Browse content similar to 28/01/2013. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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In the next half-hour, as Cumbria's biggest decision in decades looms, | :00:06. | :00:09. | |
we ask, can the county afford to say no to the nuclear waste | :00:09. | :00:14. | |
bonanza? If it was not for the nuclear industry in this part of | :00:14. | :00:19. | |
the world, we probably would not exist. | :00:19. | :00:22. | |
D arts world in Newcastle faces the biggest financial chill, but should | :00:22. | :00:30. | |
we be subsidising a trip to the theatre? I think we will start to | :00:30. | :00:32. | |
see a real waste land. The tumbleweed will blow up the | :00:32. | :00:35. | |
cultural streets. And it has been a wipe-out - we | :00:36. | :00:40. | |
meet the man predicting the weather's worst. I always try and | :00:41. | :00:44. | |
deliver a bad forecast with a smile on my face. | :00:44. | :00:48. | |
* is from the heart of the north- east and Cumbria. This is Inside | :00:48. | :00:58. | |
:00:58. | :01:03. | ||
Out. Cumbria could be about to press its | :01:03. | :01:07. | |
nuclear button. The county is on the brink of deciding whether it | :01:07. | :01:12. | |
wants to be the place Britain berries high-level waste. Say yes | :01:12. | :01:16. | |
could attract huge sums of money for community projects, but should | :01:16. | :01:20. | |
that influence a decision that the county will have to live with for | :01:20. | :01:29. | |
hundreds of thousands of years? It is the stuff no one else wants | :01:29. | :01:34. | |
bash out toxic high-level nuclear waste that can remain radioactive | :01:34. | :01:37. | |
for a generation upon generation. This is the stuff that fuels the | :01:37. | :01:41. | |
power stations that provide the energy we all need. But it is | :01:41. | :01:46. | |
radioactive and has no permanent home. At the moment, it is filling | :01:46. | :01:50. | |
up this overground store. He is dead, the Government wants the | :01:50. | :01:54. | |
waste buried deep underground, and Cumbria is the only county | :01:54. | :01:58. | |
considering building the facility, the size of a small city. This | :01:58. | :02:03. | |
massive decision comes down to just 24 people on three councils, | :02:03. | :02:08. | |
falafel, Copeland and the county council. So who are they? What do | :02:08. | :02:12. | |
we know about them? How impartial are they, and what are the | :02:12. | :02:14. | |
pressures on them at this crucial time? | :02:14. | :02:19. | |
You don't have to look far to see how dominant the industry is to the | :02:19. | :02:23. | |
local economy. The West Lakes Academy in Egremont is sponsored by | :02:23. | :02:27. | |
Sellafield. We asked the maths teachers here to work out the | :02:27. | :02:31. | |
percentage of year 7 pupils who have a parent who works in the | :02:31. | :02:38. | |
nuclear sector. OK, year seven - on your marks, get set, go! It is a | :02:38. | :02:43. | |
whopping 41% of this year group. And in a few years, some of those | :02:43. | :02:48. | |
pupils could well be here, a training centre preparing a new | :02:48. | :02:51. | |
crop of workers for Sellafield. They are excited about the | :02:51. | :02:57. | |
underground store. You feel lucky to be in this position. A lot of | :02:57. | :03:02. | |
people want to be where I am. could not name one of my friends | :03:02. | :03:05. | |
who does not know somebody who works at Sellafield. In a small | :03:05. | :03:09. | |
community like this, it is what we need. It is great to have all the | :03:10. | :03:13. | |
young people coming through her. There are not many other places to | :03:13. | :03:18. | |
work around here. We need it. know we have a job for life as long | :03:18. | :03:25. | |
as we do well. It gives people my age a chance to learn skills. | :03:25. | :03:27. | |
Professor John Fyfe says a waste store would help attract more | :03:27. | :03:35. | |
business to the county. There are 1300 to 1000 �500 billion worth of | :03:35. | :03:40. | |
