:00:08. > :00:12.�77 million to build new houses. That's how much money the councils
:00:12. > :00:18.have been given by government but are we putting the right houses in
:00:18. > :00:21.the right places? We feel like a village under siege. We have one
:00:21. > :00:26.application after another after another. We are constantly fighting
:00:26. > :00:30.development. The kindness of strangers, why a self-made
:00:30. > :00:34.millionaire has spent his money helping a little girl from Norfolk.
:00:35. > :00:40.There are few opportunities in life to do something that makes a big
:00:40. > :00:46.difference. I am in a lucky situation on all sorts of levels
:00:46. > :00:54.and to be able to do that is amazing. And I am on the trail of a
:00:54. > :00:59.rare natural phenomena or, the Fenlands tidal wave. It will hit
:00:59. > :01:09.that side and come back. Start paddling! Es! The stories the
:01:09. > :01:22.
:01:22. > :01:26.Tonight, we are in Norfolk. A nightmare every parent dreads, to
:01:26. > :01:30.discover your child has a life- threatening illness. The story of
:01:30. > :01:33.Grace has touched the hearts of many in Norfolk where she lives.
:01:33. > :01:43.And it caught the attention of a millionaire who decided he wanted
:01:43. > :01:48.
:01:48. > :01:51.to help her and the family because of personal reasons. Weetabix with
:01:51. > :01:54.sugar. Just a normal morning for the Matthews family from Norwich,
:01:54. > :02:00.mum Vicky gets breakfast ready for her two children but two years ago
:02:00. > :02:05.something happened which would change their lives for ever. We got
:02:05. > :02:11.a phone call from the school to say grace was running a temperature and
:02:11. > :02:18.could we pick her up. We did that. At 2 o'clock in the morning we
:02:18. > :02:25.noticed a rash, rashes on her chest and back. She had four or five
:02:25. > :02:30.spots. We called the doctor and when we told him the symptoms and
:02:30. > :02:36.everything, he put us straight through to the ambulance. At
:02:36. > :02:42.hospital there was a team of medics rushing around filling her with
:02:42. > :02:46.fluids and running through the corridors to get her into intensive
:02:46. > :02:54.care. A few hours later and the worst was confirmed, Grace had
:02:54. > :03:01.developed meningitis. By this time, you know it is meningitis. What was
:03:01. > :03:09.going through your mind? Pure shock. It was like it wasn't happening.
:03:09. > :03:15.Everything went so quickly. A your life falls apart, you could not see
:03:15. > :03:22.anything but our little girl. were going with everything.
:03:22. > :03:30.almost two weeks Grace's life hung in the balance. We lived on a
:03:30. > :03:34.knife-edge, no one expected her to pull through. Every day we did not
:03:34. > :03:42.know what to expect. Grace spent nine weeks in hospital, she did
:03:42. > :03:46.pull through but sadly developed blood poisoning. It was fairly
:03:46. > :03:52.obvious from the first week that she would lose her hands and legs.
:03:52. > :03:59.She had to have an operation. said from the start if she makes it,
:03:59. > :04:04.there is every chance she will lose limbs and explained the effects of
:04:04. > :04:10.meningitis. Have you ever felt angry about what happened? I am not
:04:10. > :04:19.angry because it is one of those things. Vicky struggles day-to-day,
:04:19. > :04:29.she is angry with herself. She hasn't forgiven herself or accepted.
:04:29. > :04:30.
:04:30. > :04:36.What are you angry about? Just that... Surrey. We did not get her
:04:36. > :04:39.to hospital sooner and do anything about it sooner. But you did
:04:40. > :04:45.everything you could but there is this feeling perhaps you could have
:04:45. > :04:53.done more. It is a feeling you can't get out of the back of your
:04:53. > :04:57.mind, if we had got her to hospital a few hours beforehand, there is a
:04:57. > :04:59.possibility we might have saved her limbs. Every year two and a half
:04:59. > :05:02.thousand people develop bacterial meningitis. Grace, who's just
:05:02. > :05:08.turned six, doesn't like talking about what's happened to her but
:05:08. > :05:11.she's coping well and has got used to her artificial legs. Her story
:05:11. > :05:20.has touched the hearts of many and when a local millionaire property
:05:20. > :05:24.developer heard about Grace he decided he wanted to help. On a
:05:24. > :05:27.personal level, it is amazing to do something that can make a big
:05:27. > :05:31.difference. There are few opportunities in life to do
:05:31. > :05:35.something that actually you know makes a big difference and to be
:05:35. > :05:39.honest with you, I am a lucky situation on all sorts of levels
:05:39. > :05:49.and to be able to do that is amazing. Matthew's construction
:05:49. > :05:56.
