tv Coastal Britain BBC News May 12, 2019 9:30pm-10:00pm BST
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this is bbc world news — the headlines... the un secretary general, antonio guterres, has kicked off a push for climate change, warning that the political will needed to tackle the issue is fading. he has called it the defining issue of our time. manchester city have retained their title on a final day of drama in the english premier league. city came back from a goal down to beat brighton 4—1. the leader of britain's new brexit party, nigel farage, says if the party wins in european elections he will demand its meps become part of the government's negotiating team. opinion polls suggest the brexit party will do better than both the conservatives and the labour party. the people of berlin have been celebrating the 70th anniversary of the day the soviets lifted a blockade strangling west berlin in the post—world war ii years.
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crowds gathered to remember the airlift that started and ended in may 1948. at 10pm, mishal husain will be here with a full round—up of the day's news. but first on bbc news — where are the areas in which britain's coastal towns are thriving or just surviving? bbc look east's susie fowler—watt presents a series of special reports from great yarmouth. hello, i'm susie fowler—watt in great yarmouth for a look at coastal britain. over the next half hour, we will be looking at some of the particular problems that coastal communities like great yarmouth face, and some of the creative solutions that are making an impact. but first, let's talk to our great yarmouth reporter, andrew turner.
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andrew, what do you think are the main issues facing the town? i think one of the biggest problems is the amount of spending money in great yarmouth. there is a lot of people here on low incomes, either low—paid or low skill jobs, or otherwise on universal credit and others benefits, which limits the amount of spending money they have. and although the borough council has done a lot of work with re—generations — they've got a master plan for the town centre, they want to increase trade on the seafront, and tourism as well, working with the private businesses here. but until there's more spending money, then that limits the growth potential for the businesses. and i think that's one of the priorities that needs to be tackled. increase the spending money to raise the game of great yarmouth, then start bringing more spending money in from the hinterlands and norwich and the wider community where people will come from, either a day trip or a few days away. because these problems are faced by coastal communities around britain, aren't they? in their heyday, they were booming. so what is actually the answer? where is that extra money going to come from? i think the first thing to look at is actually the golden days
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of the 19605 will probably never come back in the way that they were here. but of course, it's a matter of how you use creativity to get your way out of it. now there's a number of different things going on — they're trying to push for cultural tourism here to celebrate great yarmouth‘s history in the mediaeval period, and to look at the way that there's a lot more than the bucket and spade holidays that have been great yarmouth‘s mainstay. but there's also the opportunities which are coming around through business, and the offshore wind and engineering sector — that's offering real potential at the moment. but there's a big drive to make sure that there is local people who are getting skills and into the industry — whether they are young and coming from colleges or schools, or otherwise, whether it's older people, many long—term unemployed, or second or even third generation in a family unemployed — that they're the ones getting the skills and training, getting in to get these jobs, and hopefully improving their prospect and the town's. andrew, thank you very much.
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and actually in the first of ourfour reports, we will look at that renewable energy job revolution. because off the coast here, three of the largest wind farms in the world are due to be constructed — one is actually already under way. and the hope is that that will bring with itjobs and money into the local economy. we've been following gwyn evans, a man who was unemployed, but after a lot of training has now got a wind turbine. six months ago, ifound myself unemployed. and being out of work is no fun. there's been times where money has been really, really tight, and you've had to budget hard to get through day by day. you're keeping an eye on your metre beeping.
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when is the electric going to cut off, when‘s your gas going to cut off? things got that bad, you know? let's say i got a job. basically for me, that would be like going from nothing to being financially sound. it'd be, like, everything. i've never been on the turbine itself, but being on one, looking up at it and looking out over the horizon, i think that would be fantastic. abandon ship, all crew! abandon ship! we make it as realistic as possible. so when they come along, they know that if it does happen, they've got a chance of survival. there it is, smashing up against the side there. that's almost like
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a real life scenario. the sirens definitely kick in, and as soon as you hear something like that, it's emergency protocol. and that kicks the adrenaline into you. it's nuts that you go up there and you're peering out the 20 metre hatch — you realise how high it is. sometimes it's like throwing a cat into a bath. yeah, i wouldn't want to fall. the whole point of this is to get used to the heights and familiarise yourself with being up there. i mean, this is what it's all about — the training that's offered here. if you didn't have that, there's no way that you'd be getting offshore and working on the turbine. oh, the turbine‘s there in the distance. maybe one day, i'll be in one of those.
