Episode 2 In Your Corner

Welcome to In Your Corner, the programme that examines the issues

that really matter to you and your community. I am Wendy Austin and

tonight, we are live in Portadown in County Armagh.

On inure corner, we are live from venues across Northern Ireland,

getting to the heart of the issues that affect you and your community.

Tonight, we are in County Armagh broadcasting from the Portadown

Health Centre. The In Your Corner team has been setting up since

first thing this morning at this state-of-the-art facility. It

opened in 2010 and it is an award- winning centre that provides a

range of health and care services for the local community. Each week,

we are right in the heart of local communities as we travel across

Northern Ireland, highlighting the local issues that echo across the

country. What is the story In Your Corner? Get in touch with us this

evening... Coming up tonight, if you are

diabetic and insulin pumps can transform your life. Getting one is

not straightforward. We have been on the streets in

Portadown to ask if a kid -- new retail development will be good or

bad for the town centre. All of that to come. Remember, we

are live so it is your chance to get in touch. First, an award-

winning building calls for an award-winning journalist. Chris

Moore is with me for tonight's top story. You have been delving into

the complex world of planning laws, something which affect people right

across Northern Ireland. In theory if you want to build, you need

planning permission first. That is not to work. It appears that you

can build a building without permission and then seek permission

retrospectively. Or even better, don't apply at all, or if you do

and permission is refused, just ignore it. I have been in

Coalisland to look at this particular issue.

Planning laws and planners, whether it is new golf courses on the north

coast or out-of-town shopping centre of disputes, there sell them

out of the headlines. What can go up can also come down. There are

enforcement plaque -- powers to pulled out anything that did not

what without approval. That is the theory, anyway. I am off to meet

some angry neighbours who believe the planning laws are a farce.

It was thriving with wildlife. Jamie Hughes was delighted to

become the owner of a pond when he bought land in goal line and 12

years ago to build his new home. This was a big pond full of water.

Ride over to that bank, over there. Overnight, the landscape around the

pond changed. Unknown to him, a local business was setting up a man

next to him. I had no idea what he was going to be building. It got

steadily bigger and bigger. It started to be sandblasted and there

was pain being spread, and there was fabricating machinery. Were you

aware of planning permission? is no planning permission

whatsoever. What was your reaction? I was annoyed at the start. I could

not understand where the planners did not let us know that there was

any application in in the first place. At the beginning, the

authorities moved very quickly it, the workshop operators and the

landowner were served with papers ordering the sheds to be demolished.

The planning -- but the planning authorities do anything to remedy

the situation? They gave them 60 days to take it down in 2007. He

took his case to the Planning Appeals Commission. What happened?

The Planning Appeals Commission, he was refused but given one-year to

relocate his business. In 2010, the landowner was fined �6,000 for

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 47 seconds

failing to comply with the Building which they had erected,

they won't work respect of Planning Commission. They are now seeking

retrospective approval to retain as The department decided that it

would refuse planning permission and that is being appealed by the

applicants. The companies providing much-needed employment in an area

The area really needs jobs at the moment. There are plenty of sites

around the country. Why do they not go to those? Why don't they take

the right way about it? Why don't they build on land that is

earmarked for naturally, we wanted to speak to somebody so we

contacted them. They invited us to film the work process going on

inside these sheds. It is now Wednesday morning and this was the

designated day for that meeting. Last night, a company spokesman

contacted us to say he would have to cancel the arrangement because

of work commitments. Instead, the company provided us with a

The objectors' beef is with the planners, who they say appear to be

completely incapable of sorting the issue out. There is no point to

them if they are not going to be enforced. Who can bring about a

change that is going to enforce the planning laws? I think the minister

or the planners should take out an injunction to stop any further work

on these sheds until a planning issue is sorted out. Jamie and his

friends are not happy. You can understand why. What is the point

of planners and planning laws? It seems to be there you can build

can be told to take it down and that isn't going to be resolved any

time soon. you and it has happened in your

area, let us know it via e-mail and online. Deirdre, the Christian --

the question at the end, what is the point of a planning department

if people feel they can build wherever they like and hang the

consequences? And have to say that if people proceed without planning

permission, they do it at their own risk. We will take enforcement

action where it is expedient to do so. It is a risk people take. They

may have to remove the building or sees the use. But that risk, it --

are the figures right? We hear from the Assembly that 83% of

retrospective planning applications are approved. That is a pretty good

chance, isn't it? I am not sure where that figure came from because

we have no way of determining which was retrospective. Applications

which were made her prospectively, in many cases, may have been minor.

-- Red Ed respectively. The fact that some money carries out work

without planning permission, we assess the application as if the

development was not there. If it does not meet the policy and if

there are no material considerations, we went refused

permission and proceed with enforcement action. What about that

enforcement action? Jim Wells said that in 38 years, only 13 buildings

or structures had been demolished. That is not very frightening for a

developer, is it? I would have to dispute that figure. My own

experience in the Western Area Planning Office over the last

couple of years, we have had some very successful enforcement cases

when buildings have been removed. We had four cases in the last two

months. At the moment there is a case preceding three court and the

applicants have been informed to take it down. -- proceeding through

court. There is no benefit from going ahead. If it goes to court

they face a heavy fine. In my case that we have referred to, there is

a �6,000 fine. It is not unusual to have fines of four figures.

must here great frustration from people who feel that really, others

can do whatever they like and they, as the local people, have

absolutely no power at all? provide advice to people and

communities who want good development. They want decent jobs.

