Browse content similar to 17/10/2011. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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much sewage is being released into the sea because they simply don't | 0:00:00 | 0:00:03 | |
know. How a small Sussex company designed | 0:00:03 | 0:00:11 | |
the fastest car in the world. also managed to be rather beautiful | 0:00:11 | 0:00:18 | |
as well. And has the Turner Gallery divided Margate? We feel very | 0:00:18 | 0:00:24 | |
strongly that there is no vision for the High Street at all. | 0:00:24 | 0:00:28 | |
Natalie Graham with untold stories, closer to home. From all round Kent | 0:00:28 | 0:00:38 | |
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Hello, tonight I'm in Margate. It's the first of a brand new series and | 0:00:51 | 0:00:53 | |
we kick off this week with a special investigation by Keir | 0:00:53 | 0:01:03 | |
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Beaches are a key part of the South East tourist industry attracting | 0:01:08 | 0:01:16 | |
hundreds of thousands of people every year. And all they really | 0:01:16 | 0:01:22 | |
need are two simple things: Sunshine and clean sea water. But | 0:01:22 | 0:01:26 | |
what if it turned out the sea water wasn't so clean after all? In May | 0:01:26 | 0:01:30 | |
of this year that's exactly what we all discovered. Water quality at a | 0:01:30 | 0:01:34 | |
number of our key beaches in the South East has dropped by such a | 0:01:34 | 0:01:37 | |
significant level that more than a dozen of them are less clean than | 0:01:37 | 0:01:41 | |
they were deemed to be a year ago. We wanted to know why and so began | 0:01:41 | 0:01:49 | |
our investigation. At the time, local councils said much of the | 0:01:49 | 0:01:52 | |
problem was debris washed inland from out at sea. Whilst others | 0:01:52 | 0:01:55 | |
argued it was down to pollution washed away from farms during heavy | 0:01:55 | 0:01:57 | |
storms. But there's another possible cause that could be | 0:01:57 | 0:02:03 | |
considered a threat to wildlife and the public. That cause is human | 0:02:03 | 0:02:13 | |
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sewage and it's coming from pipes like these. They're called Combined | 0:02:13 | 0:02:16 | |
Sewage Overflows, or CSOs, and to explain how they work I've come to | 0:02:16 | 0:02:19 | |
meet Pegwell Bay to meet Andy Cummins from the campaign group, | 0:02:19 | 0:02:25 | |
Surfers Against Sewage. After periods of heavy rain we'll get | 0:02:25 | 0:02:28 | |
lots of water running into the sewage system because we have a | 0:02:28 | 0:02:30 | |
combined sewage system that combines run off from our roads, | 0:02:30 | 0:02:33 | |
roves, patios with everything that leaves out house from the toilets | 0:02:33 | 0:02:36 | |
to the sinks to the drains when that happens the sewage system that | 0:02:36 | 0:02:39 | |
we have is already bursting at the seams, add in that rainwater and | 0:02:40 | 0:02:42 | |
its overpowered, so the water companies employ these as emergency | 0:02:42 | 0:02:49 | |
exits for raw sewage and rain water. In other words, whilst most of our | 0:02:49 | 0:02:53 | |
sewage goes to treatment works like this one, during heavy rain some of | 0:02:53 | 0:02:59 | |
it ends up going into our rivers and seas raw and untreated. It's a | 0:02:59 | 0:03:02 | |
system inherited from the Victorians and campaign groups like | 0:03:02 | 0:03:04 | |
Andy's claim getting information about exactly how much sewage is | 0:03:04 | 0:03:10 | |
coming out of them has proved difficult. We've been hitting brick | 0:03:10 | 0:03:13 | |
walls, both with the political system, there's been no political | 0:03:13 | 0:03:16 | |
will to ask water companies to share this info and also within the | 0:03:16 | 0:03:21 | |
