22/09/2014 Inside Out North East and Cumbria

In the next half an hour, witness Durham's waste recycling

cowboys who use real cows to dispose of the evidence.

Cracking down on the rubbish rogues who cause a stink.

The stench was awful.

There was human rubbish.

It was like a bomb site.

Absolutely horrified.

How could this go on so close to home?

After Scotland's no vote, we discover a plan to help

the North stand up to the powerhouse of London.

We would really like to see national Government letting go.

Making sure cities can decide far more of how they spend monex

on transport, on houses and skills.

And we reveal how a Cumbrian helped the careers of the likes of

David Bowie and Sir John Gidlgud.

If you presented this to solebody unexpectedly,

they would never believe yot were getting these world`class n`mes

coming to a theatre on the outskirts of this arda.

I am Chris Jackson and this is Inside Out.

When have you ever seen cows being used to recycle waste?

Well, you will tonight, as we home in on the rubbish rogues

of the North East.

They dump waste illegally and pocket your money.

It is dangerous and it stinks.

On board with the Environment Agency, respondhng to

a tip`off about an illegal waste dump at Thornley in East Durham

We?re going to the site to find out exactly what is going on and

whether any environmental offences have been committed.

They've got police back`up in case things turn ugly.

Can we just have a word with your dad, please, if you don?t mhnd?

That's great.

Dad ` these dirty stinking BLEEP are back.

There?s millions of them.

Don?t want that camera here.

You?ve got no rights.

You?re on private property.

BLEEP with it.

So, for the time being, we?ll take our leave, but we will be b`ck.

The costs of setting up a dodgy skip business are low and the nulber

of illegal tips are on the tp.

Here's how it should work ? you hire a skip, fill it with rubbish,

it gets taken away.

And anything that can be recycled should be sorted ott.

So, got your plastic.

There's wood, cardboard, things like scrap metal.

Anything hazardous, like asbestos, has to be dealt with properly.

Anything else that's left over, well, that goes to landfill.

But there is a penalty ` 80 quid a time.

So, anything that can avoid payhng that

charge kind earns you big btcks

And that's where the rogues have spotted a nice little earner.

And there are rich pickings.

Criminals take your money and then dump illegally.

Well, it?s profitable, that?s certainly the main thing

and these people are greddy.

There?s no point us beating around the bush about it.

That?s why people commit crhme.

And waste disposal is very, very lucrative.

One gang made a mint through illegal tipping on an industrial sc`le.

For years, a firm called Albert Hill Skips ran a dodgy

operation in the North East.

They drew in trade by undercutting their competeitors.

Instead of doing everything by the book, they simply tipped evdrything

in their own illegal dump.

Tens of thousands of tonnes of waste brought to various sites

on the pretence of being recycled, but what we saw was that

the waste was being stockpiled.

It wasn?t processed at all, it was just left to rot

And all on the doorstep of local residents, like Al`n

and dozens more in Darlington.

It was like a bomb site, it was just full of rubbish.

The stench was awful and I got up here and it must have

been at least 7ft high.

There was tyres, there was rubbish, there was human rubbish and as I

say, the stench ` so what else was here, we don?t know.

But it looked like there was empty gas cylinders as well.

It was just like a bomb sitd.

Absolutely horrified, how could this happen so close to homds?

You are talking homes just 100 yards away.

And we were living next to a tip.

And just when the locals thought thex?d seen

it all, last year, this happened.

We?re faced with thousands of tonnes of waste material well

alight, thick black smoke bhllowing out, very difficult access.

We couldn?t get to it.

The smell was already bad but once the heat gets

into it, it gets even worse.

Flies, rats ` it?s probably one of the worst environments you could

think of for crews to work hn.

The fire burned for weeks and the site at Dodsworth Street

in Darlington was closed.

But these cowboys had other ways of dumping their rubbish.

They owned a farm in Bishop Auckland, where they scattered

hundreds of tonnes of waste.

They even used their own cattle to tread in waste

plasterboard brought in by the wagon load to this illegal site.

We?ll find out what happened when the law finally caught up with

Albert Hill Skips.

But first, things are hotting up at the illegal tip at Thornley.

There is clear evidence of general skip waste being brought

onto the site.

There is some smouldering hdaps where the waste has been set

on fire.

There's been heaps of ash.

There's general building construction waste,

there?s many tonnes here.

There?s what we can see on the surface and what we don?t know

yet is what?s buried underndath

The more clean waste, we can see.

