20/02/2014 Look North (Yorkshire)

from BBC News. It is goodbye from from BBC News. It is goodbye from

Hello, welcome to Thursday's Look North.

Tonight, major cuts in services at a North Yorkshire hospital.

We hear from the families who use the Friarage and fear for their

children's safety. I had my third child, he came out in his cord was

around his neck and he was blue. We'll find out why health bosses say

the changes must go ahead. Also tonight: The axe falls on

millions of pounds of services and hundreds of jobs as two councils set

their budgets. The up`and`coming bands getting

thousands of pounds from the Government to help them conquer

America. And after a great start to the day, we reckon up with sunshine

and showers so that there were plenty of rainbows like this. I am

back later with the full forecast. First tonight a controversial plan

that would see big changes to how children's and maternity services

are provided at the Friarage Hospital in Northallerton is to go

ahead. Under the proposals published today all sick children who need

overnight care and mothers having high risk births would have to go

elsewhere. Each year more than 1,200 babies are

born at the Friarage, but in future more than 700 would have to be

delivered at another hospital. While last year around five children a day

were admitted to hospital, in future any needing overnight care would

have to travel. Doctors say it's the only way to provide sustainable

care, while campaigners believe it could threaten patient safety. Our

health correspondent Jamie Coulson reports. In the peaceful Yorkshire

Dales village there is anger brewing. These mothers who have all

relied on the Friarage Hospital are upset about plans that would see

children's and maternity services skilled back. I had my third child,

it came out and his cord was around his neck and he was blue. If we had

to go to James Cook the chances are he may not be here. It is scary. It

is a long way to the Friarage anyway, so to know that you could

potentially have to go farther as scary. Today local NHS managers

confirmed that in the future they want a maternity unit run by

midwives, not doctors. High risk births would go elsewhere. There

would be an end to overnight children's care of an assessment

unit would run from 10am until 10pm. The plans have been controversial

and have led to protests in Northallerton. Doctors readers argue

that current services are unsustainable with too few patients

to support the number of doctors needed to provide safe care. The

strongest opposition has come from people in this town where the beauty

is matched by the isolation. Many people fear what they see as the

loss of some services at their local hospital. They have got it wrong. We

were not prepared to listen to anything other than their own

solution. This solution came forward well over two years ago, it has not

been changed one iota. They have not done the legwork necessary to find

alternatives. The Friarage and serves a population of over 120,000

people. Under the changes high risk births and very privileged children

would have to go to Middlesbrough, Darlington, added or your. At a

national evidence says that children should be looked after in a large

units with lots of well`trained staff who do really emergency stuff

everyday. When people say they think the Friarage is a world`class

service you are seeing it's not? It has been but doesn't compare any

more because other services have improved and increased their

standards. People are better going elsewhere? Yes. The local NHS wants

to plummet the changes by October. Millions of pounds of cuts and

hundreds of job losses are on the agenda for two of our local councils

today as they struggle to set their budgets. There have been protests in

Doncaster where elderly care homes, libraries and leisure services are

all in the firing line. Meanwhile, in Bradford residents face an

increase in council tax but the ruling group there has backtracked

on controversial plans to close children's centres and public

toilets. In a moment we'll hear from Bradford, but first to James Vincent

who's outside the Council House in Doncaster. James. Balancing the

books has become more difficult, less money around for people to

spend on services. The headlines in the past few years have been about

job losses. In Doncaster we are looking at losing one in five posts

but what recently we have been talking about whether services will

stay or go. If you have an elected merely Doncaster there is always

someone visible to complain to. Council cuts in Doncaster are

starting to get personal. When you are talking about closing care homes

for patients with dementia it gets personal quickly. This is the front

line of where the cuts will bite, care homes like this one which will

be closed over a number of years. Nations with dementia and

Alzheimer's mood to private care. That is an idea that people who have

worked in Doncaster 's care homes do not necessarily agree with. They

must make cuts somewhere, it is like everywhere. But I do feel strongly

that shutting all, that is every one of them, shutting all of them is

wrong. Among the protesters is Lauren Williamson whose elderly

mother has dementia. She will be one of those moved. It would be

devastating to move them. In fact, it is unjustified. It also could

result in many deaths and I think this may or would have that on her

conscience. I empathise because it could be my mother or father, it

could be my brother or sister. When it is a personal one in those homes

it is very, very close and emotional to your heart. The maps for

Doncaster Council is stark. By 2017 its budget will have half. Over 1000

jobs have already gone, the same amount will go again and although

private care homes will be set up the council will close all of

theirs. Difficult times for the Council and the tough sell for them

as well, council tax will go up which means people will pay more for

less. She has chosen to do this herself, she can make cuts anywhere.