industry itself. And Andy says that's not fair on the public | 0:03:21 | 0:03:24 | |
because they should have a right to know what's going into their rivers | 0:03:24 | 0:03:32 | |
and seas. There are CSOs all around the UK, discharging raw sewage all | 0:03:32 | 0:03:42 | |
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around the year for hours and hours on end and they deserve to be told. | 0:03:43 | 0:03:53 | |
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We agreed. So we got in touch with Southern Water. They're the company | 0:03:54 | 0:03:57 | |
in charge of your waste water and sewage system in Kent and Sussex. | 0:03:57 | 0:04:00 | |
But at first, we didn't encounter any issues over getting information. | 0:04:00 | 0:04:03 | |
They readily told us they have 751 CSOs that are located in Kent, | 0:04:03 | 0:04:06 | |
Sussex, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. Southern Water then said | 0:04:06 | 0:04:09 | |
they'd happily send us a document telling us which CSOs went off last | 0:04:09 | 0:04:12 | |
year and for how long. And this is it. Hundreds of pages of | 0:04:12 | 0:04:14 | |
information. But on studying this document, we've discovered | 0:04:14 | 0:04:21 | |
something quite baffling. Of the 751 CSOs we know Southern water | 0:04:21 | 0:04:24 | |
have, only a third are listed on this document. We got back in touch | 0:04:24 | 0:04:28 | |
with Southern Water to ask them why. And after a long e-mail exchange we | 0:04:28 | 0:04:30 | |
finally established the answer. It's because they don't monitor | 0:04:30 | 0:04:33 | |
them. What this means is Southern Water don't know how much sewage is | 0:04:33 | 0:04:39 | |
being released into the water around our bathing beaches. | 0:04:39 | 0:04:42 | |
Southern Water agreed to meet us at their multi-million pound treatment | 0:04:42 | 0:04:45 | |
plant being built at Peacehaven to explain themselves. Company | 0:04:45 | 0:04:48 | |
Director Geoff Loader started by telling us what they had done to | 0:04:48 | 0:04:57 | |
improve the sewage system. In the last three years, something around | 0:04:57 | 0:04:59 | |
150 million pounds has been invested and spent on improving | 0:04:59 | 0:05:05 | |
combined sewer overflows to make them better. They might be better | 0:05:05 | 0:05:13 | |
but the majority still aren't monitored. How can you make a | 0:05:13 | 0:05:16 | |
judgement as to whether they are safe if you can't judge what is | 0:05:16 | 0:05:26 | |
0:05:26 | 0:05:28 | ||
coming the heart of your own pipes? The ages he says we don't need to | 0:05:28 | 0:05:34 | |
report and say exactly what is happening with the outflows. In | 0:05:35 | 0:05:39 | |
other areas, we do have to report it and we do it with the | 0:05:40 | 0:05:49 | |
Environment Agency to -- who monitor that. Geoff had just said | 0:05:49 | 0:05:52 | |
all Combined Sewage Overflows on the coast are monitored. That | 0:05:52 | 0:05:55 | |
simply isn't true. He then told us that only about 5% of what comes | 0:05:55 | 0:05:58 | |
out of CSOs during storms is actually untreated human sewage. | 0:05:58 | 0:06:03 | |
But that didn't sound quite right either. How have you come to this | 0:06:03 | 0:06:11 | |
five % figure? It is a generalisation. You don't know it | 0:06:11 | 0:06:17 | |
is five %. What I do know is it isn't for raw sewage. Of course | 0:06:17 | 0:06:20 | |
that's true, but it was clear Geoff couldn't say for sure how much of | 0:06:20 | 0:06:24 | |
what was coming out of these pipes was storm water and how much was | 0:06:24 | 0:06:27 | |
untreated human waste. And he did admit the CSOs were having an | 0:06:27 | 0:06:31 | |
impact on water quality. Do you believe that CSOs were partly due | 0:06:32 | 0:06:36 | |