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today is sort of like after my training, my first interview. so i'm a bit nervous. i'm a bit shaky. ijust hope, you know, to get my foot in the door here, and keep it wedged open for me for the future. that's the plan. double whammy. job offer and my birthday. you know statistically, that kind of stuff doesn't happen, doesn it? so i thought, "should i do the lottery"? now i ca to pay off everybody and everything i own now, so that'll be great. so it ain'tjust me that's happy, i'm sure they're happy about it too. even on a very basic rate, i should be five times better off than what i was. three, two... we're going out to the wind turbines.
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you know, it's all built up to this. pretty excited to be here, actually being on the turbine, it's great. lovely day, i've seen some wildlife today. but yeah — thank god, i'm actually on a turbine. that is scroby sands, one of the wind farms that is already operational off the norfolk coast. and as part of our coastal britain coverage, simon mccoy came to great yarmouth to talk to some of the key people involved in regenerating the town. starting with simon grey, the chief executive of the eastern england eenergy group. just describe the change here in the last ten years because of this business? we've seen a gradual increase and migration from oil and gas in typically coal to renewable energy. in particular, in our offshore wind. offshore wind is where it's at. it's much more palatable, people don't seem to mind offshore wind as much as they do on shore.
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we've had some objections to that, and obviously this will mean larger turbines, meaning more and more efficiency and cost—effective. so offshore wind is really coming home to town in hitting yarmouth, and indeed the entire east coast. and over your shoulder, they're putting together the next generation of these turbines. what struck me is the speed of progress in the power that one turbine can produce. because one of those now is producing what ten of those were producing not long ago? pretty much. the ones we saw this morning — scroby sands is two megawatts turbines. these ones are eight megawatts turbines now. and we are gradually working towards 10—15 megawatts turbines. they are getting bigger and bigger, and the output is going to be greater and greater, meaning more cost—effective. so it's good news for everyone. well before renewable energy, tourism was king. so how is the industry faring now? to find out, simon met up with michael cole, owner of this theme park, joyland. and they went on a
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snail ride together. this isn't something you do every day. this is michael cole. now michael, this is your snail ride. 70 years old this year. what have you seen changing in great yarmouth in that time? i don't remember the whole 70 years... laughter. obviously in my lifetime, i can remember the late '60s into the '70s where yarmouth boomed, and it was really, really busy. into the '80s — it sort of declined a little bit into the '90s. to be quite honest with you, the last 3—4 years, i think it's been a little bit of a resurgence. it's obviously seasonal, but you're very dependent on things like the weather? oh, 100%, the weather. the weather was actually perfect for us, and the numbers of people were astounding, to be honest with you. we are now coming to the big dip. hold tight! anyway...
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you're enjoying this, aren't you? i thought i would. so, what about things like wind farms? is that changing the feel of a town like this? i think it is to a degree. but we've always had industry here. we've had the oil industry, and i think the wind technology is taking over from what the oil industry was doing. so there's a bit of a mix in yarmouth, with tourism and industry. so house of lords says this needs to reinvent itself, this town — do you think that's possible? to a point, yeah. i think there are certain elements of the town that can be reinvented. but i still think there is a hard—core traditional element of the seafront that should stay. it's good to talk to you. great yarmouth was one of the first place is to test the government's new flagship welfare reform, universal credit. one in ten people in great yarmouth and waverley are on universal credit. it merges several benefits into one.
