:00:00. > :00:17.Here, on BBC One, it's time for the news where you are.
:00:18. > :00:22.Good evening. Greater Manchester councillors have tonight been
:00:23. > :00:26.considering a 20 year plan to build 200,000 homes on green belt land.
:00:27. > :00:30.Opponents of the so-called spatial framework claimed that thousands of
:00:31. > :00:35.residents are being ignored, but Trafford councillors were told there
:00:36. > :00:36.needs to be a coherent development policy, as our political editor
:00:37. > :00:45.explains. This is a farm near Bolton. Michael
:00:46. > :00:50.is feeding cows here, as his father did before him. Laura was hoping to
:00:51. > :00:55.carry on the tradition, but now this land is vulnerable to development.
:00:56. > :00:59.It'll just be a complete change of light. Everybody says what will I do
:01:00. > :01:07.if we go, I don't have a clue, to be honest. This is all I have evidence
:01:08. > :01:11.and is I was a child. Yeah. Michael's farm is currently part of
:01:12. > :01:15.Greater Manchester's protected green belt land which makes up 47% of the
:01:16. > :01:19.landmass. Under new developments, these are
:01:20. > :01:25.areas in Orange will be freed to be built on, and if that happens,
:01:26. > :01:27.Greater Manchester's green belt will drop to 43%.
:01:28. > :01:30.This is the William Rowe golf course on the other side of Greater
:01:31. > :01:34.Manchester in Trafford, and like Michael's farm it is earmarked for
:01:35. > :01:47.development under the plan. The plan says that over the next two decades
:01:48. > :01:50.Greater Manchester's population will go by almost 300000 and we need to
:01:51. > :01:52.be ready, but to be ready, something has to give.
:01:53. > :01:54.In all, 5000 hectares could be lost, but all ten council leaders say that
:01:55. > :01:56.by taking control the remaining green space will be better
:01:57. > :02:00.protected. The consequence of not having a plan
:02:01. > :02:03.as we enter but development in an unconstrained way, I think it is
:02:04. > :02:09.very aborted we are able to say that we know where development will be,
:02:10. > :02:13.we plan for it so we can control it. New homes mean new pressures on
:02:14. > :02:17.existing communities, and more than a dozen MPs got together to say they
:02:18. > :02:26.are worried that already stretched public services could buckle.
:02:27. > :02:28.There will be a substantial building of new houses, we need the
:02:29. > :02:31.infrastructure to be improved as well. We need better roads,
:02:32. > :02:35.provisions for schools, hospitals and doctors, it all needs to be
:02:36. > :02:38.taken into account. Michael says he fully understands
:02:39. > :02:42.that the world keeps moving and he must move with it or get left
:02:43. > :02:47.behind. He just hopes his family does not have to give up its way of
:02:48. > :02:52.life. At a meeting here in Trafford
:02:53. > :02:55.tonight, Labour did their very best to convince their opponents that
:02:56. > :03:01.that development on a golf caution not go ahead. But in a very heated
:03:02. > :03:06.debate, they failed. The Conservatives here say there is a
:03:07. > :03:08.chronic housing shortage failed to address it is to fail the next
:03:09. > :03:14.generation. This is a tiny part of the huge
:03:15. > :03:16.jigsaw that is the Greater Manchester spatial framework plan.
:03:17. > :03:18.We can expect further tension over the coming months.
:03:19. > :03:20.Two men have been arrested in Merseyside this evening
:03:21. > :03:23.in connection with a robbery at the church where a priest
:03:24. > :03:27.The masked men ordered the priest in St Helens to hand over cash
:03:28. > :03:30.collected for a children's orphanage in Africa.
:03:31. > :03:32.Our Merseyside reporter Andy Gill has the story.
:03:33. > :03:35.Just before 6:30pm last night, three masked men rammed the doorbell
:03:36. > :03:38.of the St Vincent de Paul presbytery in St Helens and demanded cash.
:03:39. > :03:48.Then they ordered the priest, Father Peter Hannah,
:03:49. > :03:50.to take them round to the church and empty the safe.
:03:51. > :03:53.They made off on foot with cash which parishioners had raised
:03:54. > :03:57.It's despicable, I mean you don't get much lower than that, really.
