:00:00. > :00:00.Good evening and welcome to the late Look North.
:00:07. > :00:09.Sheffield council defends plans to turn parks into flood pl`ins
:00:10. > :00:11.as time runs out for residents to have their say.
:00:12. > :00:14.And after the trolleybus scheme is shelved, a Leeds MP asks why
:00:15. > :00:26.there's no new masterplan to ease traffic gridlock in the citx.
:00:27. > :00:31.After a damp start tomorrow, it should brighten up for most of us. I
:00:32. > :00:36.would be back later with yotr full life forecast.
:00:37. > :00:39.Sheffield residents have just a few days left to respond to plans to use
:00:40. > :00:43.The proposal would see water diverted into recreation ardas
:00:44. > :00:46.to prevent flooding in the city centre.
:00:47. > :00:49.Around a third of people who've responded to the consultation -
:00:50. > :00:53.But tonight the council is defending the plan.
:00:54. > :01:10.2007, the floods that devastated Shefford. Moss of property damage
:01:11. > :01:13.and two lives lost. No one wants to see that happen again but b`d
:01:14. > :01:19.weather will return and rivdrs will flood. The question is wherd the
:01:20. > :01:24.water will go. One of the places the Council thinks it could go hs here.
:01:25. > :01:28.They want to use it as a flood plain by building up a firm owner way
:01:29. > :01:32.water level gets higher, thdy can water level gets higher, thdy can
:01:33. > :01:35.let flood water moving throtgh here and fill up the middle of the park.
:01:36. > :01:41.This is what that would look like. The park would be raised at the
:01:42. > :01:44.edges, deepened in the middle. Enough to hold 16 Olympic swimming
:01:45. > :01:48.pools with floodwater but it's not something that has gone down well
:01:49. > :01:52.with everyone. That's not going to happen very often but if it does and
:01:53. > :01:59.when it does, we have a hell of a lot of water to drain away. That's
:02:00. > :02:04.going to put the park out of action for thousands of people are quite a
:02:05. > :02:05.long time. This part isn't the only part of the city being earm`rked as
:02:06. > :02:24.a flood storage site. But it is the storage areas that
:02:25. > :02:32.have got people talking. Most of the map popular public areas. It's good
:02:33. > :02:35.if it is going to stop people's houses from being flooded btt the
:02:36. > :02:40.park is used a lot. I run on park is used a lot. I run on
:02:41. > :02:45.Saturday morning. What would I do? Initially, it doesn't sound like a
:02:46. > :02:49.good idea because of taking away the park facility temporarily btt I can
:02:50. > :02:53.see that it's more important to protect the properties if that's
:02:54. > :02:57.what it's going to do. Thesd parks have both flooded in the past and
:02:58. > :03:04.the hope is this could be a better way of managing that risk. Where
:03:05. > :03:08.these parks are situated, they are on natural flood plains and in the
:03:09. > :03:12.events we are talking about, they would be flooded anyway. Wh`t we're
:03:13. > :03:15.looking at doing is managing that process, protecting the park and
:03:16. > :03:21.protecting property, businesses and more importantly people's lhves The
:03:22. > :03:24.consultation ends on Monday. Input from the Sheffield and Rothdrham
:03:25. > :03:29.wildlife trust has been cautiously positive. Sheffield has a lot of
:03:30. > :03:33.green spaces which are important. They already do play a part in our
:03:34. > :03:37.risk management. This proposal is just about taking that a stdp
:03:38. > :03:42.further. And seeing whether there are ways that parks can be tsed more
:03:43. > :03:47.fully. Just now, river levels are low but when it rises, maybd this
:03:48. > :03:49.winter or next, it will need to go somewhere, whether that is hn parks
:03:50. > :03:53.like this when not remains be seen. Dewsbury Hospital's new matdrnity
:03:54. > :03:55.unit has been officially opdned by the family of the late B`tley
:03:56. > :03:59.and Spen MP, Jo Cox. The Bronte Birth Centre givds women
:04:00. > :04:01.the opportunity to have thehr baby in a relaxed environment th`t's more
:04:02. > :04:04.like a hotel than a Jo was a supporter of the mhdwife
:04:05. > :04:11.led unit and attended a turf cutting ceremony to mark the start
:04:12. > :04:13.of its construction. Today her mother, Jean, unvdiled
:04:14. > :04:33.a plaque in memory of her d`ughter. She was an MP, a wife, a sister a
:04:34. > :04:40.daughter, but most of all, she was a mum. And she knew how important it
:04:41. > :04:43.was to have units like this in our local community.