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a local head teacher says it's put an extra burden on families, and she describes her school as the fourth emergency service. ashley john—ba ptiste reports. great yarmouth. like many coastal towns, deprivation is an issue here. and it's something one primary school in the area knows about all too well. sharon is a support adviser and helped to set up the food bank at school. michael is apparent. let's start with breakfast. what do you prefer? why do you have to do this, why do you have to come here? it's because we were on universal credit. they think we can live on the money that they give us, and we can't. how important is this school? this school is majorly important — for me and my family. without the food bank, we'd be stuffed. i would've had to go out stealing, but i don't. you'd have to go stealing
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without this school? yes. this is the year four corridor. it was head teacher debbie whiting's decision to start the food bank last autumn, as a result of the increase of students showing up to school hungry. in order for a child to be able to learn and come into school ready to learn, there is a whole raft of things that need to be in place. first of all, they need to be fed and warm, they need to feel safe. it's difficult — we've had parents who found it difficult to manage financially to actually feed their children because of, really, the introduction of universal credit. great yarmouth was one of the first towns in the uk to roll out universal credit. it replaces six benefits with one monthly payment. the government says it's a simpler and fairer system, but this school says some of its parents are struggling. one of those parents is lee. he's learning to cook at the school, alongside others going through tough times.
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we were waiting eight weeks for universal credit payments. so in the meantime, the school was a great help, giving us food parcels. but the school's ability to help disadvantaged families now faces a new threat. the school budget has been cut. staff will have to go, and debbie'sjob is on the line. will i end up being one of these that relies on the food bank? who knows? yeah, i don't know. i'm a single parent, i've got children... one of those things that can't be helped. yeah... following on from that report, the government has sent us a statement, saying... "it cannot be claimed that universal credit is driving the overall use of food banks. we've listened carefully to feedback on universal credit and have made significant improvements so that
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people can get paid on day one. we're getting the balance right by supporting vulnerable people who need it most, while at the same time helping people to get it to work faster, which we know is the best route out of poverty." across great yarmouth, former b&bs have been bought out by private landlords, and some of them have been turned into bed sits and hmos — houses of multiple occupancy — of varying quality. some residents are now selling up near the sea side, complaining of anti—social behaviour. andrew turner has been investigating. the kitchen is all blocked up. the sink in the bathroom, and the bath... that gets blocked up. how about cleaning? would you say that you haven't looked after the place, and the place could do with a good clean? no. i try to keep it as clean as possible. if he was a decent landlord,
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he would make sure that the repairs were done properly. sheila's landlord didn't want to speak on camera, but he told me he's only had one complaint from her about the heating. and he's in the process of sorting that. these streets and others like them were once dominated by guest houses and hotels. but as tourism declined, many became houses in multiple occupancy. we know that some in this town are well below the legal standard for safety of residents, but they don't want to talk to us because they fear they might be evicted. so the council is increasing regulation, and housing enforcement officers patrol the streets looking for substandard accommodation in an area where 60% of residential property is privately rented. we will root out these properties, we will make them improved, and we will support landlords to be compliant. and the ones that don't want to be will be prosecuted. sue dawson thinks that's a good thing. she runs a number of hmos, but says some landlords are giving the others a bad reputation.
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we are going to number 24 now. the hmos are all licensed by the councils, they'll have to come up to certain standards. and it's good, really, because it removes rogue landlords. they have to come up to standards, or else they get close down, and can't operate. hiya, how you doing? b&bs are facing increasing competition from hotels, and some guest house owners are saying hmos aren't good neighbours. and this lady wants out. people have no choice but to open up hmos because we've got mortgages, we've got bills to pay, we've got things to sort out, and we can't afford to live on a season that is just 4—6 weeks. it's just not long enough any more. things aren't improving, so the only way you'll be able to live and make money is by renting out your rooms long—term. i felt a bit sorry for the people that would move into this place. but making money doesn't have to come at the cost of living standards. this new landlord is spending £20,000 on improvements, and says he can still make a profit.
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a lot of people have to make money quick and easy, basically. there's no reason that the last person couldn't have done what i'm doing. they've chosen not to because they are seeing money coming in each month, and theyjust think that from a business point of view, they won't do that. the council says it doesn't want to wipe out hmos as a housing sector. it wants to raise the standards and admits that some landlords will give up. and in ourfinal report, the police in great yarmouth are warning of increasing tension between local people and the growing romanian community post—brexit. the police have even publicly dismissed facebook rumours that there is a romanian child snatching gang operating in their town. simma kotecha has this report. golden sands and bright lights. but behind great yarmouth, seaside attractions, attentions and rumours. rumours that romanian migrants are trying to steal children. and they're not true, but they've left some in the community very upset.
