:00:05. > :00:09.Welcome to In Your Corner, the programme that examines the issues
:00:09. > :00:19.that really matter to you and your community. I am Wendy Austin and
:00:19. > :00:40.
:00:40. > :00:44.tonight, we are live in Portadown in County Armagh.
:00:44. > :00:47.On inure corner, we are live from venues across Northern Ireland,
:00:47. > :00:52.getting to the heart of the issues that affect you and your community.
:00:52. > :00:58.Tonight, we are in County Armagh broadcasting from the Portadown
:00:58. > :01:03.Health Centre. The In Your Corner team has been setting up since
:01:03. > :01:07.first thing this morning at this state-of-the-art facility. It
:01:07. > :01:12.opened in 2010 and it is an award- winning centre that provides a
:01:12. > :01:16.range of health and care services for the local community. Each week,
:01:16. > :01:19.we are right in the heart of local communities as we travel across
:01:19. > :01:26.Northern Ireland, highlighting the local issues that echo across the
:01:26. > :01:36.country. What is the story In Your Corner? Get in touch with us this
:01:36. > :01:38.
:01:39. > :01:43.evening... Coming up tonight, if you are
:01:43. > :01:47.diabetic and insulin pumps can transform your life. Getting one is
:01:47. > :01:50.not straightforward. We have been on the streets in
:01:50. > :01:56.Portadown to ask if a kid -- new retail development will be good or
:01:56. > :02:00.bad for the town centre. All of that to come. Remember, we
:02:00. > :02:05.are live so it is your chance to get in touch. First, an award-
:02:05. > :02:08.winning building calls for an award-winning journalist. Chris
:02:08. > :02:12.Moore is with me for tonight's top story. You have been delving into
:02:12. > :02:16.the complex world of planning laws, something which affect people right
:02:16. > :02:23.across Northern Ireland. In theory if you want to build, you need
:02:23. > :02:26.planning permission first. That is not to work. It appears that you
:02:26. > :02:31.can build a building without permission and then seek permission
:02:31. > :02:34.retrospectively. Or even better, don't apply at all, or if you do
:02:35. > :02:38.and permission is refused, just ignore it. I have been in
:02:38. > :02:44.Coalisland to look at this particular issue.
:02:44. > :02:47.Planning laws and planners, whether it is new golf courses on the north
:02:47. > :02:54.coast or out-of-town shopping centre of disputes, there sell them
:02:54. > :02:57.out of the headlines. What can go up can also come down. There are
:02:57. > :03:04.enforcement plaque -- powers to pulled out anything that did not
:03:04. > :03:13.what without approval. That is the theory, anyway. I am off to meet
:03:13. > :03:18.some angry neighbours who believe the planning laws are a farce.
:03:18. > :03:21.It was thriving with wildlife. Jamie Hughes was delighted to
:03:21. > :03:27.become the owner of a pond when he bought land in goal line and 12
:03:27. > :03:34.years ago to build his new home. This was a big pond full of water.
:03:34. > :03:39.Ride over to that bank, over there. Overnight, the landscape around the
:03:39. > :03:45.pond changed. Unknown to him, a local business was setting up a man
:03:45. > :03:51.next to him. I had no idea what he was going to be building. It got
:03:51. > :03:57.steadily bigger and bigger. It started to be sandblasted and there
:03:57. > :03:59.was pain being spread, and there was fabricating machinery. Were you
:04:00. > :04:07.aware of planning permission? is no planning permission
:04:07. > :04:10.whatsoever. What was your reaction? I was annoyed at the start. I could
:04:10. > :04:16.not understand where the planners did not let us know that there was
:04:16. > :04:22.any application in in the first place. At the beginning, the
:04:22. > :04:28.authorities moved very quickly it, the workshop operators and the
:04:28. > :04:32.landowner were served with papers ordering the sheds to be demolished.
:04:32. > :04:37.The planning -- but the planning authorities do anything to remedy
:04:37. > :04:43.the situation? They gave them 60 days to take it down in 2007. He
:04:43. > :04:46.took his case to the Planning Appeals Commission. What happened?
