0:00:02 > 0:00:04MUSIC: Should I Stay Or Should I Go? By The Clash
0:00:07 > 0:00:09'23rd June 2016.
0:00:09 > 0:00:11'Brexit day.
0:00:11 > 0:00:14'A pivotal moment that posed a key question
0:00:14 > 0:00:17'about the future of the United Kingdom.'
0:00:17 > 0:00:19CHEERING
0:00:19 > 0:00:22'But an alarm signal for the divergence of opinion
0:00:22 > 0:00:24'in Britain and in Wales.'
0:00:26 > 0:00:30'Cardiff has branded itself as Europe's youngest capital.'
0:00:31 > 0:00:37'And most voters here saw the benefits of the continental dream.'
0:00:37 > 0:00:40# Should I stay or should I go?
0:00:40 > 0:00:43'60% of them chose to stay in the European Union.'
0:00:44 > 0:00:48But our capital city didn't reflect what was going on in the rest of
0:00:48 > 0:00:53Wales. In Ebbw Vale, where I grew up, the mood was very different.
0:00:53 > 0:00:5762% of voters in Blaenau Gwent chose to Leave,
0:00:57 > 0:01:01even though it's one of the parts of the UK that has gained most
0:01:01 > 0:01:02from European money.
0:01:05 > 0:01:07ROCK MUSIC
0:01:07 > 0:01:10They haven't listened to our voices, our little voices, you know,
0:01:10 > 0:01:13and now they are. They can't hide away from it, like.
0:01:13 > 0:01:16They don't represent us, I don't think, the big boys in charge.
0:01:16 > 0:01:18They don't speak for the little people, like,
0:01:18 > 0:01:20and the little people have spoken.
0:01:20 > 0:01:23What future have they got on minimum wage?
0:01:23 > 0:01:27I don't like their situation because I see it destroying youngsters.
0:01:29 > 0:01:33'The people of Blaenau Gwent feel neglected but my journey home
0:01:33 > 0:01:35'reveals a different view.
0:01:35 > 0:01:38'No longer a tiring drive past rusting factories,
0:01:38 > 0:01:41'now a new rail link brings me into a modern,
0:01:41 > 0:01:45'urban development that wouldn't be here without help from Europe.'
0:01:48 > 0:01:50# You are the one who loves me...
0:01:52 > 0:01:55'The site of the old steelworks has been transformed
0:01:55 > 0:01:57'by money from Brussels.'
0:01:59 > 0:02:00# You are the one...
0:02:00 > 0:02:06'New transport links, new services and new sites for business development.
0:02:06 > 0:02:09'The town was at a turning point and Europe seemed to be playing
0:02:09 > 0:02:13'a big part in paving the way to a better future.
0:02:13 > 0:02:19'So, what hope now for new jobs and new opportunities in my home town?'
0:02:19 > 0:02:24# And now's the time to run the show. #
0:02:37 > 0:02:40I moved to the south of England a long time ago and I've worked there
0:02:40 > 0:02:44for many years as a journalist, but Ebbw Vale is the place that I have
0:02:44 > 0:02:46the strongest connection with.
0:02:46 > 0:02:50My parents still live here and I'm here nearly every other weekend.
0:02:50 > 0:02:53This is the community that I feel a part of.
0:02:55 > 0:02:58But the referendum result really shocked me.
0:02:58 > 0:03:03For a place that's gained so much from EU funding to vote so strongly
0:03:03 > 0:03:06to Leave was a big surprise.
0:03:09 > 0:03:12'Public investment brought the new rail line here
0:03:12 > 0:03:15'and right alongside it there's a spanking new example
0:03:15 > 0:03:18'of what money from Europe has done to the area.'
0:03:20 > 0:03:23'The Blaenau Gwent learning zone is a state-of-the-art sixth form
0:03:23 > 0:03:25'and further education college.
0:03:25 > 0:03:31'It cost £33.5 million to build with over £7 million coming from EU
0:03:31 > 0:03:36'convergence funds - money to help poorer areas become wealthier.'
0:03:38 > 0:03:43'And just above the town, ten times that amount - £79 million -
0:03:43 > 0:03:46'is improving the Heads Of The Valleys road.'
0:03:47 > 0:03:51'While leaders of the Leave campaign spoke earnestly about the bright,
0:03:51 > 0:03:55'sunlit uplands of Britain's future, free of Brussels,
0:03:55 > 0:03:59'very little was said about regeneration support for areas
0:03:59 > 0:04:01'like Blaenau Gwent.
0:04:01 > 0:04:03'But that didn't prevent the majority of people here
0:04:03 > 0:04:06'from voting to Leave.'