Until that's removed, we won?t know.

Remember, the owners have no permits for any of this acthvity.

Dave's team are taking samples to establish where

the waste comes from.

Amongst the waste, there are documents which h`ve names

and addresses on for people.

We obviously need to go and speak to these people to

understand how the waste whhch apparently they had at one point

came to be here on`site tod`y.

And they're making some disturbing discoveries.

We have seen a small amount of waste which looks

like it could potentially bd cement bound asbestos and we?re taking

a sample of that. That will be sent off to the laboratory to confirm one

way or another if it is asbdstos.

Back to Albert Hill Skips.

You remember, the ones who gots cows to recycle their rubbish.

They had a huge illegal stockpile here at the Hackworth

Industrial Estate at Shildon.

There was thousands of tonnds of rotting, stinking waste.

It was the height of the buhlding.

It was as far out as the fence.

The smell, the flies, the r`ts, it was awful.

How did it affect your business, apart from the stink?

Well, it was going to cut our insurance basically bec`use

of the fire risk to the building.

And they came and said they wouldn?t insure us.

Because it kept catching fire next door?

It kept catching fire, time after time.

Fortunately for Alan and his colleagues, the law finally caught

up with their nightmare neighbours.

But Albert Hill Skips didn?t give up without a fight.

We were dealing with people who used legal delays and challenges

as a means to delay the enforcement action.

One of the Shepherds had been caught seven

times breaking bail conditions.

And, actually, as a result of that, he was remanded into custodx

and then spent time in prison.

That man is Raymond Shepherd ? he was jailed for 18 months

for breaching a raft of environmental regulations.

Raymond's brother and sons were given suspended sentences

for their part in the operation

Peter Foster, the owner of two of their sites and former director of

the skip hire firm, was madd to fork out hundreds of thousands of pounds

to clear the mess left behind.

The Shepherds are unlikely to ever legitimately work

in waste disposal again.

But residents who endured lhving next to

their illegal tips say it took far too long to bring them to book.

We had a major problem here, yet they still allowed it to go

on, and that to me beggars belief, how they were allowed to continue.

So, yeah, I?m bitter.

I am still bitter.

One of the big problems is if someone is adamant that they wish

to commit a crime, without powers of arrest, they can't

always be physically stopped.

And we do work as quickly as we possibly can to sort

of remediate these problems, but unfortunately, these things can t

always be rectified overnight.

Those who are unscrupulous will look to cut the corners.

So, yes, we do see an incre`se in the number of these illegal sites.

I would say we are actually putting a lot of resource and effort

into this, so the more you look the more you find

and we have to be aware of that

So do you want this rubbish moving?

Yes.

Back at the unlicenced tip at Thornley, the owners havd been

ordered to shift the rubbish they brought here.

It?ll cost them many thousands of pounds to do the job properly.

We have told the operator to stop, not to bring any more waste in.

And the next stage is for us to speak to them forlally

about what has happened to date

And the owner?s son, who?s now calmed down a bit, even wants

to tell his side of the story.

It was a surprise visit this morning.

Shocked when I saw all of the police vans, but it was just

the environment people, really.

I just didn?t have the permits to empty skips

on the ground and sort them on the ground, so I?ve been caught out

But what about the burning rubbish?

It was a fire caused by criminals out of the village

It was a group of kids who came and set the fire.

Waste crime is a serious problem.

It impacts on communities, it can damage the environment and

of course it undercuts legitimate business as well.

We?re determined to crack down on waste crime and that?s what

we're doing here today.

So, Scotland voted no, but the whole process ignited a debate here about

our place within the United Kingdom.

So, could a mega city from Newcastle to Liverpool rival the powerhouse

of London and lead to greatdr prosperity here in the North?

Some think we need to be radical in order to stave off further decline.

Toby Foster investigates.

London.

It's not just the capital of UK plc, it's a global hub that sucks in

the brightest and best from all over the world, as well as the n`tion.

But has it just become too big and powerful, leaving the North no

chance of ever catching up?

Whitehall feels very far reloved from cities around the country.

So is the North stuck on the slow train while

the capital just accelerates away?

Or are there signs of a fightback?

Are we starting to generate the jobs needed to keep

our brightest and best from heading to the already overheated c`pital?

It?s morning rush hour, and I?m joining commuters

in Newcastle upon Tyne.

I'm about to board a train to make a journey which, for many pdople,

is a symbol of the yawning gap between the North and London.

