:00:44. > :00:52.We are bringing a fresh perspective to the issues that matter to you
:00:52. > :00:59.and your community. We are live. Is it not just Claudius? We are in the
:00:59. > :01:05.headquarters of waterways Ireland. -- is it not just glorious? With
:01:05. > :01:11.the clocks having gone for work and a magnificent view, spring is
:01:11. > :01:18.definitely in the air. And we have a couple of great stories coming up.
:01:18. > :01:28.We have already tackled subjects from computer scams to Moscow'. You
:01:28. > :01:37.
:01:37. > :01:45.can get in touch with us. Using the Coming up: it may be scrap but it
:01:45. > :01:50.is bark from workforce. Thieves are plundering her buildings to cash in.
:01:50. > :01:58.And if you could change the centre of Enniskillen, what would you do?
:01:58. > :02:03.We spoke to people in the town to find out. Remember that we are live
:02:03. > :02:08.so you have a chance to get in touch right now. But a worktop
:02:08. > :02:15.story, you have been investigating the problems caused by vacant and
:02:15. > :02:20.derelict properties. -- awoke top story.
:02:20. > :02:25.Yes, it is a side-effect of the financial downturn. These buildings
:02:25. > :02:35.are a nuisance and then become a danger. One woman is angry that her
:02:35. > :02:41.
:02:41. > :02:47.local council have told her that Properties can become derelict for
:02:47. > :02:54.all sorts of reasons. The become past on, the Kent, then finally
:02:54. > :02:59.left to rot. -- vacant. They are and I saw to neighbours. We are
:02:59. > :03:03.here to see the problems caused by a terraced house that has been
:03:03. > :03:08.vacant for six years. As a consequence neighbours say that
:03:08. > :03:18.their homes are deep argued at a time when the recession has already
:03:18. > :03:20.
:03:20. > :03:24.decimated house prices. -- devalued. Karen says that the garden quickly
:03:24. > :03:33.became an eyesore and that at one stage for years ago with the weeds
:03:33. > :03:40.were as high as her bedroom window. My house loses value year on year.
:03:40. > :03:44.I can never sell this house. Yet it is not my problem that it -- fault
:03:44. > :03:50.that it has got into this state. I have been in touch with the council
:03:50. > :03:55.on numerous occasions. They have said they cannot intervene.
:03:55. > :03:58.But the councils have the statutory powers to deal with derelict
:03:58. > :04:04.buildings. After the housing cost it is the number of vacant and
:04:04. > :04:07.neglected properties that is the only thing booming. Ace of the last
:04:07. > :04:17.year showed that there are more than 50 were 1,000 vacant homes
:04:17. > :04:21.like these in of an island. -- a Survey. But like so many other
:04:21. > :04:25.issues in Northern Ireland there is little joined-up thinking.
:04:25. > :04:30.Different councils read the legislation different league. We
:04:30. > :04:36.are in Belfast to see how the council here is cleaning up its act.
:04:36. > :04:41.There is plenty to do in the city. Responsibility Bobby's dilapidated
:04:41. > :04:47.buildings falls under an obscure article in a piece of legislation
:04:47. > :04:54.from 1978. Belfast City Council is taking decisive action by cleaning
:04:54. > :04:59.up the properties and then bullying the owners for the cost.
:04:59. > :05:04.The legislation says that a building must be seriously
:05:04. > :05:14.detrimental. Those are words that Wales lock. What do they mean? We
:05:14. > :05:14.
:05:15. > :05:19.decided to test these. -- wards that lawyers laugh. We have not
:05:20. > :05:29.been taken to quote this far. Everybody has complied or is in the
:05:30. > :05:30.
:05:30. > :05:40.process of complying. Colin city council has a similar
:05:40. > :05:46.
:05:46. > :05:51.scheme. -- Coleraine. Our authority is fairly unlimited.
:05:51. > :05:56.We have a situation with a house in the middle of the row of terraces.
:05:56. > :06:01.It is an eyesore and a garden is over run. Nobody lives they any
:06:01. > :06:08.longer and Johnston's use it to drink. It is a nuisance to
:06:08. > :06:13.neighbours. -- youngsters. They act as a classic example. --
:06:13. > :06:17.that is a classic example. Anti- social behaviour can be factored
:06:17. > :06:26.into it. You would look at the surroundings and the distances and
:06:26. > :06:30.if you believe that it falls within the legislation you can take action.
:06:30. > :06:38.The council told the programme that they had regularly visited cabin to
:06:38. > :06:41.assist but to date they had not considered the legislation
:06:41. > :06:44.applicable. I am very angry, especially when I
:06:44. > :06:51.hear that Belfast city councillor doing something that my council
:06:51. > :06:58.will not. They are taking the easy option, they simply don't want to
:06:58. > :07:02.know. They walk away. I cannot. I am faced with it every day.