:03:58. > :04:01.And to take the money and, you know, target a church at this time
:04:02. > :04:06.Father Hannah was uninjured but left extremely shaken.
:04:07. > :04:09.Police don't know if the handgun was real or a replica.
:04:10. > :04:15.One woman who lives next door to the church expressed
:04:16. > :04:17.It's just absolutely disgusting, you know?
:04:18. > :04:19.The time of forgiveness, I'm sorry...
:04:20. > :04:25.And the fact that the money that they've stolen
:04:26. > :04:29.Catholic church, Christmas, good tidings?
:04:30. > :04:42.I just hope that they find them and lock them away.
:04:43. > :04:44.In a statement the Catholic Archdiocese of Liverpool said that
:04:45. > :04:49.such events are an attack on the whole of the worshipping
:04:50. > :04:53.community who had given up weeks of their time to raise the money.
:04:54. > :04:56.The statement went on to say that the repercussions of this act
:04:57. > :05:07.A Rochdale company has promised to deliver Christmas gifts in time
:05:08. > :05:09.after hundreds of people complained their online
:05:10. > :05:14.Savvibuy says thousands of orders have been delivered.
:05:15. > :05:17.But disgruntled customers have set up a Facebook page claiming they've
:05:18. > :05:21.not received their good, or refunds have been hard to get.
:05:22. > :05:23.Savvibuy says some of the criticism has been malicious but has
:05:24. > :05:31.A Merseyside teenager who was the lookout as his brother
:05:32. > :05:34.and friend beat a homeless man to death today lost his appeal
:05:35. > :05:39.The victim, Kevin Bennett, was sleeping rough outside
:05:40. > :05:41.an Iceland supermarket in Walton when he was attacked
:05:42. > :05:47.Brandon Doran was today told he must continue to serve his minimum
:05:48. > :05:54.Police are searching for a man caught on top of a train
:05:55. > :05:58.He was seen climbing on to the Merseyrail train
:05:59. > :06:02.between two carriages at Rock Ferry station in Wirral ten days ago.
:06:03. > :06:05.The man concealed his face and told staff he was
:06:06. > :06:11.An ex-serviceman who admitted attempting to burgle Wayne Rooney's
:06:12. > :06:15.mansion in Cheshire has been jailed for two years and eight months.
:06:16. > :06:17.Robert McNamara pleaded guilty to attempting to trespass
:06:18. > :06:21.with intent to steal from the footballer's home.
:06:22. > :06:24.The Manchester United striker was playing in his testimonial match
:06:25. > :06:31.An appeal is being made tonight for more people to give
:06:32. > :06:34.consent to donate parts of their eyes for transplant.
:06:35. > :06:36.The campaign's being backed by a visually-impaired swimmer
:06:37. > :06:39.from Preston who this year won gold at the Rio Paralympics.
:06:40. > :06:41.Stephanie Slater, who suffers from a degenerative eye condition,
:06:42. > :06:44.had her sight saved by a cornea transplant in Liverpool.
:06:45. > :06:48.Stephanie Slater is used to overcoming adversity -
:06:49. > :06:54.But while preparing for this summer's Paralympic Games
:06:55. > :06:57.she was told she needed a life-saving cornea transplant.
:06:58. > :07:03.I am very lucky, there is a shortage of corneas and I am very,
:07:04. > :07:08.very lucky that I was able to get one when I did.
:07:09. > :07:11.The cornea is a clear, dome shaped window at the front
:07:12. > :07:13.of the eye that lets in light so we can see.
:07:14. > :07:16.It protects the eyes from germs and some of the sun's UV rays.
:07:17. > :07:20.When damaged it can become distorted, causing loss of vision.
:07:21. > :07:23.A lot of people I have spoke to do not realise that you can
:07:24. > :07:32.And I was like, no, it comes from a real donor.
:07:33. > :07:35.But while corneal transplantation is more successful than any other
:07:36. > :07:36.form of organ donation, getting donors,
:07:37. > :07:43.Consultant surgeon Mark Batterbury carried out Stephanie's transplant.