I've joined Maurice Duffy, CEO of Blackswan, an international business

consultancy based on the Tyne.

Today he's off to Manchester to launch a new book.

How long does it take?

Anything between 235, 245 mhnutes.

That?s if it?s on time of course and it doesn?t get delayed

along the way.

I'm guessing you could get to London in much the same time.

I do Newcastle to London twhce a week, and I can do that

in 245 to three hours.

And that's an extra 120 miles longer.

It's unbelieveable.

So we're chugging along on our trans`Pennine journex,

but many feel transport is just symbol of what's holding us back.

People across the North were asked whether

they agreed that the Governlent and Parliament were responsive to issues

in their home towns and cithes.

Manchester was most positivd, with 21% agreeing.

In Sheffield, that figure dropped to just 7%.

Liverpool and Leeds were only marginally more positive at 8%.

And in Hull and Newcastle, the number was 14%.

That?s how little the North reckons London cares

about how we prosper up herd.

The Centre for Cities is an influential think

tank that lobbies Government.

I've come to meet its chief executive to find out how

you go about bridging the g`p between London and the North.

If you talk to business, thdy say, well, if it's not London,

it's New York.

We want all the investment to come to the UK.

Usually, if you have a big capital chty like

London, the second`tier cithes are a certain size, about half thd size.

Actually, our second`tier chties, Leeds, Manchester, they are a bit

smaller than you would expect.

So what we would like to see is not London shrinking,

we would like to see the second`tier cities get that bit bigger so

their economies are really booming.

So is enough being done to rebalance England's economy?

Around three quarters of people in Leeds and Newcastle belidve that

the location of Parliament in Westminster means political

decisions are too London`focused compared to the rest of the UK.

We would really like to see national Governlent

letting go so that cities c`n decide far more on how they spend loney

on transport, how they spend money on how houses and skills.

And if you're looking for evidence of bias in favour

of the capital, just hop on a bus.

Spending on public transport in London amounts to ?5,000 per head.

In the regions, it?s just ?699.

That's over seven times higher.

Which leads many Northerners to question the sense of spendhng

tens of billions on HS2 onlx to get people to London even qticker.

Especially when you?re stuck on the slow train.

At the minute, it takes the same amount of time to

get from London to Newcastld as Manchester to Newcastle.

That is crazy.

People travel between those cities of time for work and business.

It should be faster.

If you look at Manchester and Leeds and add them together you gdt

an area which really does compete with London in terms of poptlation.

Getting Manchester, Leeds, Sheffield, Liverpool and Hull

linked up better, better tr`nsport, that is very important.

They have responded to a challenge set by

the Chancellor to get them competing more effectively with London.

The cities wanted a 15 year transport infrastructure

plan

with ?1 billion annual budgdt.

It is great that the five cities have come together

producing a single plan chiling with the vision that I set out

of a northern powerhouse.

Cynics might say it is easy to have a plan

so close to a general electhon.

The Scottish independence voters highlighted a disparity which is

not just between London and the rest.

Yorkshire and the Humber has a population equivalent to Scotland.

Greater Manchester has almost the same as the whole of Wales.

Tyne Wear is almost as big as Northern Ireland.

And yet none of these English regions have got the same ldvels

of autonomy that the devolved nations have.

Many people think it is time that changed.

But back on the slow train, it could be decades before there is

any real sign of change.

We got on the train at six linutes past eight, almost two hours to

get from Newcastle to Leeds and we have had to get on and off trains.

Yes, at York the train was cancelled

We hopped off and waited with other passengers

for another Manchester servhce.

20 minutes later, and we ard on this train, heading for Manchestdr.

Eventually.

Look, this is not some northern whinge.

Nobody actually believes thd streets of London are paved with gold.

Believe it or not, some people want to move up north.

That is what has happened hdre at the advanced manufacturing park

on the border between Sheffheld and Rotherham.

It has attracted 200 businesses some small, and some not so small.

The park is a real, innovative environmdnt.

You are looking at this reghon,

manufacturing is as at a 28 year high.

Performance Engineering Solttions was started by Mike Maddock,

an ex`Formula One racing team engineer

and entrepreneur from the south

He hopes to expand fivefold in the next few years.

If he can get the staff.

Today, his design team is working on a new high`tech golf putter

and a factory cooling unit,

as well as a gearbox for a wheelchair.

70% of their design commisshons are for overseas clients.

This ?90,000 racing bike and this ultralight pedal bhke

were both designed here.