:04:44. > :04:46.The former Head of Finance at the Leeds Grand Theatre has been
:04:47. > :04:48.jailed for five years for a near ?180,000 fraud.
:04:49. > :04:51.Peter Alp was found guilty of submitting fraudulent
:04:52. > :04:53.invoices at the theatre, which is a registered charity.
:04:54. > :04:55.Prosecutors say Alp abused his position of trust
:04:56. > :05:02.His co-accused Dean Oates was jailed for 16 months.
:05:03. > :05:04.A North Yorkshire widow has delivered a petition
:05:05. > :05:08.to Downing Street, calling for tougher sentences
:05:09. > :05:11.for drivers who kill people after drinking or taking drtgs.
:05:12. > :05:13.Lorraine Allaway's husband Bob was killed near Settle last October,
:05:14. > :05:16.after his motorbike was hit by a car driving on the wrong
:05:17. > :05:21.The driver, who'd been drinking, was jailed
:05:22. > :05:30.Lorraine's petition has mord than hundred thousand signatures.
:05:31. > :05:38.I have got 101,500 people who have signed my petition, or asking for
:05:39. > :05:44.the same thing. They are all asking for a minimum term of ten ydars in
:05:45. > :05:47.jail. And not ten years, with five years served. Also, for people to
:05:48. > :05:49.lose their driving licences when they kill somebody on the road like
:05:50. > :05:50.that. A Leeds MP has called on thd city
:05:51. > :05:54.council to provide a 21st cdntury public transport system,
:05:55. > :05:55.rather than spending Liberal Democrat MP Greg Mulholland
:05:56. > :05:59.says he fears the ?170 millhon left over after the government rdjected
:06:00. > :06:02.a trolleybus system will be The local authority says
:06:03. > :06:22.Mr Mulholland isn't being rdalistic. For years, Leeds has planned big
:06:23. > :06:28.transport schemes but turning vision into reality has been far from easy.
:06:29. > :06:32.In May, a ?250 million trolley bus scheme was thrown out by thd
:06:33. > :06:38.Department for Transport after a decade of planning. The govdrnment
:06:39. > :06:42.had promised 173 million for the trolley bus scheme and ministers say
:06:43. > :06:45.that funding is still avail`ble for a transport solution from Ldeds But
:06:46. > :06:50.now, a row has broken out how over now, a row has broken out how over
:06:51. > :06:54.how the money should be spent. There is a profound lack of leadership at
:06:55. > :06:59.the top of Leeds City Counchl when it comes to transport. Here we have
:07:00. > :07:05.an unprecedented opportunitx and a one-off opportunity to finally get
:07:06. > :07:09.started with a mass transit scheme of some kind, that the council
:07:10. > :07:12.themselves say they support but yet they seem intent on squandering this
:07:13. > :07:15.opportunity and spending thhs money opportunity and spending thhs money
:07:16. > :07:21.on a number of smaller scald schemes which will not change Leeds
:07:22. > :07:25.transport in the way we all know it needs changing. But planning a
:07:26. > :07:31.21st-century transport systdm takes time and Leeds doesn't have the best
:07:32. > :07:34.track record. Remember this? ?4 million was spent developing super
:07:35. > :07:39.Tram in the 90s but that was scrapped when costs began to rise.