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at least 4,000 people from eastern europe come to live here. many of the romanians don't speak english, so we hired a translator. the rumours started on facebook earlier this year. thousands shared this post alleging so—called "gypsy foreigners" have been trying to steal children, along with this plea... "please, please, please, don't take your children to great yarmouth." it quickly generated hundreds of inflammatory comments. the police contacted those suspected of being behind the false messages to try and make them stop posting them. we've done a lot of work within hate crime in great yarmouth. we sensed pre and post—brexit that there was this tension, and we felt we needed to address that. so we've put things in place to make
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sure that we are constantly reviewing community tension. from the dozens of people we've spoken to here in recent weeks, there's a real sense that even though different communities live along the same streets, they often don't mix. and that's a real source of tension. they steal stuff. they'll steal the purse from your bag. lorraine has always lived here and was once married to a romanian. we should send them back. send them back? yeah. to romania? yeah. ijust don't get on with them, i don't like them. i don't think they integrate with you to talk to you. there's more of them than us. there will be people that think that what you are saying is discriminatory. no. i'm not discriminating against them at all. i'm discriminating against anybody! i'm not worried about people like you, i'm not, because — my sister lives in london. and what do you mean when you said "people like me"? well, there's loads in london.
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there's loads of asian people and indian people, turkish people. do you know what i mean? there's a lot of cultures. they don't bother me. we can't even voice an opinion because you are being discriminated against. but some people like rozalia say it's wrong to make generalisations. it makes me sad because they think all romanians are the same. it's not nice, it makes you feel sad because you know you are good people. there are some good people, not all are bad. the attractions of yarmouth have long drawn people to work in the town and call it home. and many hoped false online rumours don't deepen divisions here and across the country. and to talk about all those issues in the town in general, simon was joined by the chief executive of great yarmouth borough council, sheila oxtoby.
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we've just seen some stories which are looking at the problems facing a place like great yarmouth. but sell it to me, because there are things going for this place. simon, if ijust ask you to turn around and see 15 miles of beautiful coastline and the sandy beach, i think those assets sell great yarmouth. also along the sea front, 60 visitor attractions. and it's very much a traditional british seaside town. and if you'd been here on sunday, you'd have seen over 1,000 cyclists along the promenade. it was absolutely stunning. and we are investing in the assets along the sea front, we've got numerous projects because we are very conscious that, although we trade on our tradition, we also need to be preparing for the visitor economy of the future. the house of lords select committee looking into coastal britain said that towns like this need to reinvent themselves. you talk about that traditional tourism business. hasn't that now had its day? aren't the b&b owners finding that actually there is no
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money to be made here? ok, i would dispute that. i think many of the businesses have their peaks and troughs, but they do make their money over the summer. but the challenge is to look at our tradition. we don't want to lose that, it's worth £625 million, the visitor economy, each year. so there's definitely something to be trading on, but we also need to look to the future. and whilst we have an offer, we need to broaden that offer. and we have some incredible historic assets, as well as the traditional seaside town. you've got a town where one in ten people are on universal credit. you've got issues with people from eastern europe who have settled here in large numbers. and when you talk to people, that is an issue. how are you going to tackle these very basic issues? in terms of longer—term — yes, we have got some challenges, but we've also got a huge opportunity. £39 billion of investment
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will be happening offshore over the next 20 years, creating up to 6,000 newjobs. now our biggest challenge is to make sure that economic value, that growth in the economy benefits local people, and those jobs go to local people. which is why we are working... i'll actually point out that right behind you, that is where they are putting those turbines together. and that has the potential to change things here, does it? it absolutely does. what you can see in the distance is actually the assembly of one of the wind farms. but in the future, we've already got one of the largest developers who have chosen great yarmouth as their place for their future operation maintenance for two huge wind farms, which will be developed over the next ten years. so not only are we capitalising on the development, but also on the future operation and maintenance. and with 400 businesses in that sector — again, one of ourjobs is to make sure