0:04:06 > 0:04:10The money they're spending in Europe, roads or anything,
0:04:10 > 0:04:15why can't we have our own money to go towards the NHS, schools...
0:04:15 > 0:04:19- I voted out.- Why?- It's to do with the money what we want,
0:04:19 > 0:04:24what we need, instead of what Europe's telling us to pay towards.
0:04:24 > 0:04:27It's our money at the end of the day.
0:04:27 > 0:04:30There'll be a climb back up but we will get there.
0:04:30 > 0:04:31It's a strong country.
0:04:32 > 0:04:35'Defiant words.
0:04:35 > 0:04:39'But that ambitious optimism isn't shared by everyone I meet
0:04:39 > 0:04:40'in the town centre.'
0:04:42 > 0:04:43Why did you choose Remain, then?
0:04:43 > 0:04:46Well, I thought we'd still get a lot more money coming in from the EU,
0:04:46 > 0:04:49whereas now we're not going to have anything, are we?
0:04:49 > 0:04:50Nothing at all.
0:04:50 > 0:04:52It's a steelworks town.
0:04:52 > 0:04:55It was based on a steelworks and the pits
0:04:55 > 0:04:59and once they'd gone, that was more or less it.
0:04:59 > 0:05:03A shop opened here about a month ago, has shut already.
0:05:04 > 0:05:08'Someone who saw the town sliding from prosperity into poverty
0:05:08 > 0:05:12'is Judith Roberts. Her late husband taught maths at my school
0:05:12 > 0:05:15'during the period when the steelworks was winding down
0:05:15 > 0:05:18'and despite recent investment from Europe,
0:05:18 > 0:05:21'it hasn't solved the deep-seated problems in this area.'
0:05:23 > 0:05:26We've lost an industry, we've lost work.
0:05:26 > 0:05:30People have been de-skilled, the economics of the town are very poor.
0:05:30 > 0:05:32So, when the men lost their jobs,
0:05:32 > 0:05:35- the women were also suffering as well.- Of course they were.
0:05:35 > 0:05:39And that's another consequence of the steelworks going down, isn't it?
0:05:39 > 0:05:42It is and obviously family dynamics alter then.
0:05:42 > 0:05:45What people did then was families pulled together and they took
0:05:45 > 0:05:48and looked for work where they actually could and when you've lost
0:05:48 > 0:05:52a sense of purpose like that, it must be very, very difficult
0:05:52 > 0:05:54to pick yourself up again.
0:05:54 > 0:05:56And people presumably don't want to leave their families, either?
0:05:56 > 0:06:00No, and when you... Again, house prices here are depressed,
0:06:00 > 0:06:03so, it's very, very difficult to uproot.
0:06:03 > 0:06:06You're talking childcare issues as well for people.
0:06:06 > 0:06:07It's their lives that are being...
0:06:09 > 0:06:11..messed with, really.
0:06:11 > 0:06:14Judith was born and bred in Ebbw Vale.
0:06:14 > 0:06:17She had the advantage of growing up here at a time when it wasn't just
0:06:17 > 0:06:19the sun that brightened things up.
0:06:19 > 0:06:23All the wages earned at the steelworks made this town shine
0:06:23 > 0:06:25in other ways.
0:06:25 > 0:06:26When the steelworks was working,
0:06:26 > 0:06:31how did the money that was being generated down there make its way up here?
0:06:31 > 0:06:36Well, it brought with it and sustained I suppose for many years
0:06:36 > 0:06:38a huge variety of businesses.
0:06:38 > 0:06:41They were substantial, they provided quality,
0:06:41 > 0:06:45they meant that the people of Ebbw Vale felt that they were thriving
0:06:45 > 0:06:47and indeed we probably were.
0:06:47 > 0:06:49And that just made people feel good,
0:06:49 > 0:06:52I think, and it also gave you some sort of aspiration.
0:06:56 > 0:07:00'That feel-good factor has long gone and people growing up here
0:07:00 > 0:07:04'these days express quite different feelings about life in the area.'
0:07:07 > 0:07:09You've only got to walk down the streets around here
0:07:09 > 0:07:13and realise that there's not a lot going on, you know.
0:07:13 > 0:07:16And then you've only got to go to London and see that everything's
0:07:16 > 0:07:18going on and are they having more of a say?
0:07:18 > 0:07:20Are they being listened to more than us?
0:07:20 > 0:07:21I think they are.
0:07:23 > 0:07:24'This is Chapel Row.'
0:07:30 > 0:07:31'A new valleys band,
0:07:31 > 0:07:35'whose songs reflect the frustration felt by many of their generation.'
