Almost a year after B.C. farm weddings were banned due to a crackdown on agricultural land use rules, the B.C. government has clarified what commercial activities are allowed on farmland.
Farmers can host up to 10 commercial weddings, concerts or non-agricultural events per year without a permit from the Agricultural Land Commission. Farmers can take payment to host a wedding or other event as long as no more than 150 guests attend and a list of conditions are met, according to regulations that took effect Tuesday.
To qualify, event hosts must provide all parking on the farm rather than along roads, with no permanent parking lots or structures, and the event must end in less than 24 hours. For more than 10 events a year or exceeding 150 guests, properties with farm tax status must apply to the ALC for a permit.
The new regulation also clarifies ALC policies to allow, with no permit, farm tours and demonstrations, hayrides, corn mazes, pumpkin patch tours, harvest and Christmas fairs and special occasion events to promote farm products.
Agriculture Minister Norm Letnick said the regulation requiring farms to generate at least 50 per cent of its revenue from farm products is also scrapped, after consultation in the past year suggested the new rules instead.
The crackdown on farm weddings came last fall, when the ALC issued stop-work orders to B.C. farms including the Fraser Valley, Kelowna and Vancouver Island.
The restriction came after the province expanded farm uses to allow breweries and distilleries to operate on protected farmland with the same rules used to permit wineries. The rules allowed for processing of farm crops into products such as juice or jam for commercial sale.


No permit required for weddings, festivals on farms if fewer than 150 people attend, says Agriculture Minister Norm Letnick


Students return to public school next week, with changes to curriculum and some provincial exams.
Students are returning to class next week in most of B.C.'s public schools, with enrolment expected to be up province-wide for the second year running.
Education Minister Mike Bernier says early forecasts show about 529,000 students, an increase of 2,900 from last year. But that increase is centred on fast-growing school districts, while many rural areas continue to struggle with declining student numbers.
Among changes that parents and students will see this year is a new curriculum in place up to Grade 9, with a test year for changes in the senior grades. Bernier said the new emphasis on collaboration and communication skills does not mean a watering down of the basic skills, and is designed to improve students' ability to work at modern jobs.
Report cards are to continue this school year, but the ministry is reviewing its system with an eye to providing more frequent updates. Parents are being consulted on the changes, Bernier said.
Foundation Skills Assessment tests in grades four and seven are also continuing after years of protests from teacher unions, but that program is also being examined for possible changes. FSA tests will be "enhanced" but not eliminated, Bernier said.
Provincial exams continue for graduates in math and English, but science and social studies will now be assessed at a classroom level rather than school-wide tests, Bernier said.
The ministry provided a series of top-ups to education funding this year, for bus service and to keep selected rural schools from closing. Applications are still being taken for a transportation fund until Sept. 30, requiring districts to drop across-the-board school bus fees to qualify.
Districts may still charge transportation fees for international students or those from outside a school catchment area.
NDP leader John Horgan highlighted the crowding in Surrey school district, where 7,000 students remain in portables despite an expansion program. The NDP says the B.C. government's claim of record per-student funding ignores a reduction of education funding as a share of the provincial economy.
"Since 2001, the B.C. Liberals have dragged public education funding in this province from the second best in Canada to the second worst," Horgan said.

B.C. school enrolment up for second year


Some urban districts struggle with overcrowding, special funds for declining rural schools, bus service to take effect


The B.C. government's plan B for income assistance cheques and other time-sensitive documents could be re-activated as the long-running Canada Post labour dispute reaches another deadline.
The Canadian Union of Postal Workers is in a legal position to strike as of Monday, but postponed threatened rotating strike action after weekend talks with a federal mediator. Its initial action would be an overtime ban rather than a full-scale walkout that would disrupt mail delivery.
Canada Post served lockout notice in July, with the two sides far apart on issues including pension changes for future employees and pay for rural carriers.
Income assistance, rent subsidy and other B.C. government payments are not affected if they are direct deposit. For mailed cheques and information, updates on possible postal strike effects to the Ministry of Social Development will be available as necessary at this website or at 1-866-866-0800.
Phone and online contacts are set up for questions about affected provincial departments:
• Ministry of Advanced Education and StudentAidBC online here.
• Ministry of Children and Family Development 1-877-387-7027
• Medical Services Plan payments online here or 1-877-405-4909
• ICBC inquiries 1-800-663-3051
• Family Maintenance and Enforcement program 604-660-2528
• Public Guardian and Trustee online here or 604-660-4444
• Vital Statistics 1-888-876-1633
• WorkSafe BC online here or 1-888-967-5377

B.C. prepares for possible postal disruption


Province has alternatives if Canada Post employees begin strike action


Two men and a mining company in receivership have been charged with 18 pollution infractions related to their shut-down gold mine on an island near Prince Rupert.
Benjamin Mossman and Dirk Meckert are scheduled to appear in Prince Rupert provincial court Sept. 7. Also charged is Banks Island Gold Ltd., which went into receivership after being shut down last year for provincial permit violations.
The Yellow Giant mine was ordered shut down by the Ministry of Environment in July 2015 after a tailings spill was reported on a tip. There is one charge of failing to report a spill of a polluting substance, and the other 17 charges are for failing to comply with permits.
North Coast MLA Jennifer Rice raised the issue in the legislature this spring, after receiving a letter from the Gitxaala First Nation referring to two separate tailings spills. Rice said the ministry did not inspect the operation for 15 months, until receiving a complaint.
NDP mining critic Norm Macdonald told the legislature a worker at the mine "became fed up, put his job on the line, sent the ministry and me a tip and pictures that documented what was going on there."
Energy and Mines Minister Bill Bennett said the mine was shut down when the situation was brought to its attention. The mine's 90 employees lost their jobs.
The province has a $420,000 security bond from the mining company, to provide ongoing monitoring. In March the mines ministry and Banks Island Gold removed explosives from the mine site and in May ministry technical staff assessed the hazardous materials on site.
The B.C. Conservation Officer Service, which recommended the charges, would not comment on the current condition of the Banks Island site, because it is evidence for the prosecution.

Banks Island miners face 18 pollution charges


Gold mine near Prince Rupert shut down last summer for permit violations, owners charged for failing to report spill


Fernie-based artist Melanie MacVoy recently had the opportunity to participate in the Art in the Park program. MacVoy, along with 11 other artists, explored the park for four days, from Aug. 2 to Aug. 6 before creating art that reflects the experience. The program, which is a collaboration between Parks Canada and the Revelstoke Visual Arts Centre, started in 2008.
According to MacVoy, Art in the Park was a “perfect opportunity” to concentrate on her artistry.
“We had three full days to explore the park and to immerse ourselves in our work undistracted from the commitments of day to day life. As a mother of an active four year old, it is sometimes difficult to concentrate for an extended period of time on my work so this program was a perfect opportunity for me,” she said. “I was keen on exploring as much of the area as possible and getting into the alpine to see the glaciers so I hiked with the more ‘hard core’ group. We spent over nine hours per day in the wilderness, hiked over 35-kilometres and almost 20,000 feet up and down the mountain trails in total.”
MacVoy hiked three trails in Glacier National Park, including Abbott Ridge, Glacier Crest Trail, and Perley Rock.
The artists have three months to complete three different pieces of art for an exhibition of all of the works. The exhibition will open at the Revelstoke Visual Art Centre on Nov. 4 and the exhibition will tour throughout western Canada in 2017, in celebration of Canada’s 150th birthday.
“I plan to create at least three large scale landscape paintings through which I may or may not incorporate some stream of consciousness writings and photographs from my experiences in Glacier National Park,” said MacVoy.
There is a rigourous application process for the program, as applicants are expected to send in a current resume along with numerous portfolio pieces. According to MacVoy, the artists were selected on the following criteria: quality of application, creativity and originality, quality of composition and style, control of medium, and overall impression.
“In addition, the selection panel chose artists representing a variety of media and from diverse locations. I was honoured to be selected as one of twelve artists,” she said. “Professionally, as an artist, being part of the program enables me to network with other artists, expand my portfolio by being exposed to new subject matter, and to expand my audience and resumé by gaining exhibitions in new galleries and venues in Western Canada.”
MacVoy said the artists all gelled together well and would recommend the program to any interested artists.
“Everyone connected and got along better than expected considering we were all strangers before the program. It was relaxing to hike alongside other artists who liked to stop as much as I do to take photographs, sketch together and admire the artistic elements of the landscape,” she said. “I would definitely recommend this program to other artists from Fernie.”


Fernie-based artist Melanie MacVoy recently had the opportunity to participate in the Art in the Park program.