work globally. When I have travelled the world, if you ask | :03:40. | :03:44. | |
people, whereas the nuclear excellence in Britain? They say | :03:44. | :03:48. | |
Sellafield, West Cumbria. So we should be able to help create new | :03:48. | :03:55. | |
wealth creation opportunities, new jobs for people in West Cumbria. | :03:55. | :03:58. | |
The 24 councillors will be in no doubt just how big a player of the | :03:58. | :04:03. | |
nuclear industry is here. It is the lifeblood of this remote area. It | :04:03. | :04:07. | |
is a tight-knit community, and the nuclear industry is like a web that | :04:07. | :04:12. | |
has connections across the whole area. It provides employment for | :04:12. | :04:17. | |
over 26,000 workers in the north- west. The Sellafield operation had | :04:17. | :04:22. | |
pays out �365 million in wages, and contributes over �2 billion to the | :04:22. | :04:26. | |
county's economy. It is not just the wages from Sellafield that puts | :04:26. | :04:32. | |
money in the pockets of thousands of Cumbrians. The county already | :04:32. | :04:37. | |
has a nuclear waste store. This is on the outskirts of Drigg, and it | :04:37. | :04:40. | |
is where the low-level waste is brought. For having this in their | :04:40. | :04:45. | |
back garden, Cumbria is given �1.5 million a year by the Government. | :04:45. | :04:48. | |
The Copeland Community Fund provides a link between the nuclear | :04:48. | :04:53. | |
industry and charities to benefit from grants, like the Greenbank | :04:53. | :04:58. | |
Community Association in Whitehaven. They have been doing arts and | :04:58. | :05:05. | |
crafts. There is a football table, a pool table, general toys. 40% of | :05:05. | :05:09. | |
its funding comes from nuclear sources. Her without funding from | :05:09. | :05:15. | |
the nuclear industry, there would not be a centre. There would be no | :05:15. | :05:22. | |
play area. My grandad worked here for 48 years. He worked underground. | :05:22. | :05:27. | |
The Hague bit in Whitehaven more, once the main employer in this area, | :05:27. | :05:32. | |
is also benefiting from the fund. It is helping with the �2.4 million | :05:32. | :05:36. | |
redevelopment. It will be a wonderful resource for the area, a | :05:36. | :05:40. | |
place where schools can visit and people can look up their family | :05:40. | :05:44. | |
history. You will be able to have a cup of tea and a bum. So you have | :05:44. | :05:48. | |
no qualms about taking money from the nuclear side? Absolutely not. | :05:48. | :05:52. | |
If it was not for the nuclear industry in this part of the world, | :05:52. | :05:58. | |
we would not exist. And up the road, another beneficiary, this time the | :05:58. | :06:02. | |
Rosehill Theatre in Moresby, undergoing a fourth �0.5 million | :06:02. | :06:06. | |
refurbishment. Nearly half the cash is coming from nuclear money. | :06:06. | :06:10. | |
a feature of the area and implement in the area. The money from those | :06:10. | :06:14. | |
sources does a great deal of good to the area and allows us to do | :06:14. | :06:17. | |
things we would not be in a position to do otherwise. And the | :06:17. | :06:23. | |
sums of money we are receiving is very high. And that cash is just | :06:23. | :06:28. | |
from the Government. An extra �4.5 million comes from the three firms | :06:28. | :06:33. | |
that won the Sellafield site. Have the money is spent in the area, | :06:33. | :06:37. | |
like �90,000 for the Workington and St Bees lifeboat. It is not to | :06:37. | :06:41. | |
curry favour, it is recognising that there are impacts from the | :06:41. | :06:45. | |
nuclear industry on any committee. In our case, it is around | :06:45. | :06:49. | |
decommissioning. The money is to mitigate against those impacts. | :06:49. | :06:53. | |
is this just a local business doing the right thing, supporting their | :06:53. | :06:58. | |
community? Or is the relationship or a little too close? Critics say | :06:58. | :07:03. | |
the financial benefits that could be on offer Forest storm mean it is | :07:03. | :07:10. | |