0:07:38 > 0:07:40'Feelings of anger and neglect,
0:07:40 > 0:07:43'which surfaced during the referendum campaign
0:07:43 > 0:07:47'and had an impact at the polling booths on Brexit day.'
0:07:47 > 0:07:50Well, I personally voted to get us out of Brussels,
0:07:50 > 0:07:54to get the other politicians out that are making our decisions for us
0:07:54 > 0:07:56and we don't have a say on them and they're gone now,
0:07:56 > 0:07:59so hopefully we'll be able to get more control and more of a say.
0:07:59 > 0:08:02'Even though Dan was the only one to vote Leave,
0:08:02 > 0:08:05'the other band members also feel that politicians
0:08:05 > 0:08:09'haven't been listening to people in the valleys.'
0:08:09 > 0:08:12People just don't listen to us, as if, like, as if we've had our time,
0:08:12 > 0:08:16like when the coal mine was around, we were absolutely booming and
0:08:16 > 0:08:20we're like, it's as if we've had our time and now that's all, like gone.
0:08:20 > 0:08:22They think, like, don't worry about them, they'll be all right.
0:08:22 > 0:08:24Change could be good.
0:08:24 > 0:08:27I think what the government need to do is invest in the smaller towns,
0:08:27 > 0:08:30rather than the cities because it's these small towns
0:08:30 > 0:08:32make up the country, not just the cities.
0:08:32 > 0:08:35In this area it's sort of on the rise a bit, like,
0:08:35 > 0:08:39but I think that is down to EU funding and now that's gone,
0:08:39 > 0:08:42are we still going to rise or are we just going to fall back?
0:08:43 > 0:08:45And then nobody's... Again, nobody's going to listen to us.
0:08:45 > 0:08:48I think after that vote, they are going to listen to us,
0:08:48 > 0:08:50they are going to listen to the little people.
0:08:50 > 0:08:53We are going to get our say and things are going to change
0:08:53 > 0:08:55for the better, hopefully, you know.
0:08:55 > 0:08:56Let's just hope they can.
0:08:59 > 0:09:02So, rather than a response to a firm plan,
0:09:02 > 0:09:05is this vote a calculated gamble?
0:09:05 > 0:09:08Let's roll the dice, people seem to be saying, because,
0:09:08 > 0:09:11to coin another phrase, things can only get better.
0:09:11 > 0:09:16Change - any change - is preferable to drifting on like this.
0:09:16 > 0:09:21The question is, is there anything people here can do
0:09:21 > 0:09:23to make it a positive change this time?
0:09:28 > 0:09:31'To understand the challenges facing Ebbw Vale,
0:09:31 > 0:09:35'you have to get a sense of the huge power and influence
0:09:35 > 0:09:37'the steel industry had in this area.'
0:09:39 > 0:09:42'The old steelworks filled the valley floor
0:09:42 > 0:09:45'on a site which was over two miles long.'
0:09:46 > 0:09:50'All but one of the buildings have been demolished or, ironically,
0:09:50 > 0:09:54'carted away and melted into steel elsewhere.'
0:09:55 > 0:09:58'All that's left now is the General Offices.
0:09:58 > 0:10:02'This impressive Edwardian building where the managers ruled.'
0:10:05 > 0:10:07When I used to come down here as a child, it was a dusty, old,
0:10:07 > 0:10:11horrible building and we used to avoid this area.
0:10:11 > 0:10:14'But after a face-lift, partly paid for by Europe,
0:10:14 > 0:10:17'it's looking very different these days.'
0:10:19 > 0:10:23This is such an impressive entrance with this grand staircase
0:10:23 > 0:10:25and this beautiful stonework.
0:10:25 > 0:10:29It's just a symbol of the power and influence that the corporation
0:10:29 > 0:10:31that built it must have had.
0:10:35 > 0:10:38'In Ebbw Vale, we make steel by first of all pouring out
0:10:38 > 0:10:40'25 tonnes of iron into a ladle.'
0:10:42 > 0:10:46'Iron and steel was produced in this area for over 200 years
0:10:46 > 0:10:50'with a break in production during the Depression of the 1930s.'
0:10:51 > 0:10:53'But with government help,
0:10:53 > 0:10:58'the biggest roll steel factory in Europe was built here.
0:10:58 > 0:11:02'The company running the site was nationalised in 1951
0:11:02 > 0:11:05'and even though it was controlled by the Iron and Steel Corporation
0:11:05 > 0:11:08'of Great Britain, Richard Thomas and Baldwins
0:11:08 > 0:11:10'continued to run the show
0:11:10 > 0:11:12'in more ways than one.'
