13/06/2013 Look North (North East and Cumbria)

Hello and welcome to Thursday's Look North. Tonight:

A popular adventure park is closed to the public after a neighbour

complains about noise. The glimmer of hope in the long-

running fight to bring the region's fishing industry back from the

brink. The American teenager on a trip of

a lifetime to the Yorkshire Dales, and all because she wants to follow

in the footsteps of James Herriot. Bath and we are live in Berwick on

the first anniversary of the torch relay.

In sport - Warner's suspended and Joe Root hits back after the

weekend's altercation with a half century for England.

And the Great North swimmers taking the plunge in memory of lost

It was a popular adventure park visited by thousands of people

every week. But now Beamish Wild in County Durham has been closed to

the public because it's too noisy. The park was a favourite among

children, but a neighbour complained and the site was issued

with a noise abatement order. That means there's been a big drop in

visitor numbers and only small pre- booked groups are allowed at the

Beamish Wild used to be a buzz of activity as children climbed,

whizzed through the air, made their way across obstacles and tried to

solve puzzles. There were tractor rides, too.

But not everybody was happy. A house backs onto this land and the

owners complained about the sound of rowdy youngsters. A noise

abatement order was issued by the local authority. Now, just an eerie

silence and 15 jobs have been lost. As a result of the noise abatement,

or we had to take the decision that we have to close to the public and

only offer the type of activities that we offer two groups and

advance bookings. Said the number of people that we can actually

accommodate it has been reduced dramatically.

We've been unable to contact the neighbour who made the complaint.

Meanwhile Durham County Council gave us a statement:

The council is always keen to help businesses work through what they

can do to reduce the impact of noise from their premises which is

causing a statutory nuisance to local residents.

As such we have continued to discuss any problems the company

has raised in an effort to help resolve the matter to the

satisfaction of all involved. Beamish Wild say it would be

difficult to reduce the noise of excited children. We are a very

family orientated attraction. It aimed at children between eight and

12. The vast amount of our visitors were young families. On busy days

they'd have up to 800 visitors. The site is still open to smalll pre-

booked groups, like schools visiting here, but not the general

public. Now, the only part open to all of

us is the high ropes course. That by itself doesn't make too much

noise. A few metres away is the restaurant and bar. It still gets

busy, but they have noticed a difference. Business is OK because

of the weather, but we have noticed a reduction in the number of

families coming down and spending a fault day with us. Before the noise

abatement order, we had a lot of activities. So the park is

surviving. But it's not the roaring success

with general public it could be. The former chair of Cleveland

Police Authority has told a court it was possible he was driving his

car when it was caught speeding. Dave McLuckie is accused of

persuading a friend to accept his penalty points because he feared he

would lose his licence and that, it's claimed, would have

jeopardised his chances of becoming head of the police authority.

Stuart Whincup was in court. Dave McLuckie told the court that a

good friend of his what regularly used his car. When his car was

clocked, he thought his friend was driving and he agreed to take the

penalty points. But a few years later, the two men fell out.

Maurice became bitter because he had cancer and wanted to sue the

local health a authority and wanted help from Dave McLuckie. Dave

McLuckie also told the court that he never feared losing out on the

top job at the police authority. He said it was possible to do the job

even if he did not have a driving licence. He said he had no

recollection of what happened that day it eight years ago and he said

it was possible he could have been driving, but Maurice Ward accepted

that he was driving. The prosecution said that Maurice Ward

was a sitting duck and Dave McLuckie was convinced he would get

away with it. He did get away with it, but that was until now. The

case continues. The Government has announced more

than �10 million is to be spent to encourage business growth on

Teesside. Around half the money is coming from the European Union.

It's being targeted mainly at the St Hilda's area of Middlesbrough

and Darlington's Central Park. Much of the cash is intended to create

jobs in the digital and creative media sectors.