already a done deal. The was a meeting consisting of members of | :07:10. | :07:13. | |
the Council and the industry. We have got the minutes here. They | :07:13. | :07:17. | |
assume that West Cumbria would be a willing committee to host the dump. | :07:17. | :07:24. | |
And the fact that they can make that assumption is extraordinary. I | :07:24. | :07:30. | |
think the whole thing is a bit too cosy. But the local MP, a former | :07:30. | :07:33. | |
Sellafield press officer, is confident that councillors will | :07:33. | :07:37. | |
take the decision on safety and environment as well as economic | :07:37. | :07:43. | |
benefits. It has never been a done deal. To imply or suggest it is a | :07:43. | :07:49. | |
done deal implies that people want this, whatever the environmental | :07:49. | :07:54. | |
cost. That is fantasy. The process we have now has taken a decade to | :07:54. | :07:59. | |
bring into being. It is a fair and transparent and accountable process. | :08:00. | :08:05. | |
And I think those concerns are unfounded on any logical basis of | :08:05. | :08:09. | |
fact. A sow the links in our web are far reaching. There is a big | :08:09. | :08:13. | |
economic pressure on our 24 decision-makers, and some of them | :08:13. | :08:17. | |
have even closer links to the industry. County councillors Tim | :08:17. | :08:21. | |
Knowles and Tony marquee and leader of Copeland council Elaine Woodburn | :08:21. | :08:26. | |
of all board members of the Copeland Community fund that hands | :08:26. | :08:30. | |
out �1.5 million a year. Tim Knowles worked at Sellafield. He | :08:30. | :08:34. | |
was head of corporate affairs. Tony Markley was at the meeting in 2008 | :08:34. | :08:40. | |
which claimed West Cumbria was willing. So, can they truly be | :08:40. | :08:44. | |
independent when it comes to forming a view? I wanted to ask | :08:44. | :08:48. | |
them some questions, but Tim Knowles and Tony Markley refused my | :08:48. | :08:52. | |
requests in the run-up to the big decision later this week. In a | :08:52. | :09:02. | |
:09:02. | :09:08. | ||
statement, the county council And Elaine Woodburn sees no | :09:08. | :09:13. | |
conflict of interest. The Copeland Community fund is totally different | :09:13. | :09:16. | |
from the process. I have never worked within the nuclear industry. | :09:16. | :09:21. | |
I represent this community. I was born and bred here. I have family | :09:21. | :09:25. | |
here now and in the future, and if anybody thinks I would take a | :09:25. | :09:30. | |
decision that would do anything to harm that, I find that insulting. | :09:30. | :09:33. | |
Councillors have already asked for more time to consider their | :09:33. | :09:37. | |
decision. They have had an extra three months to mullet over. The | :09:37. | :09:42. | |
stakes could not be higher. The Government has no plan B for the | :09:42. | :09:45. | |
nuclear store. The counsellors can choose to stop the plans in their | :09:45. | :09:51. | |
tracks right now, or go to the next stage. It is crucial. In two days' | :09:51. | :09:56. | |
time, we will hear the answer. The big decision is due on | :09:56. | :10:01. | |
Wednesday. You can tune in to BBC Radio Cumbria to hear the outcome | :10:01. | :10:07. | |
as soon as it is announced. Another important decision is being | :10:07. | :10:12. | |
made, this time in Newcastle, where the city council plans to scrap | :10:12. | :10:17. | |
under the theatres and arts venues. So the question is, should | :10:17. | :10:20. | |
taxpayers subsidise night out? The council says it needs the cash for | :10:21. | :10:26. | |
more vital services, but is there more at stake than the price of the | :10:26. | :10:36. | |
:10:36. | :10:46. | ||
front row seat? It is truly a winter of discontent. | :10:46. | :10:51. | |
A planned freezing council subsidy Bretons a bleak future for many | :10:51. | :11:01. | |
:11:01. | :11:05. | ||
arts venues across Newcastle. Late last year, the authority he | :11:05. | :11:08. | |
announced that it was cutting all funding to arts organisations | :11:08. | :11:13. | |