to the dropping water quality in the past year? I'm sure they will | 0:06:36 | 0:06:42 | |
have had an effect. The amount of rain and sewage generated, | 0:06:42 | 0:06:48 | |
definitely, there will be an effect. Bad weather will have an effect on | 0:06:48 | 0:06:55 | |
water quality. So our next question was this: What impact is the drop | 0:06:55 | 0:07:05 | |
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in water quality partly caused by CSOs having on public health? For | 0:07:08 | 0:07:11 | |
surfers, clean water is everything and Andy had invited us to Viking | 0:07:11 | 0:07:14 | |
Bay in Broadstairs to meet some surfers that claim they've got sick | 0:07:14 | 0:07:22 | |
from what you'll find in the sea. get three infections a year, upset | 0:07:22 | 0:07:32 | |
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stomachs... In infections, sinus infections, stomach bugs. How can | 0:07:33 | 0:07:42 | |
you be sure it is because of what is in the water? Everyone goes down | 0:07:42 | 0:07:49 | |
with the same illness. People may be eating in different areas, doing | 0:07:49 | 0:07:54 | |
different things with their lives. The one common factor is using the | 0:07:54 | 0:07:57 | |
sea after periods of heavy rain. Whatever Andy says, it's impossible | 0:07:57 | 0:08:01 | |
to know sea water caused those illnesses, and even if it did, you | 0:08:01 | 0:08:04 | |
can't say for sure it was human sewage that caused the infection. | 0:08:04 | 0:08:06 | |
But that's not necessarily the case with Joanne Shelsher from Hove. | 0:08:06 | 0:08:09 | |
Tests by her doctor revealed an infection she was carrying that | 0:08:09 | 0:08:12 | |
affected her health for 18 months had come from human faeces, and she | 0:08:12 | 0:08:15 | |
believes she contracted it from regularly swimming in the sea here | 0:08:15 | 0:08:25 | |
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at Hove. But -- the last time I went in, it had been raining, it | 0:08:29 | 0:08:36 | |
was quite choppy, and we went out and had burning probes, feeding | 0:08:36 | 0:08:46 | |
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really sick -- burning throats. I knew it was also rich in there. -- | 0:08:49 | 0:08:53 | |
raw sewage. In the last year this beach has seen water quality fall | 0:08:53 | 0:08:57 | |
and there is a CSO within a mile of it. But still, can we really claim | 0:08:57 | 0:09:00 | |
they're causing illness? It's a question we put to the Marine | 0:09:00 | 0:09:02 | |
Conservation Society who produce the Good Beach Guide. It's their | 0:09:02 | 0:09:05 | |
charity that revealed water quality had fallen on 14 of the region's | 0:09:05 | 0:09:10 | |
beaches including this one at Ramsgate. If it is such a risk, | 0:09:10 | 0:09:16 | |
where all the sick people? A lot of them don't get reported. But is not | 0:09:16 | 0:09:21 | |
information that is committed by GPs or the local health authorities. | 0:09:21 | 0:09:24 | |
The charity believe CSOs are a major contributing factor to water | 0:09:24 | 0:09:29 | |
quality and say the system needs to change. We need to know where all | 0:09:29 | 0:09:34 | |
these CSOs are. We need to monitor it and we need to work out their | 0:09:34 | 0:09:37 | |
environmental impact. That is beginning to happen. There are | 0:09:38 | 0:09:40 | |
currently trials underway at ten beaches with Combined Sewage | 0:09:40 | 0:09:42 | |
Overflows owned by Southern Water including Joss Bay, Botany Bay and | 0:09:43 | 0:09:46 | |
Westbrook Bay. Those signing up to the scheme can get live updates of | 0:09:46 | 0:09:49 | |
when CSOs are going off. But that still leaves dozens of beaches | 0:09:49 | 0:09:55 | |
without a scheme in place. And go out and ask the public if they have | 0:09:55 | 0:10:02 | |
