01/02/2016 Inside Out East

Meet the people whose homes have been wrecked by sinkholes.

Find out how we can avoid building new houses in problem places.

We investigate the missing millions and the half built stand

The sense of being let down, betrayal.

And Norfolk boy Kieron Williamson is just 13 but his paintings

See how this creative genius makes a new work.

Revealing the stories that matter closer to home.

It the last thing you'd expect, to come home and find a hole

Sinkholes can appear pretty much without any warning

and they are getting more common and, if you're buying a house,

a survey won't necessarily pick up that there are any problems

Back in October a giant sink hole literally swallowed up this street

Actually it is only when you get up close to it can you see the scale

Look, you have pipes hanging off here, bricks that are falling in.

Now building work has happened here and they have already filled

But if you live around here in one of these houses surrounding here,

the worry surely is, could another hole just like this

I am going to find out why this happened and what we might need

to do to protect our homes in the future.

We went out the front and we could see ? We could not get

near because they had put fencing round but we could see

Rosemary and Derek have lived here for nearly 40 years.

They, like other families on the street, were moved out

and most are now back, but even now things are still a struggle.

The path takes you to the main road and you walk into town

but it has been muddy sometimes, wet, flooded.

And there is a shuttle service, is there?

We call it our taxi, this little shuttle service,

as that is the only way we can get across to the fire station

The hole was caused by the surface of an old chalk pit

Across this part of the country there are a lot of old chalk pits

making the area prone to holes opening up.

In fact, right up until the 19th century a lot of our region actually

sits on chalk but it is this chalk that is making us

And it is the combination of old mines and rain that

The bad news is that heavy rain is making it worse.

In Hertfordshire there have been six major collapses

One of these typical holes in the ground in this sort

You cannot believe the size of it, really, can you?

They are quite surprising, aren't they?

So what do we need to do to protect our homes?

I have come to Stevenage to meet sinkhole expert Dr Clive Edmonds.

You often see dips and holes like this in the ground but this

Yes it's a pretty big hole isn't it and it's probably been here a long

time and probably relates to the late 1700s or early 1800s,

where chalk has been excavated out and perhaps mined and that

We are getting a lot of nature at the moment.

Can you see the problem becoming exacerbated?

You have increased chances of holes appearing when you

We have more concentrated rainfall for prolonged periods.

So it does make the chances of holes appearing more likely.

This is what happened in Hemel Hempstead two years ago.

And this is what engineers' cameras found up to 17 metres underground.

Truckloads of concrete have been pumped underground and the two

houses closest to the hole have been demolished, but as you can see,

work has continued here and they have built some new homes.

This was also the site of a clay pit and residents were told the hole

David Ketley and Richard Oatr owned homes here.

This was the initial stages and over the next couple of days it just

started falling away even further so more and more just fell away

in time because when it goes you don't know how deep it is.

David went through six months of hell.

I was not myself for those six months.

I was not the person I wanted to be or anybody wants to see.

I was so stressed and taking it out on the people closest to me.

By coincidence, both had their properties up for sale

When the sinkhole happened, obviously I lost buyers.

She walked away and I had to take it off the market.

Dr Edmonds believes that councils need to demand that developers make

They have heightened awareness of flooding issues and equally

they should be aware with the changing weather patterns

that there is a greater chance of collapses

So they should be demanding more of their developers to address

The good news is there is already information that can help.

Dr Edmonds has mapped where there are

Databases like this may prove invaluable in the future

for developers and home buyers alike.

So, on the map here we are close to this red dot here which in fact

The one here on the left, that actually has presented itself

as a sinkhole but the others are prospectively where mines

are actually recorded or believed to be present based

So this information is vital to anyone who,

say, wanted to say build in these areas because you would look at that

and say potentially there is a problem there.

Yes, the dots do identify features in the ground that need to be

You may be surprised to know that when you are buying

a house your survey may not show up chalk mines.

Surveys, when they came back, all they checked were coal mines

so if there aren't coal mines you don't get anything.

Which isn't great because round this area there are so many old clay pits

and chalk mines, which people aren't really aware off because surveys

David actually did his own DIY survey before looking

When I bought my new house, I looked at the maps and looked

at what was on the sites because I knew the survey would not

pick it up because they don't have to check it.

David and Richard are now very cautious.

Once it happens to you, you are always going to have it

in the back of your mind, aren't you?

When you are looking for property, you are always going

They've now both sold their homes and have moved.

Back in St Albans, Hertfordshire County Council

is still checking there are no more cavities.

These chalk mines are supposed to be 1820s, 1830s.

Who would have thought over 150 years later this would happen?

Rosemary and Derek can't wait for the disruption to end.

Well, the good news is there have been no further problems

And if you think there is something we should investigate,

you can get me on twitter send me an e-mail.

You are watching Inside Out for the East of England

Later on we will meet the 13-year-old painter from Norfolk

We will see how he creates a brand-new piece of work.