:04:46. > :04:55.The Planning Appeals Commission, he was refused but given one-year to
:04:55. > :05:05.relocate his business. In 2010, the landowner was fined �6,000 for
:05:05. > :05:05.
:05:05. > :05:52.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 47 seconds
:05:52. > :05:55.failing to comply with the Building which they had erected,
:05:55. > :06:05.they won't work respect of Planning Commission. They are now seeking
:06:05. > :06:09.
:06:09. > :06:16.retrospective approval to retain as The department decided that it
:06:16. > :06:20.would refuse planning permission and that is being appealed by the
:06:20. > :06:30.applicants. The companies providing much-needed employment in an area
:06:30. > :06:35.
:06:35. > :06:40.The area really needs jobs at the moment. There are plenty of sites
:06:40. > :06:44.around the country. Why do they not go to those? Why don't they take
:06:44. > :06:54.the right way about it? Why don't they build on land that is
:06:54. > :06:55.
:06:55. > :07:01.earmarked for naturally, we wanted to speak to somebody so we
:07:01. > :07:05.contacted them. They invited us to film the work process going on
:07:05. > :07:09.inside these sheds. It is now Wednesday morning and this was the
:07:09. > :07:12.designated day for that meeting. Last night, a company spokesman
:07:12. > :07:18.contacted us to say he would have to cancel the arrangement because
:07:18. > :07:28.of work commitments. Instead, the company provided us with a
:07:28. > :07:43.
:07:43. > :07:46.The objectors' beef is with the planners, who they say appear to be
:07:46. > :07:53.completely incapable of sorting the issue out. There is no point to
:07:53. > :07:58.them if they are not going to be enforced. Who can bring about a
:07:58. > :08:01.change that is going to enforce the planning laws? I think the minister
:08:01. > :08:08.or the planners should take out an injunction to stop any further work
:08:08. > :08:12.on these sheds until a planning issue is sorted out. Jamie and his
:08:12. > :08:16.friends are not happy. You can understand why. What is the point
:08:16. > :08:26.of planners and planning laws? It seems to be there you can build
:08:26. > :08:28.
:08:28. > :08:35.can be told to take it down and that isn't going to be resolved any
:08:35. > :08:45.time soon. you and it has happened in your
:08:45. > :08:46.
:08:46. > :08:50.area, let us know it via e-mail and online. Deirdre, the Christian --
:08:50. > :08:55.the question at the end, what is the point of a planning department
:08:55. > :08:59.if people feel they can build wherever they like and hang the
:08:59. > :09:04.consequences? And have to say that if people proceed without planning
:09:04. > :09:08.permission, they do it at their own risk. We will take enforcement
:09:08. > :09:16.action where it is expedient to do so. It is a risk people take. They
:09:16. > :09:20.may have to remove the building or sees the use. But that risk, it --
:09:20. > :09:24.are the figures right? We hear from the Assembly that 83% of
:09:24. > :09:28.retrospective planning applications are approved. That is a pretty good
:09:28. > :09:32.chance, isn't it? I am not sure where that figure came from because
:09:32. > :09:37.we have no way of determining which was retrospective. Applications
:09:37. > :09:44.which were made her prospectively, in many cases, may have been minor.
:09:44. > :09:49.-- Red Ed respectively. The fact that some money carries out work
:09:49. > :09:53.without planning permission, we assess the application as if the
:09:53. > :09:58.development was not there. If it does not meet the policy and if
:09:58. > :10:02.there are no material considerations, we went refused
:10:02. > :10:12.permission and proceed with enforcement action. What about that
:10:12. > :10:12.