Using a backdrop of new construction in Victoria, Finance Minister Mike de Jong and Premier Christy Clark announce a new property transfer tax on foreign buyers that took effect this week.
The lights came back on in the B.C. legislature last week to reveal the government’s sudden decision to impose a 15 per cent tax on foreign property purchases in Metro Vancouver.
This came after months of government refusal to intervene in a heated urban market in ways that might devalue properties for people whose homes represent a large chunk of their life savings.
It remains to be seen whether this large wrench applied to the problem will cool the market, or trigger declining property values as similar efforts have done in other major cities. The extent of the ripple effect on B.C. communities outside Metro Vancouver is also something that will be closely watched.
Premier Christy Clark and Finance Minister Mike de Jong announced the tax with a week’s notice, leaving realtors and developers scrambling to close deals before thousands more in property transfer tax was imposed on foreign buyers.
This dramatic intervention was based on less than five weeks of information on the nationality of buyers. Early results showed foreign buyers represented five per cent of Metro Vancouver real estate sales. Another two weeks of data showed a spike to nearly 10 per cent, and suddenly the big wrench came out.
Housing Minister Rich Coleman acknowledged that the surprise tax left the real estate industry “taken aback and a bit grumpy.” They worried foreign buyers might back out of deals after sellers have bought another home. They also fear that the tax might pop the real estate bubble, causing a rapid reversal of the long sellers’ market that has taken on a life and a psychology of its own.
One thing is certain. The province’s windfall from the property transfer tax can only grow even further as foreign buyers pay up.
The size of this windfall was shown in the government’s audited public accounts for the 2015-16 fiscal year, which de Jong released just days before announcing the new real estate tax.
The property transfer tax has been a cash cow for the province since Bill Vander Zalm introduced it in the 1980s, and by 2015-16 it had reached about $1.5 billion. For comparison purposes, that’s almost twice as much as total provincial revenue from the forest industry.
The current B.C. budget had forecast that property transfer tax revenues would decline this year and next year. The public accounts showed that for 2015-16, the government took in $468 million more than expected, meaning real estate accounted for most of the provincial surplus.
How much more is raked in by the new transfer tax on foreign buyers remains to be seen, but it will be substantial. And Coleman allows that he has been developing “a really cool plan” to use that money to improve the housing situation for lower-income people.
A couple of weeks ago I described the clamour of urban protesters demanding that governments build thousands of units of social housing. Coleman has long rejected the idea of social housing projects that create clusters of poverty, and he assured me last week that isn’t going to change.
B.C. has 20,000 low-income households getting a rent subsidy today, and Coleman suggested that will be increasing. He’ll be announcing new measures in September to stimulate construction of new rental housing.
It remains to be seen how that will work as well. But it gives the B.C. government lots more money to spend in an election year.
This is the latest of a string of Clark’s election-year fixes. I’ll look at some others in a future column.
Tom Fletcher is B.C. legislature reporter and columnist for Black Press. Email: tfletcher@blackpress.ca Twitter: @tomfletcherbc

BC VIEWS: Real estate tax increases windfall


Finance Minister Mike de Jong found an extra half billion from property transfer tax last year, with much more to come


A totally spontaneous expression of gratitude breaks out for Premier Christy Clark and Cariboo North MLA Coralee Oakes at the Quesnel rodeo after a rural school fund was announced in June.
Comedian Steve Smith, better known as Red Green, is touring B.C. in September, reprising his popular TV series in which he fixes every conceivable problem with duct tape.
Green’s “I’m Not Old I’m Ripe” tour hits Chilliwack, Victoria, Nanaimo, Courtenay, Surrey, Vernon, Kelowna and Prince George.
His formula for deploying the handyman’s secret weapon has proven so popular that Premier Christy Clark may have been inspired. She’s had quite a flurry of hasty repairs in the last few months. Here’s a recap.
The B.C. minimum wage was starting to lag behind other provinces, even after the overhaul it received in 2015, where annual increases are tied to inflation.
Like Red’s truck tires, there has been a lack of inflation, and a surge of government spending back east leaving B.C. in the dust. B.C.’s wage rose 20 cents last year and was set to go up by another whole dime this fall.
There was that familiar ripping sound in May as Clark and Jobs Minister Shirley Bond announced the September increase will be patched up to 40 cents, with another 40-cent increase next fall. Two wraps should hold it until after the election.
Remember the episode where Red taped two old Hyundai Ponies side by side to make a handyman’s Hummer? The school system has seen that kind of work in recent months.
The first roll was applied by Education Minister Mike Bernier when he announced in March that the ministry’s “fix-it fund” was going from $35 million to $40 million. Then in mid-May, he announced 80 successful projects. The “fix-it fund” had fattened to $45 million, and Bernier was just getting his sleeves rolled up.
Hey school districts, remember the $25 million in “administrative savings” the ministry demanded for the second year in a row? Now that you’ve squeezed that from your budgets, Bernier’s good news at the end of May was that the government’s giving it back to use for “front line services for students.”
One of those services could be “maintaining schools despite falling enrolment in certain regions,” Bernier announced May 31, foreshadowing the next layer of repairs.
Sure enough, a “rural schools fund” was rolled out on June 15. Clark and Cariboo North MLA Coralee Oakes made the announcement in Quesnel, where Kersley and Parkland elementary schools were going to close.
Also eligible for a special fund was Okanagan-Similkameen, where Osoyoos high school students were going to be bused a half hour to Oliver. This is hardly unusual in rural schooling around B.C., but these are swing ridings, you see.
Kootenay Lake district declined the opportunity to keep Yahk elementary open, with an anticipated fall enrolment of zero students. This all comes during the annual ritual combat between the ministry and Vancouver school board over keeping half-empty schools open.
Bernier had one more roll in his overalls. School bus service, one of those things jettisoned or saddled with hundreds of dollars in fees per student as districts scraped up those “administrative savings,” was selectively saved with another $15 million fund announced last week.
There have been a few other country fixes. They’re not going to ban weddings on farms any more, for instance.
That old jalopy in the back yard you’ve been trying to soup up and get back on the road? Soon you can get a collector plate for that thing, which is perfect if you can only get it running once or twice a year.
To paraphrase Red, if the voters don’t find you handsome, they should at least find you handy.
Tom Fletcher is B.C. legislature reporter and columnist for Black Press. Email: tfletcher@blackpress.ca Twitter: @tomfletcherbc

BC VIEWS: Premier Red Green’s fast fixes


Premier Christy Clark has pulled out the duct tape to fix up rural schools, school buses and the minimum wage


Guns seized from visitors entering Canada at the Huntington-Abbotsford border crossing, 2014.
Canadian Border Services Agency has seen a 116 per cent increase in the number of firearms seized in the Pacific Region in the first half of 2016.
With a 10 per cent increase also recorded in the Prairie region, the CBSA is working with U.S. officials on a firearms awareness campaign to remind Americans about restrictions on bringing guns into Canada.
"Attempting to smuggle firearms across the border can result in immediate forfeiture, hefty fines and even significant jail time," said Kim Scoville, CBSA's regional director general for the Prairie region.
Visitors entering the border inspection line should declare any firearms at their first opportunity. Border services officers will take possession of the weapon if it is declared, but the visitor has the option of shipping it back under CBSA supervision or surrendering it without prosecution.
The RCMP has procedures for visitors bringing firearms into Canada


Guns intercepted at Pacific region border crossings up 116 per cent compared to this time last year


Doug Kelly, chair of the B.C. First Nations Health Council
With patients in urban areas having difficulty finding a family doctor, the situation in rural B.C. is going from bad to worse, MLAs on the province's health committee were told Monday.
Ed Staples, a member of the B.C. Health Coalition, described his efforts to improve the situation in Princeton, a community of about 5,000 people that four years ago was down to one doctor providing on-call service.
Princeton now has four full-time doctors and two nurse practitioners, but there are still people who can't find a doctor in the region, including Penticton an hour and a half away. A recent search of the College of Physicians and Surgeons website turned up the nearest doctor accepting patients in Courtney on Vancouver Island, Staples said.
Health Match BC, the province's web portal for recruiting doctors, nurses and other health professionals, currently has more than 400 general practitioner vacancies, with 37 communities seeking 85 doctors. The result is "bidding wars" between communities to offer incentives to relocating doctors, and foreign doctors using a rural community as an entry point before relocating to the Lower Mainland, he said.
The B.C. government has announced its latest videoconferencing service for health care, linking psychiatrists with young people in Cranbrook. The service is available twice a month at the local Children and Family Development office, supplementing visits by specialists in communities such as Cranbrook and Princeton. Health Minister Terry Lake says video conferencing and electronic health records are a key part of the solution for reaching patients across B.C.
Doug Kelly, chair of the B.C. First Nations Health Council, told the committee of an Abbotsford doctor who travels to Carrier Sekani territory around Prince George for part of his practice, in a pilot project with Northern Health.
Kelly said video links and nurse practitioners are part of the solution to delivering rural and remote care, but the main obstacle is the business model for doctors that has them cycling through as many as 20 patients an hour to bill enough to cover their office overhead.
Committee members were also reminded that graduating doctors are increasingly reluctant to take on the demands of family practice, especially in smaller communities where they may find themselves on call around the clock.

Video links grow as rural health care shrinks


Small communities have more than 400 doctor vacancies, with 'telehealth' and visiting specialists filling gaps


Jordan Bateman, Canadian Taxpayers' Federation
The B.C. government is hearing objections from businesses and individuals faced with increasing Canada Pension Plan contributions in the coming years, and is the last province needed to ratify the increase.
Instead of joining other provinces in meeting the federal government's July deadline to adopt the change, the B.C. government launched a consultation phase expected to run through August. And they are getting push-back on a plan that would increase payroll deductions and employer contributions starting in 2019.
Jordan Bateman, B.C. director of the Canadian Taxpayers' Federation, said he's receiving hundreds of responses to his call to supporters to make their views known to the B.C. government. Most concerned are employers who would pay higher contributions for each of their employees.
Employer and employee contributions are to go up from the current 4.95 per cent of earnings to 5.95 per cent by 2023. For each employee earning $54,900, the employer contribution goes up $7 to $8 per month in each of the first five years of the phase-in.
"Obviously, lots of people are concerned about having to pay more," Bateman said. "But the interesting ones are the small business owners who talk about just how close to the edge they are financially."
B.C. Finance Minister Mike de Jong joined other provinces in agreeing in principle to the expansion in June. Federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau said he is concerned about the decline in workplace pension plans and wants the CPP to move from replacing one quarter of employment income to one third by 2025.
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business surveyed its members nation-wide when the CPP plan was announced, and more than 80 per cent wanted consultation and a delay of implementation. Morneau has indicated he plans to table legislation this fall.
B.C.'s refusal to sign on could derail the federal plan, but it shows little intention of doing so.
"British Columbia is committed to engaging with stakeholders in advance of ratifying the agreement in principle," said the statement from de Jong's office announcing the consultation.
The province's consultation website and feedback address can be found here.