We are seeing massive changds in the last 12 months in terms

of demands on us as a busindss and how that is changing.

And how companies are approaching innovation.

There has been a drain to the south.

And also out of the UK.

We need to stop that.

I came up north because there were more opportunitids.

And the different type of lhfestyle.

London is very busy and verx big.

I am one mile down the road.

It is great I can be close to home and be able to apply the sale skill

set and not move further afheld

I looked at America, India and China had one point.

There is a shortage of engineers and the skills gap is one of thd things,

not just a problem with us but the UK

and unless we can reverse that trend...

We have been travelling for two hours and 45 minutes

and we sat outside Manchestdr and we do not know why.

This train is travelling at an average of 60 mph.

That is a third as quickly as the one getting us

from London to the continent.

Finally, journey's end and time to say farewell to Morris, back

on the same slow train very soon.

It gives me a chance to see an example of how moving out

of London can create thousands of jobs and hundreds of millions

of pounds in investment.

It was such an opportunity they even moved the

most famous street in the country three miles, just to be herd.

The BBC and ITV have, we have got two big brands `nd the

university as well and they have helped bring those small and medium

enterprises and create that hub

Media City is a 200 acre site, straddling the canal

between Salford and Trafford.

It is said to be the biggest facility of its type in Europe.

It came about following the political dechsion to

move jobs away from London.

But this is just one small part of the jigsaw.

It will take a lot more polhtical will to move power and monex

from London to the north

and enable the great cities to compete with the capital

on anything like an equal footing.

Scotland might have said no to independence,

but will gain even greater powers.

And south of the border, that has not gone unnoticed.

Now, what links David Bowie, Peggy Ashcroft and John Gielgud

with hundreds of factory workers in West Cumbria?

To find the answer to this remarkable bit of history,

we start with a trip to the cinema.

Starting in 1957 with a disused school,

the first girls, daughters of coal miners are trained as weavers.

That is the silk mills.

And that is a loom.

Today there are 15,000 women and girls working here.

I was a winder, winding the pern that went into the shuttle.

And then running around the looms and collecting

the empty ones, filling thel up

Kept very busy.

She was one of 500 workers, silk girls, employees at

West Cumberland silk mills.

What was it like working in the mill?

Very noisy.

It was enjoyable.

It was not just a job.

It was something that you took pride in,

because the fabrics were fabulous.

And it was like an honour, really to work there.

You could see all the hairstyles.

Looked like you definitely pulled out all the stops.

I think I am coming up soon.

The owner of the mill was a flamboyant Hungarian

called Miki Sekers, later, Sir Miki.

Once met and never forgotten.

He fancied himself as the m`estro of the whole thing.

Which he was, really.

He walked around with a black cape on, which

I thought was quite wonderftl.

In Great Britain, and also the fact that he had this very thick accent.

Miki and his partner, Tomi de Gara, were part of the group of E`stern

Europeans setting up shop hdre.

The mill initially made parachutes for the war effort.

And later the silk was bought by top designers, like Christian

Dior and Pierre Cardin.

High fashion had arrived in West Cumbria.

Sometimes we had a fashion show and the models would come and we

would stop all of the looms and the models would show the clothes

that the fabrics were made of.

This is where the looms oncd clattered together to produce that

beautiful, much sought after silk.

Today there is little evidence of the factory that once employed

around 500 people but Miki Sekers has left

a lasting legacy just up thd road.

Family pressure made Miki join the textile business.

But his real passion was thd arts.

And not content with just ptrchasing a ticket, he built a theatrd near

Whitehaven and not surprisingly inside I find his silk on the walls.

Some people refer to it as the jewel box.

Why is that?

Because of this beautiful ddsign.

It is a very intimate design.

It was by a chap called Oliver, who was a great and very distinguished

stage designer in the early`mid 20th century.

Miki knew him well and he invited him to come

and design this jewel box.

A beautiful jewel box.

A massive product but can you ever envisage this bankrolldd today?

To start something like this from scratch with

the quality performers he attracted in the early 60s `nd after

it opened and in fact throughout the 60s would be quite a ch`llenge.

It was a concentration that he achieved in any one season, he would

have some exceptional performance.

One after the other.

The opening night was a glamorous, star`studded affair.

Dame Peggy Ashcroft opened proceedings before a concert

by the London Mozart Players.

Other big names would follow.

How and why he latched on to me and jazz...

It has always made me giggld.

SHE LAUGHS

Like that.

Every time I think of him.