any idea what's going on and you'll find the answer is a very clear no. | 0:10:02 | 0:10:06 | |
Were you aware that just me here is this image over for a pipe their | 0:10:06 | 0:10:14 | |
releases spirit into the sea? didn't realise that. It makes you | 0:10:14 | 0:10:22 | |
wonder. How do you feel about that? Shocked. I didn't think things like | 0:10:22 | 0:10:26 | |
that still happen these days. been walking along this beach for | 0:10:26 | 0:10:29 | |
an hour now and everyone we spoke to said they think they should be | 0:10:29 | 0:10:38 | |
given more information. Do you agree it is in the public's | 0:10:38 | 0:10:44 | |
interest for you to say exactly how much sewage is being released from | 0:10:44 | 0:10:49 | |
your pipes? I think people need to have an understanding of why they | 0:10:49 | 0:10:54 | |
operate. So why don't you do it? we have started a programme now. We | 0:10:54 | 0:10:59 | |
have stuck to the trial at 10 of barky beaches and we would look to | 0:10:59 | 0:11:07 | |
expand on that. -- our key beaches. We operate in conditions for the | 0:11:07 | 0:11:09 | |
licence from the Environment Agency, so they are the policing body that | 0:11:09 | 0:11:14 | |
monitor us and we are given what are called consents to operate | 0:11:14 | 0:11:22 | |
those. It is about time we had a word with the Environment Agency. | 0:11:22 | 0:11:29 | |
Would you recommend that every CSO is monitored? They are lots of | 0:11:29 | 0:11:32 | |
different priorities. We want to make sure that the ones a really | 0:11:32 | 0:11:38 | |
important get monitors and that there is other investment put into | 0:11:38 | 0:11:42 | |
the problems. Our investigation has led us to believe that the | 0:11:42 | 0:11:47 | |
information is very hard to come by on how many CSOs there are, where | 0:11:47 | 0:11:52 | |
there are releasing, when, and for how long. Surely the Environment | 0:11:52 | 0:11:55 | |
Agency has a role to play in ensuring that information is more | 0:11:55 | 0:12:03 | |
available. Our role is to regulate the water companies. How can you do | 0:12:03 | 0:12:08 | |
that if you don't know how many CSOs are releasing for how long's | 0:12:08 | 0:12:18 | |
0:12:18 | 0:12:25 | ||
because we regulate the way in which the structures work. Except | 0:12:25 | 0:12:28 | |
that doesn't always seem to be true. Our investigation has revealed a | 0:12:28 | 0:12:31 | |
final, shocking fact. Sewage treatment plants can also have | 0:12:31 | 0:12:33 | |
overflow pipes that release raw sewage mixed with storm water. And | 0:12:33 | 0:12:36 | |
further study of the document Southern Water had sent us revealed | 0:12:36 | 0:12:39 | |
this: Between May and September last year, the overflow pipe from | 0:12:39 | 0:12:42 | |
the water treatment works at Swale cliff near Tankerton beach released | 0:12:42 | 0:12:45 | |
51 times for a total of more than 1,000 hours, meaning raw sewage was | 0:12:45 | 0:12:52 | |
going into the sea for nearly five weeks. The Environment Agency told | 0:12:52 | 0:12:55 | |
us an investigation was underway into what had happened but said the | 0:12:55 | 0:12:59 | |
overflow pipe was about a mile away from the beach and so its operation | 0:12:59 | 0:13:02 | |
would have only a limited impact. But still, surely that level of | 0:13:02 | 0:13:12 | |
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pollution isn't acceptable. No, it can't be. I don't have the specific | 0:13:14 | 0:13:17 | |
details but we've got to look at that because at the end of the day | 0:13:17 | 0:13:20 | |
we want to keep the record of bathing beaches meeting the | 0:13:20 | 0:13:23 | |
standards, it's essential for our reputation as a company but it's | 0:13:23 | 0:13:26 | |
