:00:06. > :00:09.In the next half-hour, as Cumbria's biggest decision in decades looms,
:00:09. > :00:14.we ask, can the county afford to say no to the nuclear waste
:00:14. > :00:19.bonanza? If it was not for the nuclear industry in this part of
:00:19. > :00:22.the world, we probably would not exist.
:00:22. > :00:30.D arts world in Newcastle faces the biggest financial chill, but should
:00:30. > :00:32.we be subsidising a trip to the theatre? I think we will start to
:00:32. > :00:35.see a real waste land. The tumbleweed will blow up the
:00:36. > :00:40.cultural streets. And it has been a wipe-out - we
:00:41. > :00:44.meet the man predicting the weather's worst. I always try and
:00:44. > :00:48.deliver a bad forecast with a smile on my face.
:00:48. > :00:58.* is from the heart of the north- east and Cumbria. This is Inside
:00:58. > :01:03.
:01:03. > :01:07.Out. Cumbria could be about to press its
:01:07. > :01:12.nuclear button. The county is on the brink of deciding whether it
:01:12. > :01:16.wants to be the place Britain berries high-level waste. Say yes
:01:16. > :01:20.could attract huge sums of money for community projects, but should
:01:20. > :01:29.that influence a decision that the county will have to live with for
:01:29. > :01:34.hundreds of thousands of years? It is the stuff no one else wants
:01:34. > :01:37.bash out toxic high-level nuclear waste that can remain radioactive
:01:37. > :01:41.for a generation upon generation. This is the stuff that fuels the
:01:41. > :01:46.power stations that provide the energy we all need. But it is
:01:46. > :01:50.radioactive and has no permanent home. At the moment, it is filling
:01:50. > :01:54.up this overground store. He is dead, the Government wants the
:01:54. > :01:58.waste buried deep underground, and Cumbria is the only county
:01:58. > :02:03.considering building the facility, the size of a small city. This
:02:03. > :02:08.massive decision comes down to just 24 people on three councils,
:02:08. > :02:12.falafel, Copeland and the county council. So who are they? What do
:02:12. > :02:14.we know about them? How impartial are they, and what are the
:02:14. > :02:19.pressures on them at this crucial time?
:02:19. > :02:23.You don't have to look far to see how dominant the industry is to the
:02:23. > :02:27.local economy. The West Lakes Academy in Egremont is sponsored by
:02:27. > :02:31.Sellafield. We asked the maths teachers here to work out the
:02:31. > :02:38.percentage of year 7 pupils who have a parent who works in the
:02:38. > :02:43.nuclear sector. OK, year seven - on your marks, get set, go! It is a
:02:43. > :02:48.whopping 41% of this year group. And in a few years, some of those
:02:48. > :02:51.pupils could well be here, a training centre preparing a new
:02:51. > :02:57.crop of workers for Sellafield. They are excited about the
:02:57. > :03:02.underground store. You feel lucky to be in this position. A lot of
:03:02. > :03:05.people want to be where I am. could not name one of my friends
:03:05. > :03:09.who does not know somebody who works at Sellafield. In a small
:03:10. > :03:13.community like this, it is what we need. It is great to have all the
:03:13. > :03:18.young people coming through her. There are not many other places to
:03:18. > :03:25.work around here. We need it. know we have a job for life as long
:03:25. > :03:27.as we do well. It gives people my age a chance to learn skills.
:03:27. > :03:35.Professor John Fyfe says a waste store would help attract more
:03:35. > :03:40.business to the county. There are 1300 to 1000 �500 billion worth of
:03:40. > :03:44.work globally. When I have travelled the world, if you ask
:03:44. > :03:48.people, whereas the nuclear excellence in Britain? They say
:03:48. > :03:55.Sellafield, West Cumbria. So we should be able to help create new
:03:55. > :03:58.wealth creation opportunities, new jobs for people in West Cumbria.