across the city. It said it had no choice because of the government | :11:13. | :11:16. | |
cutbacks, but it has unleashed a storm of protest from those who | :11:16. | :11:21. | |
feel it will destroy the cultural life in the City and lead to an | :11:21. | :11:31. | |
:11:31. | :11:39. | ||
Each week, 6000 tubs of ice-cream a producer. This is the first winter | :11:39. | :11:48. | |
we have been open. And then, can send here. We have managed to keep | :11:48. | :11:55. | |
open this winter but the contract - - because of the contract with the | :11:55. | :12:05. | |
:12:05. | :12:11. | ||
Theatre Royal. I would be devastated. For every �1 that is | :12:11. | :12:20. | |
invested, in the funding, we put �5 back into the economy. That's one | :12:20. | :12:25. | |
of the key arguments for not cutting funding. If the funding is | :12:25. | :12:32. | |
cut, the knock-on impact could be disastrous. The council is looking | :12:32. | :12:38. | |
to cut a total of �1.2 million worth of subsidies to the city's | :12:38. | :12:46. | |
cultural venues. That is everything. 100%. But there is more. The | :12:46. | :12:56. | |
:12:56. | :13:02. | ||
museums are you losing 50%. And 10 libraries could close. It has made | :13:02. | :13:09. | |
some Geordie A-listers miserable. Lee Hall, the Newcastle born writer | :13:09. | :13:17. | |
of Billy Elliott, says the public are being ripped off. A things will | :13:17. | :13:22. | |
start to close. We will see a wasteland starting. The tumble | :13:22. | :13:28. | |
weeds blowing up the streets. Our theatre companies produce work on | :13:28. | :13:37. | |
an international scale. Last year I was on Broadway. If you get the | :13:37. | :13:42. | |
strong, you screw up lies for everybody and this is a central | :13:42. | :13:52. | |
part of the economic prosperity. Never mind control prosperity. | :13:52. | :13:56. | |
hall thinks these cuts but the cultural life of Newcastle in real | :13:56. | :14:03. | |
danger. But there is another way of looking at these figures. The cuts | :14:03. | :14:08. | |
are a serious but they represent no more than 15% of the turnover at | :14:08. | :14:17. | |
the city's venues. None of them say they have to close.. And don't | :14:17. | :14:19. | |
forget, most also receive public money from the Arts Council, which | :14:19. | :14:24. | |
is spending �12 million a year in Newcastle alone. And it has led | :14:24. | :14:27. | |
some to ask, if this cinema operates without a grant, why not | :14:27. | :14:32. | |
this place? And if this Newcastle theatre can survive without council | :14:33. | :14:35. | |
subsidy, then why not here, which attracts more than 300,000 people | :14:35. | :14:43. | |
each year? They do need to be viable businesses. They shouldn't | :14:43. | :14:53. | |
:14:53. | :14:54. | ||
just look to taxpayers to bail them out. Why does this place deserve | :14:54. | :15:00. | |
funding? It enables an organisation like ourselves to have a programme | :15:00. | :15:05. | |
that was popular and allows us to ensure it is of real quality. To | :15:05. | :15:11. | |
make sure ticket prices are accessible. He a castle isn't the | :15:11. | :15:14. | |
only place where venues have been learning to cope without council | :15:14. | :15:20. | |
money.. Somerset has already introduced 100 cuts for its venues. | :15:20. | :15:28. | |
It had a huge impact on places like this. It was a big shock. I cried | :15:28. | :15:33. | |
the next day. How are we going to get through this? The first thing | :15:33. | :15:38. | |
we lost was the staff. We have had to be much more businesslike in the | :15:38. | :15:44. | |
way we run. And the programming has changed. We try not to change it | :15:45. | :15:49. | |
drastically but we have not been able to do the more challenging | :15:49. | :15:57. | |
work. We have safer, classic shows. So the audiences will grow and the | :15:57. | :16:05. | |
end, also. So we can be viable and not reliant on grants and handouts. | :16:05. | :16:10. | |
Somerset and Newcastle are the exceptions. Other councils, for the | :16:10. | :16:13. | |