:07:02. > :07:06.The council initially agreed to an interview but then changed their
:07:06. > :07:10.mind saying that story was changing too rapidly and they could not
:07:10. > :07:15.comment with authority. Yet they have been dealing with this for six
:07:15. > :07:19.years and in an e-mail advised us to explain to them the contact we
:07:19. > :07:25.had had with Belfast City Council so that they could ask them about a
:07:25. > :07:29.pilot scheme. We're glad to help. Trevor Martin is the head of
:07:29. > :07:33.building control with Belfast City Council. Karen has approached the
:07:33. > :07:38.owner of this House on many occasions asking him to do
:07:38. > :07:43.something about it. We also contacted the owner but he said he
:07:43. > :07:48.did not want to take part in the programme. A few days after being
:07:48. > :07:53.approached the owner of began clearing this site. He has cut back
:07:53. > :07:58.on the weeds and taken some rubbish away. That is a stark but
:07:58. > :08:02.neighbours say there is still plenty to do.
:08:02. > :08:08.When I drove home the other night I actually thought I was in the wrong
:08:08. > :08:13.street. I couldn't believe he had cleared up. That is what media
:08:13. > :08:20.attention does. I have been asking this and it has all fallen on deaf
:08:20. > :08:28.ears. So you have put a bit of power behind it.
:08:28. > :08:33.That is good to know. We have achieved something for you.
:08:33. > :08:38.We may be able to help you also. Getting touch if you think there's
:08:38. > :08:43.something we can do. We could not come here and not look at the
:08:43. > :08:48.controversy surrounding for racking. It is one of the biggest issues
:08:48. > :08:54.across the county. The gas exploration company responsible
:08:54. > :08:59.want to extract gas buried here in Fermanagh. It involves drilling
:08:59. > :09:05.into the earth and then using huge volumes of water to fracture of the
:09:05. > :09:09.rock and access the gas. Locals are concerned that the practice is
:09:09. > :09:14.linked to water contamination and small earthquakes. The company
:09:14. > :09:20.currently hold a licence for exploration in a vast a year.
:09:20. > :09:28.Locals are concerned that their lack -- their land may be affected.
:09:28. > :09:36.I heard from both sides of the debate. I am joined by the chief
:09:36. > :09:42.executive of the company as well as a scientist and campaigner.
:09:42. > :09:50.20% of the region you are looking at his Forest Service land. Is it
:09:51. > :09:56.your intention to use that for explanation -- exploration?
:09:56. > :10:01.There is lots of flexibility. We would like to locate some inside
:10:01. > :10:10.forestry areas because it keeps it out of everybody's way. But really,
:10:11. > :10:14.we will put them whenever it makes the best sense for everybody in the
:10:14. > :10:21.area. Lots of people are against this.
:10:21. > :10:25.How would he feel what this land being used?
:10:25. > :10:31.These are State for us and should belong to the people of fair manner.
:10:31. > :10:38.The people should have AC in what happens to them. We are not just
:10:38. > :10:44.talking about when well. We're talking about 40% of the Wells.
:10:44. > :10:50.That is what the company said at the very beginning. We do not know
:10:50. > :10:57.how many but perhaps we are talking about 25 pads. With the large
:10:57. > :11:02.amounts of acreage been involved. Access roads, compressors,
:11:02. > :11:09.machinery. Basic we are talking about a lot of fair manner's Forest
:11:09. > :11:17.being rendered unusable for the people.
:11:17. > :11:22.You have talked to the minister. What kind of reaction have you had?
:11:22. > :11:31.We should be clear. We had simply an introductory meeting to
:11:31. > :11:38.understand the rules. These projects already exist for wind
:11:38. > :11:43.farms. That is less controversial however.
:11:43. > :11:49.Depending on who you talk to. We have already proposed mitigation
:11:49. > :11:59.methods where we will develop different areas for for mystery and
:11:59. > :12:05.
:12:05. > :12:14.to prison. A few are taking for mystery out of
:12:14. > :12:23.the equation how do you put it back?
:12:23. > :12:32.What about water? You say it is fine but what about the liquid
:12:32. > :12:37.going in? In many cases it is radioactive.
