Latest news with #Middlemarch
RNZ News
4 hours ago
- Climate
- RNZ News
Regional council says low risk to life when Middlemarch floods, residents say it's still stressful
Sewage in the Tap and Dough Bistro in Middlemarch, central Otago, in 2018. Photo: SUPPLIED The Otago Regional Council says there is no simple solution to stop the rural town of Middlemarch from flooding, but the risk to life is lower than expected. In recent years, flooding has spread water and contaminated muck through homes, businesses and streets, impacting bores and blocking roads. On Tuesday, the council hosted a community meeting to discuss the latest flood update and potential ways to reduce them. The sound of heavy rains sparked anxiety for some Middlemarch residents, as swelling streams flowed down the Rock and Pillar Range towards the town. In 2018, a deluge turned some streets into sewage ponds with one business flooding to knee-deep filthy water . Ruth Manning has owned a holiday home in Middlemarch for more than 20 years - it has been hit twice in recent floods. "So about 50 to 60 centimetres up the wall the water damage spread. I've had to have the carpet fully replaced twice and most of the furnishings that were in the cottage replaced as well," she said. "That's two insurance claims and we have been advised now that we won't be insured again should it happen again and our excess has gone up to $5000." The community hall was packed with Middlemarch residents who wanted to hear about the latest science and solutions from Otago Regional Council. The council found existing culverts, channels and bridges were too small, there were no easy solutions and they would likely be costly and challenging to implement. But council's flood hazard analyst Nathan Anderson said there was also some good news, including debris flow not being a major concern . "The risk of people losing their lives or getting injured ... is what specifically our focus was and that is relatively low because we don't have areas that are getting extremely deep or moving very fast," he said. One resident told the meeting that calling it low risk did not properly account for the toll it took on the community. "I think that underplays and undervalues the stresses that people have that live in the flood-prone areas and when the rain hits, I get a number of phone calls from people that live in those areas that have been flooded and they're damned anxious," he said. Flooding in Middlemarch in 2021. Photo: Supplied / Robin Thomas Nathan Anderson acknowledged the concerns, saying that the risk to life might be low but the council was aware of the other impacts from flooding. A flooded caravan did not deter Patrick Flanagan from settling here about five years ago. "It didn't stop us from building, we just had to build 400 millimetres above any known flood height," he said. "For the community, it was a bit devastating because some businesses closed down and, obviously, it puts a lot of stress on people whose places are very close to flooding." He was pleased to see the council were taking the issue seriously and he hoped to see more solutions that would help to protect homes in the community. Ruth Manning was keen to see some longer term solutions that could help Middlemarch to grow, saying it was an affordable place to live. "There's multiple residential properties here in the area and I think people are put off by the risk of flooding and actually buying in the first place," she said. "But if we had a good flood mitigation scheme, then it would actually attract more people to this area." In 2023, the council installed a new rain gauge to boost flood forecasting in the area. Improving channels, creating a diversion channel and debris basins were among the possible solutions, but Nathan Anderson said there was no silver bullet solution despite using modelling to test a range of different options. The ballpark figures ranged from about $2 million to upwards of $15 million and did not include design or land costs. "We're here to help solve their problems. That's really what we hope to get out of it," Anderson said. "At the end of the day, it really comes down to it's going to be their decision of how they want to achieve that balance between cost and effectiveness." Another resident told the meeting that the flooding hit their water bores and could potentially take weeks to fix, forcing people to boil their water to brush their teeth or rely on water tankers. Angela and Shane Foster hoped to start building their Middlemarch home in the next 12 months. Armed with information from the council and locals, they were opting for a foundation that would raise it up on piles to give them more protection, he said. "We are on a wee bit of an incline so we believe from what we've been told it doesn't get that far up but one in 100 year (flood) could get that far up," he said. Angela Foster said the community wanted to see some action. "There has been a lot of modelling done in offices. There's been a lot of interesting work done behind the scenes, but there doesn't seem to be much happening on the ground," she said. "I think if people see things happening on the ground, whether it be widening of creeks or clearing out of creeks or whatever it may be, if they could see some actual work it might help people's view that they're being helped and not just being forgotten about." Otago Regional Council hoped to have more detailed options to show the community in the next year, but said it was clear that the community wanted to hear more about solutions. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