:05:56. > :06:04.company is helping to adapt and As far as I understand things, this
:06:04. > :06:10.is going to be open plan. We will put a wooden floor in and level
:06:10. > :06:20.access to the living room so she can wheel along and through.
:06:20. > :06:20.
:06:20. > :06:23.Downstairs bathroom is going to be in the corner here with a window.
:06:23. > :06:33.Matthew's supplying all the labour for free, the other half of the
:06:33. > :06:35.
:06:35. > :06:38.estimated �60,000 build cost is 30-year-old Matthew grew up here in
:06:38. > :06:43.Attleborough in Norfolk. He can personally relate to the trauma
:06:43. > :06:53.Grace and her parents have gone through. When he was 15 Matthew was
:06:53. > :06:54.
:06:54. > :07:00.involved in a serious road accident. I was travelling back from London
:07:00. > :07:04.on a friend's motorbike. We stopped at a garage and when we pulled out
:07:04. > :07:10.we were hit by a Land Rover initially which left me lying in
:07:10. > :07:17.the road to be hit by an HGV and I lost my leg. It is an odd thing to
:07:17. > :07:20.describe, I came out of it feeling very lucky and I had a sense of
:07:20. > :07:23.euphoria because I live to something I should not have lived
:07:23. > :07:26.through. Matthew spent months in hospital recovering from his
:07:26. > :07:28.injuries. He was awarded three million pounds in compensation. He
:07:28. > :07:33.used the money to build up a successful property development
:07:33. > :07:42.company. But he's come to realise there's more to life than just
:07:42. > :07:46.making money. I spend my time in my office concentrating on how much
:07:46. > :07:53.money I can make and how quickly. And that's not necessarily the
:07:53. > :07:59.answer to everything but I think I now feel I can't credibly make lots
:07:59. > :08:04.of money without trying to do something good as well. I know it
:08:04. > :08:07.is a small thing but it's something I can do.
:08:07. > :08:11.Back at Grace's home, work is going well while the family are living
:08:11. > :08:14.nearby with relatives. Builders are putting in a lift, a special wet
:08:14. > :08:24.room as well as generally creating more space for Grace to move around
:08:24. > :08:24.
:08:24. > :08:29.in her wheelchair. What is life like for Grace now?
:08:30. > :08:36.Getting back to normal. She is in the mainstream school getting on
:08:36. > :08:43.very well. She has lots of friends. She has adapted really well.
:08:43. > :08:48.has she adapted, it must be quite difficult in many ways. Yes, she
:08:48. > :08:53.has a motorised wheelchair which helps they get around. Most of the
:08:53. > :08:57.time she is on a prosthetic leg but when she gets tired she has the
:08:57. > :09:03.chair to back her up. She has a bright future ahead of her. There
:09:03. > :09:06.is no stopping her. She is determined, fun-loving and I do not
:09:06. > :09:10.know the future but it will be good. Three months after construction
:09:10. > :09:18.started Matthew has come back to show Grace and her family the new
:09:18. > :09:26.improvements to their home. computer area in the corner,
:09:26. > :09:33.downstairs bathroom. Look at this! Non-slip floor. And you can go
:09:33. > :09:40.straight through, it goes straight through. Brilliant. A white room!
:09:40. > :09:45.It is nice. Lovely. This is going to be so much better, you can zoom
:09:45. > :09:51.around in your wheelchair. Go up and down in the lift. It will be
:09:51. > :09:58.brilliant. Great. She will get her independence back. We cannot thank
:09:58. > :10:04.you enough. He has saved us. I know you don't like to hear it but we
:10:04. > :10:14.have said before what it means to us. It genuinely is brilliant.
:10:14. > :10:17.