B.C. stands in the way of Justin Trudeau government's plan to hike Canada Pension Plan contributions, but likely not for long


Canada Post and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers have reached tentative agreements, averting the prospect of a labour dispute that has loomed over the talks for months.
In a statement, Labour Minister MaryAnn Mihychuk says the agreements were reached "voluntarily," but provides no other details about the deals themselves.
The issue of differences in paycheques for rural mail carriers — most of whom are women — and urban letter carriers had been at the forefront of protracted contract talks between the two sides.
The negotiations were extended twice since the weekend, when a deadline expired on a 72-hour job action notice issued last Thursday by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers.
The two sides were in talks nearly around the clock at the request of a special mediator appointed Friday by Mihychuk.
Canada Post described the tentative agreements as short-term. It said they are for two years and that four-year contracts were typically negotiated in the past.
"The agreements will avert a work disruption, bringing much-needed certainty in the postal system for our employees and customers," said Canada Post in a statement. "Canadians can now use the postal system with confidence."
The tentative agreements, however, still must be ratified by the members.
The Canadian Union of Postal Workers is Canada Post's largest union, representing more than 50,000 postal workers
The Canadian Press

Canada Post, postal union reach tentative deals


Two sides avert job action that has loomed for months


Premier Christy Clark and Environment Minister Mary Polak plug in an electric car at an announcement of the government's latest climate change plan in Richmond Aug. 19.
A B.C. Liberal operative was out with the online spin hours before Premier Christy Clark confirmed the much-leaked news in a Friday afternoon announcement at an obscure location in Richmond.
The, er, freeze is continuing for B.C.’s ground-breaking, world-saving carbon tax, which hasn’t changed since before Clark was elected in 2013.
The spin was Olympic-themed, with a picture labeled to show B.C. as a swimmer far out in the lead in the pool, to symbolize that it’s the other provinces that need to catch up in the race to save the planet.
Clark has been saying that for years, and there is merit to it. Even without a tax on “process emissions” such as from cement kilns, B.C.’s carbon tax encourages imports of non-taxed cement from the U.S. and China.
Alberta business professor Andrew Leach, who advised the Stephen Harper and then Rachel Notley governments on greenhouse gas policies, summed up the problem this way.
“Until the rest of the world has policies that impose similar cost, you’re not actually reducing emissions to the extent you think,” Leach said. “You’re just displacing the emissions and the economic activity to other jurisdictions.”
Alberta is moving to join B.C. with a modest carbon tax, but the NDP government plans to spend the proceeds rather than return them in income tax as B.C. has done. And Washington state and most of the rest of the world have no carbon tax as such, so their businesses benefit from B.C.’s “climate leadership.”
B.C.’s foreign-funded eco-radical community was, needless to say, appalled. The Pembina Institute’s Matt Horne and career protesters Tzeporah Berman and Merran Smith were named to the premier’s advisory committee last year, along with business, academic and aboriginal representatives.
They concluded that increases to B.C.’s broad-based tax on carbon fuels should resume its upward march in 2018.
Other committee members, including the mayors of Surrey, Comox and Burns Lake, were not heard from. Public discussion on this issue is now reduced to a staged conflict between those who demand a holy war on deadly carbon dioxide “pollution,” and those who don’t care if their grandchildren perish in a hell-fire of fossil fuel use.
We’ve just come off another El Nino year, like the hot year of 1998. Regular readers will recall the last time I discussed this topic was this spring, where I questioned the premier’s dire warnings of another horrendous forest fire season.
What followed has been one of the slowest forest fire seasons in the last decade, although dry conditions have finally emerged this month. Climate predictions, like next week’s weather forecast, are less than consistent.
I am regularly sent messages calling me a “climate change denier,” the nonsense term that continues to be used by federal Environment Minister Catharine McKenna among many others. I know of no one who denies that climate is always changing, at times dramatically.
If you wish to believe that paying an extra seven cents a litre for gasoline in B.C. is helping to slow the very gradual increase in temperatures we’re seeing in the northern hemisphere, you are free to do so.
You may even be persuaded to take a government subsidy and buy an expensive, short-range electric car. Me, I’m off to Prince Rupert and Revelstoke pretty soon, so I’ll stick with my little four-cylinder gas sipper for now.
Hydro-powered B.C. represents a small fraction of the less than two per cent Canada contributes to global greenhouse gas emissions. We’re not the problem, and no, the world is not looking to us for guidance.
Tom Fletcher is B.C. legislature reporter and columnist for Black Press. Email: tfletcher@blackpress.ca Twitter: @tomfletcherbc


Premier Christy Clark isn't going into next year's election with a promise to jack up Canada's only significant carbon tax


Revelstoke dam on the Columbia River is due to have a sixth water turbine added, but Site C is BC Hydro's priority today.
BC Hydro is going ahead with its planned four per cent rate increase this year and deferring more debt to future years as it revises its electricity demand forecast downward.
The provincially-owned utility has not asked for an increase in its government-imposed rate plan despite a revised demand forecast with $3.5 billion less revenue over the next 10 years. BC Hydro has filed a three-year plan with the B.C. Utilities Commission that would increase rates four, 3.5 and three per cent in the next three years. The four per cent increase is already showing up on customer bills as an interim increase.
With the Site C dam on the Peace River and other upgrades amounting to $2 billion a year, the plan includes additional deferred debt until 2023, when Site C is due to be completed. BC Hydro CEO Jessica McDonald said the long-term nature of capital projects means its capital cost savings don't start until the next decade.
BC Hydro has also cut some of its familiar Power Smart activities, such as the fridge buy-back plan and incentives for energy efficient light bulbs.
McDonald said BC Hydro is seeing lower revenues due to two warm winters and downturns in mining and forest products. It still projects growing overall demand as population and economic growth continue.
NDP energy critic Adrian Dix said the new deferred debt represents roughly $500 for each of BC Hydro's two million customers, and it is a political move to get the B.C. Liberal government past next year's election.
The 10-year rates plan imposed by Energy Minister Bill Bennett in 2013 overstated demand to justify the construction of Site C, and translates to a 28 per cent rate increase. It allows the utilities commission to regain control over approving customer rates by 2020, after five years of political direction.
Dix said with the new demand forecast and commodity prices expected to remain low, BC Hydro should have added a sixth turbine to its Revelstoke dam for $450 million before embarking on the $9 billion Site C project.


Four per cent rate hike already in effect, more to come as BC Hydro looks for savings to offset slow industrial demand


B.C. Day, on Monday, Aug. 1, is an opportunity to celebrate this spectacular province. See how well you know British Columbia.

B.C. DAY TRIVIA QUIZ: How much do you know about British Columbia?


Toronto MP Carolyn Bennett is sworn in as Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs, November 2015.
The federal government’s National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls is preparing to get underway in September.
With five commissioners led by B.C. judge Marion Buller and a budget that has swelled by a third to $54 million before it even starts, this inquiry has one big advantage over all the previous studies of Canada’s intractable problems of poverty and violence in aboriginal communities.
In this case, the politicians all agree what the outcome is going to be. They’ve been saying so for months, since the Justin Trudeau government got elected on this and other passionate, if questionable, promises.
Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould, a member of the We Wai Kai Nation on the B.C. coast, a former Crown prosecutor and chair of the B.C. Treaty Commission, announced the terms of reference last week. She stressed that the inquiry will not attempt to retry cold cases, but to examine the “root causes” of the high numbers of missing and murdered women.
Next up was Indigenous Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett, who has no doubt at all what those “root causes” are: racism, sexism and the lingering effects of colonialism. Bennett has been meeting steadily with grieving families since being appointed, and now accepts that racist, indifferent cops are the main “root cause.”
Bennett explained this conclusion from New York in April, while attending a “Women of the World” summit. It’s an “uneven application of justice,” she told The Globe and Mail, a phrase we’ll hear again and again.
“You end up with people who have been told it’s an overdose, or a suicide or an accident,” Bennett said.
RCMP have reported close to 1,200 unsolved cases of murdered or missing indigenous women since 1980, a figure that Bennett scoffs at. What’s her evidence? She’s talked to families, and knows it’s “way more” than that.
One of the previous inquiries was by a United Nations official, James Anaya, in 2014. He noted the alarming statistics of education outcome and violent offences against women, and referred to 660 cases documented by the Native Women’s Association of Canada. He also described being besieged by demands for a national inquiry, as he went through the stacks of studies that have already been done.
“Since 1996,” Anaya wrote in his UN report, “there have been at least 29 official inquiries and reports dealing with aspects of this issue, which have resulted in over 500 recommendations for action.”
As the latest inquiry was being launched, Perry Bellegarde, the current Assembly of First Nations national chief, recited Bennett’s speaking points about the conclusions it will reach.
Bellegarde told CTV the problem is vastly under-reported because “…oh, it’s an accidental death. Oh, it’s a suicide.” Then he called for more money for housing and other programs via the failed Indian Act system.
There are several glaring factors that apparently will not be discussed, because they fall outside the politically correct boundaries of this pre-determined narrative.
One is the even more alarming number of aboriginal men and boys who are victims of violent crime.
Another is the rate of domestic abuse reported by indigenous women, which Statistics Canada estimated this year at about 10 per cent of their population. That’s three times the national average, but it was not mentioned amid the demands for justice at the inquiry.
Another key issue that is forbidden from discussion is the social and economic viability of remote communities. Some of them haven’t been able to maintain clean water and safe housing, much less education and employment, despite billions in spending every year.
Tom Fletcher is B.C. legislature reporter and columnist for Black Press. Email: tfletcher@blackpress.ca Twitter: @tomfletcherbc

BC VIEWS: Missing women inquiry pre-determined


Indigenous Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett's position boils down to blaming racist, indifferent cops


More details have been released about the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's upcoming visit to Canada.
Kensington Palace tweeted Monday morning that Prince William and his wife, Kate, will visit Vancouver, Victoria, Bella Bella, Haida Gwaii and Kelowna in B.C. as well as Whitehorse and Carcross in Yukon.
It says the trip will take place between Sept. 24 and Oct. 1.
This will be the royal couple's second visit to Canada. Their first, following their 2011 wedding, took them to Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec City, Charlottetown, Summerside, Yellowknife, Calgary and Slave Lake after that community was ravaged by a forest fire.
The then-newlyweds drew large crowds wherever they went, including a packed Canada Day gathering on Parliament Hill.
The visit was also seen as a way to engage young Canadians with the monarchy, given the perception of waning interest compared to that of older Canadians.
The couple's children, George and Charlotte, are reportedly slated to accompany their parents on their Canadian trip.
Canadian Heritage Minister Melanie Joly said it will be a pleasure to greet the royal delegation.
"We're very excited to have the duke and duchess in the country," she said.
"It will be a great trip in B.C., in the Yukon, and I look forward to meeting them and I'm convinced that the prime minister and his wife will be very positive in greeting them to the country as well."
The Canadian Press