:03:58. > :04:03.The 24 councillors will be in no doubt just how big a player of the
:04:03. > :04:07.nuclear industry is here. It is the lifeblood of this remote area. It
:04:07. > :04:12.is a tight-knit community, and the nuclear industry is like a web that
:04:12. > :04:17.has connections across the whole area. It provides employment for
:04:17. > :04:22.over 26,000 workers in the north- west. The Sellafield operation had
:04:22. > :04:26.pays out �365 million in wages, and contributes over �2 billion to the
:04:26. > :04:32.county's economy. It is not just the wages from Sellafield that puts
:04:32. > :04:37.money in the pockets of thousands of Cumbrians. The county already
:04:37. > :04:40.has a nuclear waste store. This is on the outskirts of Drigg, and it
:04:40. > :04:45.is where the low-level waste is brought. For having this in their
:04:45. > :04:48.back garden, Cumbria is given �1.5 million a year by the Government.
:04:48. > :04:53.The Copeland Community Fund provides a link between the nuclear
:04:53. > :04:58.industry and charities to benefit from grants, like the Greenbank
:04:58. > :05:05.Community Association in Whitehaven. They have been doing arts and
:05:05. > :05:09.crafts. There is a football table, a pool table, general toys. 40% of
:05:09. > :05:15.its funding comes from nuclear sources. Her without funding from
:05:15. > :05:22.the nuclear industry, there would not be a centre. There would be no
:05:22. > :05:27.play area. My grandad worked here for 48 years. He worked underground.
:05:27. > :05:32.The Hague bit in Whitehaven more, once the main employer in this area,
:05:32. > :05:36.is also benefiting from the fund. It is helping with the �2.4 million
:05:36. > :05:40.redevelopment. It will be a wonderful resource for the area, a
:05:40. > :05:44.place where schools can visit and people can look up their family
:05:44. > :05:48.history. You will be able to have a cup of tea and a bum. So you have
:05:48. > :05:52.no qualms about taking money from the nuclear side? Absolutely not.
:05:52. > :05:58.If it was not for the nuclear industry in this part of the world,
:05:58. > :06:02.we would not exist. And up the road, another beneficiary, this time the
:06:02. > :06:06.Rosehill Theatre in Moresby, undergoing a fourth �0.5 million
:06:06. > :06:10.refurbishment. Nearly half the cash is coming from nuclear money.
:06:10. > :06:14.a feature of the area and implement in the area. The money from those
:06:14. > :06:17.sources does a great deal of good to the area and allows us to do
:06:17. > :06:23.things we would not be in a position to do otherwise. And the
:06:23. > :06:28.sums of money we are receiving is very high. And that cash is just
:06:28. > :06:33.from the Government. An extra �4.5 million comes from the three firms
:06:33. > :06:37.that won the Sellafield site. Have the money is spent in the area,
:06:37. > :06:41.like �90,000 for the Workington and St Bees lifeboat. It is not to
:06:41. > :06:45.curry favour, it is recognising that there are impacts from the
:06:45. > :06:49.nuclear industry on any committee. In our case, it is around
:06:49. > :06:53.decommissioning. The money is to mitigate against those impacts.
:06:53. > :06:58.is this just a local business doing the right thing, supporting their
:06:58. > :07:03.community? Or is the relationship or a little too close? Critics say
:07:03. > :07:10.the financial benefits that could be on offer Forest storm mean it is
:07:10. > :07:13.already a done deal. The was a meeting consisting of members of
:07:13. > :07:17.the Council and the industry. We have got the minutes here. They
:07:17. > :07:24.assume that West Cumbria would be a willing committee to host the dump.
:07:24. > :07:30.And the fact that they can make that assumption is extraordinary. I
:07:30. > :07:33.think the whole thing is a bit too cosy. But the local MP, a former
:07:33. > :07:37.Sellafield press officer, is confident that councillors will
:07:37. > :07:43.take the decision on safety and environment as well as economic
:07:43. > :07:49.benefits. It has never been a done deal. To imply or suggest it is a
:07:49. > :07:54.done deal implies that people want this, whatever the environmental
:07:54. > :07:59.cost. That is fantasy. The process we have now has taken a decade to
:08:00. > :08:05.bring into being. It is a fair and transparent and accountable process.