:10:12. > :10:15.enforcement action? Jim Wells said that in 38 years, only 13 buildings
:10:15. > :10:20.or structures had been demolished. That is not very frightening for a
:10:20. > :10:24.developer, is it? I would have to dispute that figure. My own
:10:24. > :10:28.experience in the Western Area Planning Office over the last
:10:28. > :10:32.couple of years, we have had some very successful enforcement cases
:10:32. > :10:36.when buildings have been removed. We had four cases in the last two
:10:36. > :10:40.months. At the moment there is a case preceding three court and the
:10:40. > :10:44.applicants have been informed to take it down. -- proceeding through
:10:44. > :10:50.court. There is no benefit from going ahead. If it goes to court
:10:50. > :10:56.they face a heavy fine. In my case that we have referred to, there is
:10:56. > :11:04.a �6,000 fine. It is not unusual to have fines of four figures.
:11:04. > :11:09.must here great frustration from people who feel that really, others
:11:09. > :11:14.can do whatever they like and they, as the local people, have
:11:14. > :11:19.absolutely no power at all? provide advice to people and
:11:19. > :11:23.communities who want good development. They want decent jobs.
:11:23. > :11:27.They don't have teams of planning consultants or teams of lawyers,
:11:27. > :11:31.they do not have lobbyists when it comes to a bad developer but they
:11:31. > :11:34.want to do something about. That is when they find that it is not a
:11:34. > :11:37.level playing field, that developers have those resources
:11:37. > :11:40.available to them. Local people have nothing but their own
:11:40. > :11:44.commitment to their environment, their own commitment to their
:11:44. > :11:48.community, and their own good sense to try and present their case and
:11:48. > :11:50.are due for development and better planning. When they come across
:11:50. > :11:56.cases like this they get very disheartened. They are often
:11:56. > :12:00.surprised to find that although the developer has a right of appeal,
:12:00. > :12:06.the objectors don't have any rights of appeal. It is not a level
:12:06. > :12:11.playing field. That is the case, Deirdre, isn't it? It is something
:12:11. > :12:15.that people get very aggrieved about, that they only have one go,
:12:15. > :12:19.whereas the applicant can have several bites? I appreciate how
:12:19. > :12:23.people may feel in terms of their ability to influence the process. I
:12:23. > :12:27.can only assure them that in all cases we take into consideration
:12:27. > :12:32.those issues raised by objectors. When it comes to enforcement,
:12:32. > :12:35.obviously, we will proceed with enforcement action. The applicant
:12:35. > :12:40.has the right of appeal. Unfortunately, the enforcement
:12:40. > :12:45.process is a long one with the courts and bobs. There is a lot
:12:45. > :12:49.outside planning control. Is there any way this could be achieved more
:12:49. > :12:53.quickly, rather than just going to court and on and on, as seems to be
:12:53. > :12:58.the case at the moment? It is difficult to say. In terms of the
:12:58. > :13:02.court, if fines are imposed at a level that becomes so restrictive
:13:02. > :13:07.that they develop their -- a developer cannot maintain the
:13:07. > :13:11.building, other than that, I am not sure. We have to balance everything
:13:11. > :13:17.together, including the objectors, the applicant and take all that
:13:17. > :13:21.into consideration. I Gable for joining us.
:13:21. > :13:25.-- thank you both for joining us. You have already been getting in
:13:25. > :13:30.touch with us about all sorts of issues. Conner has treated to say,
:13:31. > :13:35.how about slow internet access via mobiles, especially outside
:13:35. > :13:40.Belfast? We have a message on our Facebook page, why does petrol cost
:13:40. > :13:50.so much on Northern Ireland? It seems to go up every day. Thank you.
:13:50. > :13:56.
:13:56. > :14:01.I know I love all this electronic stuff but sometimes nothing beats
:14:01. > :14:07.getting out there and asking a few questions about local issues. That
:14:07. > :14:17.is acted the what hour -- exactly what our reporter has been going to
:14:17. > :14:19.
:14:19. > :14:23.find up what is the talk of the The talk of the town in Portadown
:14:23. > :14:27.this week is news that a miniature new supermarket is being built on
:14:27. > :14:36.the edge of the town centre. Along with the supermarket there are also
:14:36. > :14:46.plans to build a leisure centre. So is this good news or bad news for
:14:46. > :14:58.