:12:37. > :12:43.You have asked a lot of things in that sentence. Water contamination
:12:43. > :12:48.comes down to practise installing do well in the first place. After a
:12:48. > :12:55.well his belt properly you cannot contaminate the water. The incident
:12:55. > :13:01.rate in the United States is less than 0.1 %. Radioactivity is
:13:01. > :13:08.extraordinarily rare. It has not happened elsewhere. Radon is a
:13:08. > :13:13.granite base component which floats throughout the whole system. But
:13:13. > :13:20.the issue is what is in the shell. The composition determines what
:13:20. > :13:26.comes back with the water. It takes its name from the rocks around the
:13:26. > :13:32.town. Everybody living around the A rare knows exactly what is in those
:13:32. > :13:36.rocks. That is what is coming back. It is a perfectly acceptable rock
:13:36. > :13:42.to have in your neighbourhood. We will not bring anything back that
:13:42. > :13:46.is harmful. At the moment the import of
:13:46. > :13:56.Bletchley all of a raw energy. Companies are struggling to pay
:13:56. > :13:58.
:13:58. > :14:01.their bills. -- were virtually all of our energy.
:14:01. > :14:09.Richard says that proper construction means no problems.
:14:09. > :14:17.That is not actually the case. It is about human failure. There are
:14:17. > :14:21.accidents, spillages, leeks, here be have lots of rain. If the waste
:14:21. > :14:26.water is in containment pits there is a danger of flooding. All of
:14:26. > :14:34.those with the number of streams and lakes locally means there is
:14:34. > :14:39.danger of contamination of surface water.
:14:39. > :14:43.A final point - you must book in for planning by the end of the year.
:14:43. > :14:53.When and where? Will be first explorations be done on publicly
:14:53. > :14:54.
:14:55. > :14:58.The land will be purchased from whoever we can deal with.
:14:58. > :15:03.Landowners authority services. Once it has been dealt with, we must
:15:03. > :15:07.bowl over a one-year environmental impact assessment. The planning in
:15:07. > :15:12.the lesser for Manor area cannot even begin to be sold until at
:15:12. > :15:17.least the next 2013. If I may add, the. On water contamination, it is
:15:17. > :15:20.all down to the environmental impact assessment, showing people
:15:20. > :15:30.that you have containment. You have made that point, thank you
:15:30. > :15:32.Each week, you have been telling us your views on the stories he had
:15:33. > :15:39.been covering. You have been getting in touch with us this
:15:39. > :15:42.evening. Sharon has depleted saying she is opposed to this process
:15:42. > :15:48.before a thorough investigation of the risks and the comparison with
:15:48. > :15:51.the energy potential of renewables. Also, Gerard has gone in touch in
:15:51. > :15:55.connection with a story earlier saying, I have a vacant house next
:15:55. > :16:01.door which has been empty for two years now, it will not be long
:16:01. > :16:08.until it is derelict. Please keep your e-mails coming. You can train
:16:08. > :16:12.the discussion online. Thank you for all of your comments so far.
:16:12. > :16:17.Would you welcome the chance to have a say on improving your town
:16:17. > :16:21.centre? There is a scheme running here in Enniskillen together local
:16:21. > :16:31.people of the opportunity to do just that. In Your Corner's Asli
:16:31. > :16:42.
:16:42. > :16:45.Hayden has been finding out that it Here in Enniskillen's town hall,
:16:45. > :16:51.there is a master plan for the regeneration of the town centre on
:16:51. > :16:54.display. Reporting marina, a four- star hotel, multi-storey car parks
:16:54. > :16:59.and all year round outer markets are all part of the radical new
:16:59. > :17:03.plan. Like many towns across Northern Ireland, Enniskillen has
:17:03. > :17:09.suffered as a result of the recession. Planners want to rebuild
:17:09. > :17:15.the town over the next 20 years. We are here to find out what locals
:17:15. > :17:22.believe would help transform their town. It is quite well catered for.
:17:22. > :17:25.We have plenty of sports facilities and shops. We just need customers.
:17:25. > :17:32.There is a police informer called the main street, and they have a
:17:32. > :17:36.little walk away with you can have coffee outside and music playing.