time being, at least, are continuing to fund the arts as a | :16:13. | :16:23. | |
:16:23. | :16:24. | ||
way of supporting the economy. In my home town, the council puts just | :16:24. | :16:29. | |
under �1 million every year into this iconic building. Despite the | :16:29. | :16:39. | |
:16:39. | :16:41. | ||
fact that they need to make cutbacks. We attract about 40,000 | :16:41. | :16:47. | |
each year. To Middlesbrough. And, of course, this visitors spent | :16:47. | :16:51. | |
Monday and they often stay overnight, in hotels and supporting | :16:51. | :16:56. | |
the economy. That is why the council invested. As well as | :16:56. | :17:02. | |
wanting to change the image of the town. Why can't you stand on your | :17:02. | :17:09. | |
own fate? Museums and galleries rarely do. We can look at ways to | :17:09. | :17:14. | |
earn income. The bottom line is, if you want an institution of this | :17:14. | :17:23. | |
picture, there is public money to pay. But back in Newcastle, the | :17:23. | :17:26. | |
council leader says there is no alternative, faced, as he is, with | :17:26. | :17:31. | |
a �100 million cut to services overall. It has embroiled him in a | :17:31. | :17:35. | |
row about dodgy figures and political posturing. How do you | :17:35. | :17:39. | |
feel about coming into a place like this knowing you are the man in | :17:39. | :17:42. | |
control and that will not have as much money? I have a job as a | :17:42. | :17:47. | |
leader of the council. Banishing the council and leading the city | :17:47. | :17:51. | |
through the most difficult time in its history. I share the anger that | :17:51. | :17:56. | |
a lot of people have expressed. The people that have been raising | :17:56. | :18:01. | |
concerns, they have the wrong target. The only thing I can think | :18:01. | :18:06. | |
of, if it isn't sheer physical incompetence, is they are trying to | :18:06. | :18:12. | |
create a political platform in which to bash the Coalition and it | :18:12. | :18:16. | |
has backfired because he cannot play politics with the city's | :18:16. | :18:21. | |
culture. A are you tried to get political attention? We are | :18:21. | :18:27. | |
illustrating the effects of the austerity. We are showing what they | :18:27. | :18:30. | |
mean over the next three years in Newcastle. Other areas are not | :18:30. | :18:34. | |
planning as much as us and we are illustrating what will happen and | :18:34. | :18:42. | |
other councils will be in this position, I have no doubt. | :18:42. | :18:46. | |
councils have got tough choices but as often happens, when in the | :18:46. | :18:51. | |
throes of a crisis, that is when the innovative thinking comes out | :18:51. | :18:56. | |
and some of the things you would not have thought of before felt | :18:56. | :19:00. | |
unthinkable, when the other option is just nuclear, this brings out | :19:00. | :19:06. | |
those kinds of options and that kind of thinking. That thinking has | :19:06. | :19:10. | |
led to a glimmer of hope. Four days ago the council and art dealers met | :19:10. | :19:15. | |
to agree to look for a Plan B. But council budgets for everything from | :19:15. | :19:20. | |
care homes to holes in the road on under real pressure. The arts are | :19:20. | :19:26. | |
not alone. And until that is sorted, it means the funding for services | :19:26. | :19:33. | |
such as those that help should the country of the set -- the city, | :19:33. | :19:37. | |
Newcastle is unlikely to be the last sacrificing its arts. Most | :19:37. | :19:45. | |
councils are stuck between a big rock and it very hard place. Every | :19:45. | :19:48. | |
time it snows, the headlines are the same. Nightmare journeys to | :19:48. | :19:54. | |
work, schools closed and even the odd power cut. For decades the | :19:54. | :20:00. | |
stories don't seem to have changed. But maybe help is at hand, thanks | :20:00. | :20:10. | |
:20:10. | :20:13. | ||
to one man. Waking up to snow, we have had three inches on low | :20:13. | :20:21. | |
ground... We can see problems on the road start macro the | :20:21. | :20:30. | |