:08:05. > :08:09.And I think those concerns are unfounded on any logical basis of
:08:09. > :08:13.fact. A sow the links in our web are far reaching. There is a big
:08:13. > :08:17.economic pressure on our 24 decision-makers, and some of them
:08:17. > :08:21.have even closer links to the industry. County councillors Tim
:08:21. > :08:26.Knowles and Tony marquee and leader of Copeland council Elaine Woodburn
:08:26. > :08:30.of all board members of the Copeland Community fund that hands
:08:30. > :08:34.out �1.5 million a year. Tim Knowles worked at Sellafield. He
:08:34. > :08:40.was head of corporate affairs. Tony Markley was at the meeting in 2008
:08:40. > :08:44.which claimed West Cumbria was willing. So, can they truly be
:08:44. > :08:48.independent when it comes to forming a view? I wanted to ask
:08:48. > :08:52.them some questions, but Tim Knowles and Tony Markley refused my
:08:52. > :09:02.requests in the run-up to the big decision later this week. In a
:09:02. > :09:08.
:09:08. > :09:13.statement, the county council And Elaine Woodburn sees no
:09:13. > :09:16.conflict of interest. The Copeland Community fund is totally different
:09:16. > :09:21.from the process. I have never worked within the nuclear industry.
:09:21. > :09:25.I represent this community. I was born and bred here. I have family
:09:25. > :09:30.here now and in the future, and if anybody thinks I would take a
:09:30. > :09:33.decision that would do anything to harm that, I find that insulting.
:09:33. > :09:37.Councillors have already asked for more time to consider their
:09:37. > :09:42.decision. They have had an extra three months to mullet over. The
:09:42. > :09:45.stakes could not be higher. The Government has no plan B for the
:09:45. > :09:51.nuclear store. The counsellors can choose to stop the plans in their
:09:51. > :09:56.tracks right now, or go to the next stage. It is crucial. In two days'
:09:56. > :10:01.time, we will hear the answer. The big decision is due on
:10:01. > :10:07.Wednesday. You can tune in to BBC Radio Cumbria to hear the outcome
:10:07. > :10:12.as soon as it is announced. Another important decision is being
:10:12. > :10:17.made, this time in Newcastle, where the city council plans to scrap
:10:17. > :10:20.under the theatres and arts venues. So the question is, should
:10:21. > :10:26.taxpayers subsidise night out? The council says it needs the cash for
:10:26. > :10:36.more vital services, but is there more at stake than the price of the
:10:36. > :10:46.
:10:46. > :10:51.front row seat? It is truly a winter of discontent.
:10:51. > :11:01.A planned freezing council subsidy Bretons a bleak future for many
:11:01. > :11:05.
:11:05. > :11:08.arts venues across Newcastle. Late last year, the authority he
:11:08. > :11:13.announced that it was cutting all funding to arts organisations
:11:13. > :11:16.across the city. It said it had no choice because of the government
:11:16. > :11:21.cutbacks, but it has unleashed a storm of protest from those who
:11:21. > :11:31.feel it will destroy the cultural life in the City and lead to an
:11:31. > :11:39.
:11:39. > :11:48.Each week, 6000 tubs of ice-cream a producer. This is the first winter
:11:48. > :11:55.we have been open. And then, can send here. We have managed to keep
:11:55. > :12:05.open this winter but the contract - - because of the contract with the
:12:05. > :12:11.
:12:11. > :12:20.Theatre Royal. I would be devastated. For every �1 that is
:12:20. > :12:25.invested, in the funding, we put �5 back into the economy. That's one
:12:25. > :12:32.of the key arguments for not cutting funding. If the funding is
:12:32. > :12:38.cut, the knock-on impact could be disastrous. The council is looking
:12:38. > :12:46.to cut a total of �1.2 million worth of subsidies to the city's
:12:46. > :12:56.cultural venues. That is everything. 100%. But there is more. The
:12:56. > :13:02.
:13:02. > :13:09.museums are you losing 50%. And 10 libraries could close. It has made
:13:09. > :13:17.some Geordie A-listers miserable. Lee Hall, the Newcastle born writer
:13:17. > :13:22.of Billy Elliott, says the public are being ripped off. A things will
:13:22. > :13:28.start to close. We will see a wasteland starting. The tumble
:13:28. > :13:37.weeds blowing up the streets. Our theatre companies produce work on
:13:37. > :13:42.an international scale. Last year I was on Broadway. If you get the
:13:42. > :13:52.strong, you screw up lies for everybody and this is a central
:13:52. > :13:56.part of the economic prosperity. Never mind control prosperity.