:17:36. > :17:41.Something like that it is what Enniskillen is lacking. What would
:17:41. > :17:47.you say that Enniskillen town it needs to transform itself? Better
:17:47. > :17:53.parking facilities of the main street. Something for kids to do ad
:17:53. > :18:00.evening. Is there nothing for them to do? Know, they are all indoors
:18:00. > :18:06.playing export. We need more houses and more people. Good shops. There
:18:06. > :18:10.is nothing in it. It is the same as everywhere else. The next life
:18:10. > :18:15.means improving on a little bit, but it is hard to them -- to please
:18:15. > :18:21.everyone. It is a nice place to live, I cannot see what can enhance
:18:21. > :18:30.it. They need to step back into action. You need more places to
:18:30. > :18:35.show you dance moves? I think we do. Who wants to stop here? Before
:18:35. > :18:43.days' parking restrictions came we were living here happily. And we
:18:43. > :18:46.got on well. And I am happy enough. Here like the town? Idea. Coming
:18:46. > :18:51.from a sporting background, I would say more involvement with the
:18:51. > :18:57.outdoors. We have long-term, you have the boating going on. The
:18:57. > :19:07.tourism is improving all the time. It does us need anything by the
:19:07. > :19:11.sense of debt. There is always room for improvement. Recent months have
:19:11. > :19:15.seen a dramatic rise in the number of metal theft. A cross Northern
:19:15. > :19:19.Ireland, building sites, churches and community centres have been
:19:19. > :19:23.plundered by thieves looking to cash in on the rising value of
:19:23. > :19:26.scrap metal. We will now hear about an initiative aimed at tackling the
:19:26. > :19:34.problem. I have been talking to some of those who have suffered at
:19:34. > :19:38.the hands of the criminals. This building has stood in the
:19:38. > :19:45.centre of Belfast for more than 120 years. But the historic building is
:19:45. > :19:49.under attack from metal thieves. Lead has been stripped from its
:19:49. > :19:53.roots and then replace all before thieves to return and wreak more
:19:53. > :19:58.damage. The latest raid was last week, and this time it was much
:19:58. > :20:03.worse. We were up here two or three weekends and through the week, the
:20:03. > :20:08.damage is estimated at the cost of �150,000 at this stage. That is
:20:08. > :20:13.huge. It is, and it will be difficult with the insurers. We're
:20:13. > :20:19.not sure how they will deal with that. How extensive is the damage?
:20:19. > :20:23.All sections of the roof. This is the most modest. Apart from the
:20:23. > :20:30.theft of the lead, which is expensive, Sleights themselves,
:20:30. > :20:34.many of them, aluminium windows, anywhere there is led tucked under
:20:34. > :20:39.Windows, and they wrecked the windows of 45 metres of lead. Any
:20:39. > :20:43.opportunity they have they will exploit it. It is not just a matter
:20:43. > :20:46.of procuring lead and reinstalling lead, the building works are
:20:46. > :20:52.equally expensive. We have tenants in the building, and with the
:20:52. > :20:56.extent of theft of leads, and since we have had a period of heavy rain,
:20:56. > :20:59.there is no doubt that our tenant body would be required to leave the
:20:59. > :21:06.building. It is not just historic buildings that are being targeted
:21:06. > :21:10.by metal thieves, the scourge has left some communities going on safe.
:21:10. > :21:17.This woman told me how her community are raised �6,000 for
:21:17. > :21:24.security gates one way to have most of them stolen. If I can show you,
:21:24. > :21:29.this is where the gates were stored. They are big gates. They were very
:21:29. > :21:33.heavy. You need a few men to whom carry them. How do you think they
:21:33. > :21:37.got them out of here? We have information that there was a white
:21:37. > :21:44.van, two men claimed over and sod off the padlocks. Then they were
:21:44. > :21:48.able to gain access, and remove six of these dates. These gates were
:21:48. > :21:56.weighted and -- waiting to be modified to poor use in another
:21:56. > :22:01.part of a hardliner when they were stolen. This is where they were
:22:01. > :22:06.taken from. We have had six stolen, there are two left. Of how hope
:22:06. > :22:10.will argue of getting them back? am not hope for at all, the police
:22:10. > :22:15.are now involved under going around scrap dealer to see if we can get
:22:15. > :22:21.those dates back. Those gates cost the people of this community �6,000,
:22:21. > :22:25.and they have stolen from the people of this community. Metal
:22:25. > :22:29.theft is not just to the stricken lead from Ruth saw stealing gates.
:22:29. > :22:32.These will go to any lengths to make money from the black market.
:22:32. > :22:36.Here in County Armagh, thieves recently made off with a large
:22:36. > :22:41.section of copper telephone wire. This community was left isolated
:22:41. > :22:47.and without a vital lines of communication. Crummy younger
:22:47. > :22:55.person's perspective, there was the problems with regard to broadband
:22:55. > :22:59.and internet access. -- from a younger person's perspective. Many
:22:59. > :23:02.people over from the ball lost contact with their families. Even
:23:03. > :23:08.if the emergency services were required. It was a worrying time
:23:08. > :23:13.for all the people. One local business that was if it affected
:23:13. > :23:17.was this chicken hatchery. The eggs were kept in large incubators and
:23:17. > :23:21.the alarm system which monitors the condition of the X is lined up to
:23:21. > :23:29.the telephone land line. This informs Billy when there is a
:23:29. > :23:37.problem. When the lines went down, all of his eggs were put at risk.