:10:17. > :10:27.If there is something you think we should be looking into, sent me
:10:27. > :10:33.eight e-mail. -- sent me an e-mail. What is in a name? The history of
:10:33. > :10:37.thaw macro villages and I find out if the wave is worth the wait. By
:10:37. > :10:47.Kevin's calculation, he reckons we should see a tidal wave coming
:10:47. > :11:06.
:11:06. > :11:10.Some fear that housebuilding will destroy the countryside.
:11:10. > :11:18.Kate Perceval and Joe Britton I getting ready to move into their
:11:18. > :11:28.first home. They are part of a scheme that where they part born
:11:28. > :11:30.
:11:30. > :11:37.and part rent the property. Do you want to see the kitchen?
:11:37. > :11:42.That is the kitchen. This is one of the few affordable houses on a
:11:42. > :11:45.development on the outskirts of a village. It is now at two councils
:11:45. > :11:50.rather than the government to decide how many houses I needed and
:11:50. > :11:55.where to build them. Councils in Northamptonshire at say if we want
:11:55. > :12:00.enough affordable houses some will have to be built in the countryside.
:12:00. > :12:05.Northamptonshire is about to see a housing expansion. Over 20,000 new
:12:06. > :12:10.homes will be built. It will increase the size of Daventry by
:12:10. > :12:17.one-third. It will be the most significant development since the
:12:17. > :12:22.1970s. Can this be done without destroying the countryside?
:12:22. > :12:26.On this green field site planning has gone through for 1000 homes.
:12:26. > :12:32.Three miles away residents are getting ready for new houses in
:12:32. > :12:36.their village. This is one of 190 villages in the
:12:36. > :12:40.region. People living here are worried about the impact the
:12:40. > :12:45.housing will have on their community.
:12:45. > :12:49.Jo Wilson has lived in Moulton for 13 years. She is in favour of
:12:49. > :12:58.affordable housing that is not happy about the scale of the
:12:58. > :13:07.development. It is the amount of housing. They are trying to
:13:07. > :13:17.shoehorn at large developments into small communities. We do feel like
:13:17. > :13:17.
:13:17. > :13:22.a village under siege. We are constantly fighting development.
:13:22. > :13:28.This has been approved for 38 houses. The campaign to protect
:13:29. > :13:34.rural England believes that the development should be elsewhere.
:13:34. > :13:42.Something short of 200 houses in the last few months. This is where
:13:42. > :13:48.the houses are going to be built. 38 houses. The boundary is those
:13:48. > :13:52.trees. It is easier to build on greenfield site and brownfield site.
:13:52. > :13:58.We accept that is the case to a degree but that is important to
:13:58. > :14:05.protect the countryside. What impact will it have on people
:14:05. > :14:12.living locally? It will be easy for development to constantly take
:14:12. > :14:16.place. The it is a big change. is a big change. Or on this
:14:16. > :14:20.development only a few houses will be classed as affordable, but the
:14:20. > :14:29.council says their aim is for as many as half of all the new houses
:14:29. > :14:36.built across this part of the region to be affordable.
:14:36. > :14:43.People are concerned that their need to listen to those concerns.
:14:43. > :14:50.It is about getting the balance right between affordable housing
:14:50. > :14:54.and the Investment we hope to bring. When you look at the number of
:14:54. > :15:01.affordable houses, there were 641 last year. There will be 939 this
:15:01. > :15:06.year. We can improve on that. focus has already helped couples
:15:06. > :15:10.like this take advantage of shared ownership. But they will only or
:15:10. > :15:20.one-quarter of their house. How do you feel about this scheme?
:15:20. > :15:27.works for us. Without it we would not own a room house. The rent was
:15:28. > :15:31.so much more. It has worked out well for us. But they had to find a
:15:31. > :15:38.deposit for their home. They were living with their parents which
:15:38. > :15:46.made it easier for them to save. Seeing everything again it reminds
:15:46. > :15:52.you why you are saving. It is a good feeling. It is also worthwhile
:15:52. > :15:59.for councils. Across the East �77 million is being paid out by the
:15:59. > :16:04.government to encourage councils to build more houses. The get �4,000
:16:05. > :16:11.for each house built at even more for each affordable home.