They don't have teams of planning consultants or teams of lawyers,

they do not have lobbyists when it comes to a bad developer but they

want to do something about. That is when they find that it is not a

level playing field, that developers have those resources

available to them. Local people have nothing but their own

commitment to their environment, their own commitment to their

community, and their own good sense to try and present their case and

are due for development and better planning. When they come across

cases like this they get very disheartened. They are often

surprised to find that although the developer has a right of appeal,

the objectors don't have any rights of appeal. It is not a level

playing field. That is the case, Deirdre, isn't it? It is something

that people get very aggrieved about, that they only have one go,

whereas the applicant can have several bites? I appreciate how

people may feel in terms of their ability to influence the process. I

can only assure them that in all cases we take into consideration

those issues raised by objectors. When it comes to enforcement,

obviously, we will proceed with enforcement action. The applicant

has the right of appeal. Unfortunately, the enforcement

process is a long one with the courts and bobs. There is a lot

outside planning control. Is there any way this could be achieved more

quickly, rather than just going to court and on and on, as seems to be

the case at the moment? It is difficult to say. In terms of the

court, if fines are imposed at a level that becomes so restrictive

that they develop their -- a developer cannot maintain the

building, other than that, I am not sure. We have to balance everything

together, including the objectors, the applicant and take all that

into consideration. I Gable for joining us.

-- thank you both for joining us. You have already been getting in

touch with us about all sorts of issues. Conner has treated to say,

how about slow internet access via mobiles, especially outside

Belfast? We have a message on our Facebook page, why does petrol cost

so much on Northern Ireland? It seems to go up every day. Thank you.

I know I love all this electronic stuff but sometimes nothing beats

getting out there and asking a few questions about local issues. That

is acted the what hour -- exactly what our reporter has been going to

find up what is the talk of the The talk of the town in Portadown

this week is news that a miniature new supermarket is being built on

the edge of the town centre. Along with the supermarket there are also

plans to build a leisure centre. So is this good news or bad news for

The town needs something to regenerate the talk about cinema's,

retail outlets and restaurants. I think it will be good for the town.

Most of the shops seem to be closing down. I don't think it

makes much sense, you were taking the people out of the town, there

are derelict buildings in the town as it is. What you think of the

idea that a superstore will be built on the outskirts of the town?

To be honest, I think it may ripped the heart out of the town centre.

The it seems a big space and a town with lots of empty spaces.

don't think it is a good idea then? It is probably a good idea for the

builders but it might be a lot of empty space at the end of the day.

Delight Portadown to shopping? do. It is nice to have your small

shops. I think it is a good thing from my point of view because it

gives me a bigger shopping choice but it is a bad thing from the

point of view of the stores, particularly the privately owned

stores. There is going to be a cinema opened up and a restaurant

which is going to be really good. am not a Portadown man. But both

towns are going down the hill. People are going to war these

bigger stores out in the country but if they want to put one in here,

well, try it that way, it cannot do any harm. You pays your money and

you takes your choice. Clare has been looking at the provision of

diabetes care in Northern Ireland. If you're a diabetic, this small

piece of equipment here, not much bigger than a mobile phone, could

radically change a life for the better. It is an insulin pump and

it means you don't have to constantly inject insulin into your

body. Getting one is not straightforward. I met with one

teenager who had to fight every step of the way to get hers.

Ruth was a fit and healthy 10-year- old. So, when she started to become

constantly tired and thirsty, her mum brought her to hospital. When

we went to accident and emergency they checked my blood sugar and a

normal blood sugar should be about three, mine was 23. They knew then

and after more blood tests that I was a diabetic. I stayed on the

paediatric ward for about a week getting used to injections. Rhys

was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, in which the body attacks the cells

that produce insulin. By the time she was a teenager, managing Hess -

- health was becoming complicated. I was running high and then low,

extreme ways. It had gone on for a year and a half and I was not

getting any better. My mum was reading up about different people's

stories and she came across the palm. It is like a little pager,

you have got a little back tree in here and I have to change it every

month. Your reservoir is in here and you fill that up with insulin.

You fill it up every two or three days. You have to change sides,

just like taking injections to make sure it does not get infected, but

it is not saw, it is not like an injection, it is like a finger

prick. It constantly trips insulin into you, like a long acting

insulin, so your blood sugar takes -- stays stable.

It is estimated that only 2% of type when diabetics in Northern

Ireland have a com. The National Institute for Health and Clinical

excellence states that up to 10 times the number of diabetics who

could benefit from insolent, therapy. But getting a pump in

Northern Ireland is difficult. will probably naive in thinking

that we could just be assessed and they would say, yes, we will start

to one this pump. It was a shock to go and find that the doctor told us

at the outset that there was a year's waiting list for the pump.