Royals to visit Vancouver, Victoria, Kelowna during Canadian visit


Stops in B.C. also include Bella Bella and Haida Gwaii


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Three wickets in nine balls at a cost of two runs for Stuart Meaker tore the heart out of Yorkshire’s batting at Headingley and sent Surrey through to the final of the Royal London One-Day Cup at Lord’s.
A century for man-of-the-match Steven Davies and 90 from Ben Foakes left Yorkshire Vikings chasing a 256 target and although they recovered well after Meaker’s dramatic intervention, thanks to a brave 68 from Tim Bresnan, the task was just beyond them and they were bowled out for 236 to lose by 19 runs with seven balls remaining.
Yorkshire captain Alex Lees is bowled out by Surrey's Gareth Batty for 26. Picture: Richard Sellers/PA.
Surrey now have the chance to avenge last season’s final defeat by Gloucestershire but for Yorkshire it was the second consecutive year that they have stumbled at the last-four stage.
It also continued a depressing run of semi-final reverses in List A cricket for Yorkshire, who have now lost 17 times out of 20 on such occasions since 1979.
Captain Alex Lees admitted - combined with defeat in last week’s T20 Blast semi-final to Durham Jets - Yorkshire hadn’t been good enough to progress in either game.
“I think we are all gutted to lose because we have played some great white ball cricket this season,” said Lees. “But when it has mattered in two semi-finals over the past week we have not been good enough.
Yorkshire's Tim Bresnan (second left) is congratulated by Jack Brooks (second right) and Jonny Bairstow (right) after taking the wicket of Surrey's Kumar Sangakkara. Picture by Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com
“I thought it was a reachable target and we needed some contributions from the top five and this didn’t happen. All credit to the Surrey bowlers who kept going.”
Lees was also quick to praise the efforts of Bresnan, adding: “He has won three or four games single-handed for us and has been exceptional both with the bat and ball. His big contribution almost got us there. When we look back it will have been a positive season but you still don’t want to lose two semi-finals.”
Yorkshire lost Adam Lyth to Jade Dernbach in their third over and after skipper, Alex Lees, had played some solid strokes in reaching 26 he was bowled driving at his opposite number, Gareth Batty.
At 74-2 in 19 overs, however, Yorkshire were still handily placed until Meaker, bowling from the football end, began his lethal burst.
Jonny Bairstow, released by England for the match, drove gently to Dominic Sibley at mid-wicket; Gary Ballance was caught behind trying to flick over the top of the slips and Jack Leaning dragged into his leg-stump.
The slide to 81-5 was halted by Bresnan and 20-year-old all-rounder, Matthew Waite, who enjoyed a fine match in which he earlier captured three wickets and then scored 38 in an enterprising stand of 80 in 16 overs with his senior partner.
Waite survived a confident appeal for a catch off Batty’s bowling but in the next over from Sam Curran he drove into Batty’s hands at mid-on. Bresnan and Will Rhodes kept the hopes of the 4,836 crowd alive with a busy stand of 46 which ended at 207 in the 45th over when Rhodes played to backward point and set off for a single but was beaten by Tom Curran’s direct hit on the stumps at the bowler’s end.
Bresnan and Azeem Rafiq continued to battle hard, but when Tom Curran sent back both Rafiq and Steven Patterson in the 48th over to make it 236-9 the task was just beyond Yorkshire and the match ended when Bresnan drove Dernbach to Sibley at long-off, his 68 coming off 82 balls with two fours and a six.
Put in to bat, Surrey found themselves on eight for two by the third over, with Kumar Sangakkara one of the wickets to fall, but the early setbacks did not unsettle Davies whose 104 followed consecutive Championship scores of 117, 52 and 56 against Yorkshire this season.
Jack Brooks, in his first List A match of the summer, struck in the day’s second over as Dibley shaped to play to leg but missed and was lbw. Sangakkara was quick of the mark, cutting Bresnan for four, but in the same over the Sri Lankan drove loosely to Rafiq in the covers.
Davies, however, made smooth progress with some splendidly timed shots through the covers, taking boundaries off consecutive balls from Brooks, and he hit 34 of the first 48 runs scored.
But at 61-2 in 14 overs, Waite joined the attack and his first delivery was flicked casually to long leg by Burns for Patterson to hold a good catch dropping to his knees.
It should have been an even more memorable over for Waite but three balls later Davies, on 43, drove back past the bowler’s hands and the chance went begging.
Had Davies gone then, Surrey would have been in big trouble but they were rescued by Davies’ and Foakes’ partnership of 130, the visitors’ highest for the fourth wicket in List A cricket against Yorkshire and beating the 110 by Monty Lynch and Andrew Needham at Bradford in 1985.
Davies, having reached his half-century from 57 deliveries, continued to time the ball to perfection, hooking Bresnan for four and on-driving Rafiq for six while Foakes moved smartly to his own 50 from 51 balls, the stand entering three figures in 21 overs.
A single to Davies off Patterson took him to his century off 112 balls with ten fours and a six, but four runs later he hit a low full toss from Waite straight to Rhodes on the mid-wicket boundary.
Surrey were 191-4 in the 39th over and they lost much of their momentum in the last dozen overs or so, Sam Curran going for 16 when he was bowled by Waite in a futile and ungainly attempt to scoop the ball round the corner.
Waite’s figures of three for 48 were Yorkshire’s best of the day and at the end of his stint he received warm and prolonged applause from the appreciative crowd.
Foakes struck Bresnan high over long on for six but was denied a century when a ramp shot went wrong and he was caught by Brooks for 90 from 100 balls with seven fours to go alongside his big hit.
Surrey debutant, Ollie Pope, was run out for 20 off the last ball of an innings which never quite blossomed as much as it might of done, although it may never have bloomed at all but for Davies and Foakes.
As it happened (the last 10 overs) ...
49.5 overs - WICKET - GAME OVER - Bresnan hits high full tos down the throat of Sibley at long-off from the bowling of Jake Dernbach - Bresnan dismissed for 68. Surrey win by 19 runs
48 overs: WICKET - Yorkshire 234-9 - Steve Patterson goes first ball, ball stopped on him and he just looped a catch up to Sangakarra at mid on.
47. 3 overs: WICKET - Yorkshire 231-8 - Rafiq hits full toss down to long on where he is caught by Burns off Tom Curran - Steven Patterson joins Bresnan who is 64 no
47 overs: Yorkshire 229-7 - Another good over Yorkshire, good running once again - Bresnan 64 no; Rafiq 5 no. 27 needed off 18 balls
46 overs: Yorkshire 222 -7 - Good over for Yorkshire, 143 runs including big six over long on from Bresnan and some cracking running between the wickets; Bresnan 62 no; Rafiq 2 no
45 overs: Yorkshire 209- 7 - Two runs off the last ball brings up 50 for Bresnan, who is joined at the crease by Azeem Rafiq - Bresnan, 51 no; Rafiq 0 no 44.5 overs: WICKET Yorkshire 207-7 - Rhodes run out from direct hit by ???? at backward point. Rhodes hesitated slightly before setting off and it proved costly
44 overs: Yorkshire 202-6 - Bresnan 47 no; Rhodes 21 no - 54 needed off 36 balls. Surrey bowling nice and tight, making it difficult for both Bresnan and Rhodes to get them away.
43 overs: Yorkshire 193-6 - Bresnan 44 no; Rhodes 15 no - 63 off 41 needed
42 overs: Yorkshire 188-6 - Bresnan 42 no; Rhodes 12 no- 68 needed off 48 balls
41 overs: Yorkshire 179-6 - Bresnan 37 no; Rhodes 10 no - 77 needed
40 overs: Yorkshire 173-6 - Bresnan 36 no; Rhodes 4no - 83 runs needed

Royal London Cup: Yorkshire v Surrey - Misery for Yorkshire as they miss out on Lord’s final yet again in Headingley defeat


Three wickets in nine balls at a cost of two runs for Stuart Meaker tore the heart out of Yorkshire’s batting at Headingley and sent Surrey through to the final of the Royal London One-Day Cup at Lord’s.


