09/09/2013 Look East - East


09/09/2013

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Hello and welcome to a special edition of Look East, live from the

:00:14.:00:20.

A14 on the day the government announced plans for a new toll road,

:00:20.:00:29.

right here. It is part of a £1.5 billion project which will also mean

:00:29.:00:35.

improvements to the A1. But crucially, through traffic will not

:00:35.:00:39.

be able to use the old the A14. Also in the programme, I am out on

:00:39.:00:46.

the route that the new toll road will take, six lanes of traffic will

:00:46.:00:51.

cut through this part of the countryside.

:00:51.:00:54.

And I will have a round—up of the rest of the day's news, including

:00:54.:00:56.

network rail pleading guilty to health and safety breaches after a

:00:56.:01:01.

member of staff dies fixing overhead power lines.

:01:01.:01:14.

If you have ever used this road, you will see that traffic is moving OK

:01:14.:01:19.

this evening. You can be bumper to heal gay all the way up this stretch

:01:19.:01:24.

of road, it can take a lot of time to come up here. —— on part two

:01:24.:01:29.

tailgate. Just to give you a quick bit of geography, the St Ives

:01:29.:01:32.

junction is just there. Felixstowe lies in that direction. Behind the

:01:32.:01:43.

camera, you will find Huntingdon and Northants incher and the Midlands.

:01:43.:01:47.

We are here because the government has announced plans for this road.

:01:47.:01:52.

The plans are expensive, they're ambitious. And already they're

:01:52.:01:55.

proving controversial. The existing road heads north west from Cambridge

:01:55.:01:59.

towards Huntingdon. That will change. This road will head

:01:59.:02:05.

cross—country and will not rejoin the A14 until Hillingdon. —— LE

:02:05.:02:15.

didn't. Many thought that drivers would still be able to use the old

:02:15.:02:20.

road, but the government will remove a crucial road bridge across the

:02:20.:02:25.

railway here, forcing cars onto the toll road. As part of the package

:02:25.:02:30.

there will also be improvements to the A14 and the A1. No, the

:02:30.:02:35.

timetable. The government is consulting on plans until October

:02:35.:02:41.

2013. It will confirm the route in late 2013. If all goes to plan, work

:02:41.:02:49.

will start in 2016, and be complete within three or four years. Finally,

:02:49.:02:57.

the tolls. The proposals here, £1 or £1 50 per car and double that for

:02:57.:03:05.

lorries. Already people are calling —— talking about rat runs and we are

:03:05.:03:11.

on a bridge where one of those rat runs will go. People who come here

:03:11.:03:17.

to avoid paying the tall and go back onto the A1 that way. We are already

:03:17.:03:26.

giving lots of opposition. I'm at Offord Hill Farm, and in seven years

:03:26.:03:32.

time this field is set to be the new A14 toll road. The theory will be

:03:32.:03:39.

gone. —— the greenery will be gone. Three lanes of traffic in each

:03:39.:03:42.

direction, they'll run from junction 28 of the existing A14 at Swavesey.

:03:43.:03:46.

About eight miles in that direction, through to Ellington which is about

:03:46.:03:51.

four miles over there. And that is where the road will join up with the

:03:51.:03:58.

A1, which you might just be able to see in the distance. The A1 will

:03:58.:04:01.

also need widening there to cope with the extra traffic. Mike

:04:01.:04:10.

Cartwright has the details. This woman's family has farmed the for

:04:10.:04:16.

more than 60 years. This hedge just 60 metres from her house is where

:04:16.:04:21.

the toll road will go. The traffic in the glare from street lights in

:04:21.:04:26.

the landscape she loves will be ripped in two. Terrible. It is going

:04:26.:04:32.

to cut the farm in half, we have lived here since 1952. It is awful.

:04:32.:04:40.

It makes you want to cry. I am sure there are other places they could

:04:40.:04:44.

put it. There are many roads between here and Cambridge that they could

:04:44.:04:49.

take and add another lean on to. In Huntingdon this flyover carries

:04:49.:04:55.

traffic. There are plans to put it down, and then rewrote local traffic

:04:55.:05:02.

through the town. If they drop the bridge it will be good because it

:05:02.:05:07.

will bring a local traffic into town. Good for business.It is good

:05:07.:05:15.

for traffic if they will stop. In St Ives there is fear of more

:05:15.:05:19.

congestion if people search for ways to beat the tall. The RC seeing you

:05:19.:05:25.

must use the toll road unless you want to beat the traffic. It could

:05:25.:05:29.

be a bad thing, traffic is bad in the morning. The A14 gets really

:05:30.:05:38.

jammed. We are on the A1, you join the new road here in Buxton and

:05:38.:05:46.

joined the the A14 that way. It will go past Helton had to Swayze. One MP

:05:46.:05:52.

said it is the wrong solution. I do not think it is the right way to go.