also essential for a region that relies heavily on its beaches and | 0:13:26 | 0:13:29 | |
on its tourism. With new tougher European water regulations coming | 0:13:29 | 0:13:32 | |
into force in 2015 Southern Water know they've got lots of work to do | 0:13:32 | 0:13:38 | |
to improve water quality. During our investigation they'd admitted | 0:13:38 | 0:13:41 | |
their overflow pipes were polluting sea water and they didn't know by | 0:13:41 | 0:13:45 | |
how much. But the company told us they're committed to improving, so | 0:13:45 | 0:13:48 | |
now it's a case of waiting to see what water quality is like next | 0:13:48 | 0:13:58 | |
0:13:58 | 0:14:03 | ||
Keir MacKenzie reporting there. Coming up later: Has the Turner | 0:14:03 | 0:14:12 | |
Contemporary been good for Margate? I think it has been a really great | 0:14:12 | 0:14:22 | |
0:14:22 | 0:14:28 | ||
improvement for the town. Join me Some people say the best thing ever | 0:14:28 | 0:14:34 | |
to come out of Burgess Hill is the A273. But they're wrong. This town | 0:14:34 | 0:14:37 | |
was once home to a company that designed a rather special car for | 0:14:37 | 0:14:41 | |
legendary speed record-breaker Donald Campbell. A car called the | 0:14:41 | 0:14:51 | |
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Bluebird. The Bluebird Campbell Norris 7. It was so ahead of its | 0:14:56 | 0:14:59 | |
time that many believe that if it ran today and could reach its top | 0:14:59 | 0:15:05 | |
speed it would still be the fastest wheel-driven car in the world. It | 0:15:05 | 0:15:09 | |
was said to be 50 years ahead of its time, so 50 years on, I've come | 0:15:09 | 0:15:12 | |
to the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu to take a fresh look at | 0:15:12 | 0:15:22 | |
0:15:22 | 0:15:24 | ||
the car... It is like a crunching blue tiger. Is an iconic figure. | 0:15:24 | 0:15:28 | |
find out how it set a world record against all the odds And to reveal | 0:15:28 | 0:15:31 | |
the modest Sussex inventors, Ken and Lou Norris, the men who made it | 0:15:31 | 0:15:41 | |
0:15:41 | 0:15:44 | ||
all possible. They were very humble people. They never said, you can't | 0:15:44 | 0:15:47 | |
do that. Donald Campbell and Bluebird became household names | 0:15:47 | 0:15:50 | |
back in the early 60s, but Campbell's biographer, David | 0:15:50 | 0:15:52 | |
Tremayne, thinks the Norris Brothers deserve the same kind of | 0:15:52 | 0:16:02 | |
0:16:02 | 0:16:03 | ||
recognition. Donald Campbell is the only man in history to do to the | 0:16:03 | 0:16:10 | |
water speed and the land speed in the same year. They played at such | 0:16:10 | 0:16:16 | |
a key part in the event. Before the Bluebird boat and the Bluebird car | 0:16:16 | 0:16:18 | |
Norris Brothers weren't known for designing vehicles. But Donald | 0:16:18 | 0:16:21 | |
Campbell knew the brothers and had total faith in their engineering | 0:16:21 | 0:16:27 | |
skills. So he asked them to design a record breaking boat and car. | 0:16:27 | 0:16:29 | |
According to Donald Stevens, Norris Brothers project co-ordinator, it | 0:16:29 | 0:16:39 | |
was typical of Ken and Lou to say We just took on anything that most | 0:16:39 | 0:16:44 | |
people either could not do or would not do. From how to generate | 0:16:44 | 0:16:49 | |
electricity at of the sea, to containing a very cold liquids, to | 0:16:49 | 0:16:56 | |
designing things like this. So, how did the company more used to | 0:16:56 | 0:17:01 | |
designing explosion prove boxes, wrapping machines and sweet factory | 0:17:01 | 0:17:08 | |
components do it? It all began with a special method 10 arrests devised | 0:17:08 | 0:17:14 | |
a finding solutions to complicated programs. -- problems. He called it | 0:17:14 | 0:17:18 | |
morphological thought. It was a way of making a charge which every | 0:17:18 | 0:17:22 | |