:14:59. > :15:04.The town needs something to regenerate the talk about cinema's,
:15:04. > :15:09.retail outlets and restaurants. I think it will be good for the town.
:15:09. > :15:13.Most of the shops seem to be closing down. I don't think it
:15:13. > :15:17.makes much sense, you were taking the people out of the town, there
:15:17. > :15:21.are derelict buildings in the town as it is. What you think of the
:15:21. > :15:26.idea that a superstore will be built on the outskirts of the town?
:15:26. > :15:32.To be honest, I think it may ripped the heart out of the town centre.
:15:32. > :15:37.The it seems a big space and a town with lots of empty spaces.
:15:37. > :15:43.don't think it is a good idea then? It is probably a good idea for the
:15:43. > :15:50.builders but it might be a lot of empty space at the end of the day.
:15:50. > :15:55.Delight Portadown to shopping? do. It is nice to have your small
:15:55. > :15:59.shops. I think it is a good thing from my point of view because it
:15:59. > :16:02.gives me a bigger shopping choice but it is a bad thing from the
:16:02. > :16:07.point of view of the stores, particularly the privately owned
:16:07. > :16:14.stores. There is going to be a cinema opened up and a restaurant
:16:14. > :16:19.which is going to be really good. am not a Portadown man. But both
:16:19. > :16:24.towns are going down the hill. People are going to war these
:16:25. > :16:31.bigger stores out in the country but if they want to put one in here,
:16:31. > :16:36.well, try it that way, it cannot do any harm. You pays your money and
:16:36. > :16:39.you takes your choice. Clare has been looking at the provision of
:16:40. > :16:43.diabetes care in Northern Ireland. If you're a diabetic, this small
:16:43. > :16:47.piece of equipment here, not much bigger than a mobile phone, could
:16:48. > :16:51.radically change a life for the better. It is an insulin pump and
:16:51. > :16:56.it means you don't have to constantly inject insulin into your
:16:56. > :17:02.body. Getting one is not straightforward. I met with one
:17:02. > :17:08.teenager who had to fight every step of the way to get hers.
:17:08. > :17:14.Ruth was a fit and healthy 10-year- old. So, when she started to become
:17:14. > :17:19.constantly tired and thirsty, her mum brought her to hospital. When
:17:20. > :17:26.we went to accident and emergency they checked my blood sugar and a
:17:26. > :17:30.normal blood sugar should be about three, mine was 23. They knew then
:17:30. > :17:35.and after more blood tests that I was a diabetic. I stayed on the
:17:35. > :17:40.paediatric ward for about a week getting used to injections. Rhys
:17:40. > :17:46.was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, in which the body attacks the cells
:17:47. > :17:56.that produce insulin. By the time she was a teenager, managing Hess -
:17:57. > :17:57.
:17:57. > :18:02.- health was becoming complicated. I was running high and then low,
:18:02. > :18:06.extreme ways. It had gone on for a year and a half and I was not
:18:06. > :18:10.getting any better. My mum was reading up about different people's
:18:10. > :18:15.stories and she came across the palm. It is like a little pager,
:18:15. > :18:20.you have got a little back tree in here and I have to change it every
:18:20. > :18:27.month. Your reservoir is in here and you fill that up with insulin.
:18:27. > :18:31.You fill it up every two or three days. You have to change sides,
:18:31. > :18:35.just like taking injections to make sure it does not get infected, but
:18:35. > :18:45.it is not saw, it is not like an injection, it is like a finger
:18:45. > :18:52.prick. It constantly trips insulin into you, like a long acting
:18:52. > :18:55.insulin, so your blood sugar takes -- stays stable.
