16/01/2012 Inside Out East

This week, I am in Essex and this is what is coming up on tonight's

Inside Out. When is a Village Green not a

Village Green? It is about protecting our green space, about a

plant that we have used for nearly 100 years.

The fight to take -- to save children's rotting teeth. We

revisit Corin. And boldly looking when no one has

looked before. They are hour three surprising stories from where we

I am in the beautiful village of Writtle in Essex. Village greens of

part of the landscape here, but contra for short laws have meant

that some spaces are becoming the battleground between campaigners

and developers. -- controversial laws.

This is most people's idea of a Village Green. This is Writtle in

Essex. Open spaces like this are a traditional feature in the English

countryside. Sometimes, there are even these guys alongside dog

Enter now, the sound of Morris dancers was the only noise likely

to break the silence and tranquillity in a place like this.

But that could change. The humble Village Green has become the

unlikely battleground in a war between landowners and campaigners.

Five years ago, the government passed legislation that allows

anyone the right to register land used by locals for recreation as a

Village Green. Designated land is protected from development, but

critics say the system is being abused. This is Mistley in Essex. I

have come to meet a man leading a campaign to turn some land here

into a Village Green. Hello, Simon. You are going to show

me the Village Green. I am indeed. Where is the Village Green? This is

it. This is it? Yes. It does not look like one, you must be joking.

It is, used for leisure purposes, fishing, swimming, painting,

photography. This has been used by the people of Mistley for hundreds

of years for recreation and leisure purposes. This must be be and --

most on picturesque Village Green in Britain. It is with the defence.

Three years ago, the company that owns this man put up a friend's. It

is this fence which has angered some locals. They are using Village

Green legislation to try and get it removed.

This is about trying to get this fence down, trying to exploit a

loophole in the law. Absolutely not a loophole. This is what the

legislation is for. It is to allow people to continue to use land they

have always used for recreation where that used has been denied. In

this case, in a report. successfully make a claim for a

Village Green, you have to prove the land is being continuously used

for leisure and recreational purposes for at least 20 years.

Nice to see you. Hello. I'm David. Deer come here very often? I do, I

have been using this for 30 years. This offence is very inconvenient.

We used to pick up croupier. Barges would pick up crew here as well.

Thames barges used to Europe as well -- use it as well. At this

point, our interview was interrupted by this forklift truck

driver who works for the company involved in the dispute.

What is the problem? The company who owns the key did

not want to be interviewed, but this driver is clearly unhappy. He

thinks lorries and village greens are dangerous combinations. Do you

think these lot of being ridiculous An industrial quayside with lorries

coming past is your Village Green? People have to co-exist on a plan

when it is common. There are lots of cases of common land with roads

in the middle, golf courses, and people learn to co-exist together.

This is exactly what has happened here for hundreds of years.

landowners did not want to take part in the programme, but they did

tell us they put up the fence for health and safety reasons. They say

they own the land, but claimed there is no public right of way

over it. Is there a danger that cases like this will generate bad

will and be counter-productive to genuine applications? This is a

genuine application. Nothing could be more genuine. This fence has

deprived the people of Mistley of their recreational facilities.

hearing to decide their fate is due to be held later this year. We

contacted all the county councils in our region and found that in the

past five years, they have been 83 applications for Village Green

status. Many are still to be heard. Applying is no guarantee of success.

In Norfolk, a applications have been rejected with three granted.

In Cambridgeshire, they have been very successful submissions and

just one rejection. The National Housing Federation are concerned

about what they claim are the increasing number of spurious

applications, saying it is preventing much-needed --

development. This is Heybridge where a housing development has

been stopped. What are you proposing to build?

were going to build a 30 new affordable homes to rent for the

people of Heybridge. What is happening now? We got planning

application recently, but shortly afterwards, we received an

application from residents saying that it was a Village Green so we

had to stop work. We had to call everything off. How much is this

costing you? It is costing us about �15,000 a month. That is money that

we as a charity preferred to spend on other things. This plot is

burning money. How long until the situation is sorted? That is the

most frustrating thing. At the moment the county council can

decide do except for reject the proposal, or put it to an inquiry.

