08/01/2014 Look North (Yorkshire)

from the BBC News at Six. So it's goodbye from me. On BBC One we now

join the BBC's news teams Welcome to Wednesday's Look North:

Tonight, anger over cuts to libraries. Demonstrations in

Sheffield over plans to close more than half of the libraries in just

two years. We'll hear from campaigners and from the council.

Also tonight: Decision day looms for a piece of Pennine history.

Residents say plans to demolish and rebuild this listed Victorian

structure near Huddersfield will destroy our Victorian heritage.

We've been finding out how they've been finding out how the trees here

at Beningborough Hall are just champion.

It turned out to be a lovely day. Lots of sunshine on the canal here

but join me later for the detailed forecast.

First tonight, though, an update on our main story yesterday. Police are

carrying out extra patrols in the Parsons Cross area of Sheffield

after a house where a vulnerable man was forced to live like a slave was

vandalised. Craig Kinsella was regularly beaten,

made to live in a garage and left to scavenge for food. His attackers

David and Donna Rooke and their son Jamie have been jailed. Today, an

advisor to the Home Secretary has called on people to be nosier about

their neighbours to stop such abuse. Our crime correspondent, John Cundy,

is in Sheffield. What more can you tell us?

What I can say is the notoriety of this case, locally and nationally,

has been swift indeed since the jailing 24 hours ago of the three

members of the Rooke family. Overnight, police were called to

this house where it happened at around quarter to nine. There were

reports of criminal damage at the property. All the front windows were

smashed and they have now been boarded up. There was also a report

that one of the ice cream vans, the business was ice cream selling, that

has been targeted. This was a terrible story. Can you

remind us of the details? Yes, we will show you in a moment

some of the CCTV footage released by the police, also shown in court. I

must warn people they mind `` may find some scenes disturbing. We see

David Rooke carrying out assaults on the victim, Craig Kinsella. Shortly

after, we see a scene of his wife also attacking Craig Kinsella and

she was jailed for four months for battery. Latterly, we see Jamie

Rooke, this son of the family, carrying out a further attack on

Craig Kinsella who was in a very distressed state. It was all

captured on the family CCTV. Whether the family realised it was running

or not, the police were able to seize it. The judge described this

case as staggering and that this sort of thing could be going on in

our community. He said he feared there were similar cases out there

and that has been underlined by several anti`slavery groups today

who say it is becoming a modern and very serious crime. This is the

scene where it happened and this is what happened to the property

overnight. Thank you.

Also tonight: There's been a fresh attempt to save more than half of

Sheffield's libraries from closure. The council wants to continue to run

just 12 out of 28 libraries in order to save ?16 million. `` one 6p.

`` one 6p. `` just over one and a half million

pounds. The others would only stay open if

volunteers come forward. A consultation on the issue is due to

end on Friday. Today, dozens of protestors took to the streets, as

Kate Bradbrook reports. If libraries are closed now, a lot

of people will be excluded from accessing butts, mother and toddler

groups and arts activities and getting together `` accessing books.

The council plans to fund five more libraries as community libraries

over the next few years but the rest could be forced to close and less

volunteers can come forward to run independently. That is something

many campaigners say could have been avoided. The council can use is

reserves, hundreds of millions of pounds. It could raise the local

business tax or do short`term measures. The cuts will come and

come. It is a huge injustice. Sheffield Council says it is due to

government cuts and by 2015, it would have lost half of its

government funding. It says like many other councils it has no other

choice but it hopes as many libraries as possible will stay

open. Community groups hoping to take over their local libraries have

now been given extra time to submit their business plans. The public

consultation on the issue ends on Friday.

Later on Look North: How dealing with stray horses in Bradford has

cost the council more than ?200,000. One of Yorkshire's biggest hospitals

has been told to improve after failing to meet safety standards.

The Care Quality Commission issued a formal warning after inspectors

identified staffing shortages on a number of wards, including Accident

and Emergency, at Bradford Royal Infirmary.

