Episode 5 In Your Corner

We are bringing a fresh perspective to the issues that matter to you

and your community. We are live. Is it not just Claudius? We are in the

headquarters of waterways Ireland. -- is it not just glorious? With

the clocks having gone for work and a magnificent view, spring is

definitely in the air. And we have a couple of great stories coming up.

We have already tackled subjects from computer scams to Moscow'. You

can get in touch with us. Using the Coming up: it may be scrap but it

is bark from workforce. Thieves are plundering her buildings to cash in.

And if you could change the centre of Enniskillen, what would you do?

We spoke to people in the town to find out. Remember that we are live

so you have a chance to get in touch right now. But a worktop

story, you have been investigating the problems caused by vacant and

derelict properties. -- awoke top story.

Yes, it is a side-effect of the financial downturn. These buildings

are a nuisance and then become a danger. One woman is angry that her

local council have told her that Properties can become derelict for

all sorts of reasons. The become past on, the Kent, then finally

left to rot. -- vacant. They are and I saw to neighbours. We are

here to see the problems caused by a terraced house that has been

vacant for six years. As a consequence neighbours say that

their homes are deep argued at a time when the recession has already

decimated house prices. -- devalued. Karen says that the garden quickly

became an eyesore and that at one stage for years ago with the weeds

were as high as her bedroom window. My house loses value year on year.

I can never sell this house. Yet it is not my problem that it -- fault

that it has got into this state. I have been in touch with the council

on numerous occasions. They have said they cannot intervene.

But the councils have the statutory powers to deal with derelict

buildings. After the housing cost it is the number of vacant and

neglected properties that is the only thing booming. Ace of the last

year showed that there are more than 50 were 1,000 vacant homes

like these in of an island. -- a Survey. But like so many other

issues in Northern Ireland there is little joined-up thinking.

Different councils read the legislation different league. We

are in Belfast to see how the council here is cleaning up its act.

There is plenty to do in the city. Responsibility Bobby's dilapidated

buildings falls under an obscure article in a piece of legislation

from 1978. Belfast City Council is taking decisive action by cleaning

up the properties and then bullying the owners for the cost.

The legislation says that a building must be seriously

detrimental. Those are words that Wales lock. What do they mean? We

decided to test these. -- wards that lawyers laugh. We have not

been taken to quote this far. Everybody has complied or is in the

process of complying. Colin city council has a similar

scheme. -- Coleraine. Our authority is fairly unlimited.

We have a situation with a house in the middle of the row of terraces.

It is an eyesore and a garden is over run. Nobody lives they any

longer and Johnston's use it to drink. It is a nuisance to

neighbours. -- youngsters. They act as a classic example. --

that is a classic example. Anti- social behaviour can be factored

into it. You would look at the surroundings and the distances and

if you believe that it falls within the legislation you can take action.

The council told the programme that they had regularly visited cabin to

assist but to date they had not considered the legislation

applicable. I am very angry, especially when I

hear that Belfast city councillor doing something that my council

will not. They are taking the easy option, they simply don't want to

know. They walk away. I cannot. I am faced with it every day.

The council initially agreed to an interview but then changed their

mind saying that story was changing too rapidly and they could not

comment with authority. Yet they have been dealing with this for six

years and in an e-mail advised us to explain to them the contact we

had had with Belfast City Council so that they could ask them about a

pilot scheme. We're glad to help. Trevor Martin is the head of

building control with Belfast City Council. Karen has approached the

owner of this House on many occasions asking him to do

something about it. We also contacted the owner but he said he

did not want to take part in the programme. A few days after being

approached the owner of began clearing this site. He has cut back

on the weeds and taken some rubbish away. That is a stark but

neighbours say there is still plenty to do.

When I drove home the other night I actually thought I was in the wrong

street. I couldn't believe he had cleared up. That is what media

attention does. I have been asking this and it has all fallen on deaf

ears. So you have put a bit of power behind it.

That is good to know. We have achieved something for you.

We may be able to help you also. Getting touch if you think there's

something we can do. We could not come here and not look at the

controversy surrounding for racking. It is one of the biggest issues

across the county. The gas exploration company responsible

want to extract gas buried here in Fermanagh. It involves drilling

into the earth and then using huge volumes of water to fracture of the

rock and access the gas. Locals are concerned that the practice is

linked to water contamination and small earthquakes. The company

currently hold a licence for exploration in a vast a year.

Locals are concerned that their lack -- their land may be affected.

I heard from both sides of the debate. I am joined by the chief

executive of the company as well as a scientist and campaigner.

20% of the region you are looking at his Forest Service land. Is it

your intention to use that for explanation -- exploration?

There is lots of flexibility. We would like to locate some inside

forestry areas because it keeps it out of everybody's way. But really,

we will put them whenever it makes the best sense for everybody in the

area. Lots of people are against this.

How would he feel what this land being used?

These are State for us and should belong to the people of fair manner.