We retain lot of letters and visited many hospital admissions in

the previous 14 months, probably an approximate total of around �28,000

spent just on treating her in and out of hospital as opposed to a

pump that was �2,800. When she was placed on the waiting list in 2009,

she was told it would be a year before she would get her pomp. The

waiting list has now increased to three years in some trusts. In Your

Corner wanted to know exactly how many people in Northern Ireland are

waiting to get its hump. The Western Trust has 75 patients, the

Southern Trust has a waiting list of up to three years for adults,

the Belfast Trust has 28 people under 17 and a waiting list. The

south-east in trust has 48 comes available for children but only 35

are in use. This is despite 13 children on a waiting list. And,

the Northern Trust could not give us any information.

You get forgotten about. Especially from a medical point of view, other

things are put on the front of it and diabetes is and, it is

forgotten about. So, how do we compare to the rest of the UK?

England and Wales have a National diabetes audit and a full register.

Scotland organises its own audit and register. According to the

charity Diabetes UK, these audits have multiple benefits for patients.

Up-to-date data allows free more co-ordinated approach to managing

patients and for future care. Northern Ireland does not have a

similar audit and the Department of Health does not even have figures

on the number of people with diabetes here.

Ruth was one of the lucky ones and after a year of fighting she got

her palm. She has had it for three years now and calls it her prize

possession. I can go out as my friends and stay at my friends'

houses. It is more flexible, like being a normal teenager. I have

more energy, I do not have to sleep when I come home from school, I am

not have exhausted. If it has changed in so many ways, it is

fantastic. One person who has most is this change in school is Ruth's

form tutor. In 4th year her attendance was very poor because of

her diabetes. After she received the pump, she was able to come to

school 75% of the time which was a massive improvement for her. It

meant she was more settled in class, able to take part in activities,

good for her GCSEs. Ruth now feels she can live the life of a normal

teenager. However, her family are angry that they had to fight to get

their daughter this life changing equipment. They are setting targets

that so many people should be on a pond but they do not know how many

people in Northern Ireland are diabetic, so it doesn't add up.

Dr Farrell, and it does not add up, does it? We heard Ruth's mum saying

that, if the department does not know how many diabetics to Iraq in

Northern Ireland, how can they develop strategy and main good

policy? -- how many net diabetics there are in Northern Ireland.

get figures on diets BT East from GPs in Northern Ireland. The level

of pump provision in Northern Ireland it compares very favourably

with the rest of the UK as a result of recent procurement exercises. We

will have by the end of March this year, up to 18% of children with

diabetes will have a pump, and this compares very favourably, 8.4% is

the equivalent figure in Scotland. To go back to those figures, you

cannot plan properly can you if you do not know the numbers you are

dealing with? You say their numbers coming in but we understand they

are not divided between Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes, for instance. That

does not seem to be a proper database. It is very important that

the information is held by chemical teams providing care to children.

We have very accurate numbers on Type 1 diabetes in children. It

would not be fair to say we cannot plan effectively because we do have

that information. Adults are more complicated in that Kerry shared

between primary and secondary care. We have accurate figures available

from secondary care but primary care figures do not differentiate

between Taiwan and tied to. Him, it still isn't the same as the way

that they do it in other parts of the UK. We are starting from a low

baseline and playing catch-up with other parts of the UK. Our current

Minister has invested in insulin pumps and we will be pushing him

hard that that vision needs to include an audit. We currently

spend over �1 million a day on diabetes in Northern Ireland but we

have no way of knowing what we are getting for their money, or what

makes an improvement, what the gaps are, in terms of the effective

planning a am making decisions to go forward there are some big

decisions to be made. This cost the NHS more than any other single

enormous, as I understand. He has launched a review, hasn't he, to

look at existing service provision. There have been lots of reviews.

has been over 10 years since anybody looked at diabetes and a

strategic way. We are optimistic, what you might be cynical about

politicians, and we all are, but he has funded �2.5 million for insulin

pumps, that is real money. Type 1 diabetes in the past was a death

sentence. Now it does not have to be. Children will have full and

active lives which previous generations were told would not

happen. We want to keep up momentum up and develop that into a properly

structured plan. Whenever we look at this pumps and he would be in

his saying, and they obviously need to hear something from the Public

Health Agency and the Department and patients here. I know that the

pump isn't the answer for everybody but if there were enough and there

were enough -- the right training him place, it could really change

things, could it's not? Absolutely. There are other provisions going on

in Northern Ireland. Been particularly we are at offering

structured patient information. We are developing an information

structure across all our trust. Will there be it an audit? Yes, of

course, there will be. House soon? Within a year, we will be able to

carry out a regional or a bit of paediatric care. That his

children's services. Thank you. Over the next few weeks some of the

issues we will be covering included computer scans and asbestos in

houses. If you have been affected by these issues, do let us know.

Catherine has treated to say an industrial estate near us, no

planning, seems unfair. The new retail in -- development is

great in Portadown. Thank you for all your comments.