:05:52.:05:57.

We must control the costs of this project, and deliver improvements on

:05:57.:06:03.

what we currently have. We should try and fit more on the real ways

:06:03.:06:09.

rather than the roads. If the toll road comes, this landscape could

:06:09.:06:13.

change forever. Most people agree that something must be done to fix

:06:13.:06:23.

the A14. For people in these villages, this new road is not about

:06:23.:06:28.

improving the economy or journey times, it is about how it impacts on

:06:28.:06:34.

their lives. Many are worried that the mere mention of this route today

:06:34.:06:39.

is enough to wait a large chunk off the value of their homes.

:06:39.:06:47.

Janine thank you very much. When the heavy vehicle goes over this bridge

:06:48.:06:52.

it wobbles. About 85,000 vehicles use this section of the A14 every

:06:52.:06:57.

day. Now on a normal road you would expect about one in ten of those

:06:57.:07:00.

vehicles to be an HGV. But on the A14 it is one in four. A reminder

:07:00.:07:04.

that this road is a major artery between the port at Felixstowe and

:07:04.:07:08.

the Midlands. So what do hauliers and businesses make of the plan?

:07:08.:07:10.

Here is our business correspondent Richard Bond. This man set up his

:07:10.:07:25.

transport company 25 years ago. It has 200 lorries, 150 of them working

:07:25.:07:32.

out of Felixstowe. They want in a 14 upgrade but deplore the idea of a

:07:32.:07:38.

toll. They are indicating a toll of around three or £4. Each journey,

:07:38.:07:44.

given that we carry out 150 journeys per day, that is going to be 250, or

:07:44.:07:53.

£200,000 per year. What will that be in five years time? Huge costs.

:07:53.:07:59.

Felixstowe as the UK's biggest port. It is a cornerstone of the economy.

:07:59.:08:09.

We feel that this will be a tax on Suffolk, and in town it will be a

:08:09.:08:13.

tax on UK plc by taxing the significant ports that come through

:08:13.:08:20.

Felixstowe. But you want the the A14 to be improved. Shouldn't hauliers

:08:20.:08:25.

tip into the cost? We have already paid for our road network through

:08:25.:08:29.

the taxes we pay already. Piling another tax on top of that business

:08:29.:08:35.

is no way to go about it. However unpopular road tolls are, they are

:08:35.:08:40.

an essential part of the business case for the new road according to

:08:40.:08:44.

the highways agency. New road tolls, no new road. The Treasury

:08:44.:08:50.

will not pay for the entire scheme, they are providing most of the money

:08:50.:08:54.

but believe that road users should contribute, too. There is support

:08:54.:08:58.

for this view in the business community. We cannot ultimately

:08:58.:09:04.

leave the A14 in the situation it is in at the moment. We must have the

:09:04.:09:10.

solution. From the business perspective I would hope that they

:09:10.:09:14.

would support a small level of the in order to get the A14 improvements

:09:14.:09:19.

underway. If there is one thing this region needs it is better

:09:19.:09:23.

infrastructure. The A14 upgrade would deliver that. Subtle colliers

:09:23.:09:29.

and see it should not be at the expense.

:09:29.:09:31.

So opposition from people who live near the new route. Concern from

:09:31.:09:37.

people in business. Opposition too from some hauliers. Plenty to put to

:09:37.:09:42.

the roads minister, Stephen Hammond. And when I spoke to him from the

:09:43.:09:47.

studio early today I started by asking him about the decision to

:09:47.:09:51.

make this a toll road. What we have always said as a government is that

:09:51.:09:55.

we are always prepared to look at polling as a way to make sure we can

:09:55.:09:58.

build a new and improved infrastructure. This is the biggest

:09:58.:10:01.

single project that the highways agency will be updated —— will be

:10:01.:10:08.

undertaking in 2020. There is already local support for this from

:10:08.:10:16.

the local county council. The AA said that asking drivers to pay to

:10:16.:10:21.

use the A14 with no alternative rewrote is a double whammy, many

:10:21.:10:26.

drivers see the tolling proposals as the thin edge of the wedge, a Trojan

:10:26.:10:31.

horse to introduce wider calling. There is no intention to tall

:10:31.:10:38.

existing infrastructure. But it might be that you will build future

:10:39.:10:44.

roads using tolls. We have always said that. The A14 is an example of

:10:44.:10:50.

this. We are not ruling it in or out. But you always said there would

:10:51.:10:56.

be an alternative, but there isn't. There are alternatives for locals,

:10:56.:11:01.

there is an alternative on the a fortune eight onto the A1. How much

:11:01.:11:09.

will the ride etc put into this? There is no final decision. —— how

:11:09.:11:16.