single possible way of doing a job would be included. -- at Chard. | 0:17:22 | 0:17:27 | |
From there, you could select which way was the most practical and | 0:17:27 | 0:17:31 | |
which way might perhaps give some development. You could choose all | 0:17:31 | 0:17:35 | |
sorts of things. While Kenneth dealt with the aerodynamics, | 0:17:35 | 0:17:43 | |
#ColourCyan oversaw the mechanics. Hugh Standing was the car's | 0:17:43 | 0:17:53 | |
0:17:53 | 0:17:54 | ||
mechanical engineer. I design the engine. We had to take the gearbox | 0:17:54 | 0:18:03 | |
of the front of it. We had to adapt it. So that both ends were running | 0:18:03 | 0:18:07 | |
at the same speed. It was an educational experience, working on | 0:18:07 | 0:18:14 | |
the car. It took 29,000 man hours of development to make Bluebird the | 0:18:14 | 0:18:19 | |
safest, most technically advanced land-speed car there had ever been. | 0:18:19 | 0:18:24 | |
And if that were not enough, it also managed to be rather beautiful | 0:18:24 | 0:18:28 | |
as well. This sleek, streamlined shape hid a body of super-strong | 0:18:28 | 0:18:33 | |
aluminium honeycomb, an innovation that saved Campbell's life when he | 0:18:34 | 0:18:40 | |
crashed the first Bluebird in the Utah desert. The accident he had at | 0:18:40 | 0:18:46 | |
Bonneville was the fastest accident anyone had ever survive. Possibly | 0:18:46 | 0:18:49 | |
360 mph. If you think about that, for him to get away with an | 0:18:49 | 0:18:54 | |
accident like that was historical. That shows you the strength of the | 0:18:54 | 0:19:00 | |
car. After the crash, the Bluebird body was redesigned, its | 0:19:00 | 0:19:06 | |
aerodynamics were tested in this wind tunnel. Professor John | 0:19:06 | 0:19:10 | |
Stollery says the car had its sexy comes because the tyre manufacturer | 0:19:10 | 0:19:20 | |
0:19:20 | 0:19:20 | ||
Dunlop said that Bluebird needed enormous 52 inch wheels. They had | 0:19:20 | 0:19:30 | |
0:19:30 | 0:19:31 | ||
to have these streamlined covers over the top. They acted as fines, | 0:19:31 | 0:19:37 | |
so if the car begins to deviate, it would be a even further off course. | 0:19:37 | 0:19:42 | |
The solution was to add a tall tailfin to stabilise the car. Now, | 0:19:42 | 0:19:47 | |
the only problem was the Australian weather. It had not rained at Lake | 0:19:47 | 0:19:52 | |
Air for 20 years, but being an all- British affair, it rained cats and | 0:19:52 | 0:19:56 | |
dogs as soon as the team got there. This exclusive footage, never | 0:19:56 | 0:20:00 | |
before seen on television, shows just how bad the conditions were, | 0:20:01 | 0:20:05 | |
so bad that Donald Campbell said at the surface was like the skin on a | 0:20:05 | 0:20:08 | |
rice pudding. There is no telling how deeply the rain has soaked in | 0:20:08 | 0:20:14 | |
and it certainly looks no place for such a heavy car. But the winter | 0:20:14 | 0:20:18 | |
ahead anyway. Bluebird had to make two runs to break the record and | 0:20:18 | 0:20:23 | |
just managed it, sinking into the salt, its belly scraping along the | 0:20:23 | 0:20:28 | |
ground. The speed record and was then you will do our own world | 0:20:28 | 0:20:32 | |
record of 403 mph. But had conditions be right, how much | 0:20:32 | 0:20:39 | |
faster could Bluebird have gone? The current record is 458. Bluebird | 0:20:39 | 0:20:45 | |
at its peak with the right tyres and conditions, it has set a record | 0:20:45 | 0:20:49 | |
between 450 and 400 Saturday five miles an hour on the right service. | 0:20:49 | 0:20:57 | |
The tragedy is it never did run on a surface that befitted the car. | 0:20:57 | 0:21:02 | |
Donald Campbell died attempting an the water speed record in 1967. | 0:21:02 | 0:21:06 | |