:16:11. > :16:20.Building houses is at money-earner. You are making nearly �2 million on
:16:20. > :16:25.building houses. �4,000 per home. What we do with the money is
:16:25. > :16:28.invested back into Northampton and future economic prosperity. Despite
:16:28. > :16:33.promises of making buying more affordable it is still out of reach
:16:33. > :16:37.for some. Carly Pitman teaches at a primary
:16:37. > :16:41.school. She lives with her boyfriend and rents a flat. She
:16:41. > :16:45.would like to stuck at family in it their own home. Although she has a
:16:45. > :16:50.good job she is not able to put aside enough money as a down-
:16:50. > :16:55.payment for any of the affordable schemes. That is because she has
:16:56. > :16:59.little left over at the end of the month after paying her rent.
:16:59. > :17:03.More so people would expect you could buy your own house. People
:17:03. > :17:07.are surprised when they find out that I have been teaching for four
:17:07. > :17:13.years. My boyfriend has a good job as well, but yet we cannot afford
:17:13. > :17:18.our own home. A lot of my peer group have gone on to further
:17:18. > :17:24.education and have what would be considered professional careers and
:17:24. > :17:30.are in a similar situation. Mostly because of student debts and the
:17:30. > :17:36.cost of renting. It is very difficult to get the deposit.
:17:36. > :17:41.Without parental help or without having savings could decide it is
:17:41. > :17:45.very difficult for my age group to be able to get their foot on the
:17:45. > :17:49.property ladder. It is lovely that there are affordable homes for
:17:49. > :17:55.other people but I cannot take advantage because I cannot pay the
:17:55. > :17:59.deposit to access does affordable homes. We spoke to a teacher who is
:17:59. > :18:03.a key worker. She said that her main concern is that she could not
:18:04. > :18:10.raise the deposit. It is a difficult financial climate that we
:18:10. > :18:16.are in. We need to be aware of that. But we need to make sure there is a
:18:16. > :18:22.supply of affordable housing. It is a big issue. We have to tackle it
:18:22. > :18:29.head-on. By doing this and looking to improve the number of affordable
:18:29. > :18:36.houses that will hopefully open up the market. We need to encourage
:18:36. > :18:42.banks to lend to people such as teachers and nurses. Until things
:18:42. > :18:50.do change, this person will not get on the housing ladder anytime soon.
:18:50. > :18:57.My worry is that once children come along, financially that will be a
:18:57. > :19:01.drain, perhaps I cannot save for the mortgage that I what now.
:19:01. > :19:09.couple are days from being able to move in. I love being in a home
:19:09. > :19:17.with my mum and dad, but it is nice to get away and have our own space,
:19:17. > :19:27.wash up with me what, have the TV on when we what. We do not want to
:19:27. > :19:29.
:19:29. > :19:33.jinx ourselves, but this is looking good.
:19:33. > :19:43.Wherever you are the name of your town or city or village will have a
:19:43. > :19:54.
:19:54. > :20:02.story behind it. I had to find out Have you ever been to a place and
:20:02. > :20:09.thought it had an interesting name? This is Wiggenhall St Mary Magdalen.
:20:09. > :20:17.They mean it is made up of two Saxon words. The words mean are
:20:17. > :20:21.raised field and raging water. The rushing waters frog which the
:20:21. > :20:31.village takes part of its name comes at this river - the River
:20:31. > :20:35.
:20:35. > :20:39.Great Ouse. This water is hardly a raging swell.
:20:39. > :20:44.It is low tide at the moment. But within six hours it will be
:20:44. > :20:52.different. The water level is dependent on high tides at King's
:20:52. > :20:58.Lynn which is five miles away. What everything is just right for water
:20:59. > :21:05.rushes at the river. This is one of only 50 places in the world that
:21:05. > :21:09.boast at tidal bore wave. A tidal bore wave is a phenomenon with a
:21:09. > :21:15.leading part of the incoming tide forms a wave that travels up the
:21:15. > :21:23.river. This oceanographer has studied ways
:21:23. > :21:29.all over the world. The tide washes at the river.
:21:29. > :21:38.Because it has got away flight if the speed of the wave is getting
:21:38. > :21:42.slower as the river shallows. The air of the river is so shallow that
:21:42. > :21:47.the waves deepens and breaks like a waif on a beach.
:21:47. > :21:57.A howl rare are up tidal bore wait? They are quite rare that there are
:21:57. > :21:58.
:21:59. > :22:06.a lot in the UK. There is a long distance between the open ocean and
:22:06. > :22:16.the coastline. I have never seen a tidal bore in reality. I am looking
:22:16. > :22:18.