0:11:17 > 0:11:20- Hiya, Glyn.- Hello, there.- How are you?- Pleased to meet you.
0:11:20 > 0:11:23I hear you've got a great treasure trove of pictures here.
0:11:23 > 0:11:25Yes, we've got some fabulous stuff in here.
0:11:25 > 0:11:29'As a young boy, Glyn Walters saw one of those newsreels being filmed.
0:11:29 > 0:11:31'Years later, when he worked for the company,
0:11:31 > 0:11:35'he went in search of that film and discovered a real treasure trove
0:11:35 > 0:11:36'of moving images.'
0:11:37 > 0:11:40- That's Ebbw Vale, with the works. - Yes.- Wonderful.
0:11:40 > 0:11:42So, we've got all this beautiful footage.
0:11:42 > 0:11:45What did they use it for?
0:11:45 > 0:11:49Well, at the time, Richard Thompson & Baldwins as they then were,
0:11:49 > 0:11:55were very paternalistic and they produced them for the local people.
0:11:56 > 0:11:58And they were shown in the local cinemas.
0:11:58 > 0:12:01And I remember the first time that I saw the film
0:12:01 > 0:12:06and it was shown in between Pearl & Dean and Pathe Pictorial.
0:12:06 > 0:12:09In between, we had Ingot news.
0:12:13 > 0:12:17'The company was on the ball when it came to keeping its workers happy.'
0:12:19 > 0:12:21# Drinking beer and cabaret
0:12:21 > 0:12:22# And was I having fun? #
0:12:22 > 0:12:26'From Christmas extravaganzas to sporting events,
0:12:26 > 0:12:29'the company organised much of the social life of the area.'
0:12:32 > 0:12:34'Mr Aneurin Bevan, the Labour MP for Ebbw Vale,
0:12:34 > 0:12:38'came to cheer his team on and here come the teams,
0:12:38 > 0:12:41'that's Ebbw Vale in the white shirts.'
0:12:41 > 0:12:46'And it must have been a real thrill for people to see themselves in local cinemas
0:12:46 > 0:12:50'up there on the big screens just before the Hollywood stars appeared.'
0:12:53 > 0:12:56So, can we see you, Glyn, in this footage?
0:12:56 > 0:12:59Yes. Later on in the film, the commentator says,
0:12:59 > 0:13:01"There is a keen young Ebbw Vale supporter."
0:13:01 > 0:13:05'There's a young Ebbw Vale supporter.'
0:13:05 > 0:13:08- I was that boy. - And how did that feel?
0:13:08 > 0:13:09Fabulous.
0:13:10 > 0:13:14'I've spent my whole career working in television journalism and public
0:13:14 > 0:13:18'relations and I'm just amazed at the quality of these newsreels
0:13:18 > 0:13:20'from half a century ago.'
0:13:20 > 0:13:24'These chaps going on shift are only a few of the 9,000-odd who work here...'
0:13:24 > 0:13:27'It's not just the publicity they generated for the company,
0:13:27 > 0:13:31'it's the boost in confidence they must have given to everyone
0:13:31 > 0:13:33'in Ebbw Vale.
0:13:33 > 0:13:36'Seeing their own work and their own lives portrayed on screen
0:13:36 > 0:13:40'so positively must have given people here a real sense of pride
0:13:40 > 0:13:44'and dignity and worth. Who wouldn't want to be part of a dynamic,
0:13:44 > 0:13:47'productive community at the cutting-edge of change,
0:13:47 > 0:13:50'contributing to the whole country's economy?'
0:13:50 > 0:13:53# Come on baby You drive me crazy
0:13:53 > 0:13:56# Goodness gracious Great balls of fire! #
0:13:59 > 0:14:04'And what a contrast to the way this place is reported on so often nowadays.'
0:14:06 > 0:14:10'No wonder that having done so much to forge the wealth of the nation,
0:14:10 > 0:14:13'people here now feel left behind.'
0:14:18 > 0:14:22'At the Ebbw Vale Institute where I met the band Chapel Row,
0:14:22 > 0:14:25'the former steelworker and former MP who runs the centre
0:14:25 > 0:14:29'knows full well how the loss of work has blighted Ebbw Vale,
0:14:29 > 0:14:31'especially the young.'
0:14:31 > 0:14:34When I was a young man at the age of 16, there was only one place to go
0:14:34 > 0:14:36and that was the steelworks.