with his death when any hopes of running the Bluebird again. The | 0:21:06 | 0:21:10 | |
Norris Brothers continued to innovate and event - I invent, | 0:21:11 | 0:21:18 | |
until 10 died in 2005 and Lou in 2005 -- 2009. Neither of them have | 0:21:18 | 0:21:25 | |
received the credit some say they deserve. They did not get it. They | 0:21:25 | 0:21:28 | |
would have had the satisfaction of designing something that worked. | 0:21:28 | 0:21:33 | |
For them, that was the accolade they wanted. All the same, it seems | 0:21:33 | 0:21:36 | |
a shame that they are not remembered, especially in their | 0:21:36 | 0:21:44 | |
home town. The Bluebird car is a 20th century icon. Sleek, | 0:21:44 | 0:21:48 | |
futuristic and unique. Yet, when you come to Burgess Hill, there's | 0:21:48 | 0:21:53 | |
nothing to show that this is where it was conceived and designed. And | 0:21:53 | 0:22:03 | |
0:22:03 | 0:22:09 | ||
no sign that Norris Brothers ever That was Kaddy Lee-Preston | 0:22:09 | 0:22:19 | |
0:22:19 | 0:22:20 | ||
reporting. Now, can art saved a seaside town? At a cost of �17 | 0:22:20 | 0:22:24 | |
million, if it -- is the Turner Contemporary a jewel in its crown | 0:22:24 | 0:22:27 | |
or a thorn in the side of "phantom mortgage" and regeneration success | 0:22:27 | 0:22:34 | |
or driving a deep divide? -- a thorn in the side of Margate. | 0:22:34 | 0:22:37 | |
as if the council wants the high street to die. Nobody really wanted | 0:22:37 | 0:22:45 | |
it. I think it is good, it has been a great improvement for the time. - | 0:22:45 | 0:22:52 | |
- for the town. Love it or hate it, the gallery opened in April with | 0:22:52 | 0:22:55 | |
lots of modern art and some genuine Turner paintings like this one, | 0:22:55 | 0:22:58 | |
Crossing The Brook. Nearly all critics were asking the same | 0:22:58 | 0:23:08 | |
question - could a gallery save Margate from ruin? Famous artist | 0:23:08 | 0:23:12 | |
Tracey and then seems to think so. First came the Danes, then the | 0:23:12 | 0:23:16 | |
Vikings, now there is art. Arch will be the best thing that has | 0:23:16 | 0:23:21 | |
ever happened to this town. It is six months later and we are back to | 0:23:21 | 0:23:31 | |
0:23:31 | 0:23:35 | ||
This is the old town, the area that has become Margate's cultural hub. | 0:23:35 | 0:23:39 | |
It is walking distance from the gallery and shopkeepers tell us | 0:23:39 | 0:23:42 | |
footfall is up. Anne Marie Nixey gave up teaching to set up a | 0:23:42 | 0:23:47 | |
business here. She says the gallery has been good for trade. If you | 0:23:47 | 0:23:52 | |
look at the statistics, the figures we have, I can say that a last six- | 0:23:52 | 0:23:55 | |
month period, the return -- that the term has been open compared to | 0:23:55 | 0:24:02 | |
last year, it is double the takings. Without a shadow of doubt. Looking | 0:24:02 | 0:24:05 | |
at the old town, it would be easy to think we generation has been a | 0:24:05 | 0:24:09 | |
success. But if you venture further rock a High Street, you can see | 0:24:09 | 0:24:14 | |
where regeneration ends and reality begins. Just on this road, we | 0:24:14 | 0:24:19 | |
counted around 20 empty shops. Shopkeepers we spoke to here say | 0:24:19 | 0:24:23 | |
they have been abandoned. They told us none of the money invested in | 0:24:23 | 0:24:27 | |
making the town that pretty for the gallery's opening had reached here. | 0:24:27 | 0:24:35 | |
Many said the money for Turner this era. Brendan Woods' shoe shop | 0:24:35 | 0:24:39 | |
is on the verge of collision. part of the high street has | 0:24:39 | 0:24:43 | |
completely be left behind. -- on the verge of closing. Brendan says | 0:24:44 | 0:24:49 | |
the council is not helping the sport of 10 benefit from the Turner | 0:24:49 | 0:24:53 | |