It has been a nervous few months for fans

of Northampton Town Football Club as they waited to learn the fate

At the same time a massive financial controversy has embroiled the club.

Up to millions of pounds of public money, supposed be used to develop

It is the third round of the FA Cup and Northampton Town are at home

Fans are in high spirits but there was a real chance

that this game might not have happened.

A financial saga involving millions of pounds but the club at risk.

Emily Lomax has been a Northampton fan since she was a child.

Her late father founded the club supporters trust.

She is angry about what has happened to the club.

This sense of being let down, betrayal.

The sense that there are people out there who could take away

what we share as families and communities

Out of ?10 million of public money, just

over ?29 appears to be spent on the Six Fields football ground.

So what has happened to the other 8 million?

Tonight on Inside Out we try to follow the money trail

We uncover the fall outs and the legal action

in which there were claims that most of the money

It all started when the football club went to the local council

to ask for a loan to rebuild their ground.

The plans involved building an impressive new stand.

The council said OK and handed over ?10.25 million but a year and a half

later, the vast majority of the money is unaccounted

Most of the money seems to have vanished.

The stand that was meant to be built, as you can see behind

Money was given to the club which was then passed on to two

companies owned by a property developer called Howard Grossman,

A building company called Buckingham Group Contracting

was brought in to physically carry out the work and

There should be 2000 seats in the club's colours.

The next section up is effectively a corporate area, so you have got

At the front of the stand is where the disabled

The upper floor was just going to be left as a shell because the scope

of the contract didn't include fitting

Buckingham's workmen started building the new stand in the summer

of 2014 but then payments through Howard Grossman 's company

The builders had no choice but to down tools.

Despite repeated promises, the builders received just

?491,000 out of a contract worth ?4.1 million.

Frustrated, particularly when it is a project

where the actual funding is provided by the local borough council.

And a very substantial amount of funding.

Looking back on it now do you feel duped? That's a strong word. The

situation we are in is we are carried out the works and

effectively payments certified as being due to us and the project

whether funding should be in place. Obviously, the fact that the money

has come back to us means there is something happened that probably

needs some lawful understanding. So where's the rest the money? We have

to go back to a deal struck between the football club chairman at the

time, David Cardoza and Howard Grossman. The man he brought in to

oversee the project. We've been following the money to try to find

out where it went. We examine court papers and administrators report. We

start with 10.25 million handed over to the football club from the

borough council. From that, 8.75 million were then handed over to

Howard Grasse went through to have as companies. Out of that money,

around 2.6 million went back to David Cardoza and his father, some

of this went towards rebuilding his house. Almost 1.1 million went on

consultants please do Howard Grossman's Sun and other category

directors. 1.7 million went to other Grossman linked companies. Howard

Grossman paid in self ?314,000 in fees. The builders received only

?491,000. Taking into account the money spent on suppliers such as

architects and builders, the documentary we've seen says only a

fraction of the loan was spent on the redevelopment of the bubble

ground. But we can't be certain even that much was spent on the ground.

After some of the contractors complained they went paid, the club

then started legal proceedings. We've seen the document setting out

the club's case. Howard Grossman is accused of a breach of trust and

using a substantial amount of alone for purposes unconnected with the

redeveloped at the stadium. The party settled before it came to

court having signed a confidentiality clause is to keep

the Thames quite. The loan for the redevelopment came from Northampton

Borough Council so what objected they make to ensure that taxpayers

money has been probably like that? Inside out has led the negotiations

for the loan were led by Howard Grossman's company and his business

associates. ?10 million of public money is a very large amount so

you'd think the council would investigate the parties involved

very carefully. Did the authority not check the background of how

Grossman? I cannot confirm or deny that. Like I say, I wasn't involved

in the detail. In the policies and processes, I was not involved in. I

have been involved in setting up the investigation since things went

wrong. The leader of the council at the time was David Mackintosh. He

was one of those given responsibility for overseeing the

loan. Do you accept that Jude diligence wasn't done? I can't

confirm or deny that. I don't have access to the information. It needs

a large investigation. I will get to the bottom of every policy and

procedure and make sure that those that were in place were followed and

if not, why not. How angry are you about this? I'm extremely angry

about this. I am a taxpayer from Northampton as well as everyone

else. I would love to meet these people. I've not met them, the

people are done this to the town. It is the towns people of Northampton

who have lost this money. I'm very angry. In his first statement on his

involvement, David Mackintosh MP told us that he welcomed the police

and council investigations. Mr mackintoshes offices are behind me

and he said he was involved. They told us the council did not have a

direct relationship with Howard Grossman and that he did not attend

any meetings to negotiate the loan. Behind me, the offices of how

Grossman. We've asked repeatedly for an interview but he has declined our

requests. In a witnessed they'd made that we have seen, he denies

misappropriating the money and says that such claims are outrageous. He

disputes the claims made by the Buckingham group was up he says no

money has been misappropriated in the course of dealing with the

stadium project. David Cardoza is no longer chairman of Northampton town.