The jazz legend, Cleo Laine and her late husband Johnny Dankworth

were regulars at Rosehill concerts and pl`ys.

She was a Cinderella from the southern states.

It was a wonderful time, re`lly

And the Cumbrian theatre provided the inspiration for her own venue,

The Stables.

Now a famous jazz venue.

The theatre's fascinating hhstory is being catalogued

at the records office in Whhtehaven.

It is a treasure trove of the great and good that came to Rosehhll.

There is also someone from the 0s and they went on to superst`rdom.

Absolutely.

Quite unexpected, appearing in Whitehaven.

No less a person than David Bowie.

This is in 1968.

Where he is appearing as part of a mime and dance perform`nce

With two others.

And apparently he wrote the music for this, which is

obviously well before Ziggy Stardust.

We have got a lot of correspondence, programmes and photographs.

This letter here, we saw the programme for Dame Myra Hess.

She was very famous, especi`lly for her wartime concerts.

And she wanted somebody to turn the pages of the music over for her

Of course!

And the agent said that she would like a turner over for the recitals.

She asked for a good`looking young man with unshakeable nerve

and very long arms.

The names from the archive keep coming.

Here we have Benjamin Brittdn himself.

And he appeared at Rosehill in the 1961`1962 season.

And no less a man than John Gielgud.

Appearing in a one`man show.

Doing Shakespeare's The Ages Of Man.

It must be surreal to see the scale and the level of performance

that actually came here.

I think if you presented thhs collection to somebody unexpectedly,

they would never believe th`t it was actually true.

That you were getting these world`class names coming to

a theatre on the outskirts of Whitehaven.

It would just seem incongruous.

And that is why the collection is important.

And really to show in that magic period, 1950s, 19 0s,

what happened in this area.

Without a rich benefactor like Miki, today the theatrd is

in desperate need of investlent

It needs a bit of TLC.

I think it needs quite considerable TLC.

But there is a plan.

There is a ?4 million plan

to substantially redevelop `ll of Rosehill.

And to restore and keep the jewel in the crown very much the same

as it is.

And to redevelop the theatrd and barn.

There is still the small matter of half a million to raise

and then the builders can move in.

Hopefully at the end of the year.

We have got a couple of othdr applications in process, and if

they are successful they will raise 2.6 million necessary to do the

first phase, which is the theatre.

And that means a scene change for these rare pictures

by the theatre designer, Olhver Messel.

They are being packed up ahdad of the builders arriving.

They are returning to the theatre and

the performance department `rchive.

And like actors they will rdst for a while.

And when Rosehill reopens, we will be choosing another

selection from the 10,000 objects that we have got in the collection.

The second phase of development will invite Cumbrians

to have a stake in Rosehill.

I take it you are calling on local people for help.

There is a real chance that local people will be able to invest their

own money into the second phase

I see it as akin to something like the Jon Lewis partnership.

The community having a stakd in the theatre

and its well`being and development.

It is central to what we want Rosehill to be today.

Its origins were for the colmunity, maybe not with the communitx owning

the theatre but certainly the intention was that it would be

available to the community.

Miki was a one`off.

He created this lovely theatre for local people.

Now in the next chapter of this theatre, those people could

become a part owners, helping to secure it for future generations.

Well, I think he would have approved.

What an amazing story.

Well, that is it for this wdek but you can always get in touch go

to the website for contact details.

Next week, I get up close and personal with plutonium.

As Sellafield looks to a new nuclear future.

So I will see you next Mond`y.

Until then, from Darlington, good night.

Hello, I'm Sam Naz with your 90-second update.

14-year-old Alice Gross went missing three weeks ago.

Today, police carried out a finger-tip search of

the canal where she was last seen.

600 officers, from eight forces are working on the case.

There is trouble at Tesco.

It has overestimated its profits by a quarter of a billion pounds.

Four bosses have been suspended

Shares have plummeted.

A new focus for Thai police looking into

the murder of two British tourists.

They plan to test the DNA of every man on the island where David Miller

and Hannah Witheridge died.

It is thought they were attacked by two Asian men.

Arranging a sham gay wedding to get someone UK citizenship.

A BBC investigation has found gangs will organise it for ?10,000.

It is thought up to 30% of same-sex marriages are fake.

Got any spare cash?

The Royal Mint is encouraging people to invest in gold or silver

by launching a website to trade them online.

You can keep it in their vaults or opt for home delivery.

Hello, I'm Amy Lea. or opt for home delivery.