NO-ONE is better qualified than David Willey when it comes to the T20 Finals Day experience.
Yorkshire have been there only once, but this will be Willey’s fourth appearance, having made it three times with previous club Northants.
In 2009, Willey was part of the side that lost by seven wickets to Sussex in the semi-final.
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He was just 19 years old and had an unremarkable match; he did not bat as Northants totalled 136-6, and then he bowled two wicketless overs for 16 runs.
In 2013, Willey had the antithesis of an unremarkable match when Northants beat Surrey by 102 runs in the final.
He opened the batting and scored 60 from 27 balls with six fours and four sixes, and then he took 4-9 from 2.3 overs, finishing the match with a hat-trick when he dismissed Zafar Ansari, Jon Lewis and Chris Tremlett.
Willey was on the losing side last year when Lancashire beat Northants in the final by 13 runs.
He took 2-21 from four overs as Lancs scored 166-7, and then he hit 24 from 21 balls as Northants replied with 153-6.
As no other Yorkshire player has been to Finals Day more than once, his experience will be invaluable as Yorkshire seek to win the competition for the first time.
“I guess so,” said Willey, who left Wantage Road for Headingley during the close season.
“My primary role with regards to the move to Yorkshire was to try and help improve the club’s one-day cricket, and, hopefully, we are starting to make improvements.
“There will be expectation on me to perform (at Finals Day), but that’s the case with any one-day game.
“It’s a big day out and a great day out, particularly if you’re part of the team that lifts the trophy.”
Willey, one of four Yorkshire players who appeared in the World T20 final against the West Indies in April, along with Joe Root, Liam Plunkett and Adil Rashid, has made a habit of performing on the big stage.
He did it again when helping Yorkshire book their place at Edgbaston with a 90-run win over Glamorgan in the quarter-final in Cardiff, thumping 79 from 38 balls with seven fours and six sixes.
“I like to perform on the big occasions,” he said.
“Against Glamorgan, I didn’t really have a plan; I just tried to give myself a chance to clear the ropes, and a couple of loose deliveries gave me a platform.
“We’re all looking forward to Finals Day, and fingers-crossed we can win a couple more games and get the trophy.
“We’ve got all our England lads back, which will make it a massive headache for the coaches to pick 11 players.”
The man with the headache is first-team coach Jason Gillespie, who has an embarrassment of riches at his disposal.
But you can bet that one of the first names on his team sheet will be Willey, who has a proven record for lighting up Finals Day.
“Dave’s the type of player who can change a game,” said Gillespie, whose side take on Durham in the second semi-final, with the winner playing Northants or Notts in the final.
“We’ve seen what he’s done for Northants in the past, and he can pick up wickets early and swing the ball, score quick runs and he’s always in the game.
“That’s what I really like about him, and he’s brought a lot to our team.
“We’re delighted to have him because he’s such a positive guy, happy to challenge his team-mates – which is really healthy – and very competitive, too.”
Willey’s all-round ability gives Gillespie flexibility.
He is effectively three players in one – good with the bat, ball and in the field.
“To have someone who’s great in the field, who whacks them like he does, and who opens the bowling gives us so many extra options,” said Gillespie.
“It allows us to play an extra batsman as well.
“The start he gives us with the bat is fantastic, and it’s something we probably haven’t had in T20 for a while.
“It showed with his performance at Cardiff, when people could see why we were so keen to secure his services.”
Gillespie encourages all of his players to speak in the dressing room and Willey will address the team prior to Finals Day.
Yorkshire are keen to tap into his knowledge and know-how in an effort to gain an extra edge.
“Some of our lads haven’t been to Finals Day before, and it will be good to get Dave’s thoughts in the team meeting,” said Gillespie.
“His knowledge of it will be important, and something that we can draw on, and Dave’s the type of player who steps up when needed, and hopefully he can show everyone how good he is again.
“We’ve got a lot of match-winners in our side, and it’s going to be fantastic
“There was a lot of drive and ambition from everyone at the club to get this far in the competition after everyone had written us off – that was a really good motivating tool for us – and we’re just pleased as punch to be in with a shout.”
Ben Duckett hopes Northants can sneak under the radar again, having been part of the Steelbacks side which defied the odds to win the tournament in 2013 and fell at the final hurdle against Lancashire 12 months ago.
Northants face Notts Outlaws in the first semi-final today and are the only side involved in Finals Day who have previously won the competition.
Left-hander Duckett says confidence will be high despite their lack of high-profile players.
“We haven’t got any international stars. Finals Day will be interesting to see who is talked about – Yorkshire,” said the 21-year-old Duckett.
“We just keep going under the radar but smost of our guys love the pressure. We just go out and enjoy ourselves.”

T20 Finals Day: David Willey is aiming to give Yorkshire the edge


NO-ONE is better qualified than David Willey when it comes to the T20 Finals Day experience.


Liversedge’s second team celebrated lifting the Wheatley Cup following a thrilling victory over Northowram Fields at Wrenthorpe last Sunday.
Although Liversedge were only chasing Northowram’s mediocre 156-8 for victory, it proved a nailbiting clash with the Roberttown Lane side edging home with just an over to spare.
Jonathan Trevitt played a captain’s role to steer his side to a four-wicket win in a cracking contest.
Trevitt hit 10 fours in a top score of 71 as he scooped the man of the match award and ensured Liversedge overcame a late Northowram fightback to lift the trophy.
Matthew Gibson (37) gave good support to Trevitt, in a second-wicket stand of 67, but once Northowram broke through, Liversedge relied heavily on the cool head of their veteran captain.
Joshua Dodd (2-22) and Will Parkin (2-35) were the best of the Northowram bowlers but their youthful side were made to pay for missed chances in the field as five catches were dropped, which proved costly.
There were fears that the match would be over quickly when Liversedge put their opponents in on a pitch that was still damp from a morning downpour.
Northowram were reduced to 20-3 as Adam Clark exploited the conditions in an eight-over spell which saw him return figures of 3-24.
Spinner James Ives continued the good work with 3-12 as Northowram plunged to 55-6 before their lower order began to fire.
Matthew Rushworth, batting at number eight, altered the momentum of the match with an unbeaten 61.
He struck two sixes and eight fours in an innings that took his side to a challenging total.
Rushworth shared an unbroken 57-run stand with Will Parkin (22no) to ensure the Northowram bowlers had a total to defend in a contest which was a great advert for second team cricket.
Liversedge lost Matthew Barnes without scoring before Trevitt and Gibson produced a useful second-wicket stand.
When Gibson fell it triggered a mini Liversedge collapse as they slipped from 72-1 to 121-5.
While Trevitt was at the crease, Liversedge remained favourites and he held his nerve to steer them over the finish line before celebrating lifting the trophy as Northowram’s hopes of a league and cup double were dashed.

Liversedge celebrate Wheatley Cup triumph


Liversedge’s second team celebrated lifting the Wheatley Cup following a thrilling victory over Northowram Fields at Wrenthorpe last Sunday.


Hotly tipped band of the moment Blossoms are expected to head straight for the top 10 with their self-titled debut album and are backing up this Friday’s release with a burst of activity that includes several dates in Yorkshire.
Not only are the glittering indie pop band playing Leeds Festival on the NME Radio 1 Stage at the end of the month, but they’ll be performing and signing copies of the album at HMV Sheffield (12 noon) and HMV Leeds (5.15pm) next Tuesday (August 9).
The Stockport band has announced a string of in-store signings and acoustic performances to celebrate the release and a full UK tour too for September and October to follow their festival appearance at Bramham Park on Sunday, august 28.
Any fan who cannot make the Leeds Festival can catch Blossoms at Sheffield’s Leadmill on Tuesday, October 4 and Leeds’ Beckett University on Wednesday, October 5.
Catapulted into the musical subconscious in January, listed fourth in the BBC Sound poll - as well as almost every other ‘ones to watch’ list - Blossoms have been carefully carving out their position in the canon of Great British rock’n’roll ever since.
The band have earned rave critical comparisons to everyone from The Arctic Monkeys to Depeche Mode and The Doors, shapeshifting between psychedelia, synth-pop and powerhouse indie, a mercurial sound at once familiar and unique.
“Fundamentally we want to be a great pop band,” says front man Tom Ogden.
“We’re influenced by the present as much as the past and we want to sound as modern as we can. We want to sound like a band who could only ever exist now, not then.”
The self-titled debut album was recorded at Liverpool’s Parr Street Studios and produced by Rich Turvey and the band’s sonic mentor, The Coral’s James Skelly.
The pair produced early EPs Blown Rose and Charlemagne (No. 1 in iTunes Alternative Chart as well Christmas No 1 in the UK Vinyl Chart), their first release of 2016 - the dark future-glam of At Most A Kiss (No.1 in the iTunes chart) and radio hit ‘Getaway’ (playlisted across Radio 1, 6 Music, Radio X, Absolute and Radio 2).
“James has been really important for us,” says Ogden.
“He can listen to one of our songs and instinctively know what bits to push forward. He’s got an amazing ear for a good pop melody. He just brings out our best, and makes it a little bit weird in the mix as only he can.
“Being fans of The Coral anyway, having him produce our debut album is a perfect marriage.”

New sensations Blossoms signing in ahead of Leeds dates


Hotly tipped band of the moment Blossoms are expected to head straight for the top 10 with their self-titled debut album and are backing up this Friday’s release with a burst of activity that includes several dates in Yorkshire.


Award winning comedy company Laugh and Let Die will be hoping to make a killing for the Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust at a fundraising event in October.
The murder mystery night dinner will take place at the National Coal Mining Museum in Wakefield.
The event is part of a series of fundraising efforts by staff at Dewsbury and District Hospital to raise money for the Neuro Rehab ward.
Kathryn Fishwick, a Consultant from the hospital said: “Money raised from all our events is being used to fund everything from physio equipment to music therapy sessions.
“All of which help patients on the Neuro Rehab ward recovering from a stroke, traumatic injury or viral illness to get back to being who they once were.
“The funds we receive will enable us to support them back to being able to do all the things that we take for granted such as boiling a kettle or handling money.”
The event will take place at the National Coal Mining Museum, Caphouse Colliery, in Wakefield on Saturday 8 October from 7pm.
There will be a three-course meal, entertainment and Halloween disco until after midnight, with Halloween fancy dress optional.
Kathryn said: “I’m delighted with the support we are receiving for all our fundraising events and am grateful to everyone who puts in the time and effort to help them to be such successful occasions.”
Laugh and Let Die perform murder mystery nights across the North and they also perform their own shows.
The Neuro Rehabilitation Ward which helps people with complex neurological disabilities resulting from stroke, brain injury, multiple sclerosis, spinal paralysis, peripheral nerve and muscle diseases and conditions such as motor neurone disease.
Tickets for the event cost £30 and can be purchased from mostspooked@sent.com.


Award winning comedy company Laugh and Let Die will be hoping to make a killing for the Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust at a fundraising event in October.


