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TikTok and YouTube videos put Yorkshire Dales 'under siege'  Viral social media posts have been blamed for sudden waves of tourism in the Yorkshire Dales
The Yorkshire Dales national park saw a huge tourism surge during the pandemic and visitor numbers have continued to climb ever since. But the surge in popularity has escalated complaints over litter, traffic and anti-social behaviour, with the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority facing repeated calls to take greater action to manage the impacts. Now viral social media posts have been blamed for sudden waves of tourism in the Yorkshire Dales where locals complain they have been left "under siege" from an influx of visitors, as Local Democracy Reporter Stuart Minting writes. Richard Foster, leader of Craven District Council, said "most of the problems" have been caused by TikTok and YouTube videos which put pressure on Dales communities by drawing scores of visitors to beauty spots. "We have got a big problem as people have now found the Dales and want to go to the honeypot locations," he told a recent council meeting. "Threshfield Quarry is a prime example – an influencer posted 'come to the blue lagoon' and next thing you know everybody is turning up. "We had similar incidents at Burnsall with a TikTok post which mean that all of sudden the village was full with people from as far away as Brighton and Bournemouth."
TikTok's not all bad though. In Northumberland a local man has become a star on the video sharing platform after his videos of cleaning road signs across the county racked up millions of views. Andrew Newton, who owns a mobile car valeting service, has acquired nearly 30,000 followers since he started posting videos just three weeks ago. The 53-year-old from Prudhoe, who cleans the signs voluntarily, has been overwhelmed by the response and has received comments from around the world.
Council 'started eviction proceedings' on man who killed two-year-old boy  George Hinds was killed in a gas explosion caused by Darren Greenham
There was a harrowing read on the LancsLive website this weekend as reporter Jamie Lopez examined the case of Darren Greenham, who caused misery for his neighbours during five years of anti-social behaviour involving verbal abuse, obnoxious noise, and dangerous fires. His drug and drink fuelled behaviour escalated and, as he feared eviction from his Lancaster City Council house on Mallowdale Avenue in the town of Heysham, his behaviour ramped up and became so extreme that it stole the life of a two-year-old boy who slept in the house next door. As part of a weeks-long attempt to strip copper pipes to sell for scrap, he caused a catastrophic gas leak which ignited and destroyed three houses. It also killed little George Hinds who was trapped in the rubble. Greenham was jailed for 15 years last week and as the shocking details of the case were laid out at Preston Crown Court, it emerged his neighbours had lodged numerous complaints to the council and Lancashire Constabulary before that day. George Hinds' father Stephen said: "I always did the right thing and reported it to the council and the police. Nothing was ever done." The court heard eviction proceedings were beginning but no notice had yet been served when Greenham caused the fatal explosion. Lancaster City Council's leader Caroline Jackson said it would be inappropriate to comment in detail at this stage. She said: "Prior to the gas explosion the council had commenced housing proceedings in relation to 20 Mallowdale due to anti-social behaviour. These proceedings were paused on application to the court, after the explosion."
As families suffered, housing association bosses raked in huge pay rises  (From left, top): Gareth Swarbrick, Nadhia Khan, (bottom) Nickie Hallard and Clare Tostevin have received increases to their pay packages at RBH in recent years (Image: RBH / Manchester Evening News)
In another tragic case involving the death of a child, it's emerged that bosses at the housing association responsible for a Rochdale estate plagued with damp and mould have enjoyed 'obscene' pay rises while families have been complaining about conditions. Rochdale Boroughwide Housing (RBH) hit out at 'historic under investment' in the sector when an investigation by Stephen Topping of the Manchester Evening News exposed the conditions tenants had been living in on the Freehold estate. It is the same estate where Awaab Ishak had been living before his death aged just two in December 2020 - with a post-mortem linking the tragedy with the damp and mould at his home, Rochdale Coroners Court heard earlier this year. But while families have been battling stubborn damp and mould and Awaab's loved ones have been grieving, RBH executives have enjoyed handsome pay hikes, as Stephen reports. In the same financial year as Awaab's death, five members of RBH's senior management team received total pay packages of more than £100,000, including salary and pension contributions. Four remain at RBH and benefitted from another pay hike the following financial year - coming into effect less than five months after Awaab's death. Mark Slater, chair of the local College Bank Support Group, described the pay rises as 'almost inexcusable'.
The towns where locals offer spare rooms to care home patients for £50 a night  The Care Rooms project was launched last year in Selby and York. Stock image from Press Association
The crisis in care homes is being felt across the country but in the rural and coastal parts of North Yorkshire the impacts of Brexit, the pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis on staffing levels in the care sector have been particularly keenly felt. And last year North Yorkshire County Council came up with a novel solution, with residents paid about £50 a night to offer a room in their homes where hospital patients can be discharged and respite given for adults with care needs. The Care Rooms project was launched in Selby and York and leaders are now set to trial it across areas of the county which lack sufficient care provision to enable people to be discharged from hospital into a safe and local care setting. The scheme is aimed at anyone with a spare room and time to give an extra hand to those needing support but "minimal care needs" before moving back into their own home after surgery or a fall, as Local Democracy Reporter Stuart Minting writes. Executive member for adult services and health Michael Harrison said of the scheme: "It's a great way for people to feel that they are giving something back to the community. "We are really appreciative of people who would be willing to open up their homes to people, they will get their costs covered, it's providing a really good service for people being discharged from hospital and it's freeing up a hospital bed. If we find this works there's no reason why this can not be rolled out in all areas."