The people should have AC in what happens to them. We are not just

talking about when well. We're talking about 40% of the Wells.

That is what the company said at the very beginning. We do not know

how many but perhaps we are talking about 25 pads. With the large

amounts of acreage been involved. Access roads, compressors,

machinery. Basic we are talking about a lot of fair manner's Forest

being rendered unusable for the people.

You have talked to the minister. What kind of reaction have you had?

We should be clear. We had simply an introductory meeting to

understand the rules. These projects already exist for wind

farms. That is less controversial however.

Depending on who you talk to. We have already proposed mitigation

methods where we will develop different areas for for mystery and

to prison. A few are taking for mystery out of

the equation how do you put it back?

What about water? You say it is fine but what about the liquid

going in? In many cases it is radioactive.

You have asked a lot of things in that sentence. Water contamination

comes down to practise installing do well in the first place. After a

well his belt properly you cannot contaminate the water. The incident

rate in the United States is less than 0.1 %. Radioactivity is

extraordinarily rare. It has not happened elsewhere. Radon is a

granite base component which floats throughout the whole system. But

the issue is what is in the shell. The composition determines what

comes back with the water. It takes its name from the rocks around the

town. Everybody living around the A rare knows exactly what is in those

rocks. That is what is coming back. It is a perfectly acceptable rock

to have in your neighbourhood. We will not bring anything back that

is harmful. At the moment the import of

Bletchley all of a raw energy. Companies are struggling to pay

their bills. -- were virtually all of our energy.

Richard says that proper construction means no problems.

That is not actually the case. It is about human failure. There are

accidents, spillages, leeks, here be have lots of rain. If the waste

water is in containment pits there is a danger of flooding. All of

those with the number of streams and lakes locally means there is

danger of contamination of surface water.

A final point - you must book in for planning by the end of the year.

When and where? Will be first explorations be done on publicly

The land will be purchased from whoever we can deal with.

Landowners authority services. Once it has been dealt with, we must

bowl over a one-year environmental impact assessment. The planning in

the lesser for Manor area cannot even begin to be sold until at

least the next 2013. If I may add, the. On water contamination, it is

all down to the environmental impact assessment, showing people

that you have containment. You have made that point, thank you

Each week, you have been telling us your views on the stories he had

been covering. You have been getting in touch with us this

evening. Sharon has depleted saying she is opposed to this process

before a thorough investigation of the risks and the comparison with

the energy potential of renewables. Also, Gerard has gone in touch in

connection with a story earlier saying, I have a vacant house next

door which has been empty for two years now, it will not be long

until it is derelict. Please keep your e-mails coming. You can train

the discussion online. Thank you for all of your comments so far.

Would you welcome the chance to have a say on improving your town

centre? There is a scheme running here in Enniskillen together local

people of the opportunity to do just that. In Your Corner's Asli

Hayden has been finding out that it Here in Enniskillen's town hall,

there is a master plan for the regeneration of the town centre on

display. Reporting marina, a four- star hotel, multi-storey car parks

and all year round outer markets are all part of the radical new

plan. Like many towns across Northern Ireland, Enniskillen has

suffered as a result of the recession. Planners want to rebuild

the town over the next 20 years. We are here to find out what locals

believe would help transform their town. It is quite well catered for.

We have plenty of sports facilities and shops. We just need customers.

There is a police informer called the main street, and they have a

little walk away with you can have coffee outside and music playing.

Something like that it is what Enniskillen is lacking. What would

you say that Enniskillen town it needs to transform itself? Better

parking facilities of the main street. Something for kids to do ad

evening. Is there nothing for them to do? Know, they are all indoors

playing export. We need more houses and more people. Good shops. There

is nothing in it. It is the same as everywhere else. The next life

means improving on a little bit, but it is hard to them -- to please

everyone. It is a nice place to live, I cannot see what can enhance

it. They need to step back into action. You need more places to

show you dance moves? I think we do. Who wants to stop here? Before

days' parking restrictions came we were living here happily. And we

got on well. And I am happy enough. Here like the town? Idea. Coming

from a sporting background, I would say more involvement with the

outdoors. We have long-term, you have the boating going on. The

tourism is improving all the time. It does us need anything by the

sense of debt. There is always room for improvement. Recent months have

seen a dramatic rise in the number of metal theft. A cross Northern

Ireland, building sites, churches and community centres have been

plundered by thieves looking to cash in on the rising value of

scrap metal. We will now hear about an initiative aimed at tackling the

problem. I have been talking to some of those who have suffered at

the hands of the criminals. This building has stood in the

centre of Belfast for more than 120 years. But the historic building is

under attack from metal thieves. Lead has been stripped from its

roots and then replace all before thieves to return and wreak more

damage. The latest raid was last week, and this time it was much

worse. We were up here two or three weekends and through the week, the

damage is estimated at the cost of �150,000 at this stage. That is

huge. It is, and it will be difficult with the insurers. We're

not sure how they will deal with that. How extensive is the damage?