:13:56. > :14:03.hall thinks these cuts but the cultural life of Newcastle in real
:14:03. > :14:08.danger. But there is another way of looking at these figures. The cuts
:14:08. > :14:17.are a serious but they represent no more than 15% of the turnover at
:14:17. > :14:19.the city's venues. None of them say they have to close.. And don't
:14:19. > :14:24.forget, most also receive public money from the Arts Council, which
:14:24. > :14:27.is spending �12 million a year in Newcastle alone. And it has led
:14:27. > :14:32.some to ask, if this cinema operates without a grant, why not
:14:33. > :14:35.this place? And if this Newcastle theatre can survive without council
:14:35. > :14:43.subsidy, then why not here, which attracts more than 300,000 people
:14:43. > :14:53.each year? They do need to be viable businesses. They shouldn't
:14:53. > :14:54.
:14:54. > :15:00.just look to taxpayers to bail them out. Why does this place deserve
:15:00. > :15:05.funding? It enables an organisation like ourselves to have a programme
:15:05. > :15:11.that was popular and allows us to ensure it is of real quality. To
:15:11. > :15:14.make sure ticket prices are accessible. He a castle isn't the
:15:14. > :15:20.only place where venues have been learning to cope without council
:15:20. > :15:28.money.. Somerset has already introduced 100 cuts for its venues.
:15:28. > :15:33.It had a huge impact on places like this. It was a big shock. I cried
:15:33. > :15:38.the next day. How are we going to get through this? The first thing
:15:38. > :15:44.we lost was the staff. We have had to be much more businesslike in the
:15:45. > :15:49.way we run. And the programming has changed. We try not to change it
:15:49. > :15:57.drastically but we have not been able to do the more challenging
:15:57. > :16:05.work. We have safer, classic shows. So the audiences will grow and the
:16:05. > :16:10.end, also. So we can be viable and not reliant on grants and handouts.
:16:10. > :16:13.Somerset and Newcastle are the exceptions. Other councils, for the
:16:13. > :16:23.time being, at least, are continuing to fund the arts as a
:16:23. > :16:24.
:16:24. > :16:29.way of supporting the economy. In my home town, the council puts just
:16:29. > :16:39.under �1 million every year into this iconic building. Despite the
:16:39. > :16:41.
:16:41. > :16:47.fact that they need to make cutbacks. We attract about 40,000
:16:47. > :16:51.each year. To Middlesbrough. And, of course, this visitors spent
:16:51. > :16:56.Monday and they often stay overnight, in hotels and supporting
:16:56. > :17:02.the economy. That is why the council invested. As well as
:17:02. > :17:09.wanting to change the image of the town. Why can't you stand on your
:17:09. > :17:14.own fate? Museums and galleries rarely do. We can look at ways to
:17:14. > :17:23.earn income. The bottom line is, if you want an institution of this
:17:23. > :17:26.picture, there is public money to pay. But back in Newcastle, the
:17:26. > :17:31.council leader says there is no alternative, faced, as he is, with
:17:31. > :17:35.a �100 million cut to services overall. It has embroiled him in a
:17:35. > :17:39.row about dodgy figures and political posturing. How do you
:17:39. > :17:42.feel about coming into a place like this knowing you are the man in
:17:42. > :17:47.control and that will not have as much money? I have a job as a
:17:47. > :17:51.leader of the council. Banishing the council and leading the city
:17:51. > :17:56.through the most difficult time in its history. I share the anger that
:17:56. > :18:01.a lot of people have expressed. The people that have been raising
:18:01. > :18:06.concerns, they have the wrong target. The only thing I can think
:18:06. > :18:12.of, if it isn't sheer physical incompetence, is they are trying to
:18:12. > :18:16.create a political platform in which to bash the Coalition and it
:18:16. > :18:21.has backfired because he cannot play politics with the city's
:18:21. > :18:27.culture. A are you tried to get political attention? We are
:18:27. > :18:30.illustrating the effects of the austerity. We are showing what they
:18:30. > :18:34.mean over the next three years in Newcastle. Other areas are not
:18:34. > :18:42.planning as much as us and we are illustrating what will happen and
:18:42. > :18:46.other councils will be in this position, I have no doubt.
