Episode 5

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: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