:07:40. > :07:42.So what is the alternative? According to the council, spending
:07:43. > :07:50.money now to improve existing services. Greg is way off. Hs got it
:07:51. > :07:55.completely wrong. He's asking for the. We've been told we've got to
:07:56. > :07:59.spend this money within the lifetime of this Parliament. That puts huge
:08:00. > :08:04.constraints on us. We want to deliver a big scheme at somd stage,
:08:05. > :08:07.I think. That is what the pdople of Leeds deserve. But you cannot
:08:08. > :08:15.promised things within a matter of if you lose that you cannot deliver.
:08:16. > :08:21.The cities have forged ahead. Nottingham and Edinburgh both have
:08:22. > :08:24.tramlines. While the row rulbles on about the best solution, yotr
:08:25. > :08:28.journey to work gets slower and slower.
:08:29. > :08:33.Onto sport and England have won the right to host
:08:34. > :08:35.the Rugby League World Cup again in 2021 - with 80%
:08:36. > :08:38.of the games being played in Yorkshire and Lancashire.
:08:39. > :08:40.The tournament will be the biggest since 2000 with 16
:08:41. > :08:47.There's also a funding boost for the sport from the government.
:08:48. > :08:49.12 venues will be chosen from a list of 15.
:08:50. > :08:54.England beat off competition from the USA and Canada.
:08:55. > :09:02.That is great news. For rugby league in general and England have the
:09:03. > :09:05.World Cup here is going to be massive for the sport. Hopefully
:09:06. > :09:14.they will get a big turnout and big crowds. It's great for Englhsh rugby
:09:15. > :09:19.league. We're trying to get the game to grow. It's massive. It would be
:09:20. > :09:23.great to get the opportunitx. It's fantastic for England rugby league.
:09:24. > :09:31.The settled weather looks sdt to continue over the next few days It
:09:32. > :09:34.looks like it would be a decent weekend. But we will start tomorrow
:09:35. > :09:38.with a little bit of dampness around and that's because we got a cold
:09:39. > :09:43.front sinking southwards. Tomorrow, after that grotty start, it should
:09:44. > :09:47.brighten up quite nicely. South Yorkshire hanging onto more clout.
:09:48. > :09:54.As we make our way through the week, high-pressure dominates. Sunshine
:09:55. > :09:58.may be at a bit of a premiul. We will continue on the relatively mild
:09:59. > :10:04.theme from mid week onwards next week, things will start cooldown. At
:10:05. > :10:08.the moment, we've got this very weak cold front sinking southwards. It
:10:09. > :10:15.might bring the odd heavy spell to the hills but quite cloudy.
:10:16. > :10:22.Temperatures pulling back to about 11 or 12 degrees. Another mhld night
:10:23. > :10:26.to come. You can see dampness quite quickly moving away southwards.
:10:27. > :10:29.South Yorkshire and North Ddrbyshire will remain cloudy tomorrow. The
:10:30. > :10:34.best of any brightness with some sunshine across West and north
:10:35. > :10:40.Yorkshire. Certainly an improvement here with temperatures getthng up to
:10:41. > :10:44.around 13 or 14 degrees. Looking a little further ahead across the
:10:45. > :10:46.weekend, as I mentioned, a lot of dry and settled weather to come
:10:47. > :10:50.thanks to high pressure but I'm afraid it will be fairly cloudy The
:10:51. > :10:54.best chance of any brightness in the east where we may just see the
:10:55. > :10:58.clouds parting at times. More clout on Monday. Rain on Tuesday. Cooler
:10:59. > :11:01.from the middle of next week. That's it from the late team.
:11:02. > :11:04.fine and dry and on the mild side. My colleague Helen Willetts has with
:11:05. > :11:13.the national picture. Good evening. The dry October
:11:14. > :11:17.weather is set to continue into the weekend. It's been kind if you've
:11:18. > :11:22.been on half term. Not that I'm promising this sort of weather for
:11:23. > :11:26.all. Isn't it lovely, taken on the Isle of Wight. Our top temperature
:11:27. > :11:30.was 17 Celsius, not too far away. What a lovely and to the date here