-- accept. The whole thing would be over if it went to an inquiry?

What would you say to people who claim this has had continual use

for many years? It is clear from the records, from aerial photos,

records from the farmers, we have details of the crops in this field,

so it is clear that this was not a Village Green, it was a public

sight. Where we are standing was never a Village Green.

This is not a view shared by everyone. Theresa Feeney's family

home is close to the field. She is seeking Village Green status for

the land. These cottages have been here since 1912. My family have

lived in them since then. It has been used for 100 years.

Housing Association are saying they are angry because it is costing

them a lot of money, your application. This development is

needed in the local community. would say it is not really needed,

and it is not needed there. But not just that, I put the application in

the week before they started building. It was their choice to

carry on for another two weeks. used to play here as a child?

with kites. How much support as the campaign got so far? We have had 80

people fill in evidence questionnaires about their use of

the land. Quite a strong support. Yes. The Housing Association have

told us that this was never used for recreational purposes. It was

an occasional -- agricultural land. This land was used recreationally

long before the farmer to go on. It had a coronation party in it, I

have pictures of my family enjoying a party on the field. We have

pictures in 1992 children playing in the field. When it was cropped,

we still use debt. People have still been walking through it with

crop in it. You don't want a development in your back land and

we could argue that you are being selfish because you don't want the

development. It is about protecting our green space, not development.

We have loved and used this land for nearly 100 years. The existing

law is currently under review. It may mean it is harder to seek

Village Green status in the future. 38 applications are waiting to be

decided in our region. It is unclear how or if they will be

Don't forget, if there is something you think we should investigate

here, sent me an e-mail. The address is on screen. You can also

Later, how Cambridge scientists are exploring part of the -- parts of

the universe never seen before. With these telescopes, we can look

back in time, look back across the whole universe and see our place in

Our next story is about the condition of children's teeth. A

few years ago won it Inside Out we discovered that some children

living in Luton had the worst teeth in the region. So have things

improved? Like most 11 year-olds, Corin will

stun his foot, keen not to be late for school. -- wolfs down his food.

Before he goes to school, Corin has a very important job he has to do.

I make sure I brush my eight teeth twice a day for two minutes. And I

just keep going, I count two minutes in my head. Sometimes it

gets a bit boring, it feels like I am standing there for ages, just

brushing my teeth. The reason Corin takes good care of his teeth is

because six years ago, when he was just five, he had a very unpleasant

experience. He had to go to a hospital for an operation to have

several of his teeth removed. are ready to start now, Corin is

very stable under anaesthetic. Corin had to have his teeth taken

out because they had become badly decayed and they could not be saved.

The tooth in front is the one he has had the abscess on, so we have

to say goodbye to that, definitely. Although it was Corin's baby teeth

that had decayed, it was important that they were removed. If they had

been left untreated there is a real danger they could have damaged his

grown-up teeth. Six years later, and Corin's mum still vividly

remembers how stressful it was watching her son having a general

anaesthetic. It was horrible, I did not know what to expect. The eyes

were rolling, he was twitching, it was horrible. I would not want to

do it again. What is he like now with looking after his teeth?

has his moments, I have to tell him or watch him do it but he is a lot

better. Corine's experience is far from unique. In our original film,

we revealed that Luton was a blackspot for children's teeth and

it is still not good. The official statistics form missing, filled and

decayed teeth are well above the national average. 44% of children

have trouble with their teeth and they have the worst oral health in

the east of England. Are you still generally concerned about the state

of children's teeth? Yes, we are, as a community dental service we

are a service that receives referrals from high street dentists.