Sorry, we're having problems with our video player at the moment, but are working to fix it as soon as we can
Yorkshire's latest Radio 1 stars The Sherlocks had a muddy great time at Leeds Festival - they drew a crowd of more than 6,000 fans then camped out with them.
The Sheffield indie four piece turned down a five star hotel and proved they are a real band of the people.
After packing out the Festival Republic stage they decided to pitched a tent in one of the muddy camp sites.
Frontan Kiaran Crook, aged 20, revealed: "We played our set then decided to camp through the night. We had an option to go into a five star hotel, with a jacuzzi and everything, but we decided to camp.
"We just love it."
He then joked: "We ended up camping next to the Red Hot Chili Peppers- I could hear Anthony snoring.
"But no, seriously, we love it. We love a bit of mud. We just thought, we might as well have the full festival experience."
Melvin Benn, Reading and Leeds Festival boss, said: "I didn't know The Sherlocks went and pitched up in the camp site. It doesn't surprise me. It's what my kids do. They want to be in the public camp site. Anybody who thinks the VIP area is the place to be, I can tell you it's a bit more boring."
Other Yorkshire bands who played at Leeds over the weekend included Sheffield's The Wired, Liberty Ship, Bang Bang Romeo, Leeds band Dusk, Fighting Caravans, York based Faux Pas and many more.
The Sherlocks, also featuring Kiaran's brother, drummer Brandon, 23, guitarist Josh Davidson, 22, and his brother and bassist Andy, 17, recently played the biggest music festival in the world, SXSW in Austin, Texas.
The Sherlocks played to over 6,000 people then camped out with fans in muddy fields at Leeds Festival.
They also played at Reading Festival at the weekend but said Leeds, their Yorkshire homecoming, was the highlight of their year.
Kiaran added: "Leeds Festival is really important to us. It's given us a chance to pick up new fans. We had a blast. The tent was packed. It exceeded what we thought it would be.We're going on tour next month, starting in Brighton and finishing in Stockton, with a sold out gig in Leeds.
"It would be nice to do the NME/Radio 1 stage next year, I think that's where we are heading."
Brandon added: "We are at home when playing Leeds festival. Now we need to get an album out while we've got momentum behind us."
The Sherlocks, who will record their debut album later this year, begin a 16-date UK headline tour later this week, including a sold out show at The Wardrobe in Leeds, on Tuesday, September 20.
The Sherlocks at Leeds Festival
For full dates and tickets visit thesherlocksmusic.co.uk
The Sherlocks on stage at Leeds Festival
Reading and Leeds Festival boss Melvin Benn
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VIDEO: Sheffield's The Sherlocks camp in mud with fans after wowing Leeds Festival


Dewsbury-born footballer Tyler Denton has spoken about his dream debut for Leeds United when he scored the only goal of the game with a stunning strike to knock Luton Town out of the EFL Cup.
The 20-year-old left-back, has been on the bench several times this season, but was given his chance in a much-changed United line-up at Luton and took it with both hands, earning the man of the match with many observers.
After the game he said: “Words cannot describe how I’m feeling right now.
“I grew up as a kid with my parents bringing me to games week in, week out so it’s great to repay them.
“It couldn’t have gone any better.
“All the lads said play simple first 10 ease your way into it, but to do that is a dream come true really.
“I felt after that I just relaxed and got more and more into the game.
“I didn’t expect to play. But I was prepared, I think you’ve got to be prepared and didn’t pass up on the chance.
“It’s just a start. Hopefully I will be around in the next few weeks and months, and we will take it into the international break.”
Head coach Garry Monk was delighted with the contribution of former Mirfield Free Grammar School student Denton, who has been with Leeds since the age of six.
He said: “What a great goal that is. That’s one debut goal you’ll never forget.
“He’s been great in pre-season and he’s a typical example of what they do at Leeds with young players.
“He deserved his chance and he was always going to be one of my changes. It was a great finish and to be a winning goal was even better.”
Monk would not commit himself on whether Denton could replace regular left-back Charlie Taylor, who is still the subject of transfer speculation.
He added: “Come on, he’s only played one game.
“It was a fantastic debut but he’s still growing. Given time he’ll be a very good player. He’s an exciting prospect but at this moment he’s still learning.”

Dewsbury lad Tyler makes dream Leeds United debut


Dewsbury-born footballer Tyler Denton has spoken about his dream debut for Leeds United when he scored the only goal of the game with a stunning strike to knock Luton Town out of the EFL Cup.


AT this moment in time, the County Championship title race looks like going right down to the wire.
From the outside, you cannot help but look at the last game of the season versus Middlesex at Lord’s, although there is still a lot of cricket to be played up until then and Middlesex got over the line in good fashion this week and are playing some good cricket.
When you get to this stage of the season, you talk about holding your nerve and we have been there before.
READ MORE - Yorkshire inspired by their past failures
READ MORE - David Willey is aiming to give Yorkshire the edge
READ MORE - Lyth’s knock the spark for Yorkshire’s white-ball momentum, says Lees
READ MORE - Chris Waters: Leg-spinner Adil Rashid in danger of becoming a wasted talent
For us, Leesy is coming into some form and Lythy is and me now as well and, hopefully, we can use that to really start hitting our straps.
I was happy to contribute with 83 in the Roses game at Old Trafford. I wanted three figures and was desperate to get there, but I did occupy the crease for a long period of time and in the context of the game, it was an important knock and I was pleased to get runs.
Coming to the business end of the season, I had said before that we can get our players in form, then it sets us up nicely.
I was pleased to contribute. In the context of the game, there was a lot of rubbish flying around on the field and it was nice to shut up a few of their lads.
We needed 219 from 30 overs at tea on the last day, but decided that the target was just too much and shook hands on the draw.
You have to trust the batsmen out there, I guess, and their decision and the pitch was deteriorating.
There was quite a lot of spin and with our left-handers in the top-order, it was probably a bridge too far. And I think that it was a good statement with us being none down as well.
The last thing we wanted to do was be holding out for a draw, seven or eight wickets down or something like that and it was a decent statement from us, even though we didn’t play our best cricket at times. We came out with our heads held high.
If we had been chasing 150 or 160 going into that last 18 to 20 overs, then it would have given us a good chance. We just felt it was too many to chase.
I don’t think that Lancashire would have gone for it either, to be honest.
Overall, it was a solid draw, although I was a bit disappointed with the way we bowled on the morning of day two as I thought we were exceptional on day one and held our lines and lengths and were patient.
All that hard work was undone by poor bowling on the second morning and it really put us behind the eight-ball.
But the encouraging thing is we got past the follow-on and got back into the game.
Azeem Rafiq, Jack Leaning and David Willey all got their Yorkshire caps before the game and it was a fantastic moment.
The best part of my job is to give caps out like that and see what it means to the lads.
In particular, you could see it for the two lads who have come right through the age groups. To eventually get a Yorkshire cap; you could see the emotion in their faces when they received them.
It was good for David, too. He is starting to win games for us now in the short-ball format, although he probably has not played as many red-ball games as he would have liked and has had a few injury niggles and going into that Old Trafford game, he had a hamstring injury.
But he is starting to win games of cricket and that is why we signed him; for us to be in the hunt – in the white-ball Twenty20 and 50-over competition.
It’s finals day today in the T20 and I am looking forward to it and am going down there and will be in and around the squad.
It is a big day for the club and we want to keep our name in the hat for all three formats and trophies.
Obviously, I would have been liked to have been a part of the white-ball stuff. But when you look down the team sheet when all the international players come back, it is a bloody tough side to get into!

Andrew Gale: Lord’s showdown is looming and we’re really beginning to hit our straps


AT this moment in time, the County Championship title race looks like going right down to the wire.


The family and friends of a young cricket player who died suddenly have organised a 10th annual charity match in his memory.
Ben Morley collapsed and died unexpectedly in July 2006 aged 23 – and over the past decade those close to him have raised more than £27,000 for Martin House Hospice.
A previous event for Ben at Crossbank Methodist Cricket Club.
And a rugby match which will feature his old mates – and anybody over 16 who wants to take part – is to go ahead on Sunday at Crossbank Methodists Cricket Club.
Ben’s mum Gill, 59, of Intake Lane, Birstall, said: “He used to play for Batley Boys rugby from the age of nine.
“It was his friends who started the event up.
“Ben was a bit of a cheeky chappy. He was one of the rugby lads. He liked to go for a pint.”
But IT worker Ben, who attended the University of Huddersfield, died after leaving home for just eight weeks to live with his girlfriend in Cleckheaton.
“He had everything in front of him really,” Mrs Morley said.
“It was very suddenly. Everybody was devastated.
“It was so unexpected at that age, at 23.
“He was a fun-loving lad,” she added.
Ben left behind his mum and dad James – who has been a groundsman at the Batley Bulldogs’ stadium for 15 years – and sister Anouska, now 35.
The match at The Rumbolds, off Lea Road, Birstall, will bring together those who knew him for a day of fundraising from noon.
“It’s usually a sad day but a good day,” said Mrs Morley.
Youngsters can enjoy a bouncy castle, face painting, tombola stalls and refreshments on the day.
And the event usually carries on into the evening.
It costs £5 to take part in the match and player registration begins at 11.30am.
Martin House Hospice supports children and young people with life-limiting conditions.

Ben’s friends to take to the pitch in his honour


The family and friends of a young cricket player who died suddenly have organised a 10th annual charity match in his memory.