It seems there's a glimmer of hope in the long-running fight to bring

the region's fishing industry back from the brink. After years of

quotas and restrictions, cod stocks in the North Sea seem to be on the

rise. But for fishermen who continue to face tough times, it's

difficult to see any light at the end of the tunnel.

It is for a Ian and this boat edges out of the harbour. The trawler

cuts a lonely figure and the owner can only reflect on how this once

vibrant industry has changed. communities have been devastated.

There is no fishing left. 10 years ago, there were 30 trawlers working

out of Whitby. Now this is the only one, but as fish stocks improved,

things are looking up. A recent survey by the Marine stewardship

Council suggests that cod levels are increasing and they could reach

sustainable levels, allowing Whitby cod lovers to tuck in, guilt-free.

We had been waiting a long time for this. We have been seen increases

in the cod stock. Now it is coming close to the level that is deemed

to be sustainable. It is just a matter of time before we get there.

For most would-be fishermen at time is something they do not have. They

have either sold up or diversified. Preserving that way of life is a

major importance and now things are heading in the right direction. But

there are some hoops that are hurdles too far. We have to declare

our catch before we go into the harbour, but how do we know what it

will be? At least now, there odds are looking good. -- the odds are

looking good. A full-scale flood emergency

exercise took place in a County Durham village this morning,

complete with a search and rescue helicopter. Lanchester was flooded

on so-called Thunder Thursday last June and again only last month. Now

villagers are taking flood response action into their own hands.

No athletics this morning. There's a helicopter landing on the school

playing field. Very exciting for the pupils of St Bede's High School

in Lanchester. But it's serious business for

Teesdale and Weardale Mountain Rescue practising their drills for

a genuine flooding emergency. And Lanchester is very familiar

with floods. Twice within the past year the village has been under

water. Lanchester is in a valley and there are hills. The water

comes down like a river and the drains are not coping. That is the

main reason for the floods. Today's exercise was designed to

encourage the community to help themselves when widespread flooding

could stretch the emergency services and local people will be

the first responders. Historically, Lanchester has flooded and number

of times over the last hundred years, but in recent times, the

floods have been particularly high. The floods last year affected a lot

of properties. Today is very much about how the community can help

itself, what is available to them, either in the early stages when the

warnings come. A stockpile of aquasacs is

Lanchester's first line of defence. They're bags filled with a special

gel that swell up when soaked with floodwater to become sandbags. The

local agencies have chosen a good day for this trial. This community

has experience flooding and number of time in recent years, but they

are now prepared for any future flooding. What they have learned

here can be shared with other communities in County Durham and

beyond. A scheme to harness the power of

the River Tyne to produce electricity has been abandoned. The

Hexham Hydro project beat 900 others across the country to win

initial funding of �100,000, but supporters say rising costs now

make it impractical. The project would have involved a hydro turbine

at the weir at Hexham, producing electricity for up to 200 homes.

But today its organisers said costs have risen from an initial �1

million to an estimated �2.5 million - too high a price for a

community project. Still to come, Thursday's sports

news. Also, we are live in Berwick on the first anniversary of the

Olympic torch relay. Join me for details of an unsettled forecast

and the wall and fell away winning photograph for May. -- and we will

reveal our were winning photograph for May.

She has a lifelong ambition to become a vet. So what better place

to visit than the World of James Herriot in the Yorkshire Dales?

Rose Wright is 15 and has a brain tumour. But she's travelled

thousands of miles from her home in Illinois in the United States after

becoming a fan of the Herriot books when she was a little girl. Peter

Lugg has been to meet her. The petty cash jar on the mantle

piece, Mrs Pumphrey's pampered pooch Tricky Woo and some of

Siegfried's magic potions. An American girl in Darroby, otherwise

known as Thirsk - the real life All Creatures Great and Small has

no bigger fan that 15-year-old Rose Wright from Illinois. Rose has been

very ill recently, but now she's feeling a little better, she's

determined to enjoy a family holiday to a world she's only read

about in books or watched on grainy old TV shows. I think on the sleep

a lot of the story lines and movies in the US right now are trendy.