:18:46. > :18:51.councils have got tough choices but as often happens, when in the
:18:51. > :18:56.throes of a crisis, that is when the innovative thinking comes out
:18:56. > :19:00.and some of the things you would not have thought of before felt
:19:00. > :19:06.unthinkable, when the other option is just nuclear, this brings out
:19:06. > :19:10.those kinds of options and that kind of thinking. That thinking has
:19:10. > :19:15.led to a glimmer of hope. Four days ago the council and art dealers met
:19:15. > :19:20.to agree to look for a Plan B. But council budgets for everything from
:19:20. > :19:26.care homes to holes in the road on under real pressure. The arts are
:19:26. > :19:33.not alone. And until that is sorted, it means the funding for services
:19:33. > :19:37.such as those that help should the country of the set -- the city,
:19:37. > :19:45.Newcastle is unlikely to be the last sacrificing its arts. Most
:19:45. > :19:48.councils are stuck between a big rock and it very hard place. Every
:19:48. > :19:54.time it snows, the headlines are the same. Nightmare journeys to
:19:54. > :20:00.work, schools closed and even the odd power cut. For decades the
:20:00. > :20:10.stories don't seem to have changed. But maybe help is at hand, thanks
:20:10. > :20:13.
:20:13. > :20:21.to one man. Waking up to snow, we have had three inches on low
:20:21. > :20:30.ground... We can see problems on the road start macro the
:20:31. > :20:35.temperature, minus two degrees and Coulter on the hills. -- coulter.
:20:35. > :20:43.- colder. The Great British winter. And the great, long-suffering
:20:43. > :20:47.British public living with it. For some of us, it's no big deal.
:20:47. > :20:53.little bit of snow and everybody goes to pieces. Why can't we Cup?
:20:53. > :20:57.For others it can be rather more serious. I am annoyed and angry for
:20:58. > :21:03.the sake of some great, I cannot get about. Totally helpless. Some
:21:03. > :21:13.of us even make a living from it. I'm trying to deliver the bad
:21:13. > :21:22.
:21:22. > :21:30.forecast with a smile, like some For three of the last four winters,
:21:30. > :21:35.we've had to relearn what previous generations knew all too well.
:21:35. > :21:39.it is Siberia... I have stepped on to the cab of the story and there
:21:39. > :21:43.is no way of telling how did the snow is Bennett. It has to be at
:21:43. > :21:48.least 15 feet. Of course, they would remind you that they had it
:21:48. > :21:52.much harder. The whole lot froze solid and it took 80 men over one
:21:52. > :21:56.week to get them running. In 1947 and '63, we endured winters far
:21:57. > :22:04.worse than anything since. Today, with all our modern comforts,
:22:04. > :22:09.perhaps it does come as a bit more of a shock. As soon as there is
:22:09. > :22:12.some bad weather and rain, we all go to pot and I do not know why.
:22:12. > :22:21.But the things we complain about? Well, maybe they haven't changed
:22:21. > :22:27.that much. Getting around when there is no path. Bus services.
:22:27. > :22:32.Cancelled. I was in Finland and it was business as usual. I worry
:22:32. > :22:37.about older people were than anything else. I am surprised, to
:22:37. > :22:42.be honest. That they have as much done as they have before the
:22:42. > :22:47.cutbacks. So what could or should we be doing to make winter less
:22:47. > :22:52.disruptive? Meet Kevin. You won't have heard of him but he has a big
:22:52. > :23:00.say in how we tackle 21st century snow. With some very 21st century
:23:00. > :23:03.technology. We will see some snow melting... Kevin has just been
:23:03. > :23:06.appointed the Met Office's man on the ground for the North East. His
:23:06. > :23:08.job is to give bespoke weather forecasts to people like the
:23:08. > :23:16.emergency services and local authorities. And they can be very
:23:16. > :23:19.detailed indeed. This is right now, as it happens and if they want to
:23:19. > :23:23.see some particular show without will affect them in five minutes,
:23:23. > :23:27.they get that degree of notice. Council gritting and snow clearing
:23:27. > :23:33.costs tens of thousands a night. Kevin will advise them where and
:23:33. > :23:37.when to operate. We provide a dedicated service to the tames,
:23:37. > :23:41.telling them not just how much know there will be a but in detail what
:23:41. > :23:45.the surface temperature will be. There are sensors buried in the