Meanwhile, just what is going on at City of York Council? The authority has apologised for a "deeply embarrassing" error which has seen council meetings postponed at short notice for the second time in a matter of weeks. No meetings will take place this week after public notices advertising them were once again not posted outside the council's offices, as required by law, writes Local Democracy Reporter Joe Cooper. Several meetings were postponed at the end of last month after democracy campaigner Gwen Swinburn alerted the Lib Dem/Green-run council to the same issue. It follows earlier disruption at the start of September when meetings were cancelled following the death of the Queen. Ms Swinburn said: "I was staggered to see a repeat of the same legal notice failures yesterday, and respect the monitoring officer (Bryn Roberts) for his principled actions again."
Could this 'hot-blooded male' be about to enter House of Lords?  Former Weaver Vale MP Graham Evans raised eyebrows with his comments on a BBC politics show
If reports are to be believed, former Tory MP for Weaver Vale in Cheshire Graham Evans is to be given a seat in the House of Lords in the coming days as 15 new peers are created by Downing Street. At least Mr Evans, who represented Weaver Vale in the Commons from 2010 to 2017 and worked in manufacturing for 30 years before becoming an MP, is unlikely to complain about cold conditions in the chamber. He was accused of misogyny this weekend after he described himself as a "hot-blooded male" while complaining that "females in my house like to have the heating on". During a BBC Politics North West discussion about fuel efficiency as heating costs rise over the winter, he said: "Personally I'm a hot blooded male, females in my house like to have the heating on. Try and keep the heating down as humanly possible…" He later admitted the comment was "flippant", but insisted the Government needs to grow the economy, as Patrick Grafton-Green reports for inews.
'Unfit' Labour councillor delivers blistering attack on local party  Matt Wynne has been barred from running for Labour at Stockport's 'all out' local elections in May
A Labour councillor deemed 'unfit' to stand for re-election launched a blistering attack on his local party as he resigned during a town hall meeting. Matt Wynne has been barred from running for Labour at Stockport's 'all out' local elections in May after being rejected by a panel and then losing his appeal, as Local Democracy Reporter Nick Statham reports. The furious Edgeley and Cheadle Heath representative last week claimed he had fallen victim to a 'weaponised' selection process following a 'gradual takeover of the local party's machinery' by what he called the 'far left'. And he took the opportunity to go out with a bang at a full council meeting last week, resigning as a Labour councillor and branding the party 'not fit for purpose'. "The whole saga has shown how out of control and out of touch the local party is at present while under the grip of a hard left cult led by the MP for Stockport and his office," he told councillors. 
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Northern Stories  Dame Judi Dench signs autographs as she arrives for the European premiere of Allelujah during the BFI London Film Festival
- Dame Judi Dench has said her upcoming film set in the geriatric ward of a small Yorkshire hospital speaks to the "debt we owe" NHS staff. Allelujah, which had its European premiere yesterday, is about how people fight back when the hospital is threatened with closure. The veteran York-born actress, 87, stars in the story based on the stage play by Alan Bennett about surviving old age alongside Absolutely Fabulous star Jennifer Saunders and Harry Potter's David Bradley.
- Northumberland councillors have criticised schools who exclude pupils for 'slight' breaches of uniform policy and called for more flexibility from teachers. Figures presented to Northumberland County Council's Family and Children's Services Committee showed that there had been 4,027 fixed term exclusions from the county's schools in 2021/22 – almost double the previous year's figure of 2,144. While the report did not specify the reasons behind individual exclusions, councillors felt that approaches to uniform should change, particularly given the cost of living crisis.
- A property developer whose York apartment building turned into a "nightmare" has been allowed to slash the amount he contributes to affordable housing in the city by more than £1 million. Councillors reluctantly agreed to allow Marc Black and his company Modernistiq Developments off paying half of the section 106 agreement money on the block of 62 apartments off Eboracum Way. Mr Black bought the site after planning permission was granted in 2020 and originally intended to turn it into a student housing block, but construction has stalled after what he described as a string "bad luck".
- Labour has announced its candidate for the West Lancashire Parliamentary by-election. Ashley Dalton has been chosen to represent the party following the resignation of incumbent Rosie Cooper last month. Ms Cooper, who has held the seat for 17 years, is stepping down to take the role of chair of Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust. Ms Dalton, from Lancashire, is a mum, carer and cancer survivor. She has spent 25 years working with grassroots communities in local government and now works part-time for a Lancashire charity.
- Cheshire East council looks set to give councillors paid parental leave to encourage more people to stand for election and take part in the democratic process. If the policy is agreed by full council it would apply to parents, regardless of their gender, and cover adoption leave to support those who choose to adopt. Council leader Sam Corcoran told a recent meeting: "Many other councils have already adopted parental leave policies and it's timely for us to look at doing the same."
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More than £17m is to be invested into the development of a new multi-purpose events centre in Southport. Liverpool City Region Combined Authority is to provide vital funding to Sefton Council to build the new Marine Lake Events Centre, which includes a 1,500-capacity theatre as well as exhibition and conference facilities. The cash injection from the city region's strategic investment fund will help provide a new facility to replace the existing Southport Theatre and Convention Centre which closed in 2020.
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