29/10/2012 Inside Out North East and Cumbria

In the next half an hour, some testing questions. Could you

forgive the man whose actions cost your mother's life? We have the

untold story of the Cumbrian rail disaster. Answered, no, that's not

right. For what that man who did. How much should we pay to burn our

waste? How about �1 billion over the next 25 years in North

Yorkshire? There are options over a shorter time periods where they

could keep their options open and save lots of money in the meantime.

And surfing the waves off the Northumberland Coast. Do these

magical dolphins deserve better protection? This is well more than

I hoped we would see. Stories from the heart of the North East and

Cumbria. This is Inside Out. We begin tonight with a remarkable

story of forgiveness that came out of a rail disaster here in Cumbria.

When a train was derailed by a faulty set of points, a woman died

and 86 were injured. One man knew the blame would fall on him. What

he couldn't know is that a year on from the inquest, he'd receive an

extraordinary invitation from those who'd suffered the most. Today Dave

Lewis is embarking on a difficult journey, for anyone else this is a

normal trip on a normal train. is the first time I have been on a

train north since the accident. I know the route like the back of my

hand. My stomach is churning now just thinking about where we are

going now. But what happened on this track five years ago changed

Dave's life forever. In February 2007, travelling at nearly 100mph,

a Virgin train went over a faulty set of points and plunged down an

embankment at Grayrigg in Cumbria. Dave was responsible for the safety

of the track. The phone rang and it was a colleague of mine and he said,

"We've got a big problem - we've got a train down the banking." I

walked right up to the back of the train and obviously I did not feel

too well. I did not think there would be too many people getting

out of that train. Margaret Masson was travelling home to Glasgow that

night. "My son rang me at my office and said, "sit down." I said what's

wrong? He said, "Mum's been killed." I said, "What are you

talking about?" She's down at my sister's." And he said, "She was

travelling back on the train, it derailed and she's dead." And I

just broke down then. The following day, George and his family were

brought to the crash site. $CYAN We actually saw the train and where my

mum was. We stayed there about half an hour. Over the weekend, crash

investigators move onto the site. They discovered the points were the

cause of the crash and should have been inspected the week before.

realised what I should have done the weekend prior and I just said

to one of our senior managers that is down to me nobody else that's me.

I would say not a week goes by when I don't think if only I'd done that.

Staff shortages meant the morning of the inspection, Dave was

juggling two jobs. He'd agreed to inspect the track, but crucially

started his patrol south of the faulty points. That's the key piece

that got missed. If I had remembered or put something in

place to remind me, I would have started at Lambrigg and covered

those points. But you were doing this in effect because you did not

have the staff and had to do extra work? I was doing extra work, extra

patrol because of the shortage of staff. Had I done that full

inspection I would have noticed something was not quite right with

Just coming up to the crash site now, there's the viaduct. How are

you feeling? Just about there, that's where the train went down

the bank. You have not seen that site for five years? No. Amazing

feeling inside there. Did you need to do that? Yes, I think that has

helped me Chris." End of a chapter? That's another chapter closed.

Onwards into Glasgow. Dave was suspended from work while the crash

was investigated. The pressure on him and his family was immense.

Marriage broke up, sold the house, forced out of Network Rail, lost

the job, good salary, good pension. I lost a heck of a lot. Dave was

helping British Transport Police investigate the crash. One day he

was called back to the station, but this time the tone of questioning

changed. I walked into a custody suite. That's when your mind starts

thinking, what is going on here? And then as I got into the custody

suite I was confronted by a detective I had not met before, and

I was arrested in connection with the manslaughter of Mrs Masson.

Dave now had to fight back, and it's these ordinary looking files

which were to prove crucial to his case. I am merely keeping up the

pressure so when things get further behind, or the...hits the fan, at

least I can say we have been telling you. These are the emails

which Dave repeatedly sent to his bosses, highlighting safety issues,

staffing and budgeting which hampered him in his job. Whilst I

understand the need to remain in budget, I am at a loss to how I can

be expected to maintain a safe compliant railway with these

restrictions placed upon us. What happened, anything? Very little. I

think it was another one that went into their bundle" And that is one

of what amounts to a massive dossier of you raising concerns?