Many children are having treatment under general anaesthetic to have

fillings and teeth extracted. are at a number of reasons for

decay, including poor oral hygiene. But the greatest problem is poor

diet, the big culprit is sugar. Part of the problem is that the

sugar is not always obvious. Even healthy fruit drink -- fruit drinks

can lead to decay. A small carton of orange juice can have up to 40

spleens of natural sugar. When we told Corin's story six years ago,

we visited this nursery and carried out a challenge. Mums were asked if

they could guess how much sugar certain foods contained. They were

shocked to discover the truth. is a breakfast cereal is popular

with children. How much sugar do think there is in a small bowl of a

serial? 6 teaspoons? That is right. A lot for a small child. Even this

Blackcurrant drink has an alarming amount of sugar, the equivalent of

10 cubes in a small glass. After his operation, Corin is certainly

more aware of his diet. Today he is meeting the dental surgeon who

removed his teeth. It is a chance for her to see if Corin has really

mended his ways. What we want to do is have a little look at your teeth

and just count them up. Certainly, dental treatment is expensive and

the treatment and very general anaesthetic and or the hospital

facilities is no doubt an expensive treatment to provide. What would be

better is if we could prevent dental disease, then we do not have

to treat it and that is what we really want to do. OK, great. I

would just turn that light off. The good news is that everything looks

absolutely fantastic in there. He has got his first permanent molars

through at the back and those teeth are in perfect condition. So, Corin

has been doing a really good job of brushing his teeth. And I am sure

you are being very careful about what he eats and drinks as well.

How did you find that? A I found it very exciting and it was a really

good news that my teeth are OK. has paid off, hasn't it? Is it what

you were expecting? Yes, but it was a relief for them. Hopefully they

will stay that way. I hope so too. The local dental service in Luton

is so concerned about the state of children's teeth and the reluctance

of some parents to take their kids to the dentist, that the dentist is

now going out to the kids. This is foxtails Children's Centre in Luton.

This mobile unit and its dental team are spearheading a new

treatment aimed at combating dental decay in children. The dental

nurses will be applying special fluoride gel to youngsters' teas.

It has got something special and sticky on it to help it stay on the

teeth. That is why we asked you not to eat or drink anything for 30

minutes so it can have a concentrated shot of fluoride on to

the TDs. Having the topical fluoride applied once every three

months can really help to reduce some -- the risk of tooth decay by

up to 30 or 40%. Why did you decide to come up and have this treatment

done for your daughter? It was offered to row and she is not

registered with the dentist yet and I thought it would be a good

opportunity to have her teeth checked. How are where are you of

decay to children's teeth? I know lots of children who do not have

nice teeth. I don't want her to end up like that so I try to take care

of them as much as I can. You have been campaigning long and hard for

children to look after their teeth. Is the message getting through?

is clear that children who have healthy teeth in child had have

much greater chance of having healthy teeth later in life. Is the

message getting through? As we know sugar is still the major cause of

tooth decay, it is a preventable disease. I think some parents do

not really value the baby teeth, they think they do not matter, they

are just baby teeth, they will drop out. I do not think parents realise

that there is a lot of severe toothache and infection that can be

caused it if they are affected by tooth decay. Corin has learnt the

hard way about the importance of looking after his teeth. Dentists

now what the other children to take dental hygiene seriously, or they

might find it is something they live to regret. I have learned that

you should look after your teeth properly because otherwise they

will decay. What would you say to other boys and girls your age?

would say just do your teeth twice a day and do not eat too many

sweets. Good advice! Just outside the village, I have

come to see this fantastic Observatory. It is run by a group

of astronomers who use their telescopes to study the sky. What

if you want to look deeper and further into the galaxy and beyond.

For that you will need a different type of telescope, one pioneered by

These giant dishes are picking up signals, signals from outer space.

They are detecting the faintest of radio waves from our galaxy and far

beyond. The sun, stars and all other objects in the universe

produce radio waves. Like light, these ways of being emitted as we

speak and are constantly coming into our atmosphere. The signals

are very weak but some are from the This is Lords Bridge in Cambridge.

Astrophysicists from the Cavendish Laboratory have been studying the

origins of the universe here from the 1950s. From the faintest radio

waves, they can create a map of the universe and the stars and planets

within it. Natasha Hurely-Walker is an astrophysicist and an expert in

radio astronomy. The Earth is constantly receiving radio signals

from many Astra physical objects. These telescopes around us are

optimised to receive those very faint signals. Radio waves are

created when there are high energy Astrophysical phenomenon. For

instance when a black hole sucks in more matter. Optical astronomy uses

the frequencies of light that we can see with our own eyes. Radio

astronomers are only used very low light. If you gathered all the

radio waves that had been received here over 30 years, you would only

be able to power a weak light bulb. The very first radio telescopes

hearing Cambridge were very simple, but effective. They were able to

receive signals from outer space. This array of telescopes was

mothballed years ago but they stand as a tribute to their early

discoverers. Professor Malcolm long hair -- Professor Malcolm Longair.