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that the supply chain is lined up and that they are able to access those. and they can live here in great yarmouth? they can live here and have great quality housing. it's very great to talk to you, sheila. thank you very much. well, andrew is with me again. in andrew, what you think the future holds for great yarmouth? i think the opportunities are there. there's a lot of work going on, and i think with the government now acknowledging that coastal communities have been neglected for so long, there is the impetus. but there's a lot of risk that goes with it. there's funding to source, and you also have big influences. look at the national retail picture — great yarmouth town centre is struggling, and you have to try and work your way around what the situation is globally in retail and that part of it. but when you look at the part of the infrastructure that's here, when you look at the opportunities that are available — with some work and improving lives, improving the quality of the housing, improving education and also improving the level of spending money that people have, i think there are opportunities
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for great yarmouth to really spring back. the councils looked at other areas — margate is often talked about, but they've cherry picked the best ideas and come out and tried to implement some of them to work for this community. andrew, thank you very much. that's all from great yarmouth, and our special look at coastal britain. as andrew says, hopefully with the focus that is now on these communities and the help they need, there is some hope on the horizon. from all of us here, goodbye. with all the sunshine and over and over the next few days it will be a distant memory ofjust how wet last week was but here is a reminder of
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how grim things were. in yorkshire we had 48 millimetres, nearly one month's we had 48 millimetres, nearly one months worth. mind you, we needed the rain here, it has been a prolonged dry spell of weather so the rain would have been welcomed by many farmers and gardeners but the contrast could not be clearer. for the next few days we are looking at skies like these, plenty of sunshine and filling warmer. the changes brought about by this area of high pressure that continues to build to the east of the uk in the north sea and the winds go around that high pressure in a clockwise sense and that means for much of this week the highest temperatures will be wafting towards the north and west of the uk. it will not be cold anywhere on monday although a chilly start and by the afternoon we have temperatures as high as 18 or 19 and it will feel warmer, particularly across the north—east of scotland. quite a across the north—east of scotland. quiteajump in across the north—east of scotland. quite a jump in temperatures. on tuesday the winds become fresher across the coastline of east anglia,
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essex and kent and still warm in the sunshine with the highest temperatures will continue to be wafted towards northern and western areas so wafted towards northern and western areas so temperatures of 23 degrees in the warmest spots in scotland and on wednesday it is likely to be the warmest of the week. we could see highs of 24 degrees across scotland and plenty of sunshine across the board and with those winds coming from the south—east, we could see this in temperatures. for north—west england and wales and perhaps western counties of northern ireland, we could have low 20s. generally, the high teens to the low 20s will feel pleasant in sunshine. we have changes into thursday. high pressure begins to drift further northwards, moving over the continent and edging closer to us and the isoba rs continent and edging closer to us and the isobars pinched together across the uk. not that it will be windy but the breeze will pick up from an easterly direction, coming across the cold north sea and that
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will tend to knock the temperatures down across eastern scotland and england where it will also be cloudy with the highest temperatures pushed further westwards. i8 with the highest temperatures pushed further westwards. 18 degrees in cardiff. there is uncertainty for friday. we think it will be a cloudy day with patchy outbreaks of rain around but there is uncertainty around but there is uncertainty around the position of the rain and how heavy it will be. winds coming from an easterly still quite brisk so from an easterly still quite brisk so it will feel cooler ground the north sea coast but inland and to the west, not feeling bad. one of the west, not feeling bad. one of the weird facets with meteorology as you can predict how predictable the atmosphere is and into the weekend the predictability is not great. it will be quite cloudy, there might be patches of rain around but it will not be cold with temperatures for many still into the high teens and low 20s. and if the forecast is uncertain for the week and, that grows further into the following
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week. the jet stream grows further into the following week. thejet stream is grows further into the following week. the jet stream is at a crossroads. the blocking pattern tends to release a little bit, the jet stream reorienting across the atla ntic jet stream reorienting across the atlantic with low pressure may be moving from the near continent. lots of fs and maybes. it is not that predictable just yet. stay tuned for more detail.
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