0:14:36 > 0:14:39What you've got now is youngsters go to college, university
0:14:39 > 0:14:40and then looking to move away,
0:14:40 > 0:14:44because there's nothing to hold them in the valleys and the training that
0:14:44 > 0:14:48those that can achieve will take them out of the valleys
0:14:48 > 0:14:51but the problem is we'll still have a significant number left locally
0:14:51 > 0:14:53that will struggle to find work.
0:14:53 > 0:14:55There's no doubt the pride of the valley has taken a knock
0:14:55 > 0:14:59because the identity of people has been lost.
0:14:59 > 0:15:02The valley itself was always called the family of steel.
0:15:02 > 0:15:06There was hardly a family in this area didn't have someone that worked
0:15:06 > 0:15:12in the industry. At its height, the works employed 15,000 people.
0:15:12 > 0:15:14'Those jobs disappeared in stages.
0:15:14 > 0:15:16'From the mid-70s,
0:15:16 > 0:15:20'when the blast furnaces closed and on into the '80s and '90s
0:15:20 > 0:15:23'as tin plate production wound down.'
0:15:25 > 0:15:26'No wonder other Welsh communities,
0:15:26 > 0:15:30'which are heavily dependent on a single large employer,
0:15:30 > 0:15:34'look back on what happened here with such trepidation.'
0:15:34 > 0:15:37# He has his future in our British steel... #
0:15:38 > 0:15:41You have to live there to understand when you have a community that is
0:15:41 > 0:15:44dominated by a steelworks for 70 years,
0:15:44 > 0:15:47then you cannot believe there will be a day when you wake up
0:15:47 > 0:15:49and it's not there any more.
0:15:50 > 0:15:53'Children don't normally notice these things,
0:15:53 > 0:15:57'but I can tell you in my school, we did.'
0:15:57 > 0:15:59As parents were losing their jobs,
0:15:59 > 0:16:02more and more kids were coming in and having free school meals
0:16:02 > 0:16:04and of course there was a stigma attached to that
0:16:04 > 0:16:06and the school had to take action about this.
0:16:06 > 0:16:09They had to make sure that everyone had meal tickets
0:16:09 > 0:16:11so you couldn't tell people apart.
0:16:13 > 0:16:15'After 20 years of decline,
0:16:15 > 0:16:18'Ebbw Vale's worst nightmare came true
0:16:18 > 0:16:21'when the steelworks finally closed in 2002.'
0:16:22 > 0:16:26'No-one summed it up better than our assembly member at the time,
0:16:26 > 0:16:28'Peter Law.'
0:16:28 > 0:16:29Through a stroke of a pen,
0:16:29 > 0:16:33my community is plunged into bottomless poverty.
0:16:33 > 0:16:39That is what we face where we are in Blaenau Gwent.
0:16:39 > 0:16:42# He has his future in our British steel
0:16:42 > 0:16:46# Steel, steel, steel. #
0:16:47 > 0:16:49'My dad was a doctor.
0:16:49 > 0:16:51'Our family was sheltered from the job losses,
0:16:51 > 0:16:55'so my parents could afford to help me and my brothers achieve things
0:16:55 > 0:16:58'in life like going to college and setting up home.'
0:16:59 > 0:17:03'Advantages that mean our children won't inherit the problems so many
0:17:03 > 0:17:08'people in this area have had to put up with.'
0:17:08 > 0:17:09Is it this one? Like this?
0:17:09 > 0:17:13'I can only imagine a fraction of the stress the steel closures
0:17:13 > 0:17:18'must have caused but my father saw these things first-hand as a GP.'
0:17:19 > 0:17:25It affected the community of course after the closure of the steelworks.
0:17:25 > 0:17:28Many people suffered from mental illness
0:17:28 > 0:17:35and sort of depressed and anxiety and things for the future.
0:17:35 > 0:17:37The other things were these
0:17:37 > 0:17:42drug problems, so I felt at that time
0:17:42 > 0:17:48that the loss of jobs and things certainly increased the morbidity
0:17:48 > 0:17:50in this area in various ways.
0:17:53 > 0:17:56'And the latest statistics bear that out.
0:17:56 > 0:18:01'Long-term sickness here is twice the UK average with one in six
0:18:01 > 0:18:04'taking antidepressants.
0:18:04 > 0:18:07'65% of residents - three times the UK figure -
0:18:07 > 0:18:11'are officially classed as financially stretched.
0:18:11 > 0:18:15'It's a bleak picture and it shows how far regeneration efforts have
0:18:15 > 0:18:18'yet to go before they really make a difference.'
0:18:21 > 0:18:24From steel to coal before it,
0:18:24 > 0:18:28Ebbw Vale has relied heavily on big industry for jobs.