THE NatWest T20 Blast is all done and dusted.
A Royal London Cup semi-final looms on the horizon but, for now, Yorkshire’s attention returns to the Specsavers County Championship.
England's Stuart Broad is absent from the Notts line up Picture: Adam Davy/PA.
They are second in Division One, 26 points behind Middlesex with a game in hand.
And this week’s match against Nottinghamshire at Scarborough represents that game in hand.
It comes against a side who are bottom of the league and staring down the barrel of relegation.
Mathematically, it is not a must-win fixture, for there are still four to play after this match.
But it presents an obvious opportunity for Yorkshire to close the gap on Middlesex, and to close it to just two points if they can claim the maximum 24.
Yorkshire travel to second-bottom Hampshire next week and host third-bottom Durham the following week, before ending their campaign at home to Somerset and away to Middlesex.
A hat-trick of titles is still in their hands, but you sense that they need to seize the present moment.
It will not be easy.
Not only is the weather unpredictable at this time of year, rendering victories already gained like gold dust, but sides such as Notts are scrapping for points for different reasons – namely, their First Division survival.
Trent Bridge is arguably the finest ground in the country – at least outside of Lord’s, and with all due respect to Scarborough –but it faces the unpalatable prospect of Second Division cricket.
It will be extremely tough for Notts to beat a strong Yorkshire team at Scarborough, a ground where Notts have won only once in 12 matches, indeed, but that does not mean that they will be pushovers in what has been a tight division.
Yorkshire have a good recent record in the Championship at North Marine Road, but they lost on their last outing there in early July – an innings defeat to Middlesex that they hope will not have the same look in retrospect that Durham’s win there did in 2013, when it provided the impetus for the visitors to go on and pip Jason Gillespie’s team to the title.
Yorkshire, on paper, should be too strong for Notts, and yet the visitors possess some talented players.
Stuart Broad, the England pace bowler, is out with an ankle injury, and there is no Jake Ball or Alex Hales, who are on one-day international duty along with Yorkshire’s Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Liam Plunkett and Adil Rashid.
But Notts have plenty of seasoned campaigners – not least the evergreen Chris Read and Samit Patel.
First-team coach Gillespie is certainly not taking Notts for granted as his side go in search of their fourth win of the Championship campaign.
“It’s going to be a massive challenge,” said Gillespie.
“Notts are a very good side, and although they haven’t played the cricket they’d like in the Championship, they’re an incredibly dangerous team and they’ve got some real match-winners.
“We need to play at our best if we’re going to compete with them, and we’ve got to make sure that we tick all the boxes.
“We’ve got a good record at Scarborough in recent times, and hopefully we can build on that this week.”
A week of inactivity for Middlesex would be as good a week as any for the champions to strike, with the leaders battling problems of their own.
With pace bowler Steven Finn currently out with a hamstring injury, Middlesex have been dealt another blow with the news that former Notts batsman Adam Voges will not be returning to captain them for their last four games, with Cricket Australia wanting him to rest his own hamstring problem.
Middlesex return to action next week when they travel to Warwickshire before visiting Notts the following week.
They continue their programme away to Lancashire before the potentially key fixture with Yorkshire in late September.
Notts, who are 14 points adrift at the bottom, really need something from this week’s fixture.
Mick Newell, their coach, is considering changes to his batting line-up, with Root’s brother, Billy, among those who could come into the team along with fellow batsman Tom Moores, the 19-year-old son of former England coach Peter Moores.
Whoever he selects, Newell is conscious of the need for immediate improvement.
“We’re in a mess in the Championship,” he admitted.
“We’ve got to try and get out of the bottom two.
“This is a really big game, and I’m not sure where the pressure sits because they’re trying to get to the top and we’re obviously trying to get off the bottom.
“We’ve got to find a way of winning games.”

Yorkshire v Nottinghamshire: Yorkshire lookint to seize the moment in Championship title bid


THE NatWest T20 Blast is all done and dusted.


The sun shone, but there was plenty of mud as well on the opening day of the 2016 Leeds Festival as the annual three-day spectacular got off to a fantastic, if messy start yesterday.
Heavy rain the day before, lasting well into the night, had left parts of Bramham Park ankle deep in mud from the outset and made walking between stages a bit of a nightmare - but it could not dampen spirits of the thousands who flocked to the venue for the 18th year of the north’s biggest music event.
Some fans were unhappy after the late cry off of main stage act A$AP Rocky, who came up with a poor excuse of traffic difficulties for a non-appearance announced just minutes before he was due to appear.
But, though this left an awkward long gap between bands it did not spoil a superb end to the evening’s entertainment on the main stage.
The Vaccines proved a perfect warm-up with their wonderful sing-along songs before joint headliners Fall Out Boy and Biffy Clyro lived up to their billing in some style.
If it was a competition, honours went to Fall Out Boy for the spectacular show they put on, complete with huge and frequent pyrotechnics and dancing girls twirling fiery batons. Oh and the songs were not too shabby either as they performed just about all their best known songs.
Biffy Clyro ended with some big fireworks too, but in contrast their show was all about the music as they produced a polished display that highlighted what a great band they are these days.
Earlier on the main stage, State Champs had opened proceedings while Coheed & Cambria and Five Finger Death Punch had entertained in their own inimitable style.
The NME/ BBC Radio 1 Stage was headlined by trendy band The 1975, who drew a predictable big crowd and here saw good shows too from The Wombats, Cage The Elephant and Tonight Alive.
Over on the Lock Up Stage The King Blues entertained with their brand of ska punk and the likes of Waterparks, Roam and the splendidly named Leeds band Fighting Caravans proved good new additions to the festival roster.
Headliners here were American pop punkers Good Charlotte, who were returning to the event after many years away, and attracted a big crowd.
The Dance Stage and BBC 1 Extra Stage offered different fare with their dance beats, rappers and DJs pulling decent crowds throughout the day and evening. DJ EZ and Kano were the headline acts on these two stages.
There were plenty of top names over at the Alternative Stage where festival regular Russell Kane proved the pick of the stand-ups with a hilarious set that got huge laughs and plenty of applause.
Irish comic Andrew Maxwell was first on and started with a small crowd, but the audience built throughout his set with the crowd warming to his ad-libbing and occasional filthy, but funny references. Mark Watson followed and was very different to the opener, but went down just as well while Holly Walsh and Jamali Maddix provided plenty of laughs later in the afternoon.
Final act of the afternoon Kurrupt FM provided a very different act for the Alternative Stage with their full-on rap show playing to a packed tent.
The BBC Introducing Stage has no tent and suffered as it was a quagmire for fans to stand on if they wanted to watch the latest up and comers.
But it is this stage that plays hosts to the stars of tomorrow with the likes of Super Glu, Muses, Night Owls and Lawrence Taylor getting their opportunity to shine this year.
The Leeds Festival continues today with Disclosure and Foals the big attractions on the main stage, Jack U and Twenty One Pilots on the NME/BBC Radio 1 Stage and Maximo Park and Leeds’ Pulled Apart By Horses on the Festival Republic Stage.
One act who will not be appearing is Fetty Wap with the American hip hop artist pulling out of his scheduled NME/ BBC Radio 1 Stage appearance because he is ill.

Fall Out Boy light up first day at muddy Leeds Festival


The sun shone, but there was plenty of mud as well on the opening day of the 2016 Leeds Festival as the annual three-day spectacular got off to a fantastic, if messy start yesterday.


Names of the bands who get to rub shoulders with the big names at the Leeds Festival after coming through the annual Centre Stage and Futuresound competitions have been revealed.
The competitions give local bands the once-in-a-lifetime chance to win places on the line-up at the annual music extravaganza taking place at Bramham Park.
Since its initial launch by The Pigeon Detectives in 2009, Centre Stage has raised an incredible £200,000 for Martin House Children’s Hospice and provided a platform for over 190 young musicians to showcase their emerging talent.
This year’s winners are Yorkshire favourites Faux Pas, from York, who will be performing on the BBC Introducing Stage at Leeds and Reading 2016.
The prestigious Futuresound competition also returned this year, offering winners the coveted opening slot on the Lock Up Stage and five runners-up the chance to perform on the BBC Introducing Stage. This year’s winners are alt-rock Americana quintet Fighting Caravans, from Leeds.
Having battled it out against 39 other bands, they will play the Lock Up Stage alongside the likes of Good Charlotte, The King Blues, MGK and Arcane Roots. Joining them over the bank holiday weekend and all performing on the BBC Introducing Stage will be runners up The Indigo Project, Vexxes, Dusk, Adore // Repel and Night Owls.
Members of Fighting Caravans and Faux Pas were given the chance to meet fellow northerners Blossoms at HMV Leeds, during the promotional tour for their debut, self-titled album, which is heading straight for the top of the UK Album Chart this week.
Band of the moment Blossoms are also appearing at the Leeds Festival and in his introduction at the Leeds Festival press day at Bramham Park, event founder Melvin Benn talked about the band as the perfect example of what can happen to an act with the right breaks in the space of one short year.
Blossoms were unsigned when they played the Festival Republic Stage at their first Leeds and Reading Festivals in 2015. This year, they play on the NME / Radio 1 Stage, with a critically acclaimed album hitting the very top of the charts.
Weekend tickets for the Leeds Festival are £205 + £8 booking fee and day tickets are £59.50 + £7 booking fee with both available from http://www.leedsfestival.com/tickets

Leeds and York bands given chance to impress at Festival


Names of the bands who get to rub shoulders with the big names at the Leeds Festival after coming through the annual Centre Stage and Futuresound competitions have been revealed.


Devoted dad Steven Scaddan is calling for speed limits to be lowered on a main road connecting Dewsbury and Morley, after his wife and daughter were involved in a “terrifying” collision.
The car Tracey Scaddan and the couple’s two-year-old daughter Caitlin were travelling in was hit, by a “recklessly” driven stolen vehicle, as it reversed into their driveway on Leeds Road, in Dewsbury last month.
Their car was sent spinning and 36-year-old Mr Scaddan, who was notified of the accident by a family member, feared his family had been “left for dead”.
He said: “They are both to this day still recovering and we were informed by the police and fire brigade that if we had a smaller car they would both be dead.”
Mr Scaddan, who has lived on Leeds Road for more than a decade, said the crash had left his daughter unable to sleep through night and his wife is struggling to come to terms with the shock of what has happened.
“I just wish I could swap positions with her,” he said. “I wish I could have been in that car instead of her. It is really distressing thinking about what could have been.”
Mr Scaddan has set up a petition calling for action to make the road safer.
And it has gained nearly 1,000 signatures in just over a week. He said: “I am campaigning for a safe road, for the lowering of the speed limit to 30mph, for putting permanent speed cameras along the road and if another pedestrian crossing was put in, it would be brilliant.
“Just anything that will bring the speed down and make the road safer for the young families and older generation that live here.
“At the moment the road is a death trap, it’s an accident waiting to happen.”
There has already been several fatalities on the street, also known as the A653.
And Mr Scaddan said it was only a matter of time “before someone else gets killed”.
“I am extremely lucky to have my family still,” he said. “But this could have been a completely different story.
“I don’t want any one else to go though what my family has and still is going through.”
The petition will be delivered to Kirkless Council’s Director of Place for consideration.
It has been backed by Dewsbury and Mirfield MP Paula Sherriff.
She said: “I’m very sorry to hear of the terrifying traffic incident involving a family on Leeds Road, Dewsbury.
“The two men left the scene and the stolen vehicle they were driving without any apparent concern for the safety of Mrs Scaddan and her little girl.
“I fully appreciate the serious concerns with traffic safety on Leeds Road and I have contacted Kirklees Council to ask that this is appropriately reviewed and careful consideration is given to the family’s requests.”