:18:55. > :19:02.It is estimated that only 2% of type when diabetics in Northern
:19:02. > :19:06.Ireland have a com. The National Institute for Health and Clinical
:19:06. > :19:10.excellence states that up to 10 times the number of diabetics who
:19:10. > :19:16.could benefit from insolent, therapy. But getting a pump in
:19:16. > :19:21.Northern Ireland is difficult. will probably naive in thinking
:19:21. > :19:29.that we could just be assessed and they would say, yes, we will start
:19:29. > :19:33.to one this pump. It was a shock to go and find that the doctor told us
:19:33. > :19:40.at the outset that there was a year's waiting list for the pump.
:19:40. > :19:48.We retain lot of letters and visited many hospital admissions in
:19:48. > :19:53.the previous 14 months, probably an approximate total of around �28,000
:19:53. > :19:59.spent just on treating her in and out of hospital as opposed to a
:19:59. > :20:03.pump that was �2,800. When she was placed on the waiting list in 2009,
:20:03. > :20:11.she was told it would be a year before she would get her pomp. The
:20:11. > :20:14.waiting list has now increased to three years in some trusts. In Your
:20:14. > :20:21.Corner wanted to know exactly how many people in Northern Ireland are
:20:21. > :20:25.waiting to get its hump. The Western Trust has 75 patients, the
:20:25. > :20:32.Southern Trust has a waiting list of up to three years for adults,
:20:32. > :20:37.the Belfast Trust has 28 people under 17 and a waiting list. The
:20:37. > :20:42.south-east in trust has 48 comes available for children but only 35
:20:42. > :20:48.are in use. This is despite 13 children on a waiting list. And,
:20:48. > :20:53.the Northern Trust could not give us any information.
:20:53. > :20:58.You get forgotten about. Especially from a medical point of view, other
:20:58. > :21:03.things are put on the front of it and diabetes is and, it is
:21:03. > :21:08.forgotten about. So, how do we compare to the rest of the UK?
:21:08. > :21:16.England and Wales have a National diabetes audit and a full register.
:21:16. > :21:22.Scotland organises its own audit and register. According to the
:21:22. > :21:26.charity Diabetes UK, these audits have multiple benefits for patients.
:21:26. > :21:31.Up-to-date data allows free more co-ordinated approach to managing
:21:31. > :21:33.patients and for future care. Northern Ireland does not have a
:21:34. > :21:38.similar audit and the Department of Health does not even have figures
:21:38. > :21:43.on the number of people with diabetes here.
:21:43. > :21:48.Ruth was one of the lucky ones and after a year of fighting she got
:21:48. > :21:55.her palm. She has had it for three years now and calls it her prize
:21:55. > :21:59.possession. I can go out as my friends and stay at my friends'
:21:59. > :22:04.houses. It is more flexible, like being a normal teenager. I have
:22:04. > :22:08.more energy, I do not have to sleep when I come home from school, I am
:22:08. > :22:14.not have exhausted. If it has changed in so many ways, it is
:22:14. > :22:21.fantastic. One person who has most is this change in school is Ruth's
:22:21. > :22:27.form tutor. In 4th year her attendance was very poor because of
:22:27. > :22:31.her diabetes. After she received the pump, she was able to come to
:22:31. > :22:38.school 75% of the time which was a massive improvement for her. It
:22:38. > :22:42.meant she was more settled in class, able to take part in activities,
:22:42. > :22:46.good for her GCSEs. Ruth now feels she can live the life of a normal
:22:47. > :22:52.teenager. However, her family are angry that they had to fight to get
:22:52. > :22:57.their daughter this life changing equipment. They are setting targets
:22:57. > :23:06.that so many people should be on a pond but they do not know how many
:23:06. > :23:13.people in Northern Ireland are diabetic, so it doesn't add up.
:23:13. > :23:17.Dr Farrell, and it does not add up, does it? We heard Ruth's mum saying
:23:17. > :23:20.that, if the department does not know how many diabetics to Iraq in
:23:20. > :23:29.Northern Ireland, how can they develop strategy and main good
:23:29. > :23:34.policy? -- how many net diabetics there are in Northern Ireland.