:23:37. > :23:41.How does the alarm system work? problem with the machine and all of
:23:41. > :23:48.them is that the panel overseer signals to the alarm in the office.
:23:48. > :23:54.That then settles the telephone systems to the phone in the homes
:23:54. > :23:58.of several people. You were lucky at the weekend of the theft that no
:23:58. > :24:06.alarms went off and he had no problems. Potentially, what damage
:24:06. > :24:10.could add been done? Du Rhone that we're in now is a had to run. You
:24:10. > :24:15.could have had a complete loss within half an hour or an hour.
:24:16. > :24:21.Have you decided to change your ways of working? Yes, we're looking
:24:21. > :24:26.at putting in a standby system that will operate more on the principles
:24:26. > :24:30.of mobile phone technology. We can still retain the land line well.
:24:30. > :24:34.The thieves stole the telephone wire in this case and did not stop
:24:34. > :24:38.to think how their actions could disrupt this community. This shows
:24:38. > :24:43.that metal theft is not just a nuisance, it is part of a much more
:24:43. > :24:48.serious problem that can affect us all.
:24:48. > :24:54.It is a big problem. This woman, from Crimestoppers, and Roy
:24:54. > :24:58.Robinson from the PSNI joined us now. We saw this problem in Belfast,
:24:58. > :25:02.and it is a big difficulty here, too. It is, we have had a
:25:02. > :25:07.significant number of metal theft across County Fermanagh. We have
:25:07. > :25:12.had telephone lines and manhole covers taken. Houses -- houses have
:25:12. > :25:16.been burgled when they left unoccupied. Many properties were
:25:16. > :25:20.burgled, or four of them were schools and they can not afford to
:25:20. > :25:25.lose lead from their wrists. It is obvious the with they will of these
:25:26. > :25:34.people to do it. It is certainly very valuable. The price of copper
:25:34. > :25:42.and lead has increased. There is a demand and supply. Susan, hardly
:25:42. > :25:46.aware enough of this? We hear about it from time to time, but people do
:25:46. > :25:51.not add it up in their heads. We're launching an initiative tomorrow
:25:51. > :25:56.with David Ford. We're trying to raise awareness of the impact that
:25:56. > :26:00.metal theft actually has in their communities. We are also giving
:26:00. > :26:03.information about Crimestoppers. There is a misconception about
:26:03. > :26:07.Crimestoppers in Northern Ireland. What here letting people know is
:26:07. > :26:11.that Crimestoppers is a charity. He can ring anonymously. No one will
:26:11. > :26:16.ever know that you rang the number. It does not show up on phone bills
:26:16. > :26:19.and is untraceable. If we give information about metal theft and
:26:19. > :26:24.Crimestoppers we will get information in from people who know
:26:24. > :26:29.about these criminal activities. you feel, Roy, that there are
:26:29. > :26:32.people who have information who could come forward? Yes, there are
:26:32. > :26:36.people who know who is supplying and where these people are taking
:26:36. > :26:45.this material. We have materials taken in Northern Ireland and going
:26:45. > :26:48.south of the border. Particularly in the south coming to the north.
:26:48. > :26:53.Briefly, any chance of the lobbying changed on this on what goes into
:26:53. > :26:59.scrapyards and how that works? is certainly something that the
:26:59. > :27:06.minister could look at. We do not know where much of the sled comes
:27:06. > :27:11.from and we cannot trace the sources. Be would be hoped -- that
:27:11. > :27:19.we would be hoping that we could be put onto the suppliers. Susan, very
:27:19. > :27:29.briefly, the company wodges tomorrow. What is the number again?
:27:29. > :27:30.
:27:30. > :27:34.Next week is the last in the series, and behind the scenes, the team are
:27:34. > :27:39.already working hard on the stories were that programme. Contact them
:27:39. > :27:42.now if you had a story from your corner of Northern Ireland. He had
:27:42. > :27:48.already been contacting us about tonight's stories.
:27:48. > :27:51.Pete has gone in touch to say that on one project I worked on, the
:27:51. > :27:54.lead rest were being stolen so many times that he fitted a temporary
:27:54. > :27:58.roof. Nicky has gone untouched saying
:27:59. > :28:07.thank you for getting in touch about farting, concrete bills will
:28:07. > :28:11.take away tourism. You can keep the discussion going
:28:11. > :28:14.online. That is it from Enniskillen from
:28:14. > :28:21.this week. For our last tour in the season will be a live from the
:28:21. > :28:27.adventure centre. Be sure to join us then. Wheat could be a selling