Hello, it's Peter here and welcome to Wednesdays Levy Letter. I hope your day is going well. Tonight on the programme, we'll be meeting with patients and staff at Bridlington hospital, who say lives are being put at risk if NHS managers put their plans forward to scrap six hundred jobs across the Trust in our area and close three wards. Well have the full story on the implications for our hospitals in the area.
And weve looked at this story before when plans were put forward for schools in Hull and heard reaction from parents and teachers. Now we'll have a special report as plans are announced to bring the new style academies to Lincoln's schools. If youre a parent in the Lincoln area, then tune in tonight and let me know what you think about these changes to the education system. Itll be the usual address of [EMAIL PROTECTED] Also tonight, we'll be celebrating tonight as the RAF see in seventy years at Leconfield. We'll be watching the flypasts over the base today. And they've been brewing success for many years. We'll be meeting the Lincolnshire firm, with record cider sales, who have even managed to sell their cider back to the West Country. And, if you can believe it, the battle for Christmas shoppers is already underway. Find out how Hull and Lincoln are preparing in the race for the Christmas shopping stakes. I cant believe were talking about Christmas already! Its only September! And I keep seeing these stories about mortgage prices and the cost of buying a home and I really feel for the many first time buyers in our region. Apparently, mortgage payments are making up the biggest share of take-home pay for seventeen years. As weve discussed in the past, property prices have risen three times faster than salaries in the past decade, which means that homeowners are having to spend a bigger proportion of their salary just to meet the mortgage repayments. So I suppose this must be having massive implications now not just for first time buyers, but for families too. But these figures just out also show that first time buyers must spend almost five times more than they did a decade ago, just to get on that all important property ladder. Couple this with threats from the Bank of England that they may have to raise interest rates again, worries are that there will be a huge increase in the number of home repossessions. But apparently, these figures show tha! t things arent so bleak in our area. Im sure you all may not feel the same. They say that couples in the bottom quarter of earners in London are now having to spend 51% of their post-tax income on their mortgages. That compares with just 33% of couples in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. So in theory, its slightly easier for people to buy a house for the first time in our area than it is elsewhere. Im sure many people wont agree with that. So get in touch. Let me know if youre struggling to buy a house for the first time. Its [EMAIL PROTECTED] to get in touch as usual. And if, like me, you can remember buying a home a long time ago, then get in touch. Ive heard people, who are now in their sixties, say it was just as hard for them to buy a home when they were looking to buy a house for the first time. They say that even though houses could sometimes cost as little as £800, salaries were that must smaller too, so it all evened out. So if youve got that perspective, an! d of course I dont want to admit to having that, then let me ! know and Ill share your thoughts in the Levy Letter. How much was your first house and was it a struggle for you when you were younger? How do you think it compares with todays house prices? Let me know on [EMAIL PROTECTED] I always thought that cats were the biggest threat to birds and other wildlife, but it seems they may have had a bad press! You would have thought that walking the dog would surely be a positive thing for all concerned healthy for the owners, who get a daily dose of exercise and a chance for your beloved pooch to stretch his legs. However, walkies actually spells a disaster for birds. The number of birds in areas, where people took their dogs for walks, were found to plummet by more than 40%. Oh dear. So cats are normally the demons when it comes to birds, which are estimated to kill about twenty-seven million birds every year in Britain. However, this new research suggests that walking the dog is just as big a threat! Well, that's it from me for now. There have been some really lovely emails come in about the late Jane Tomlinson, who raised such an enormous amount of money for charities whilst suffering herself with cancer. Lots of people had some lovely things to say about her courage and warmth. So many thanks for all of those. Im sure shell be sadly missed. If you wanted to get in touch with me today, then email me straight away. Im always on this email, no one else will see it if you want it to stay anonymous. Its [EMAIL PROTECTED] Let me know if Look North can help with a story or problem that youve got and if you take a lovely view of our region whilst youre out and about, then send that in too. Have a lovely day and join me tonight for Look North on BBC One at half past six. Peter And for the latest news and more where you live, go to: http://bbc.co.uk/humber and http://bbc.co.uk/lincolnshire ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the BBC Look North newsletter, go to http://www.bbc.co.uk/england/looknorthhull/newsletter/newsletter_index.shtml, enter your email address in the unsubscribe box. 1.94.4