:23:34. > :23:40.get figures on diets BT East from GPs in Northern Ireland. The level
:23:40. > :23:46.of pump provision in Northern Ireland it compares very favourably
:23:46. > :23:52.with the rest of the UK as a result of recent procurement exercises. We
:23:52. > :24:00.will have by the end of March this year, up to 18% of children with
:24:00. > :24:04.diabetes will have a pump, and this compares very favourably, 8.4% is
:24:04. > :24:08.the equivalent figure in Scotland. To go back to those figures, you
:24:08. > :24:13.cannot plan properly can you if you do not know the numbers you are
:24:13. > :24:18.dealing with? You say their numbers coming in but we understand they
:24:18. > :24:23.are not divided between Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes, for instance. That
:24:23. > :24:29.does not seem to be a proper database. It is very important that
:24:29. > :24:33.the information is held by chemical teams providing care to children.
:24:33. > :24:37.We have very accurate numbers on Type 1 diabetes in children. It
:24:37. > :24:43.would not be fair to say we cannot plan effectively because we do have
:24:43. > :24:49.that information. Adults are more complicated in that Kerry shared
:24:49. > :24:53.between primary and secondary care. We have accurate figures available
:24:54. > :25:00.from secondary care but primary care figures do not differentiate
:25:00. > :25:10.between Taiwan and tied to. Him, it still isn't the same as the way
:25:10. > :25:16.that they do it in other parts of the UK. We are starting from a low
:25:16. > :25:21.baseline and playing catch-up with other parts of the UK. Our current
:25:21. > :25:25.Minister has invested in insulin pumps and we will be pushing him
:25:25. > :25:29.hard that that vision needs to include an audit. We currently
:25:29. > :25:33.spend over �1 million a day on diabetes in Northern Ireland but we
:25:33. > :25:40.have no way of knowing what we are getting for their money, or what
:25:40. > :25:43.makes an improvement, what the gaps are, in terms of the effective
:25:43. > :25:50.planning a am making decisions to go forward there are some big
:25:50. > :25:56.decisions to be made. This cost the NHS more than any other single
:25:56. > :26:01.enormous, as I understand. He has launched a review, hasn't he, to
:26:01. > :26:06.look at existing service provision. There have been lots of reviews.
:26:06. > :26:10.has been over 10 years since anybody looked at diabetes and a
:26:10. > :26:16.strategic way. We are optimistic, what you might be cynical about
:26:16. > :26:22.politicians, and we all are, but he has funded �2.5 million for insulin
:26:22. > :26:27.pumps, that is real money. Type 1 diabetes in the past was a death
:26:27. > :26:30.sentence. Now it does not have to be. Children will have full and
:26:30. > :26:36.active lives which previous generations were told would not
:26:36. > :26:41.happen. We want to keep up momentum up and develop that into a properly
:26:41. > :26:45.structured plan. Whenever we look at this pumps and he would be in
:26:45. > :26:53.his saying, and they obviously need to hear something from the Public
:26:53. > :26:57.Health Agency and the Department and patients here. I know that the
:26:57. > :27:01.pump isn't the answer for everybody but if there were enough and there
:27:01. > :27:09.were enough -- the right training him place, it could really change
:27:09. > :27:14.things, could it's not? Absolutely. There are other provisions going on
:27:14. > :27:17.in Northern Ireland. Been particularly we are at offering
:27:17. > :27:24.structured patient information. We are developing an information
:27:24. > :27:31.structure across all our trust. Will there be it an audit? Yes, of
:27:31. > :27:37.course, there will be. House soon? Within a year, we will be able to
:27:37. > :27:45.carry out a regional or a bit of paediatric care. That his
:27:46. > :27:50.children's services. Thank you. Over the next few weeks some of the
:27:50. > :27:55.issues we will be covering included computer scans and asbestos in
:27:55. > :28:02.houses. If you have been affected by these issues, do let us know.
:28:02. > :28:08.Catherine has treated to say an industrial estate near us, no
:28:08. > :28:15.planning, seems unfair. The new retail in -- development is
:28:15. > :28:24.great in Portadown. Thank you for all your comments.