:07:44. > :07:46.We hit crises every now and again, and we cannot transplant
:07:47. > :07:50.Most of them are psychological and cultural issues,
:07:51. > :07:53.donors for example thinking that their whole eye may go
:07:54. > :07:56.into a recipient and the recipient is thinking that they might resemble
:07:57. > :08:06.At the University of Liverpool, a team of 40 work to tackle vision
:08:07. > :08:09.loss and it is one of the biggest centres of its kind in Britain.
:08:10. > :08:12.Here, eyes that are donated but cannot be used for transplant
:08:13. > :08:17.will be used for research with the consent of the donor.
:08:18. > :08:19.We are developing new therapies for treating eye diseases used
:08:20. > :08:23.either here in the north-west or can be used globally
:08:24. > :08:28.Three months on from her transplant, Stephanie's already preparing
:08:29. > :08:33.It will help me in the pool, being able to spot the finish
:08:34. > :08:41.or my turns, just getting vision back in two eyes will be amazing.
:08:42. > :08:45.Her next big aim is to compete in the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
:08:46. > :08:50.Ian Haslam, BBC North West Tonight, Liverpool
:08:51. > :08:53.Marsh Lock - one of the largest locks on the River Weaver
:08:54. > :08:55.in Cheshire - was drained today for the first time
:08:56. > :08:58.The repair job, costing half-a-million pounds,
:08:59. > :09:02.is part of a winter makeover by The Canal and River Trust.
:09:03. > :09:04.Unlike most locks - which can only fit one
:09:05. > :09:06.narrow boat at a time - this one is so big
:09:07. > :09:24.Storm Barbra still on the way? Still looking ahead to Friday. Friday
:09:25. > :09:29.looks like a very, very tricky day. Storm Barbara coming towards us,
:09:30. > :09:34.bringing not just rain but very, very strong winds. At the minute,
:09:35. > :09:38.relatively quiet. Since 7pm the showers have largely moved over the
:09:39. > :09:43.Pennines and many places are dry. Many places are fairly clear.
:09:44. > :09:49.Temperatures will not fall too far, for rural areas you might go down to
:09:50. > :09:56.zero, maybe even the odd -1, not many places getting to -1,
:09:57. > :09:58.temperatures between three and 5 degrees, a lot of clear weather
:09:59. > :10:00.across the north-west of England tonight.
:10:01. > :10:05.In more northern parts, the showers will continue to be a feature.
:10:06. > :10:08.It will not be a bad day, I think you will seeing of sunshine,
:10:09. > :10:12.particularly anywhere to the south of the River rebel.
:10:13. > :10:15.Again, over the high ground, some showers could be just a little bit
:10:16. > :10:19.livelier than you would want and there could be a flake of sleet at
:10:20. > :10:24.times. The sunshine winds its way through
:10:25. > :10:27.and if you out and about tomorrow it is not a bad picture, but when the
:10:28. > :10:32.showers work through the temperatures for little bit.
:10:33. > :10:35.For towns and cities, generally seven or 8 degrees, when the showers
:10:36. > :10:38.push through the temperatures will gradually fall and you might end up
:10:39. > :10:42.at around 5 degrees. But in the sunshine, that is the
:10:43. > :10:46.best feature. Storm Barbara, the Met Office have
:10:47. > :10:49.issued a yellow warning for most of the north-west of England. It is
:10:50. > :10:52.really from parts of the Wirral North but we will see a very tricky
:10:53. > :10:57.day. It is not just the rain working its
:10:58. > :11:01.way through, it is the very strong winds. When Barbara moves through,
:11:02. > :11:04.Saturday will be quieter, there is another Met Office weather warning
:11:05. > :11:08.that Christmas Day will be rather windy, so keep your eyes and ears
:11:09. > :11:10.across the forecast and there will be more on the National
:11:11. > :11:13.windy weather on the way in the run-up to Christmas. The worst of
:11:14. > :11:19.the weather to the northern half of the UK. We have a strengthening jet
:11:20. > :11:23.out of North America that is propgating across the Atlantic.
:11:24. > :11:25.Rushing our way. Picking up low pressure, deepening them, tracking
:11:26. > :11:27.them to the