temperature, minus two degrees and Coulter on the hills. -- coulter. | :20:31. | :20:35. | |
- colder. The Great British winter. And the great, long-suffering | :20:35. | :20:43. | |
British public living with it. For some of us, it's no big deal. | :20:43. | :20:47. | |
little bit of snow and everybody goes to pieces. Why can't we Cup? | :20:47. | :20:53. | |
For others it can be rather more serious. I am annoyed and angry for | :20:53. | :20:57. | |
the sake of some great, I cannot get about. Totally helpless. Some | :20:58. | :21:03. | |
of us even make a living from it. I'm trying to deliver the bad | :21:03. | :21:13. | |
:21:13. | :21:22. | ||
forecast with a smile, like some For three of the last four winters, | :21:22. | :21:30. | |
we've had to relearn what previous generations knew all too well. | :21:30. | :21:35. | |
it is Siberia... I have stepped on to the cab of the story and there | :21:35. | :21:39. | |
is no way of telling how did the snow is Bennett. It has to be at | :21:39. | :21:43. | |
least 15 feet. Of course, they would remind you that they had it | :21:43. | :21:48. | |
much harder. The whole lot froze solid and it took 80 men over one | :21:48. | :21:52. | |
week to get them running. In 1947 and '63, we endured winters far | :21:52. | :21:56. | |
worse than anything since. Today, with all our modern comforts, | :21:57. | :22:04. | |
perhaps it does come as a bit more of a shock. As soon as there is | :22:04. | :22:09. | |
some bad weather and rain, we all go to pot and I do not know why. | :22:09. | :22:12. | |
But the things we complain about? Well, maybe they haven't changed | :22:12. | :22:21. | |
that much. Getting around when there is no path. Bus services. | :22:21. | :22:27. | |
Cancelled. I was in Finland and it was business as usual. I worry | :22:27. | :22:32. | |
about older people were than anything else. I am surprised, to | :22:32. | :22:37. | |
be honest. That they have as much done as they have before the | :22:37. | :22:42. | |
cutbacks. So what could or should we be doing to make winter less | :22:42. | :22:47. | |
disruptive? Meet Kevin. You won't have heard of him but he has a big | :22:47. | :22:52. | |
say in how we tackle 21st century snow. With some very 21st century | :22:52. | :23:00. | |
technology. We will see some snow melting... Kevin has just been | :23:00. | :23:03. | |
appointed the Met Office's man on the ground for the North East. His | :23:03. | :23:06. | |
job is to give bespoke weather forecasts to people like the | :23:06. | :23:08. | |
emergency services and local authorities. And they can be very | :23:08. | :23:16. | |
detailed indeed. This is right now, as it happens and if they want to | :23:16. | :23:19. | |
see some particular show without will affect them in five minutes, | :23:19. | :23:23. | |
they get that degree of notice. Council gritting and snow clearing | :23:23. | :23:27. | |
costs tens of thousands a night. Kevin will advise them where and | :23:27. | :23:33. | |
when to operate. We provide a dedicated service to the tames, | :23:33. | :23:37. | |
telling them not just how much know there will be a but in detail what | :23:37. | :23:41. | |
the surface temperature will be. There are sensors buried in the | :23:41. | :23:45. | |
roads and based on that, we produce forecasts that predict the | :23:45. | :23:51. | |
temperature of the concrete, which is crucial. The information is | :23:51. | :23:56. | |
useful, twice a day, through from Kevin, we get and use that | :23:57. | :24:01. | |
information in planning the day and for the days ahead. In the past we | :24:01. | :24:06. | |
would have been gritting in a very ad hoc way but we just now go where | :24:06. | :24:13. | |
we need to go. I am aware there geek! I love the snow and | :24:13. | :24:20. | |
interesting weather. Being part of a team that helps to make a | :24:20. | :24:23. | |
difference. A timely gritter might save your journey but it doesn't | :24:23. | :24:28. | |
help when your train breaks down or points and power lines ice up. And | :24:28. | :24:36. | |