0:18:28 > 0:18:30It gave the community a life,
0:18:30 > 0:18:35a place to work and a place to play and it's hard to think what would
0:18:35 > 0:18:38replace it. If we look at the former site now,
0:18:38 > 0:18:42it's completely transformed but you can't get away from the fact
0:18:42 > 0:18:45that there are many empty spaces.
0:18:45 > 0:18:48The dream was for new homes and factories here.
0:18:50 > 0:18:53It's as if the area's waiting for something to happen.
0:18:57 > 0:19:00'But the waiting could be over soon.'
0:19:02 > 0:19:06'The British sports car manufacturer TVR wants to site its new factory
0:19:06 > 0:19:10'in the area. More than 100 skilled jobs could be created.'
0:19:12 > 0:19:16I learned to drive here, but sadly not in one of these.
0:19:16 > 0:19:20But in a few years' time I could be coming back to this exact location
0:19:20 > 0:19:25in a redesigned TVR, which is set to be manufactured in Blaenau Gwent.
0:19:27 > 0:19:31'And the post-Brexit turmoil won't scupper the plan, they claim,
0:19:31 > 0:19:35'because TVR suppliers are mainly within the UK,
0:19:35 > 0:19:39'so the company shouldn't be affected by a weaker pound.
0:19:39 > 0:19:43'But another big project in this area is struggling to find funding.
0:19:43 > 0:19:47'The controversial scheme to build a state-of-the-art racetrack
0:19:47 > 0:19:50'on this hillside does seem full of promise.'
0:19:51 > 0:19:52What are your plans for this area?
0:19:52 > 0:19:54Two years from now it'll be completely different.
0:19:54 > 0:19:59There will be a circuit on here, which is 5.3 kilometres in length.
0:19:59 > 0:20:02Capacity of approximately 80,000 spectators.
0:20:02 > 0:20:05The track itself has a rise and fall of almost 50 metres,
0:20:05 > 0:20:08so that in itself makes it very, very different to many,
0:20:08 > 0:20:10many circuits in the world.
0:20:10 > 0:20:14'They've been talking about it for almost five years
0:20:14 > 0:20:18'and hopes have been raised that thousands of jobs could follow.'
0:20:20 > 0:20:25'So, is this the magic bullet that could transform our economy?'
0:20:25 > 0:20:28Over here to the west we have an extensive campsite
0:20:28 > 0:20:31with all the extreme sports facilities.
0:20:31 > 0:20:34Here we have the automotive technology park.
0:20:34 > 0:20:36There's a range of activities going on on the track,
0:20:36 > 0:20:39which we believe will benefit the local community.
0:20:39 > 0:20:41But as someone who's grown up in Ebbw Vale,
0:20:41 > 0:20:44I have seen a lot of these ideas come and go.
0:20:45 > 0:20:47What is the reality of this?
0:20:47 > 0:20:48Will it really happen?
0:20:48 > 0:20:51I think is very strong. I think one of the problems that we've had
0:20:51 > 0:20:55in the early years is that people saw this just as a racing circuit
0:20:55 > 0:20:57and it's going to be so much more than that.
0:20:59 > 0:21:02'The recent decision by the Welsh government not to underwrite
0:21:02 > 0:21:06'more than half the cost raises further doubts as to whether
0:21:06 > 0:21:08'this project will ever get going.
0:21:08 > 0:21:11'But the Circuit of Wales company is still confident.'
0:21:13 > 0:21:17I really hope that that isn't just a PR exercise, that they are actually
0:21:17 > 0:21:21committed to bringing the jobs for the local people.
0:21:24 > 0:21:26'And that work is certainly needed.'
0:21:28 > 0:21:31So, it's like jobs are like gold dust around here, aren't they?
0:21:31 > 0:21:36Yeah. I've got youngsters working with me up the Rassau
0:21:36 > 0:21:38and they're all on minimum wage.
0:21:38 > 0:21:40They can't buy a mortgage, they can't buy a car,
0:21:40 > 0:21:44they can't do anything. They're not living, they're surviving.
0:21:44 > 0:21:48This is why it's most important in my opinion the Circuit of Wales
0:21:48 > 0:21:53comes to Ebbw Vale because of the jobs it could attract
0:21:53 > 0:21:56would be brilliant for the youngsters. Quality jobs.
0:21:56 > 0:21:58Jobs that's desperately needed.
0:22:00 > 0:22:03'For an area that is so hungry for work it's easy to understand
0:22:03 > 0:22:09'why hopes have been raised by one big idea, but help from outside,
0:22:09 > 0:22:12'if it arrives, is only part of the solution.'
