celsius. Keep your weather pictures coming,

send them to the usual address or check out the website.

Thanks Paul. Finally tonight a look at tonight's main news. Ed Miliband

has promised Labour will freeze gas and electricity prices for 20 months

if it wins the next election. And the north's fire brigades are

preparing for tomorrow's four—hour strike. The Fire Brigades Union says

plans to use volunteers during the walk—out are risky.

That is it from us tonight. We will be back at 10:25. See you then.

Goodbye.