She needs to sit down and listen to the people of Doncaster. She has to

fight. The passions running high in Doncaster.

Later on Look North: Just before that, let's go to our correspondent

in Bradford. Saved to serve the two lists of

Bradford. When the public was consulted, people power one.

Councillors look likely to agree to save the money elsewhere. Well they

are relieved about that toilet decision, Bradford Council are

warning of more tough times ahead. They want to make more massive

cuts, ?37 million in the next financial year followed by ?52

million a year after. That means 650 jobs are likely to go and you will

have to pay 1.6% more on your council tax.

What do the people of Bradford think they can afford it? It is not

possible. At the moment after I have spent all my money on bills and food

I have about ?10 left, so I have to do council tax now. It is not

possible. It is not great, especially this area. The

demographic in terms of income and everything, it is not the highest in

the UK, so it will affect these areas the most. Can you afford to

pay more? Who can? But we have no choice. Battered Labour run council

has already had to save over ?100 million and is meeting to set the

budget for next year. We will not be able to do what we have done in the

past, we cannot do what we are doing now. It will change the face of

local government. The weather in Bradford was claimed today, perhaps

reflecting the mood inside City Hall to. `` tonight. Later in look North:

Ambitious plans for an abandoned railway tunnel.

Could it be saved from ruin and turned into Europe's largest

underground cycle path? Next tonight, the heartbreaking

story of a young mum from Doncaster who spent most of her life trying,

and failing, to beat her addiction to drugs and alcohol.

Shelley Emmonds from Hexthorpe died two weeks ago from pneumonia brought

on by liver disease. Her funeral was today and now her family wants to

share her story in the hope that it will warn others about the dangers

of addiction. And, they're being supported by the Amy Winehouse

Foundation. Kate Bradbrook reports. Preparing for a funeral she hoped

never to see. Hamm lost her 33`year`old daughter, Shelley

Emmonds, the weeks ago after a lifetime of heroin addiction. She

was of it quite a few times and when she had her children I thought that

meets do it. Then it led to alcohol, in the last few years, and that has

been really worse than the drugs. It went downhill. It was hard to watch,

but matter what he said you could not really stop someone doing it

unless they wanted to stop themselves. Whilst Shelley Emmonds

may not have been famous her battle with addiction mirrors that of Amy

Wayne Harris. The galley award`winning singer who died at the

age of 20. `` 27. Now, the Amy Wine house foundation is supporting

Shelley's family who are fundraising to pay for her funeral which takes

place today. We have the money, but we still go through the same party

that any other family does. They have been great. `` still go through

the same heart ache. As her family say a final farewell today they hope

Shelley Emmonds's story could persuade others to seek help before

it is too late. Stop and think about what you are doing. It is not just

to yourself what to those around you. Thing about what you are

leaving behind. They never think it will happen to them but it does.

Everyone thinks it would happen to them.

The girl who died after apparently falling from a window at her home in

Bradford on Tuesday morning has been named as Amrita Kaur. She was

22`months`old. The child's mother, who's 46, was found unconscious

beside her daughter behind their home in West Bowling. She's been

arrested on suspicion of murdering Amrita but remains critically ill in

hospital. Police say they're not looking for anyone else in

connection with the incident. Two men who were arrested yesterday

on suspicion of murdering a car dealer from Bradford have been

released on bail. Sajid Saddique hasn't been seen since he

disappeared from Shipley seven years ago. The bailed men are aged 48 and

52 and are both from Bradford. Three of our Bishops are among forty

Christian leaders calling on the Government to end what they're

calling a "hunger crisis". They claim a rising number of people now

rely on food banks. The criticism of spending cuts and benefits changes

which came from the Bishops of Wakefield, Sheffield and Doncaster

was made in a letter to the Daily Mirror newspaper. The Government has

responded saying it would be wrong not to cut waste while still

providing a safety net for the most needy.

A former editor of Look North has died at the age of 78. Martin Noble

took up the post in 1968, when the programme first started broadcasting

from Leeds. He went to Giggleswick School in North Yorkshire and

started his journalism career at the Manchester Evening News and the

Daily Telegraph. Martin was made an 'Honorary Member' of Huddersfield

Rugby Union Club for his contribution to the sport. His

funeral will take place in Brockholes next month.

Now then, Harry, you've been spending plenty of your time on two

wheels just lately but how would you fancy pedalling through a one and a

half mile long tunnel? I suppose if it has an inkling then it would be

great. A good place to have a sweat and a recovery and a recovery and

take`off when no one can see. Well the good news is Europe's

longest underground cycleway could be built right here in Yorkshire.