0:22:13 > 0:22:17'Local entrepreneurs can also make a difference and even though
0:22:17 > 0:22:20'Blaenau Gwent has low levels of new business start-ups,
0:22:20 > 0:22:24'just up the road from where I used to live, there's a shining example
0:22:24 > 0:22:25'of a grassroots initiative.'
0:22:27 > 0:22:31'Three years ago, a community venture led by a local movie lover
0:22:31 > 0:22:34'took over this cinema.'
0:22:34 > 0:22:36- Hi, Peter.- Hi, how are you? - This is beautiful.
0:22:36 > 0:22:41- Well, welcome to Wales' oldest cinemas.- Thank you, it's fantastic.
0:22:41 > 0:22:45'Like me, Peter Watkins Hughes watched his teenage films here
0:22:45 > 0:22:49'and now he's running 2014's UK Cinema of the Year.'
0:22:51 > 0:22:52How have you achieved it?
0:22:52 > 0:22:55Well, I think we've achieved this because we've engaged the community.
0:22:55 > 0:22:58I think ironically when this cinema itself was sort of, you know,
0:22:58 > 0:23:00potentially up for closure three years ago,
0:23:00 > 0:23:04people realised they had a jewel in their midst and what they had to do
0:23:04 > 0:23:07then was say, well, actually, if other people aren't going to sort of
0:23:07 > 0:23:09continue it for us, we have to continue ourselves.
0:23:09 > 0:23:11You can take away our leisure centres,
0:23:11 > 0:23:13you can take away our council offices
0:23:13 > 0:23:15but what you can't do is take away our cinema.
0:23:15 > 0:23:18That's an important message of Blaenau Gwent and I'm slightly
0:23:18 > 0:23:21concerned that we seem to be in a climate where people are saying,
0:23:21 > 0:23:24"We've got to have the outside forces come in and save us."
0:23:24 > 0:23:26The truth is, if you can engage a community,
0:23:26 > 0:23:28the community will support you.
0:23:28 > 0:23:30The cinema's been so successful,
0:23:30 > 0:23:34we're actually on the cusp of opening our second screen.
0:23:34 > 0:23:36It's amazing to hear Peter talking about what he's done
0:23:36 > 0:23:39with this cinema - turned a shell into something
0:23:39 > 0:23:42that everyone is turning out to go and use.
0:23:42 > 0:23:45But I think he's being very modest when he says, actually,
0:23:45 > 0:23:46he hasn't done it on his own.
0:23:46 > 0:23:50Without him it wouldn't exist and that's the bottom line.
0:23:52 > 0:23:56'If only more local entrepreneurs could spot the opportunities.'
0:23:56 > 0:24:00Steelworks just went on for miles and miles, didn't it? When we were kids...
0:24:00 > 0:24:04'One of my brothers is an accountant and having seen the transformation
0:24:04 > 0:24:07'that public investment has brought about on the work site,
0:24:07 > 0:24:10'he now believes there are possibilities for the company
0:24:10 > 0:24:11'he runs in London.'
0:24:12 > 0:24:16- So, why do you want to come back here?- Well, look at it.
0:24:16 > 0:24:17Why wouldn't you want to come back?
0:24:17 > 0:24:20We've got hundreds of kids being taught at this school,
0:24:20 > 0:24:21it's an excellent school.
0:24:21 > 0:24:24Many of them leave education for a minimum wage job.
0:24:26 > 0:24:27They're bright kids,
0:24:27 > 0:24:29they want to get on but the opportunities aren't here.
0:24:29 > 0:24:32Why can't we create those opportunities?
0:24:32 > 0:24:34You know, we're from here. Why shouldn't we be the ones
0:24:34 > 0:24:38to come back and bring other small businesses with us?
0:24:38 > 0:24:39Do you think that's what it takes?
0:24:39 > 0:24:43It takes somebody from here who feels for the place
0:24:43 > 0:24:45to actually have a significant impact?
0:24:47 > 0:24:51I think it has to come from, from us, from Ebbw Vale.
0:24:52 > 0:24:55Big businesses fail so many times in places like this.
0:24:55 > 0:24:58We get lots of big talk but no big results.
0:24:58 > 0:25:01But we want to do more than provide employment.
0:25:01 > 0:25:02We want to create careers.
0:25:03 > 0:25:06'The link between business and education
0:25:06 > 0:25:09'is key to any regeneration plan.
0:25:09 > 0:25:13'Low educational attainment was part of the problem here.
0:25:13 > 0:25:17'But the new learning zone has changed that.'