All sections of the roof. This is the most modest. Apart from the

theft of the lead, which is expensive, Sleights themselves,

many of them, aluminium windows, anywhere there is led tucked under

Windows, and they wrecked the windows of 45 metres of lead. Any

opportunity they have they will exploit it. It is not just a matter

of procuring lead and reinstalling lead, the building works are

equally expensive. We have tenants in the building, and with the

extent of theft of leads, and since we have had a period of heavy rain,

there is no doubt that our tenant body would be required to leave the

building. It is not just historic buildings that are being targeted

by metal thieves, the scourge has left some communities going on safe.

This woman told me how her community are raised �6,000 for

security gates one way to have most of them stolen. If I can show you,

this is where the gates were stored. They are big gates. They were very

heavy. You need a few men to whom carry them. How do you think they

got them out of here? We have information that there was a white

van, two men claimed over and sod off the padlocks. Then they were

able to gain access, and remove six of these dates. These gates were

weighted and -- waiting to be modified to poor use in another

part of a hardliner when they were stolen. This is where they were

taken from. We have had six stolen, there are two left. Of how hope

will argue of getting them back? am not hope for at all, the police

are now involved under going around scrap dealer to see if we can get

those dates back. Those gates cost the people of this community �6,000,

and they have stolen from the people of this community. Metal

theft is not just to the stricken lead from Ruth saw stealing gates.

These will go to any lengths to make money from the black market.

Here in County Armagh, thieves recently made off with a large

section of copper telephone wire. This community was left isolated

and without a vital lines of communication. Crummy younger

person's perspective, there was the problems with regard to broadband

and internet access. -- from a younger person's perspective. Many

people over from the ball lost contact with their families. Even

if the emergency services were required. It was a worrying time

for all the people. One local business that was if it affected

was this chicken hatchery. The eggs were kept in large incubators and

the alarm system which monitors the condition of the X is lined up to

the telephone land line. This informs Billy when there is a

problem. When the lines went down, all of his eggs were put at risk.

How does the alarm system work? problem with the machine and all of

them is that the panel overseer signals to the alarm in the office.

That then settles the telephone systems to the phone in the homes

of several people. You were lucky at the weekend of the theft that no

alarms went off and he had no problems. Potentially, what damage

could add been done? Du Rhone that we're in now is a had to run. You

could have had a complete loss within half an hour or an hour.

Have you decided to change your ways of working? Yes, we're looking

at putting in a standby system that will operate more on the principles

of mobile phone technology. We can still retain the land line well.

The thieves stole the telephone wire in this case and did not stop

to think how their actions could disrupt this community. This shows

that metal theft is not just a nuisance, it is part of a much more

serious problem that can affect us all.

It is a big problem. This woman, from Crimestoppers, and Roy

Robinson from the PSNI joined us now. We saw this problem in Belfast,

and it is a big difficulty here, too. It is, we have had a

significant number of metal theft across County Fermanagh. We have

had telephone lines and manhole covers taken. Houses -- houses have

been burgled when they left unoccupied. Many properties were

burgled, or four of them were schools and they can not afford to

lose lead from their wrists. It is obvious the with they will of these

people to do it. It is certainly very valuable. The price of copper

and lead has increased. There is a demand and supply. Susan, hardly

aware enough of this? We hear about it from time to time, but people do

not add it up in their heads. We're launching an initiative tomorrow

with David Ford. We're trying to raise awareness of the impact that

metal theft actually has in their communities. We are also giving

information about Crimestoppers. There is a misconception about

Crimestoppers in Northern Ireland. What here letting people know is

that Crimestoppers is a charity. He can ring anonymously. No one will

ever know that you rang the number. It does not show up on phone bills

and is untraceable. If we give information about metal theft and

Crimestoppers we will get information in from people who know

about these criminal activities. you feel, Roy, that there are

people who have information who could come forward? Yes, there are

people who know who is supplying and where these people are taking

this material. We have materials taken in Northern Ireland and going

south of the border. Particularly in the south coming to the north.

Briefly, any chance of the lobbying changed on this on what goes into

scrapyards and how that works? is certainly something that the

minister could look at. We do not know where much of the sled comes

from and we cannot trace the sources. Be would be hoped -- that

we would be hoping that we could be put onto the suppliers. Susan, very

briefly, the company wodges tomorrow. What is the number again?

Next week is the last in the series, and behind the scenes, the team are

already working hard on the stories were that programme. Contact them

now if you had a story from your corner of Northern Ireland. He had

already been contacting us about tonight's stories.

Pete has gone in touch to say that on one project I worked on, the

lead rest were being stolen so many times that he fitted a temporary

roof. Nicky has gone untouched saying

thank you for getting in touch about farting, concrete bills will

take away tourism. You can keep the discussion going

online. That is it from Enniskillen from

this week. For our last tour in the season will be a live from the

adventure centre. Be sure to join us then. Wheat could be a selling