Yes, it is a whole year and a bit's worth of raising concerns.

important has this lot been to you? Really, it's saved my bacon. At the

inquest into his mother's death George was to meet face to face

with Dave for the first time. Lewis, the Network Engineer...

wanted to rip his head off his shoulders I just wanted to kill him,

that is the way I felt. He took my mother's, I'll take his life.

Lewis had highlighted safety concerns one year and where, in an

I had all my files out looking at everything going over and over and

over again. This was my moment to tell my bit of this story. When I

heard his evidence I started putting 2 and 2 together and I said,

no, this is not right. He did not deserve that, especially when I

heard the emails, telephone conversations and team meetings,

I stood up and the coroner asked if I had anything to say. I told him I

said, "For what that man tried to do I respect him. I'll have a drink

with him any time." And it's time for George to make good on his

promise. You are looking a touch nervous Dave? I have the same

feeling that I did before I went into the Police interview room for

my first interview. Really this is meant to be good? Yeah, I know it

is going to be good, but my body is feeling that way. Let's get it over.

Hi, George, good to see you. What does it feel like to see each other

again now? It's been nice. I have been looking forward to it. Nice to

see him with a smile on his face! Yeah, I was quite down.

invitation was for a drink so I guess that should happen? What

would you like, Dave? Pint of bitter please. We call it heavy up

You made a mistake, I forgive you for that. The other person should

have listened. You must have upset the apple cart somewhere? I ruffled

a few feathers here and there. And then I spoke to your lawyer and he

thanked me for what I said to you. It gave me a big lift George, like

Willy said, I wasn't the smiliest person around, but speaking to you

and the things you said to me. showed sincerity and remorse you've

got to live with that same as I have live with it. What about

closure for you now, is it closed? I've got that feeling yeah, going

back home today will be a much nicer journey and I think I can

close this book now. It's been nice to meet him with everything that's

happened, I've got some closure for whats happened and I think he has

also, and I class him as a friend now. This is a script that no one

would ever dare write. Two families devastated by a tragedy and by

rights they should be on opposing sides but here they are united in

friendship over a pint all because of forgiveness, compassion,

integrity and telling the truth. There is an end to this story that

no one would ever believe unless you saw it with your own eyes.

Still to come, a close encounter with dolphins off the north-east

coast. There's a burning question in North Yorkshire - and we'll get

the answer in the next 24 hours. Should the county allow a massive

and controversial waste incineration plant to be built near

Knaresborough? The cost to us all over the next 25 years? A

staggering �1.4 billion. A cost- effective deal or a proposal that

will burn a very large hole in our pockets? Everyone agrees that

recycling is a good thing. But the question of what we do with the

waste that's left behind, that's the subject of heated debate. I'm

on my way up the A1 - because it's there that the battles lines have

been drawn in a protracted war about the rights and wrongs of

building a huge waste incineration plant that some fear will be too

big, too expensive and be one incinerator too many. The row

centres on this site at Allerton Park near Knaresborough, where a

large incinerator and waste processing plant will be built

using controversial PFI money. This is where the private sector builds

facilities then charges the public sector to use them. And it's to

this former quarry that all of North Yorkshire's household black

bin bags will be sent. There will be extra recycling on site, and

power created from waste the rest will be burnt. And of course, the

size of such a plant has raised obvious concerns. Now if you're

after a building that dominates the landscape look no further than

Allerton Castle. But this grade 1 listed mansion will be dwarfed by

the incinerator which would be built just a mile away. Millionaire

American philanthropist Gerald Rolph is a trustee of the

foundation that owns the castle. For him, the 70 metre incinerator

chimney won't provide a room with a view. You can actually see, I think

this should be, we cannot have this proposed incinerator. To me, to

have that happen would be to the very strong detriment of here.

solution has been 10 years in the offing. Landfill was increasingly

seen as unsustainable and expensive. The local authority's answer was an

incinerator plant -and almost �6 million in consultancy fees later

its future is about to be decided. On the one side there's big

business and two large local authorities. The incinerator will

be built by waste management multi- national Amey Cespa, who'll then

charge North Yorkshire County Council and the City of York

Council to burn their domestic waste. They say it'll actually save

money. North Yorkshire and York are facing a bill or something like

�1.7 billion to deal with the their waste if we carry on doing it as we

are. The project, as proposed, should reduce that to �1.4 billion.