at all. They seem to have no vision for this end of the high street. | 0:24:53 | 0:24:57 | |
What are they going to do? What is going to happen? It is completely | 0:24:57 | 0:25:02 | |
and utterly a wall of silence. is clear shop-owners here feel like | 0:25:02 | 0:25:05 | |
they're not been listened to. We decided take Brendan to meet the | 0:25:05 | 0:25:09 | |
council leader, who was responsible for Margate's regeneration, to ask | 0:25:09 | 0:25:14 | |
why more had not been done for this part of town. We feel very strongly | 0:25:14 | 0:25:18 | |
that there is no vision for the high street at all. It is almost as | 0:25:18 | 0:25:24 | |
if the council want the House -- high street to die. We do not hear | 0:25:24 | 0:25:27 | |
any progressive plans for any idea of what will happen to the high | 0:25:27 | 0:25:32 | |
street. So we're definitely feeling a distinction between the all part | 0:25:32 | 0:25:41 | |
of Margate and the rest of the high street? We cannot deny the | 0:25:41 | 0:25:46 | |
regeneration of Margate started at the bottom end of the town. I think | 0:25:47 | 0:25:50 | |
they is evidence that that regeneration is moving up a High | 0:25:50 | 0:25:53 | |
Street and I think that will gather pace. But the council is in a | 0:25:54 | 0:26:02 | |
difficult position. We would agree with traders that we could tell | 0:26:02 | 0:26:07 | |
them if there was some fair business rates. But that is the | 0:26:07 | 0:26:11 | |
Government that set them and decide that will the level of them. | 0:26:11 | 0:26:16 | |
wonder whether his -- there is this vision of a set plan, asset team, | 0:26:16 | 0:26:20 | |
looking at retail on the High Street, what are we going to do? | 0:26:20 | 0:26:25 | |
have an economic development team who are active, certainly I get | 0:26:25 | 0:26:29 | |
your frustrations brought back to me and I can assure you, I Shearer. | 0:26:29 | 0:26:34 | |
You mention the word passion. I could not agree more. -- I share | 0:26:34 | 0:26:39 | |
them. There is clearly a divide with some parts of the 10 | 0:26:39 | 0:26:44 | |
benefiting and others feeling left out. Professor Gordana Fontana- | 0:26:44 | 0:26:48 | |
Giusti from Kent University says the generation happens in waves and | 0:26:48 | 0:26:54 | |
the divide is proof it is working. Turner Contemporary has attracted | 0:26:54 | 0:27:03 | |
250,000 people, that cannot be bad for the high street. Regeneration | 0:27:03 | 0:27:09 | |
happens in stages. Although not everyone is happy, gallery director | 0:27:09 | 0:27:13 | |
Victoria Pommery says the visitor numbers speak for themselves. | 0:27:13 | 0:27:19 | |
have had a fantastic opening summer. The expected 150,000 visitors, we | 0:27:19 | 0:27:27 | |
have had 250,000. So, it has been absolutely phenomenal. For the | 0:27:27 | 0:27:30 | |
Turner to have an effect, it is clear visitors here need to see | 0:27:30 | 0:27:35 | |
more than these four walls. Just like one of his paintings, the | 0:27:35 | 0:27:43 | |
picture from Margate is a mixed palette. | 0:27:43 | 0:27:46 | |
Now, if you want any more information about tonight's show, | 0:27:46 | 0:27:50 | |
you can go to our Kent and Sussex website. You can also watch the | 0:27:50 | 0:27:56 | |
whole show again on our iPlayer. Kota bbc.co.uk/insideout. Come the | 0:27:56 | 0:28:01 | |
next week, it will cost up to �9,000 a year to get a degree, but | 0:28:01 | 0:28:07 | |
asking questions cost nothing. what is the point of university for | 0:28:07 | 0:28:17 | |
0:28:17 | 0:28:17 | ||
the creative arts? University fees explain. �75,000. And some of the | 0:28:17 | 0:28:22 | |
rarest big cats in the world being born and bred in Kent. We are | 0:28:22 | 0:28:26 | |
keeping the species alive. Keeping the species pure. One day, we will | 0:28:26 | 0:28:29 |