The charity Sus`trans wants the abandoned railway tunnel in

Queensbury to be reopened and converted into a cycle path. But

it's a race against time, because it needs expensive repairs and there

are fears its owners might fill it with concrete. Here's Spencer

Stokes. Imagine cycling into this ` a deep,

dark hole that links Bradford with Calderdale. If you see there, the

stonework has collapsed. Closed for 60 years, reopening it for cyclists

would be an epic task. But a group of Queensbury residents are

determined it will happen. It's a difficult one, because you can hear

the water running in it at the moment. There are all sorts of

complicated watercourses that do make it more of a challenge. Much of

the old great Northern Railway that ran towards the tunnel has already

been converted into the popular Great Northern Trail, crossing

Thorton viaduct ` another structure that was once believed to be beyond

reuse. It has been a success. They say it would never happen but it

has. The tunnel at the moment, will not happen tomorrow but, you know,

five years ago the idea of a Tour de France starting in Yorkshire, never

thought that would happen but it is happening. But would people want to

pedal through the damp and dark? They are already doing that

elsewhere in Yorkshire. Last year, this tunnel was reopened to

cyclists. It is much shorter than the one at Queensbury ` only 200

metres long ` but it does show how Victorian infrastructure can be

renewed and reused. Queensbury's 1.5`mile tunnel is owned by the

Highway Agency, who say they are making plans to carry out

maintenance work. But the work is subject to funding. Campaigners fear

it could be sealed forever, and the situation is not helped by the

Halifax end of the tunnel being submerged, under 40 feet of water.

This is a very significant railway structure. It took four years to

build, nine or ten men died during the construction. If the Highways

Agency is going to spend ?3.5 million on what is effectively a

black hole, it will be nice to think that at the end of the day, the

public could get some benefit from that. If it's blocked up with

concrete and sealed, then there is no benefit. Queensbury tunnel could

be viewed as a liability ` in which case, it will be filled in. But

locally, it is seen as an asset ` a former railway that could become

Europe's longest underground cycleway. You don't paint a good

picture of me on a bike! That was me, not you!

Before seven o'clock: The Yorkshire bands being given thousands of

pounds of Government cash. Will it help them break into the

American market? And the 18`stone folk singer who's

determined to run a marathon in memory of his heroic ancestor.

Football now and we only had one match last night but it was a

significant one. Sheffield United won again, this time in the League

at Gillingham. And it's a victory which puts yet more positive energy

into the rest of the Blades' season. Paul Ogden reports.

It's been a fortnight to treasure for Sheffield United. During it,

they have beaten one Premier League and one championship team, plus two

now from their own League One. The latest victory came last night down

at Gillingham, thanks to this single goal in the first half from Conor

Coady, to secure what Blades' manager Nigel Clough described as

"the best three points of the season". With good reason ` because

having spent far too long in the League One relegation zone already,

Sheffield United can at last look down on it again for now. If United

do end up playing neighbours Sheffield Wednesday next week in the

quarter cup finals in two weeks time, the Blades' could be the

in`form team at this rate. That will be a fantastic match. The Sheffield

derby. Meanwhile Sheffield Wednesday's head

coach Stuart Gray says Gary Madine is feeling "very remorseful" now

that he's been released from prison. The 23`year`old striker is out on

licence after serving four months of an 18 month sentence for punching

two men in separate nightclub attacks in Sheffield. Madine's

future will be discussed at a meeting next week but Gray's told us

today that he's already visited the player in prison and Madine is sorry

for his actions. Very remorseful, very apologetic. He realises that he

has been a silly boy and has done his time. He is looking forward to

getting the bits back on. Team GB freestyle skier Emma

Lonsdale from North Yorkshire has just missed out on the Olympic

finals this afternoon. She completed two impressive runs in the Sochi

halfpipe, but sadly her tricks and twists were just not quite big

enough to finish in the top 12, and therefore qualify for the final.

After the event, the 29`year`old from Settle said it was fun and

nerve`racking and she hoped her family were proud. Emma also managed

a tribute to her injured team`mate Rowan Cheshire, who was forced to

pull out of the same event after suffering a concussion. We have

rugby league action tonight, a big match in super league between

Whitfield in Bradford. Now, we all know that here in

Yorkshire we have some fantastic musical talent and its fair to say

that its been a fairly remarkable twenty four hours for our music

scene hasn't it? It certainly has. Last night at the BRIT Awards

Sheffield's Arctic Monkeys took Best British Band and Best Album, the

third time they have done the double at the ceremony. And hard on the

heels of that the government's handed out thousands of pounds in

grants to three other acts to help them promote themselves worldwide.