:23:45. > :23:51.roads and based on that, we produce forecasts that predict the
:23:51. > :23:56.temperature of the concrete, which is crucial. The information is
:23:57. > :24:01.useful, twice a day, through from Kevin, we get and use that
:24:01. > :24:06.information in planning the day and for the days ahead. In the past we
:24:06. > :24:13.would have been gritting in a very ad hoc way but we just now go where
:24:13. > :24:20.we need to go. I am aware there geek! I love the snow and
:24:20. > :24:23.interesting weather. Being part of a team that helps to make a
:24:23. > :24:28.difference. A timely gritter might save your journey but it doesn't
:24:28. > :24:36.help when your train breaks down or points and power lines ice up. And
:24:36. > :24:39.that seems to happen every winter. Why? There have been delays and we
:24:39. > :24:43.apologise to passengers but at the same time, this isn't a problem
:24:43. > :24:47.relating to just the railway in Britain. We are working to get the
:24:47. > :24:52.best out of the infrastructure we have and in the meantime we appeal
:24:52. > :24:57.to passengers for patients and many have been very understanding and
:24:57. > :24:59.grateful that when other forms of transport have been unable to keep
:24:59. > :25:03.going, we have. For parents, another winter frustration. How
:25:04. > :25:12.does a bit of snow close the schools so easily? It didn't happen
:25:12. > :25:16.in our day. When I was younger he went to school knee-deep in snow.
:25:16. > :25:21.They did not close for anything. Now it is all health and safety and
:25:21. > :25:26.I don't know what that is. Would they rather have their children at
:25:26. > :25:30.home or in hospital? Because that is the way it will go, children
:25:30. > :25:36.will fall and break their legs and they're in Hospital and whose fault
:25:36. > :25:40.would it be? The teachers, yet again. Therefore, we err on the
:25:40. > :25:43.side of caution and make sure it is safe for children to be in school.
:25:43. > :25:48.Council workers clearing and gritting a footpath in Newcastle. A
:25:48. > :25:58.less common sight these days. But then, this is close to a hospital.
:25:58. > :26:04.Jimmy came to grief in a nearby park. I went for 100 yards and my
:26:04. > :26:09.legs completely went from below me. And there was no great, no lights.
:26:09. > :26:16.It was really bad. Public pathways, they should always be done. I am
:26:16. > :26:22.fairly fit. And I went down. I feel like I'm a burden. So is it time we
:26:22. > :26:25.found some of that old community spirit again? Ideally, if people
:26:25. > :26:30.could clear the areas in front of their own houses and flats, that
:26:30. > :26:35.would be a massive improvement. Not everybody can do that, so thinking
:26:35. > :26:41.about neighbours, I suppose, is the next step. Enlightened self-
:26:41. > :26:48.interest, really. Yes, it is very difficult to walk on the street.
:26:48. > :26:52.Would you be prepared to do that? It depends how cold it is! It is
:26:52. > :26:57.their pavement. If I want to park my car, they will tell me know.
:26:57. > :27:01.They think it is a pavement so they have to look after it. And as luck
:27:01. > :27:05.would have it, not a snowball's throw away. If you do it every
:27:05. > :27:11.single day, it doesn't get too bad. We started at the weekend and we
:27:11. > :27:18.have done it every single day. Good exercise as well. I understand that
:27:18. > :27:23.money is in short supply, so they cannot pay for everything. People
:27:23. > :27:26.do understand. To remain safe, we should do our own digging. If bad
:27:26. > :27:30.winters are making a comeback, we face a choice. In hard financial
:27:30. > :27:36.times, how much are we prepared to pay to combat the effects and how
:27:36. > :27:40.far are we ready to get stuck in ourselves? One thing seems clear.
:27:40. > :27:49.No matter how clever we think we are, Mother Nature tends to have
:27:49. > :27:55.the final say. Since 1963 and 1970 his time, weather forecasting has
:27:55. > :27:59.changed. -- 1979. But there is always that margin of error, for
:27:59. > :28:03.example, the wind direction over the Atlantic, that will influence
:28:03. > :28:13.how the weather behaves so the forecast is never 100% right, and
:28:13. > :28:13.
:28:13. > :28:23.it never will be. It's not as if we have not seen this before and we
:28:23. > :28:30.
:28:30. > :28:40.will be seeing it all again. Winter... That's it for tonight.