Their report said when the hospital was inspected it didn't have enough

staff to provide "safe and effective care". Here's our health

correspondent, Jamie Coulson. Bradford Royal Infirmary was issued

with a formal warning by the Care Quality Commission after unannounced

visits in September and October last year. The inspections found a number

of wards had failed to make national standards relating to quality and

safety, including accident and emergency. Inspectors raised

concerns about staffing on four wards, raising concerns it could

impact on patient care. The `` they identified delays in assessing and

prioritising patients in accident and emergency due to insufficient

staff. There was a shortage of senior medical staff, especially in

the early hours and care records were inadequate on one elderly care

ward. Today, the trust said action had been taken to resolve the

issues. We have taken note of the findings and put the right methods

in place. We will work with the government and health watch and

patients should know we have taken it very seriously and put steps in

place. Inspectors will return at a later date to check that

improvements have been made. The owners of Yorkshire's tallest

building have announced a public consultation on how they plan to

reduce wind speeds around Bridgewater Place in Leeds.

One man was crushed to death when a heavy goods vehicle was blown on top

of him in 2011 and three have been seriously injured.

Last month, Leeds City Council started closing roads around the

skyscraper during high winds after a coroner said action was needed. Ian

White's there for us. How are they going to solve it?

Harry, it is wet rather than windy here tonight but it is the wind that

causes the problem. When gusts reached 45 miles an hour, Leeds City

Council have to close the roads around here, one of the main routes

in the area. Now the owners think they have come up with a plan to

make things better for everyone and it follows a coroner 's

recommendations. Doctor Edward Slaney was killed when

a lorry was blown on top of him outside Bridgwater plays in 2011. At

his inquest, the coroner roads closed `` suggested roads should be

closed. Plans will be shown to councillors in the next few days.

The owners would not show images of the plans before then, but we know

there will be major changes. For buffers will slow down the wind

speeds and should be hung across Broadwater Lane. There will be

screens on one of the corners and a massive glass canopy which will

cover a big part of the building. Janet Heaton works next to

Bridgwater plays and suffered serious head injuries when she was

blown over in a gust of wind a few weeks ago. These are big measures

which will not be in place tomorrow. So, what other plans in the

meantime? We will have several windy days between now and then and what

is being to protect people between now and then? It is situated on one

of the main routes into Leeds and closing roads around it causes major

disruption said the council needs a quick solution. If the proposals do

not give us the solution we ask for we will not accept them. We won

something which gives us public safety and at the same time is

visually acceptable. We will look carefully at what is being put

forward to make sure it does absolutely what is required and

there will be no more injuries or deaths. This isn't a formal planning

application. More testing needs to take place before that, but victims

agree it is a start. The changes are dramatic and they

will not be cheap. The main cost will be felt by the owners of

Bridgewater Place. People who live and walk `` work in the area will be

able to see the plans in the next few weeks. In the meantime, when it

is windy, the main roads around here will remain closed to pedestrians

and vehicles. A man from Doncaster has been found

guilty of defacing a portrait of the Queen. Tim Haries, seen here in a

T`shirt and leather jacket, smuggled a can of paint into Westminster

Abbey last June and caused ?7,000 worth of damage. Haries was a

campaigner for the group Fathers For Justice. He'll be sentenced next

month. A traveller's site on a historic

North Yorkshire battlefield will be forced to close after Selby Council

rejected an application for a permanent site. A gypsy family had

applied to settle on the edge of the site of the Battle of Towton. They'd

been living on the strip of land between Towton village and the

battlefield for the past five years. More than 100 people had objected to

the application on green belt land. The Yorkshire museum is trying to

raise ?56,000 to keep a hoard of Viking gold and silver in York. The

collection of bracelets, rings, silver ingots and a gold sword

pommel was found by a person with a metal detector near Bedale in north

Yorkshire. Archaeologists believe it is from the late ninth or early

tenth century. It is incredible. Most silver but a couple of bits of

gold and most is jewellery and it has an incredible iron sword pommel

covered in gold. It is beautiful, or it will be when we have cleaned it

up! David Cameron says he'll look

closely at improving the A64. The future of the route which links

Leeds, York and Scarborough was raised in today's Prime Minister's

Questions. Anne MacIntosh, the Conservative MP for Thirsk and

Malton, said easing congestion is crucial to North Yorkshires economy.