He sold his stake back in November. We have been unable to contact him.

Last week he was arrested and released on bail. Northamptonshire

Police say they are investigating. Back at six fields and discussions

are underway to finish this stand. The club is under new ownership and

have agreed deal to wipe out the loan. But the fans, there is still

bitterness. I do think anybody knew. People find it hard to understand

now exactly what went on. It clearly is complex. These people with their

own interests and they were not those of Northampton town. Now you

are about to witness them extraordinary talent other young

pater from Norfolk. At just 13 euros Kira Williamson has already made a

name brand self. But what makes him so good?

He started selling paintings at just six years old.

Now buyers from across the world pay anything from ?2,000 to ?45,000

I am joining Norfolk teenager Kieron Williamson in Polperro

in Cornwall to see how this extraordinarily talented boy

Going out, especially on location, faced with your subject

and the unknown of how it is going to end, it is just

a mystery all the way through, because you have no idea until it

works when you get it back in your studio, really.

It is 9.00am and Kieron has already started.

For you, why this particular location and why Cornwall?

It is just everywhere you turn there is a picture.

Like a little cameo of a boat and somebody rowing in a boat,

or a big wide picture of old cottages and all the boats.

It is just something different everywhere you turn.

His inspiration has come from a school of painters who lived

and worked in the Cornish fishing village of Newlyn back

For this picture he is using oil paints but he works

All of them, oils, watercolours and pastels lend themselves

to different subjects so oils would be better for location,

I think, because you get them down quickly.

He has been painting for eight years, since the age of five.

We were on holiday down in Cornwall and I asked for a drawing pad

and the next day we went to the Eden Project

and that is when Mum and Dad bought me one.

And it was that evening we went down to the harbour

Drawing with pens and crayons of the harbour, cliff and a couple

From there we brought it back to Holt to the Picture Craft Gallery

and I was introduced into different materials and that and it sort off

We have kept it in the original sketch pad up in the attic.

Just a year after drawing these, his first painting sold for ?1,300.

Kieron has brought artist David Curtis on this trip.

David was also a young gifted artist.

You can start to enjoy all the little bits and pieces.

How do you feel about the tide having dropped?

I have not seen it drop but it does look a lot nicer with it out.

When you added them in, were the people there or is it

you have remembered that from maybe 20 mins, half hour before?

You sort of see a person and you sort of pick different bits

from different people and sort of create one body.

The body language of that little figure with all its economy

To achieve that skill level at this age is awesome.

I am just amazed you have done this is in this amount of time.

It is like a pile of mud, but if you can extrapolate all these

beautiful supple colours from that lot.

People say to me, how the devil do you get that subtlety from that

mish-mash of what is going off there.

It is lunchtime and Kieron has now finished his first painting,

but before we stop he is already thinking ahead to doing another one

while the light and tide are just right.

I think it is so perfect, now, this muddy foreshore.

It would be a shame to not use it like it is.

Being so talented has thrown Kieron into the media spotlight.

Does that feel like pressure on you, is it a compliment or do you sort

of, I don't know, take it on the chin and not worry about it?

Yeah, take it on the chin and don't worry about it.

You don't like it now, really, do you?

But Kieron's parents do see the benefits of being

We wouldn't be here without the media or the interest so,

for us, we feel privilege that they were interested in Kieron

to start with and given him the title of Mini-Monet.

Without all that, he wouldn't be where he is now.

And Kieron has grown up with it as well.

He has always been happy with people watching him paint.

He has always been happy painting in front of the camera

so because he is been OK with it, we have had be OK with it and,

you know? It was scary to start with because,

you know, there was just this constant with the cameras and then

they came in from America and we didn't know which way to turn

But it has all levelled out and, you know, people have been really

Yeah, with some tidying it could be quite nice I think.

Tiny bit, not too much cos you lose the edge,

As the daylight hours start to fade, Kieron has now finished

I have not met anybody else with the vision,

And to handle paint at 13 years of age is pretty much

Nearly two months later, I catch up with Kieron back

in his studio in Norfolk to find out what he has done

On the first one I have done very little subsequent work to it.

Added a couple of figures but also done a bigger picture of it,

an upright including more of the cliff and background and houses.

The second one I have only added a couple of figures in to it.

I am planning to scale it up and do a bigger one of it.

It is in my blood now so it is going to be quite hard

So I don't think I will ever stop painting.

And with a talent like that, let's hope he doesn't

And speaking of talent, this is amazing.

I got to jam with the original lead guitarist of Whitesnake.

That is because next week we are telling the incredible story

of the Milton Keynes company that powered the Rock revolution.

In the meantime, get in touch with me on twitter or you can

That is it from Northampton, I will see you next week.