:22:18. > :22:28.forward to it. He may not have to wait too long.
:22:28. > :22:29.
:22:29. > :22:39.This was written 200 years ago. This seems to signify that this
:22:39. > :22:44.
:22:44. > :22:52.place had impressive water both from the sea and the river.
:22:52. > :22:58.This is a very old record. Settlers would have witnessed the phenomenon
:22:59. > :23:02.over 1000 years ago. There used to be a small fishing
:23:03. > :23:09.industry. The tidal bore was an unlikely a compass for the
:23:10. > :23:16.fishermen. This man's father and brother used
:23:16. > :23:26.to fish here. My father left the Royal Navy and bought a fishing
:23:26. > :23:35.
:23:35. > :23:42.boat. He fished for eels. He allowed the tide to washed through
:23:42. > :23:48.the net. When the tidal bore wave came at the fish were delivered to
:23:48. > :23:53.the next. The net would get full much quicker. This man has lived
:23:53. > :23:58.here for most of his life. He has fond memories of the week. We used
:23:58. > :24:03.to swim. I had a mate down at the bridge. If it was an incoming tide
:24:03. > :24:09.he would float along the tide and join me. If the tide was on its ebb
:24:09. > :24:11.I would foot down and join him. There are those who are always that
:24:11. > :24:17.you with the phenomenon of the wave on their doorsteps. Been there are
:24:17. > :24:23.those who moved here and a captivated by it. When you see it
:24:23. > :24:29.for the first time it takes you away. It is an awesome force.
:24:29. > :24:34.People think the The Fens is a flat landscape. All of a sudden you have
:24:35. > :24:41.got what is the washed flooding inland through a natural channel.
:24:41. > :24:46.It has been here for thousands of years. This person is so fascinated
:24:46. > :24:54.that he studies the moon and the tides to predict when they will
:24:54. > :24:59.arrive. A forceful rush of water is needed.
:24:59. > :25:06.That is caused by the moon. Where it is in relation to the earth. On
:25:06. > :25:13.a high spring tides where that is being pulled by the moon into a
:25:13. > :25:17.narrow channel you have got a tidal wave. Kevin is into renewable
:25:17. > :25:21.energy. It is more than something to watch. He wants to tap into its
:25:21. > :25:27.power. If I have got injured mooring
:25:27. > :25:33.rights. I can harvest the natural resources to the width of the
:25:33. > :25:37.property. I am looking at harvesting the moon power, the
:25:37. > :25:44.actual force of the water, hydro energy, to generate electricity for
:25:44. > :25:54.my house. By Kevin's calculations any minute now we should see a
:25:54. > :25:58.
:25:58. > :26:07.tidal wave. There it is. That is the way. That is an ankle biter.
:26:07. > :26:17.What did you think? It was small but it is still a tidal wave.
:26:17. > :26:17.
:26:17. > :26:25.was so small? -- why was it so small? It is because it was spread
:26:25. > :26:35.out over 1.5 miles. The water is being pushed in a little bit faster.
:26:35. > :26:36.
:26:36. > :26:40.It has come 15 minutes earlier than predicted.
:26:40. > :26:45.The way it should be bigger today as its size build over several days.
:26:45. > :26:53.It could be a chance for another rarity - surfing on a river. That
:26:53. > :26:57.is moving. Yesterday we saw the tidal bore wave come in. It is not
:26:57. > :27:07.like the Severn bore where people surfeit every year. We are trying
:27:07. > :27:26.
:27:26. > :27:36.to see whether this or will propel It is coming. It will come across.
:27:36. > :27:39.
:27:39. > :27:46.Start paddling. Yes. Call on. No. What an incredible experience.
:27:46. > :27:52.Riding one of only 50 tidal bores in the world. For a villages around
:27:52. > :28:01.here have the same name. The Saxons were right. This is a captivating
:28:01. > :28:11.rush of water. What is incredible about this wave is that it has been
:28:11. > :28:20.
:28:20. > :28:24.washed -- it has been watched by What an experience. They tell me
:28:24. > :28:31.the wave does get bigger from time to time. That is all for a night.
:28:31. > :28:41.If you have any stories please contact me. I will see you next
:28:41. > :28:49.