0:25:17 > 0:25:20My grandfather, he used to work at the steelworks...
0:25:20 > 0:25:23'Last year, A-level results were the best ever in Blaenau Gwent
0:25:23 > 0:25:25'and higher than the UK average.'
0:25:27 > 0:25:30'This learning zone can also talk to potential new employers
0:25:30 > 0:25:33'and tailor courses to their needs.'
0:25:33 > 0:25:36There are actually talks across Wales now to actually emulate
0:25:36 > 0:25:38the kind of work that's been done here, you know,
0:25:38 > 0:25:43a whole county of FE provision being provided on one site.
0:25:43 > 0:25:46It allows you that kind of scope, if you like,
0:25:46 > 0:25:49and it allows you to build buildings like the one we're stood in.
0:25:49 > 0:25:51I mean, the architecture here, when you walk in as a student
0:25:51 > 0:25:55on your first day, you can't help to be inspired by the kind of
0:25:55 > 0:25:57environment that you're now going to be studying in.
0:25:57 > 0:26:00I think that it does one other important thing as well.
0:26:00 > 0:26:03It sends an important statement to the young people
0:26:03 > 0:26:06that actually people believe in them.
0:26:06 > 0:26:07The college believes in them.
0:26:07 > 0:26:10The investment that was used to build this and the rest of the works
0:26:10 > 0:26:13regeneration site, it's a really important statement.
0:26:13 > 0:26:17Not only to them, but to their parents and to the wider community as well.
0:26:17 > 0:26:19"We believe in Ebbw Vale" is the statement.
0:26:21 > 0:26:24'And that statement is backed up by further support.'
0:26:25 > 0:26:28'Apprenticeships paid for by the Welsh government
0:26:28 > 0:26:31'and the local authority will hopefully lead some students
0:26:31 > 0:26:35'to permanent jobs with local companies.'
0:26:35 > 0:26:37With the brand-new facility behind us,
0:26:37 > 0:26:40the students coming out of this facility are the future
0:26:40 > 0:26:42of the Blaenau Gwent economy,
0:26:42 > 0:26:45and for us, it's important to understand what the businesses need
0:26:45 > 0:26:49and to link the education sector with those businesses.
0:26:49 > 0:26:53We've placed this year 20 young apprentices.
0:26:53 > 0:26:54There are opportunities out there.
0:26:54 > 0:26:57Obviously, there are challenging times
0:26:57 > 0:27:01but businesses are now becoming confident in recruiting
0:27:01 > 0:27:05and there are a number of business expansion plans in Blaenau Gwent.
0:27:08 > 0:27:11'So, what about the future for young people here?
0:27:11 > 0:27:15'On this journey home, I've explored two roads that could lead back
0:27:15 > 0:27:19'to prosperity. One way is the big intervention -
0:27:19 > 0:27:22'the sudden arrival of hundreds, perhaps thousands,
0:27:22 > 0:27:24of well-paid jobs.'
0:27:24 > 0:27:27Quality jobs. Jobs that's desperately needed.
0:27:28 > 0:27:32'But Ebbw Vale knows that putting all your eggs in one basket
0:27:32 > 0:27:34'is hugely risky.'
0:27:34 > 0:27:36Through a stroke of a pen,
0:27:36 > 0:27:39my community is plunged into bottomless poverty.
0:27:42 > 0:27:46'The second road to recovery would be for us to nurture our own
0:27:46 > 0:27:51'entrepreneurs, building this place up again from its grassroots,
0:27:51 > 0:27:55'even if it's only a handful of jobs at a time.'
0:27:55 > 0:27:58Replacing the wealth and sense of purpose
0:27:58 > 0:28:02that coal and steel gave to Ebbw Vale is a huge task.
0:28:02 > 0:28:07Past regeneration projects haven't created the employment opportunities
0:28:07 > 0:28:10that people enjoyed here when heavy industry ruled.
0:28:10 > 0:28:14'So, what can deliver a rich future for Ebbw Vale?
0:28:14 > 0:28:20'The kind of future that its past surely entitles it to.'
0:28:20 > 0:28:23European money clearly had an impact here.
0:28:23 > 0:28:26But it's not been enough to counter the frustration
0:28:26 > 0:28:29the people have shared with me on this visit.
0:28:29 > 0:28:33What I've heard on the streets of my hometown is that people are hurt.
0:28:33 > 0:28:36There's a feeling of being left behind and that's why they voted
0:28:36 > 0:28:40against the status quo and that's why they're hoping
0:28:40 > 0:28:45that future regeneration plans will deliver what they promise.
0:28:45 > 0:28:50# And now's the time to run the show. #