How Alan Yentob changed the BBC for the better (and worse)
With the death of Alan Yentob, the BBC's erstwhile creative director and broadcasting titan, the corporation has lost the man who has done more than virtually anyone else in the post-war era to define it in the public imagination, for good and for ill alike. For nearly six decades, Yentob was a seismic figure within and without the confines of Broadcasting House, a man whose vision reshaped its cultural output. He was that rare behind-the-scenes impresario who was also a household name, and his willingness to put himself on camera suggested that he saw himself as being as much a star as the figures he interviewed throughout his career, from Orson Welles to David Bowie. Yentob's time with the BBC was a career of dizzying highs and lows, of glittering brilliance tainted by hubris. In addition to the art documentary series Arena and Imagine, he was directly responsible for many of the corporation's most iconic and memorable programmes during his tenure as BBC controller, firstly of BBC Two from 1987 to 1993 and then BBC One from 1993 and 1996. In retrospect, the high watermark of his career was as an executive, rather than as a presenter. During this period, he commissioned programmes such as Pride and Prejudice (the series which made Colin Firth a heartthrob), Middlemarch, The Office and Absolutely Fabulous (the latter of which paid him appropriately backhanded homage by calling the character of a Moroccan houseboy 'Yentob'). He furthered the reach of Have I Got News For You, which began in 1990 but only really achieved critical mass under Yentob's enthusiastic patronage. That he would occasionally become one of its satirical targets was merely a price that he willingly paid to see it become the BBC's most popular and longest-running televised comedy panel show. Yet the difficulty with Yentob was that he was vain and inclined to believe that he was a genius in his own right rather than a man who was at his best when allowing other, more talented individuals to thrive. The difficulties really began in 2004 when he was given the all-encompassing post of 'BBC creative director', which allowed him to do more or less as he wished. Anyone watching him closely might have expected that a fall was coming, and it duly did. The only surprise in retrospect is that it took over a decade to arrive. He had joined the BBC in 1968 as a trainee, the only non-Oxbridge graduate in his cohort, and quickly ascended the corporation's ranks, a testament to his charisma and relentless drive. By the time he became controller of BBC Two in 1987, he had already established himself as the most influential figure in British television, and many of the shows that he commissioned there are justly regarded as classics. (Without him, for instance, it's fair to say there would be no Wallace and Gromit.) These years were nothing short of a cultural renaissance for the channel; at a time when many might have asked what BBC Two stood for, he transformed it into a crucible of televisual innovation, which more than held its own against its rival Channel 4. Some, not least Yentob himself, might have whispered that he was the most significant figure at the corporation since the days of Sir John Reith. When his flagship arts show Arena was at its peak, such self-congratulation did not seem wholly absurd. The show managed to look at both high and low culture with the same blend of seriousness and commitment, suggesting that punk rock and Orson Welles alike were worthy of intellectual assessment. This not only influenced broadsheet newspapers' cultural supplements but also led to Yentob himself fronting Imagine, a show that was dogged by controversy in 2007 when it was revealed that other journalists had conducted some of the interviews, with shots of Yentob frowning and looking quizzical dropped in. This was known as 'Noddygate', on account of the number of shots of the presenter nodding and looking sage. While a staff investigation reportedly found that none of that footage had been broadcast, this made Yentob a marked man in the estimation of junior colleagues, who were all too aware that other, less venerable figures had lost their jobs for rather less. All the same, Yentob was a serious contender for the role of director-general. He later said, with a typical