They will go away soon, but I think the James Herriot's stories were

made in the early 1960s and 1970s and we still love them. I think it

is better to invest in something that will last that long.

The holiday, arranged by the Make A Wish Foundation, was the idea of

Roses's parents. It's not like anything we see in America. It is

very quirky and delightful. For Alf Wright's daughter Rose's

visit was confirmation of her father's vetinerary tales

international appeal. He would have loved the fact that he is giving

this goal pleasure. She told me that when she started her first

book, she could not put it down. From the top of Sutton Bank a

bird's eye view of the landscape that both fictional and real life

vets worked in. Tomorrow, farmyard mud, clever sheepdogs and a pair of

rubber gloves. The region Sinfonia orchestra now comes by royal

appointment. It is the first on it to be given for 20 years. The

Sinfonia is the only full-time professional chamber orchestra in

the country. Its leader says the new title is a great honour and a

tribute to the international quality of its musicians.

It's exactly a year since the Olympic torch relay began its

momentous journey through our region. On a Thursday afternoon in

June the torch crossed the Scottish border into Berwick to be greeted

by thousands of people lining the route. One of the torchbearers

likened the experience to her wedding day and the birth of her

children. Tonight and all next week on Look North we look back at those

memorable days. Peter Harris is live for us in Berwick now. Peter.

I have got the torch. Yes, a year ago they were packing up after the

party. The torch had come into England from Scotland. It had come

over this new bridge at the start of a fortnight of momentous events

across the North East and Cumbria. I am pleased to say the person who

carried the torch across the bridge is here. Hello, Magritte. He told

us after you had done the run that it was equal to marriage and the

birth of your children. Is that right? That is right. It was

unbelievable. Rather like marriage and children, you don't realise

until you are in the middle of it how fantastic it is. Does describe

what it was like? -- just describe what it was like. There was music,

children, banners, it was almost indescribable. The mayor of Berwick

is with us now. What was it like for at how might this have in this

going on? There was a fantastic spirit. There are 10,000 people

here. The sun was shining, music was playing, it was just everyone

getting together. There was a barbecue and activities for the

children. I think it was great everywhere that it went. Margaret

was nominated by her grandchildren. Why did you do that? Because she

helps the community and she is a school governor as well. You said

she was good for her age as well, but I won't ask her how or she is!

What was it like watching your grandma? It was great. I am very

proud. I cannot resist, can I? From Berwick it worked its way down and

we will be following the same trail. Tomorrow I will be on the Quayside.

Back to the studio. You were there, weren't you?

I was. It was a fantastic sight. Time for the sport.

9,000 swimmers are getting ready to zip up their wetsuits for the

country's biggest open water swim this weekend. The first heats in

the Great North Swim on Windermere are tomorrow over distances ranging

from half a mile to just over three. Elite men and women are competing

on Saturday, including Commonwealth champion Robbie Renwick from

Scotland and Germany's Christian Reichert, ranked 6th in the world.

South Shields Paralympic gold medallist Josef Craig will start

them off. Some of the heats were cancelled last year because of

stormy weather and while that's not on the cards this time, after the

coldest Spring in 50 years the lake will be very chilly.

For three young swimmers from Newcastle the event will have

special significance, as Hannah Bayman's been finding out.

Matthew, Rebecca and Amy taking a dip before this weekend's Great

North Swim. For them the event will be particularly poignant.