At this point in time those costs will continue to change. The most

important thing is, this is not and was never meant to be the cheapest

solution, this is about finding the best solution for the diversion of

waste on land. But the protesters argue there are cheaper

alternatives than spending �1.4 billion and 10,000 signatures have

been gathered and local MPs brought on side. And in the evenings

there's fighting talk. It is a typical point that this facility is

far too big, something of this size. They say being tied to a 25 year

deal doesn't make sense. There are other options were they could make

more appropriate decisions down the track and save lots of money.

protesters believe now's not the time to press ahead but to re-

examine other options. They say that the proposed project is not

the right solution to North Yorkshire's waste problem. And

rather than one big incinerator they want smaller energy from waste

centres, closer to the communities that create the rubbish in the

first place. What to do with domestic waste has been an issue

ever since the Victorians latched onto the idea of burning it. Over

on the continent, they've been building incinerators close to

urban centres so that schools, hospitals and residents can benefit

from the heat that's produced. But with its countryside location, the

heat from Allerton Park will be wasted - further proof, say the

protestors, that it's being built in the wrong place. And what's

fanning the flames is that Allerton Park isn't the only waste plant in

the pipeline. There's talk of incinerators for Teesside,

Ferrybridge and Kellingley. And some are wondering whether the

Allerton Park scheme will be one chimney too many. The protesters

have commissioned their own report on the proposal. One of Britain's

leading waste consultancies have examined the figures for the

Allerton Park incinerator, and say there's a problem. What we're

concerned about, in terms of capacity is that because of these

recycling rates, we have seen less and less material being thrown away

and get we're seeing more and more facilities being built or going

through the planning process to be built, so we are concerned that we

will have more capacity to deal with this stuff than we will have

refused. The councils deny there will be problems and say that even

if there are fluctuations in domestic waste, commercial waste

will fill the gap. And that's opened up another accusation that

there could be a two tier pricing structure. A high one for the local

authorities and a cheaper one to attract other waste companies.

we then be charging the commercial operators less? The price will be

fixed. And that will be cheaper than the council? Not necessarily,

it is a cheap -- commercial decision. Will the council get at

flexible rate? They are or have fixed rate so that whatever happens

over the next 25 years the costs will remain the same. A council

could find themselves it's no good then, of the cost of burning waste

goes down they to be tied into a contract where they are paying a

high rate. It is extremely unlikely that the cost of disposing of waste

is going to go down. At one of North Yorkshire's largest private

trade waste companies, they're watching developments closely,

especially as more and more British firms are producing waste that can

only be recycled. Driver in the commercial walk now is zero waste,

companies working with you to reduce their waste and giving

priority to recycling and recycling processes, so you're not looking at

disposal. Do you ever see a wagon pulling up at Allerton Park?

would be very surprised unless their model changes to treat the

waste different lives. Back near Allerton park the residents remain

worried about what the future might bring. It is just above the tree

line there, on the other side. incinerator might be a bit too

close for comfort for the locals but they deny a not in my back yard

attitude. I'd turn the NIMBY argument on its head its York

that's being the ultimate NIMBY by not having incineration within its

boundaries. That seems to me to be like the autumn it -- ultimate

NIMBY. So are there other waste solutions on the horizon? On the

outskirts of Swindon, Advanced Plasma Power has developed an

energy form called gas plasma - turning municipal waste into an

energy rich gas which can be used in turbines, gas engines and fuel

cells. They're also planning to return to landfill sites to reclaim

the metals and plastics that we threw away decades ago thinking

they were worthless. Local authorities could be sitting on

goldmines, and rather than burning waste they could be digging it up.

We are in the process of a paradigm shift from seeing waste as this

rubbish that we throwaway, to a valuable resource in its own right,

with reserves of gold, for instance higher than conventional sources of

gold or. Whether it's gold or rubbish, north Yorkshire

councillors have a big decision to make tomorrow, one that many

believe could have consequences beyond the next 25 years. We're

really lucky that this region is home to some of the best wildlife

around. But some of the most beautiful creatures take a bit of

tracking down. We asked Kirsten O'Brien to take to the North sea to

hunt for an elusive species that This wonderful old is at the

Natural History Society of Northumbria and stop it was written

by two intrepid naturalists and it was about all the animals in the

area. There is one particular species that I am interested in.