What used to go one in here? This is the control centre for the

Cambridge one-mile radio telescope. It was the first telescope able to

track the sky with separate telescopes and then reconstruct

from these data, the images of the sources we were looking at on the

sky. Can you remember the first time you saw an image created by

this telescope? I remember it very vividly. It is one of these

transformational moments. Suddenly these images you have been looking

at as objects, now you see the details of their structure. This

was very important. We saw the shells of exploding stars, where

they had only been points before that time. We saw extraordinarily

powerful sources of energy, powered by black holes. It was very

It is all very different now. The large array of telescopes at Lords

Bridge is more sensitive and accurate giving more information

about the universe. It uses a different and Turner has

surrounding us up here to build up data on a given object in the sky.

It will be able to track across that object and the sky and keep an

image at all times. This is an optical image of the galaxy for us

to look at. If we look at it in the radio, using data from around, you

can see he points in the data. This is an optical image of the Milky

Way. It is obscured by a dust, prevented the light from the stars

getting to us. However, if you look at the radio, you can see there are

large scale arks, telling us about the magnetic field in the Milky Way.

They do not just use large telescopes, small telescopes are

used to see galaxy clusters. They keep them tucked away for a very

good reason. They are just through here. The smaller telescopes pick

up more powerful radio waves from the universe. They are used to

detect the largest objects that exist, galaxy clusters. The dishes

have to be shielded from radio waves that we create. Aeroplanes

are a problem, satellite sorry problem. The ground Shield does a

good job at removing interference so they can just pick up the

astronomical signal. They work 20 hours a day, every day of the year.

Constantly receiving radio signals from different galaxies. These are

the larger be -- largest gravitationally bound structures in

the universe. It puts our place into perspective, we like to

explore the world around us and this is an extension of that. With

these telescopes we can look back in time, we can look at the whole

universe and see our place in it. I think that is important. This

telescope array hearing Cambridge is impressive, there are bigger

ones around the world picking up radio waves from distant galaxies.

Imagine hundreds of dishes like this, spec -- stretching as far as

the iCAN see. Tempos and times more -- 10,000 times more powerful. The

team here are working on the Square Kilometre Array. The biggest

telescope ever built. It will look at how galaxies are born and evolve.

The Square Kilometre Array is an international project, with many

countries calling their resources. Expertise in Cambridge will help to

build it. The SKA is the next generation in radio telescope. It

will be more sensitive, we will be able to survey the sky up to a

million times more faster -- faster than we have been able to. What we

are doing hearing Cambridge is a number of different aspects of the

technology development. One of the really important wants is to

develop an antenna. It has to be very cheap and quick to deploy.

There will be around half a million of these antenna. We are also

working out where you put the antenna on the ground. Way you put

the telescopes on the ground is key to the information you are

measuring from the sky. We are entering a phase where we are doing

detailed design and we hope to start building the telescope in

2016, either in Australia or South Africa. The Square Kilometre Array

is the most exciting thing to happen in astrophysics and Natasha

wants to be a part of it. It is going to be the biggest radio

telescope ever built. It will be the most wonderful thing. I have an

opportunity to work to -- to move to Australia to work on a prototype

to the S K. I am looking forward to starting my post there. We will see

deeper and further back in time. We will the cat many objects at the

same time. It is extremely exciting. But it will be a long wait, the

final phase will not be completed until 2025. But in the history of

the universe, that is no time at all.

And, for astronomy a little closer to home, the BBC is organising

star-gazing events across our region. There is a big one in

Cambridgeshire and the North Essex astronomical Society is hosting one

in Essex. Don't forget, star-gazing live is on in half-an-hour on BBC

Two. Frankie for your tweets last week. I will see you next week with

these stories. Is the cost of car insurance

tempting young people to drive illegally? I have to walk to school,

so I see my car on the way out and there is always a temptation there.