that seems to happen every winter. Why? There have been delays and we | :24:36. | :24:39. | |
apologise to passengers but at the same time, this isn't a problem | :24:39. | :24:43. | |
relating to just the railway in Britain. We are working to get the | :24:43. | :24:47. | |
best out of the infrastructure we have and in the meantime we appeal | :24:47. | :24:52. | |
to passengers for patients and many have been very understanding and | :24:52. | :24:57. | |
grateful that when other forms of transport have been unable to keep | :24:57. | :24:59. | |
going, we have. For parents, another winter frustration. How | :24:59. | :25:03. | |
does a bit of snow close the schools so easily? It didn't happen | :25:04. | :25:12. | |
in our day. When I was younger he went to school knee-deep in snow. | :25:12. | :25:16. | |
They did not close for anything. Now it is all health and safety and | :25:16. | :25:21. | |
I don't know what that is. Would they rather have their children at | :25:21. | :25:26. | |
home or in hospital? Because that is the way it will go, children | :25:26. | :25:30. | |
will fall and break their legs and they're in Hospital and whose fault | :25:30. | :25:36. | |
would it be? The teachers, yet again. Therefore, we err on the | :25:36. | :25:40. | |
side of caution and make sure it is safe for children to be in school. | :25:40. | :25:43. | |
Council workers clearing and gritting a footpath in Newcastle. A | :25:43. | :25:48. | |
less common sight these days. But then, this is close to a hospital. | :25:48. | :25:58. | |
Jimmy came to grief in a nearby park. I went for 100 yards and my | :25:58. | :26:04. | |
legs completely went from below me. And there was no great, no lights. | :26:04. | :26:09. | |
It was really bad. Public pathways, they should always be done. I am | :26:09. | :26:16. | |
fairly fit. And I went down. I feel like I'm a burden. So is it time we | :26:16. | :26:22. | |
found some of that old community spirit again? Ideally, if people | :26:22. | :26:25. | |
could clear the areas in front of their own houses and flats, that | :26:25. | :26:30. | |
would be a massive improvement. Not everybody can do that, so thinking | :26:30. | :26:35. | |
about neighbours, I suppose, is the next step. Enlightened self- | :26:35. | :26:41. | |
interest, really. Yes, it is very difficult to walk on the street. | :26:41. | :26:48. | |
Would you be prepared to do that? It depends how cold it is! It is | :26:48. | :26:52. | |
their pavement. If I want to park my car, they will tell me know. | :26:52. | :26:57. | |
They think it is a pavement so they have to look after it. And as luck | :26:57. | :27:01. | |
would have it, not a snowball's throw away. If you do it every | :27:01. | :27:05. | |
single day, it doesn't get too bad. We started at the weekend and we | :27:05. | :27:11. | |
have done it every single day. Good exercise as well. I understand that | :27:11. | :27:18. | |
money is in short supply, so they cannot pay for everything. People | :27:18. | :27:23. | |
do understand. To remain safe, we should do our own digging. If bad | :27:23. | :27:26. | |
winters are making a comeback, we face a choice. In hard financial | :27:26. | :27:30. | |
times, how much are we prepared to pay to combat the effects and how | :27:30. | :27:36. | |
far are we ready to get stuck in ourselves? One thing seems clear. | :27:36. | :27:40. | |
No matter how clever we think we are, Mother Nature tends to have | :27:40. | :27:49. | |
the final say. Since 1963 and 1970 his time, weather forecasting has | :27:49. | :27:55. | |
changed. -- 1979. But there is always that margin of error, for | :27:55. | :27:59. | |
example, the wind direction over the Atlantic, that will influence | :27:59. | :28:03. | |
how the weather behaves so the forecast is never 100% right, and | :28:03. | :28:13. | |
:28:13. | :28:13. | ||
it never will be. It's not as if we have not seen this before and we | :28:13. | :28:23. | |
:28:23. | :28:30. | ||
will be seeing it all again. Winter... That's it for tonight. | :28:30. | :28:40. |