Matthew is swimming in memory of Lee Halpin. The 26-year-old

journalist died while sleeping rough in Newcastle to make a

documentary about homelessness, on a night in April when temperatures

fell to minus two. It struck a chord with me personally. I am

still in awe of what he was doing. It was brave and courageous. That

was the kind of person he was. The money will go towards the

documentary he was making and it will also go to a charity that he

supported. Rebecca and Amy are fundraising for

Glencoe Mountain Rescue in tribute to their university friends Una

Finnegan, 25, and Rachel Majumdar, 29 - doctors who both died in an

avalanche on Glencoe in January. They were such inspiring people and

bullied us into doing all sorts of events. It felt right to do

something and challenge ourselves. In the pool here the temperature is

about 30 Celsius. In Windermere this weekend that's likely to be

nearer 14 near the surface, colder below. I think it will have the or

freezing. I have done some preparation in a lake, but I will

prepare with socks, gloss and a wet suit.

However cold this weekend's swim, these three friends will be carried

to the finish line by memories of loved ones they have lost.

Australia batsman David Warner has been suspended until the first

Ashes Test match for punching Yorkshire and England player Joe

Root in a bar in Birmingham at the weekend.

Warner, who played Twenty20 cricket for Durham in 2009, was also fined

�7,000 for breaching the code of behaviour. It means he'll miss the

remainder of the Champions Trophy. The incident doesn't seem to have

affected Root, who rode his luck at times but hit an impressive 68 in

the competition against Sri Lanka this afternoon at the Oval.

At Lords, four wickets apiece for Liam Plunkett and Steve Patterson

meant Middlesex had to follow on after being bowled out 175.

And at Chester-le-Street, four wickets from Ben Stokes helped

Durham dismiss reigning champions Finally, congratulations to

Northern Thunder, the Powerchair football team from the Percy Hedley

Academy on North Tyneside. The boys who we featured on Look North a few

weeks ago have won both the WFA National Premier League and the

National Cup. They're off to the European Powerchair Championships

in France later this month. And well done to Hartlepool's new

management team of Colin Cooper and Craig Hignett, who made it to the

summit of Mount Kilimanjaro this morning to raise funds for

children's charities. Well done to them both. A fantastic

effort. Now it is time for the weather.

Our weather dog has featured in our pictures several times. She has

appeared with her owner, so we thought they might both like to do

the honours this time around. We have had hurt since she was two

weeks old. She trains quite well. She is done here all day doing

tricks and entertaining people. She has also got into surfing. She

followed me into the sea, so we put her on a board and she loves it.

She has got her own serve board and her life jacket. Despite the

onshore wind, they were both happy to take to the waves.

Make is becoming a celebrity. She has her O Facebook page -- her own

Facebook page. They had a difficult time choosing the best picture.

There were a lot of dull photos and also pictures from Saltburn. There

was also this fantastic shot, which is the runner up. It caught a bit

of a rainbow that was coming through. So, or great runners up,

but which picture war be the main one? This has to be the winner. I

often go their surfing. Congratulations from both of us.

Well done to them both, and congratulations to the winner of

the best picture. It's a spectacular shot.

Tomorrow, the winds will be south- westerly. It will keep things

unsettled. Today we had the tail end of this weather system that

brought some will downpours. It is beginning to clear away. Some high

pressure building in behind it, keeping things quiet overnight. Any

showers should die away. Most of us will have a dry night. It will feel

fresher and the winds will be liked. Temperatures will drop to single

figures. It is a TriStar for many tomorrow, a bit of brightness

especially in the east, but the cloud will thicken and the rain

will spread in from the south-west. It will reach most places by the

afternoon. Not a lot of brightness through the afternoon. Temperatures

will peak at around 17 or 18 Celsius. Add in a brisk wind and

the rain and it might not feel any warmer than it was today. The

weather front will career, but the tail of it will bring wet and windy

weather. Sunday it will be the best day, weather Wise. If you are out

and about on Saturday, expect rain and for it to be cloudy. There will

also be a gusty wind. Sunday will be a quieter day it were otherwise.

It will be dry it with some bright spells. Temperatures up to 18

Celsius. Very changeable forecast. We will keep you updated as we head

towards the weekend. Now for a last look at tonight's

headlines: Dale Cregan, who murdered four

people, including two policewomen in Greater Manchester, has been