I'm talking about white beaked dolphins. So I'm joining the 21st

century equivalent of Menell and Perkins on the latest survey, 20

miles out into the North Sea. This looks very high-tech. At the moment

we are east of Newbiggin-by-the-Sea, heading roughly north to an area

called Farne Deeps. It attracts prawns and other crustaceans which

attract whales and dolphins and other predators. This is the most

common dolphin off Northumberland, but we do not know exactly what

they are doing or where they are. You think of Dalton's as friendly,

is the species like that? The White beat Dolphin is the species that

likes boughts. They will come close. They just set in the bow wave at

the front of the board. Fingers crossed we will see them. Yes. An

encounter with wildlife. Amazingly we get lucky, really quickly! The

cat that! Beautiful. -- look at that. This is incredible balls of

this is much more than I hoped we would see. -- this is incredible.

Little is known about this animal, but we know that they are under

threat and could be disappearing from the north-east coast. It is a

cold water species. It does not like warmer water temperatures. If

warmer water is making a sea temperatures rise then the white

beaked dolphins, we will start to lose them of the North East Coast.

But there could be a glimmer of hope for the dolphins. The Farne

Deeps is so important, part of it could be protected by a Marine

Conservation Zone. The list of sites is being drawn up now. But

the time it's taking is frustrating environmentalists. The Government

did make an undertaking and there was a massive consultation which

took two years, which included groups like fishermen coming sector,

and we came out at the end of that with an agreed set up sites. Why

are we still waiting for them to be put in place? The legislation will

only cover the seabed, and Steve wants to see extra protection for

animals like dolphins. One of the things we're looking at here is

whether they are there for feeding purposes or carding purposes. We

think it is probably both, but the carving might be the most important

because of the debt of the water. So without that site been protected,

the animal itself is not receiving animal protection. But fishermen

are wary of the new plans. We see this as the thin end of the wage.

It will come to the point where we are not able to fish sustainable

waters. It has been talked about for two years. As it not been

bashed out by now? We are bashed about black and blue but we have

not reached a consensus. I would like to see some of the condoms --

conservation zone brought in but monitored, to see their effects,

before there is full implementation. So that people can see how they can

work with them and see what benefits they bring, and what

disadvantages come with them. The job is tricky enough to start with.

Everyone can catch their quota, no problem. It is not just about

wildlife, but sustainability. We all eat fish and other things that

come from the seashore. It is in our interests that the resource is

managed sustainably. It's estimated there are around 3,000 white-beaked

dolphins in the North Sea. Sadly, every year, some are washed up on

the beaches. We thought it was a dead seal, but upon for the

investigation it turned out to be a White beat Dolphin. -- white beaked.

At Druidge Bay last year, a group walkers came across this dolphin.

The find meant more evidence could be collated about the animal. The

autopsy concluded the adult male was in good health, and had most

likely died after being stranded on the beach. Back on the boat, our

eagle-eyed surveyors are still scanning the sea. It is good to

come out and see if we can see them in their natural habitat. And at

the end of the day, another bonus. While we steam for home, there's

one final treat. A calf and an adult. A Minke whale! A teeny calf,

that one. Has that been a good day? It has been excellent, we have

surveyed 100 miles, we have seen 32 white beaked dolphins in different

groups, and an adult and calf minke whale. It is not get much better.

The next stage of research involves some detective work, so each

dolphin can be identified and added to a database. We use dorsal edge

markings. Scars and so on on the fin. Rose scars are a unique

identifier for other animal. We want to see if we're seeing the

same or different ones, from one year to the next. If they are the

same arm they moving throughout the season? Whichever side of the

conservation argument you come down on, there's no doubt, these are

lovely animals. Just to be on the trail of those beautiful, elusive

creatures has been a privilege. And from the glimpses I saw they were

huge and grizzled. Hopefully the data collected will help us

understand them better and I hope that those Victorian naturalists

Mennell and Perkins would be justly proud. Incredible we managed to

find a sunny day to film that! If you've a view on the dolphins then