Dad calls for lowering of speed limits after ‘terrifying’ crash


Devoted dad Steven Scaddan is calling for speed limits to be lowered on a main road connecting Dewsbury and Morley, after his wife and daughter were involved in a “terrifying” collision.


Vaughan Redford hit a first half hat-trick but it wasn’t enough to earn Liversedge victory in a thrilling 3-3 draw at Handsworth Parramore on Tuesday night.
Liversedge were in complete control against one of the favourites to win the Northern Counties East League Premier Division title before the home side fought back.
Steven Wailes beat the full-back and crossed for Redford to side foot home after 18 minutes and Joe Walton almost doubled the advantage but his header rebounded off the crossbar.
Walton produced a superb counter attack and crossed for Redford to tap home.
Liversedge were playing some terrific football and a lovely move ended when Redford was played into the penalty area to complete his hat-trick.
Handsworth pulled a goal back before half-time when Harrison played a neat one-two and crossed for Jon Froggatt to slide the ball home.
Liversedge had beaten off competition from Farsley Celtic to sign highly rated midfielder Harrison Blakey from Yorkshire Amateurs and he made his debut at Handsworth
Blakey, son of former Yorkshire and England cricketer Richard, almost extended Liversedge’s lead but goalkeeper Joe Green was alert to make a good save from his fierce drive.
Handsworth had appeals for a penalty turned away before grabbing a second in the 65th minute when a Wells crossed was met on the half volley by Alex Rippon to fire beyond the goalkeeper.
Handsworth then drew level 15 minutes from time when Smyth struck a stunning 25-yard drive into the far corner.
Liversedge almost won it in the final minute when a forward slipped the ball beyond the goalkeeper but Griffiths got back to hack it off the line as honours ended all square.
The draw leaves Liversedge fifth in the Premier Division table with seven points from their opening four matches, which included a 2-1 away win at Staveley Miners Welfare last Saturday.
Sedge took a 32nd minute lead when Cody Cromack found Redford in the area and the striker created himself space to rifle home.
Staveley were behind for just two minutes as Kieran Watson equalised.
Staveley captain Ricky Hanson was shown a straight red card for deliberate handball inside the area and Brandon Kane stepped up to convert the penalty.
Sedge worked hard in the second half and frequently caught Staveley on the break but were unable to add a third goals, although their solid start to the season continued.
Liversedge entertain Rainworth MW on Saturday before travelling to Maltby Main next Wednesday as they look to build momentum and keep pressure on the early leaders.

Redford hits hat-trick in thrilling Liversedge draw


Vaughan Redford hit a first half hat-trick but it wasn’t enough to earn Liversedge victory in a thrilling 3-3 draw at Handsworth Parramore on Tuesday night.


Sorry, we're having problems with our video player at the moment, but are working to fix it as soon as we can
JASON GILLESPIE’s departure as Yorkshire’s first-team coach, after five years in charge of the county champions, had been on the cards for some time.
Earlier this summer, Gillespie’s wife, Anna, and their four children moved back to Adelaide in Australia.
HEADING OUT: Yorkshire first-team coach, pictured at Headingley in November last year. Picture: Bruce Rollinson
It would be a strange marriage that could survive for several months apart on opposite sides of the world, although, on second thoughts, some couples would probably relish that thought.
Flippancy aside, Yorkshire had hoped to get at least one more year out of Gillespie, whose future had been the subject of regular speculation since he took the job in 2011.
Since then, the former Australia fast bowler has helped the club to one County Championship promotion and to back-to-back Championship titles, with the prospect of a hat-trick to follow next month.
Under Gillespie, Yorkshire have also twice reached NatWest T20 Blast Finals Day and successive Royal London Cup semi-finals, although, after 14 years without a one-day trophy, they have yet to crack limited-overs cricket in quite the same way.
IT'S OURS: Yorkshire captain Andrew Gale and coach Jason Gillespie celebrate with the County Championship trophy at Trent Bridge back in 2014. Pictures: SWpix.
Gillespie’s track record, however, speaks for itself (Yorkshire have lost only five of 76 Championship games since his arrival), and he has been linked with practically more international coaching positions than there are jobs vacant.
There are many observers –this correspondent included –who thought that he should have got the England job last year, an opinion that has not been altered by progress under Trevor Bayliss.
Gillespie has also been linked with international positions back home, where his great friend and former team-mate Darren Lehmann is in charge of the Australia side.
Gillespie already doubles up as coach of the Big Bash franchise Adelaide Strikers, and potential moves for him now could include international cricket/the Indian Premier League.
CHEERS, I'LL BE OFF THEN: Yorkshire coach Jason Gillespie will leave the club after five years at the end of this season.
Although Yorkshire will be sad to see him go, it was a case of ‘when’, not ‘if’, Gillespie left.
The time would seem right for him not only from a family perspective, but also, one suspects, from a cricketing point of view.
Gillespie has probably taken Yorkshire as far as he can; their performances in the Championship this summer have actually tailed off a touch, although they have been more affected by injuries than in recent seasons, and they go into the final four matches just five points behind leaders Middlesex.
But it has not been the dominant campaign that many had hoped, although the end result is all that counts, and the players will be doubly determined to give Gillespie a successful send-off.
THRILLED: Jason Gillespie watches from the Lords balcony as the County Championship title is retained, despite the triumph being accompanied by defeat against hosts Middlesex.
Yorkshire’s magnificent pace attack is not getting any younger, and although there is no reason to suspect that the current side cannot aim to stretch their run of titles to at least four or five in a row, Yorkshire must soon face such unpalatable questions as: “Exactly how do you replace Ryan Sidebottom?”
Sport moves in cycles, and Gillespie has been part of a golden cycle at Yorkshire. He will leave with the thanks of the club’s supporters, who already respected him for what he achieved as a player.
As a key member of the great Australia side of the Nineties and Noughties, Gillespie took 402 international wickets. As a coach, it is noticeable that he never speaks about that success, or indeed seeks credit for Yorkshire’s recent triumphs.
He appreciates that it is players who win silverware first and foremost, and that support staff, in a nutshell, are exactly what that term would imply.
Gillespie’s coaching methods would seem quite simple: he does not over-complicate the game, but encourages his players to perform with freedom and to try to take the positive option.
He recognises the importance of making sure that the players believe that the coach believes in them, and his style is more arm-around-the-shoulder than ranter-and-raver.
Like all in sport, however, he hides a tough streak, although never quite to the extent that it masks a cheerful personality for too long.
At heart, he is a thoroughly decent chap: friendly, personable, and with time for all.
Even his infamous comments about the dairy industry, which he suggested earlier this summer should be closed down as it does not tie in with his vegan views, betrayed that decency and caring disposition, even if they were not shared by everyone – not least the Yorkshire sponsors, Wensleydale Cheese.
Yorkshire will not replace him easily, but a team of talented cricketers will cope.
Gillespie himself has seen to it, by helping to create a culture that will not be broken just because the time has come for him to say goodbye.

Chris Waters: Time is right for Jason Gillespie to bid farewell to Yorkshire CCC


JASON GILLESPIE’s departure as Yorkshire’s first-team coach, after five years in charge of the county champions, had been on the cards for some time.


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Reader’s Picture of the Week - August 11


This green woodpecker was snapped in Crow Nest Park by reader Bob Porritt.


The first section of the season comes to an end this Saturday when Leeds United get time to take stock after playing their seventh game in 22 days.
An international break follows the Whites’ trip to Nottingham Forest’s City Ground, with the players having a week off before springing back into action with another seven games in 22 days before the second break.
With the season broken up into some intense periods it can be tough on players and it is hard to maintain form with the matches coming thick and fast.
With little time for training to improve things going wrong it is also hard on managers especially with patience in boardrooms so thin these days and winning records demanded.
But the breaks do give coaching staffs the chance to work with players not on international duty as they can use the extra time wisely on the training ground and this is what United boss Garry Monk will be planning.
After an underwhelming start to his time as Leeds head coach Monk is seeing signs of improvement as the players he has brought in begin to get used to doing what he is asking of them and he and fans will expect to see this improvement bear more fruits after the break coming up.
With such a big turn round of players – Leeds have so far signed 11 players this summer and have promoted a couple of under 19s into the first team squad – it is little wonder they have lacked consistency so far. But that excuse can only be used for a short time longer.
Despite the early problems the Whites can actually climb into the top half of the table if results go right for them this weekend and they can beat Nottingham Forest.
Leeds go into Saturday’s game on the back of three games unbeaten - a slightly fortunate draw against Fulham followed by a deserved 2-0 win at Sheffield Wednesday and a 1-0 EFL Cup win at Luton with a team showing 11 changes - and if they can make it seven points from three league games they will regard it as a solid start despite the defeats in the opening two matches.
The biggest positive is that strikers Chris Wood and Marcus Antonsson have scored five goals between them in the first five matches, including the first round EFL Cup tie at Fleetwood.
It is always important for the forwards to be hitting the target to build their confidence and the duo could be the key at Forest, who have conceded 10 goals in their first four league games.
Early signs are that Forest are playing a more expansive game this season as they have also found the net eight times so will offer some threat to a Leeds backline that kept its first clean sheet last Saturday after themselves conceding eight goals in their first four outings.
Kyle Bartley and Liam Cooper appear to be Monk’s preferred centre-back combination, although the partnership of Sol Bamba and new signing Pontus Jansson did help keep a clean sheet at Luton.
Luke Ayling appears to have settled in quickly at right-back in the absence of the injured Gaetano Berardi while Charlie Taylor has been an ever present so far at left-back despite continue rumours that United would sell him if they can find a replacement in his position.
They also have another youngster waiting in the wings in Tyler Denton, who scored the winner at Luton on his debut at left-back.

Goal hungry strikers hold key for Leeds United at Forest


The first section of the season comes to an end this Saturday when Leeds United get time to take stock after playing their seventh game in 22 days.