combination of apparent self-deprecation and considerable self-regard that, 'I'm really glad I didn't get it. I'd probably have been sacked. I think I could have run the BBC, but obviously I would have run it in my way.' Despite his self-consciously cerebral mien, there was also something of the overgrown child about Yentob, a sense that he was giddily enjoying his power and influence. It was little surprise, with this in mind, that he launched CBBC and CBeebies, cementing the BBC's role as a nurturer of young minds. It was ironic, then, that his legacy was irrevocably marred by his involvement with Kids Company, the charity that he served as chairman for and which collapsed ignominiously in 2015 due to accusations of financial mismanagement. Yentob was accused of trying to influence the BBC's coverage of the scandal. His meddling was described by MPs as 'unwise at best, deliberately intimidating at worst,' and he resigned from his much-prized creative director role in December 2015. (An internal BBC inquiry concluded that he did not affect its reporting.) Yentob's penchant for self-promotion and name-dropping—Clive James once quipped he had heard the executive was 'in the Red Sea, in conversation with the Dalai Lama'— allowed him to become a whipping boy for all those who disliked the modern BBC. He was seen as overpaid (in 2013, it was revealed his annual salary was more than £330,000), out of touch and, in the inimitable words of the Daily Mail, a 'profligate luvvie'. Yet it is hard to view his ultimate legacy as purely a tainted one. Yentob made some of the most memorable and successful television of the last few decades. It is this, rather than his many failings and excessive self-confidence, that should ultimately stand as his lasting memorial. 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Rhyl Journal
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Rhyl Journal
Alan Yentob: Influential BBC executive undone by Kids Company scandal
Born in London on March 11 1947, to an Iraqi-Jewish family, Yentob was sent to board at a cathedral school in Cambridgeshire as a young boy before studying law at the University of Leeds. He joined the BBC in 1968 as a trainee at the World Service where he worked his way through the ranks to become the corporation's head of music and arts in 1985. In 1987 he was promoted to controller of BBC2 where he revitalised the channel by commissioning hugely successful shows such as Absolutely Fabulous, starring Jennifer Saunders and Dame Joanna Lumley, arts series The Late Show and comedy quiz show, Have I Got News For You. In 1993 he became the official controller of BBC1. His drama commissions ranged from Middlemarch and Pride And Prejudice – which made actor Colin Firth a heartthrob – to Ballykissangel, while wielding an axe to the failing Spain-set soap Eldorado. He also presented shows for the BBC, including a series on the life of artist Leonardo da Vinci, starring Sir Mark Rylance, and a regular arts series, Imagine, from 2003. Artist Marina Abramovic, novelist Bernardine Evaristo and Oscar-winning actor Marlon Brando were among the famous faces who had episodes devoted to their lives and careers. Yentob was appointed creative director, to oversee the BBC's creative strategy, in 2004 and he also served as chairman of the board of trustees for Kids Company, founded by Camila Batmanghelidjh, from 2003 until the collapse of the charity in 2015. Yentob faced scrutiny over his role as well as claims he tried to influence coverage at the corporation of its troubles. He always insisted there was no conflict of interest in his decision to call Newsnight about its investigation into Kids Company and had not 'abused my position at the BBC'. He is said to have phoned the BBC Two programme in July 2015 as it prepared to broadcast a report suggesting the government would withhold further funding unless its founder, Ms Batmanghelidjh, stood down. The charity folded on August 5 2015 just six days after receiving a £3 million grant in a final bid to keep it afloat. In December that year Yentob stepped down from his job at the BBC, saying the speculation over his conduct had been 'proving a serious distraction'. Also in 2015, Yentob was awarded £85,000 in phone-hacking damages from Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN). In spite of the Kids Company controversy, he continued to present programmes for the BBC, interviewing figures including Sir Stephen Fry and Bob Geldof. In a BBC Two programme in 2024 he spoke to author Sir Salman Rushdie about the devastating effects of the onstage knife attack that left him blind in one eye. Yentob was married to TV producer Philippa Walker and the couple had two children together. He was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Letters from De Montfort University, Leicester, in 2005 and in 2024 he was formally made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) by the King for services to the arts and media.