Shamir Masri can tell you more. Yorkshire's most successful musical

export made history last night winning Best British band and album

for the third time. A lot has changed within the music industry in

the last decade since the Arctic monkeys formed. Now there is very

little money invested. But today, the bands with local links have been

given government funding to help break into foreign markets, in

particular the US. Drench from Castleton in North Castle sure are

making waves. The headline a sold`out venue in London and have

been given ?20,000. Hold cellphone who are based in Leeds have been

awarded 15,000. The money is to Vermont in North America which means

we can take them over and play in South by South West in March and

hopefully later in the year and it has just provided us with the

investment to do this in a way that he would not have been able to do

otherwise. Decertified to benefit are the crooks from Sheffield. The

20,000 pounds they have received will fund an up tour of Texas and

Los Angeles. We have had a lot of demand to go out, but we have not

been able to do it. The fact that we can get there and do these things

and achieve these things that have been in the pipeline for so long

means we can realise what we have been trying to do for a while now.

UK music exports are said to be worth over ?1 billion per year to

the economy. It is why our trade in `` it is why our trade bodies are so

keen to promote her music. The human league, Jarvis Cocker, I think the

acts that we are talking about now, drench and the crux will take off

and I think they can succeed where many others have been before. Now

only time will tell if the banks benefiting from today's announcement

can break international markets and continue our global reputation for

musical excellence. Back at the Tramway in the deadly very

impressive set for us, the crooks, in Devonshire Green. Shall we get

back into your comfort zone? Now here's a story close to your

heart, Harry. Places for this year's Yorkshire marathon were snapped up

within minutes of being made available and everyone taking part

has their own reason for running. Yes and for York's Dan Webster it's

a more sizeable challenge than for many, and the reason for taking it

on is quite a story too. Here's Danny Carpenter.

Daniel Webster is well`known around York, a musician who plays the pubs

and clubs as well as running a regular singers night. It is a

lifestyle he loves. But there is an almost inevitable downside. All

those names in the pub, working, have put pounds on his waistline.

Quite a lot of pounds. 18 stone ten. He is going to run the Yorkshire

Marathon this year. But his incentive is not just losing pounds.

It is raising them for the way for charity. Frank Dobson was a

Scarborough fishermen and lifeboat man. He was also dans great grandad.

In the early hours of the foulest of December days he got the call. After

rescuing ten people from the stricken freighter in dual force

winds, telling sees, he jumped back to the lifeboat. Clutched at the

side real, and was crushed when a wave smashed the two vessels

together. The idea of snow and Gilles, heading out to sea, and even

the running and in tribute is, although I am not naturally bill for

running, it has to be said, I can, and that kind of bravery. In the

marathon is meant as a tribute, like the song, to remain people to keep

the story alive. `` to remind people.

Incredible. That is a story we must follow all the way through. Did you

take a place in the marathon? I passed with year.

Give him a break! You will be very interested to know

we have some the stakes from the Met office, the wettest winter on record

for the UK, record straight back to 1910. For our part of the world we

have had probably 100 or a more rainfall in some parts of Yorkshire,

the deals, the Pennington, it was not really a surprise! But it is

official, the wettest winter on record. Let's look at some photo

action. The first one, a colourful sky in Whitby. The second, Eastwick

near York. I am very sorry, it is a script. We had lots of pictures of

rainbows, too. The third one is a picture of some sheep because they

were enjoying the sunshine. Paul the weatherman there have been many

changes in the past 24 hours, it is cooler and easier and tomorrow it

will be another breezy day with sunny spells and a few showers. It

has been quite a breezy day, you can see the isobars are once again more

tightly packed and wind will be a feature of the weather wrecked the

way through the course of the weekend. You can see that this

swathe of clouds, this rain brings cooler conditions today but behind

the cloud has broken. We have some very pleasant spells of sunshine

today. Some of the showers were heavy and family especially in the

deals. Generally, we are looking at dry conditions and cooler than last

night with a touch of frost in sheltered temperatures, dropping

down to around one or two degrees. The sun will rise in the morning, at

about 40 minutes past seven and setting at 5:27pm. It is a cold

start to the data model, but that does not look too bad. It will be

blustery and windy but there will be dry and bright weather with further

spells of sunshine as you can see from the graphics. Some showers

pushing through from the West once again and they could be heavy. It

could be quite when the on high ground. There will be decent spells

of sunshine in between. Temperatures back to the seasonal average of

seven or eight days. As I mentioned it will be windy through the course

of the weekend, on balance Saturday looks like the better day. It will

be mild on Sunday but windy with a mix of rain spreading from the West.

Did you miss as well you were away, Harry? Very much.

The clock is ticking, as they say. Talking of which back tonight.

Goodbye.