The quality and capacity of the road system in Yorkshire has been and is

a major issue. The government has taken important steps to help but I

know there is more work to be done. The Chancellor is living ``

listening carefully. That's the Prime Minister. Tomorrow

on Look North we'll be speaking to his Deputy, the Sheffield MP Nick

Clegg. If you'd like to suggest a question we should ask him do get in

touch. The bill for dealing with tethered

and roaming horses in Bradford has cost taxpayers ?214,000 since 2011,

the council has revealed. New figures show that of 146 stray

horses seized by Bradford Council in the past three years, only three

were reclaimed by their owners. The council pays to keep impounded

horses for 14 days before they are either sold, re`homed or put down.

The dangers are plain to see. A loose horse on land near a

children's playground in Bradford. The owner did not enjoy being filmed

and evaded police on horseback. We filmed these pictures three years

ago and since then, almost a animals have been impounded in a crackdown.

During the first year of the scheme, 39 horses were removed at a

cost of over ?78,000. In 2012, 51 animals were removed and this year

already, 56 horses have been impounded. It looks like being the

most expensive year yet and the total bill is almost ?215,000. Every

time a stray or tethered horses rounded up a cost Bradford Council

?1500 and in three years just three horses have been reclaimed by their

owners. It is indicative of the irresponsible nature of the owners.

It is not something we want to spend time and effort on, but we have to

protect the public from the danger and nuisance caused by these owners

and we have to remember that we did have two children who were seriously

injured a couple of years ago and we want to make sure it doesn't happen

again. Horses are still a problem on Bradford 's housing estate. Today we

filmed two. The council says they are not grazing legitimately and

this one wasn't even tied up. This causes on this land recently

trampled on people 's gardens and got onto the roads. Mabel `` may be

the council needs to look at other areas to see how they counteract the

problem and they should maybe prosecute the owners if that can be

done. Bradford Council says the crackdown is expensive, but until

the owners change their behaviour it is simply too dangerous to stop.

A final decision is expected tomorrow on plans to partly demolish

and rebuild a listed Victorian spillway near Huddersfield. The

spillway acts as an overflow to prevent Butterley Reservoir in

Marsden bursting its banks. Now the structure needs updating to help

protect the village of Marsden. But campaigners say the plans by

Yorkshire Water would harm the Victorian heritage. Emma Glasbey

reports. Built more than a century ago, this

is the work of one of the most significant Victoria `` Victorian

design engineers. It is the only listed spillway in the UK and its

future is created a lot of debate. It needs changing so it can take a

larger volume of water from utterly reservoir and help protect Marsden.

`` Butterley Reservoir. It is a conspicuous structure and enjoys

hillside views. Many people in Marsden say the plans would be

extremely damaging to the Victorian heritage. Emotionally, it would be a

massive blow to the residents. Economically, we believe it would be

a very dangerous precedent to set for the systematic destruction of

heritage assets in the village which represent a massive economic

potential for this area. Water is already being diverted away from the

spillway ahead of any changes. Campaigners argue alternative plans

need to be looked at in more detail, but Yorkshire water says this is the

best option. We have listened to local residents because we

absolutely understand the heritage concerns. It is a beautiful

structure so our proposal balances the heritage concerns of the local

community whilst ensuring the spillway is safe. The weather is so

volatile. We are talking about flooding and climate change and the

requirements are changing. The work has to keep pace with that. The

Victorian Society says if the plans are approved they will refer the

matter to the secretary of state. The final decision is expected to be

made tomorrow. Fighting anti`social behaviour. Why

a Sheffield Moss is `` mosque is leading the way by offering boxing

classes. We discover why Yorkshire is

breaking records with the size of its trees.

According to the government, by 2015 we will all be driving electric

cars. Will we? Well, one part of Yorkshire

is forging ahead with encouraging drivers to go electric. It is the

first council in the country to employ a low emissions officer.