Leader Live
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Leader Live
Alan Yentob: Influential BBC executive undone by Kids Company scandal
Born in London on March 11 1947, to an Iraqi-Jewish family, Yentob was sent to board at a cathedral school in Cambridgeshire as a young boy before studying law at the University of Leeds. He joined the BBC in 1968 as a trainee at the World Service where he worked his way through the ranks to become the corporation's head of music and arts in 1985. In 1987 he was promoted to controller of BBC2 where he revitalised the channel by commissioning hugely successful shows such as Absolutely Fabulous, starring Jennifer Saunders and Dame Joanna Lumley, arts series The Late Show and comedy quiz show, Have I Got News For You. In 1993 he became the official controller of BBC1. His drama commissions ranged from Middlemarch and Pride And Prejudice – which made actor Colin Firth a heartthrob – to Ballykissangel, while wielding an axe to the failing Spain-set soap Eldorado. He also presented shows for the BBC, including a series on the life of artist Leonardo da Vinci, starring Sir Mark Rylance, and a regular arts series, Imagine, from 2003. Artist Marina Abramovic, novelist Bernardine Evaristo and Oscar-winning actor Marlon Brando were among the famous faces who had episodes devoted to their lives and careers. Yentob was appointed creative director, to oversee the BBC's creative strategy, in 2004 and he also served as chairman of the board of trustees for Kids Company, founded by Camila Batmanghelidjh, from 2003 until the collapse of the charity in 2015. Yentob faced scrutiny over his role as well as claims he tried to influence coverage at the corporation of its troubles. He always insisted there was no conflict of interest in his decision to call Newsnight about its investigation into Kids Company and had not 'abused my position at the BBC'. He is said to have phoned the BBC Two programme in July 2015 as it prepared to broadcast a report suggesting the government would withhold further funding unless its founder, Ms Batmanghelidjh, stood down. The charity folded on August 5 2015 just six days after receiving a £3 million grant in a final bid to keep it afloat. In December that year Yentob stepped down from his job at the BBC, saying the speculation over his conduct had been 'proving a serious distraction'. Also in 2015, Yentob was awarded £85,000 in phone-hacking damages from Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN). In spite of the Kids Company controversy, he continued to present programmes for the BBC, interviewing figures including Sir Stephen Fry and Bob Geldof. In a BBC Two programme in 2024 he spoke to author Sir Salman Rushdie about the devastating effects of the onstage knife attack that left him blind in one eye. Yentob was married to TV producer Philippa Walker and the couple had two children together. He was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Letters from De Montfort University, Leicester, in 2005 and in 2024 he was formally made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) by the King for services to the arts and media.
Western Telegraph
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Western Telegraph
Alan Yentob: Influential BBC executive undone by Kids Company scandal
Born in London on March 11 1947, to an Iraqi-Jewish family, Yentob was sent to board at a cathedral school in Cambridgeshire as a young boy before studying law at the University of Leeds. He joined the BBC in 1968 as a trainee at the World Service where he worked his way through the ranks to become the corporation's head of music and arts in 1985. Alan Yentob and Philippa Walker at a ceremony to celebrate the wedding of Rupert Murdoch and Jerry Hall (John Stillwell/PA) In 1987 he was promoted to controller of BBC2 where he revitalised the channel by commissioning hugely successful shows such as Absolutely Fabulous, starring Jennifer Saunders and Dame Joanna Lumley, arts series The Late Show and comedy quiz show, Have I Got News For You. In 1993 he became the official controller of BBC1. His drama commissions ranged from Middlemarch and Pride And Prejudice – which made actor Colin Firth a heartthrob – to Ballykissangel, while wielding an axe to the failing Spain-set soap Eldorado. He also presented shows for the BBC, including a series on the life of artist Leonardo da Vinci, starring Sir Mark Rylance, and a regular arts series, Imagine, from 2003. Artist Marina Abramovic, novelist Bernardine Evaristo and Oscar-winning actor Marlon Brando were among the famous faces who had episodes devoted to their lives and careers. The King then Prince of Wales, speaking to Alan Yentob at the Dominion Theatre in London (Sean Dempsey/PA) Yentob was appointed creative director, to oversee the BBC's creative strategy, in 2004 and he also served as chairman of the board of trustees for Kids Company, founded by Camila Batmanghelidjh, from 2003 until the collapse of the charity in 2015. Yentob faced scrutiny over his role as well as claims he tried to influence coverage at the corporation of its troubles. He always insisted there was no conflict of interest in his decision to call Newsnight about its investigation into Kids Company and had not 'abused my position at the BBC'. He is said to have phoned the BBC Two programme in July 2015 as it prepared to broadcast a report suggesting the government would withhold further funding unless its founder, Ms Batmanghelidjh, stood down. The charity folded on August 5 2015 just six days after receiving a £3 million grant in a final bid to keep it afloat. Alan Yentob attending a VIP screening of The Beatles: Get Back (Yui Mok/PA) In December that year Yentob stepped down from his job at the BBC, saying the speculation over his conduct had been 'proving a serious distraction'. Also in 2015, Yentob was awarded £85,000 in phone-hacking damages from Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN). In spite of the Kids Company controversy, he continued to present programmes for the BBC, interviewing figures including Sir Stephen Fry and Bob Geldof. In a BBC Two programme in 2024 he spoke to author Sir Salman Rushdie about the devastating effects of the onstage knife attack that left him blind in one eye. Yentob was married to TV producer Philippa Walker and the couple had two children together. He was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Letters from De Montfort University, Leicester, in 2005 and in 2024 he was formally made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) by the King for services to the arts and media.