This car is the most popular vehicle in the city of York Council 's

fleet. It is electric. Start the car, press the button. And there is

the first surprise. Complete silence. My driver is the owner of

an electric car and the only low emission officer in the country. He

works for York Council which is leading the way in electric vehicles

use. With electric cars, you need to have charging points. By about the

end of next year, there will probably be more charging points at

petrol stations, believe it or not. You have to have the infrastructure

first to give people confidence to Jews electric rather than petrol all

diesel. The council is also investing in electric buses. To

boost Private electric car use, the council has funding for seven rapid

charges that can fully charge a car in 20 minutes. A full charge gives

you about 100 miles so long journeys need planning, but they are cheaper

than petrol all diesel. How cheap? To London and back, it was less than

?2. Wow! Sitting behind the wheel itself was a revelation. I suppose I

had expected it to feel like a milk float or dodgem or something, but it

is really, really nice. Very smooth. Pleasant. Will the mix be enough to

persuade motorists to go electric for the sake of its air. York hope

so. I love the way she drove so very

carefully. Smooth and pleasant. We should all

try it. How old will you be in 2050? I will

be 100. Move on!

A new gym has opened in Sheffield to try to help with anti`social

behaviour. Many boxing centres serve a similar

person `` purpose but one centre is said to be the first gym in the

country to open in the grounds of a mosque.

This boxing gym is said to be the first of its kind to open within the

grounds of a mosque, but it is not just for Muslims. This community

Centre Welsh `` welcomes all people from this part of the city and its

aim is to reduce levels of anti`social behaviour in the area.

In July 2012, there were anti`social behaviours in this area, 126. In

June, they reduced and in the summer they went back up to a hundred. We

need a bit of funding and help. Some who have taken up the sport were

treated to a special visit from a former world champion boxer who

feels the sport instilled discipline in young people. To walk into a

gym, you have to show manners to your trainer and respect to each

other. You have to think about different races, gender and the

community coming together. It teaches you a lot. And about

yourself. Despite being behind the gates of the Moss, it welcomes

people from all backgrounds. We welcome people from all different

backgrounds, race or religion. We all just get along and it is like a

family. It is hoped the work done here will further reduce nuisance

behaviour and crime in the area. Who knows? It could even produce its own

boxing champion. Yorkshire has had many champions in

many fields but there is a register of champion trees.

One place in Yorkshire has suddenly discovered that it has more than

just one entry in its list. Here is our very own tree hugger.

Sometimes you can't see the wood for the trees. That is why doing a bit

of pruning at Beningborough Hall led to an exciting discovery. An

unusually large beech tree which set this gardener thinking. It turns out

to have the greatest girth of any similar beach in Yorkshire. That

qualifies it in the tree world as a Yorkshire champion and it turns out

to not be alone. The tree measurer like a Mac to measure it officially

and it is a Yorkshire champion. We walked around the Guardian `` garden

and discovered quite a few more champions in our midst that we never

knew about. This variegated oak was planted by the last Duke of

Cambridge in a team 98. It is also the widest of its kind `` 1898. And

this is one giant laurel tree. It is many hundreds of years old. Not,

technically, a Yorkshire champion, but pretty special. And this white

mulberry is only one of three recorded in the whole of Yorkshire,

but most people walk past without even noticing. Here amongst the

slide `` slides and swings, a Tibetan whitebeam, the tallest of

its kind in Yorkshire. Champion! He loves a good tree.

On this programme a few days ago, it was said there was no chance of slow

for a beast `` for at least two weeks `` no chance of snow.

There is a hint that we could see the first snow `` cold spell of

winter developing. The levels on the river issues are

slowly dropping. `` River Ouse. If you are interested in the

potential cold next week, it is on the blog. Headlines that tomorrow:

Unsettled. It will improve later on and that is because we will get rid

of the next area of low pressure which will bring a lot of rain

tonight. For the weekend, looking nice, colder and frost at night but

a lot of dry weather with sunshine. The next system is already pushing

in from the south`west and it is already wet across some parts of our

region. It will be across all parts of Yorkshire so a miserable evening

with outbreaks of locally heavy persistent rain. It right over the

tops of the Yorkshire Dales and the zero `` North York Moors there could

be some wet snow. Not amounting to a great deal.

Rather cloudy in the morning with showery outbreaks of rain with

wintry stuff right on the tops of the hills. These showers slink away

through the morning and the afternoon is drier and brighter but

with the risk of one or two showers. A windy day.

A bright morning on Friday but patchy rain later. A fine but cold

weekend with the risk of Frost at night.

I will be back at 10:25pm. From all of us here, good night.