much will the private sector put into this? The central government is

:11:16.:11:23.

putting 1.5 billion into this. That will not stretch, you will

:11:23.:11:27.

presumably expect the private sector to fill the overspend. I am not

:11:27.:11:33.

expecting any overspend, and I will not prejudice any relationship

:11:33.:11:38.

caused by the split in costs between public and private sectors. In ——

:11:38.:11:44.

are you concerned that by having this toll road on a public route

:11:44.:11:50.

that you will take away traffic from the port of Felixstowe? This will be

:11:50.:11:54.

huge for Felixstowe in terms of access, far from taking away it will

:11:54.:11:59.

accentuate the virtues of Felixstowe as a port. If you do hear strong

:11:59.:12:05.

opposition from local people, you will listen? That is why we are

:12:05.:12:10.

having this consultation. Thank you very much. Later in the programme we

:12:10.:12:19.

will hear some more of your views, we will also hear what local MPs

:12:19.:12:24.

have been saying about this idea of the toll road. Let's catch up with

:12:24.:12:29.

more of the news from where you live.

:12:29.:12:34.

Hello. Network Rail has admitted breaching health and safety

:12:34.:12:37.

regulations following the death of one its workers in Essex. Malcolm

:12:37.:12:42.

Slater, who was 64, died in 2008 when the aerial platform he was

:12:42.:12:51.

working on sheared off. Real workers repairing overhead

:12:51.:12:57.

power lines, it was while doing this type of work on the Norwich to

:12:57.:13:00.

London rail line in Essex that Malcolm Slater was fatally injured.

:13:00.:13:05.

In June 2008 he and two colleagues were working at height in a basket

:13:05.:13:10.

welded to a hydraulic arm. The will field, sending the men plummeting 15

:13:10.:13:17.

feet onto the track below. Malcolm Slater died from head and spinal

:13:17.:13:22.

injuries. Today, network rail admitted breaching health and safety

:13:22.:13:27.

regulations. The court heard that there was a 350 kilograms weight

:13:27.:13:31.

limit for the hydraulic basket, but on the day before the accident it

:13:31.:13:36.

had been repeatedly overloaded by up to 100 kilograms. Nor was this the

:13:36.:13:42.

first time that overloading of these baskets had been reported. In

:13:42.:13:46.

addition, the alarm on the vehicle which warned of overloading had been

:13:46.:13:51.

muted. Network rail have expressed their regret at the death of Mr

:13:51.:13:56.

Slater and the entities sustained by his two colleagues. They refused it

:13:56.:14:01.

claims that the platform had been used as a crane but they failed to

:14:01.:14:05.

address overloading in normal use. They will be sentenced tomorrow.

:14:05.:14:09.

One of the country's biggest private care providers has apologised after

:14:09.:14:12.

a hundred people in Norfolk criticised its standard of care. In

:14:12.:14:16.

the summer, "Care UK" took over the County Council's contract.. To

:14:16.:14:19.

provide care to the elderly and vulnerable in their own homes.

:14:19.:14:28.

Carers UK senior managers travelled to Norfolk to defend themselves on

:14:28.:14:38.

BBC UK —— BBC Norfolk radio. My main reaction is just absolute

:14:38.:14:42.

disappointment. We have reached this kind of level, and we have given

:14:42.:14:47.

people the reason to complain. It is important that we apologise when

:14:47.:14:52.

things go wrong. The reasons they go wrong can be varied, but it is

:14:52.:14:56.

important that we apologise and say that we are not happy that this

:14:56.:15:00.

situation has happened. Roger Hagley is among those who have complained

:15:00.:15:04.

about medication is not being given. Born with cerebral palsy devalues

:15:04.:15:10.

his independence but says that the excellent care he received for 23

:15:10.:15:14.

years all changed when carers UK took over in July. You cannot have

:15:14.:15:20.

the same independence because you do not know what time the carers are

:15:20.:15:24.

coming in. No disrespect to the carers, they are good people, but

:15:24.:15:29.

you do not know what time the coming in and that change. Today, BBC radio

:15:29.:15:34.

Norfolk continued to receive complaints. There are too many

:15:34.:15:41.

issues to mention. I could go on all day. After the meeting with the

:15:41.:15:45.

company to make, the county council said that they will take action if

:15:45.:15:50.

they do not see rapid improvement. 120 part—time soldiers from the East

:15:50.:15:54.

have just returned from a training exercise in Croatia. With the army

:15:54.:15:58.

set to lose 20,000 regular soldiers, it needs reservists to fill the gap.

:15:58.:16:01.

In the first of three special reports our Defence reporter Alex

:16:01.:16:05.

Dunlop joined the Royal Anglian reservists near the town of Slunj.

:16:05.:16:24.

Call them weekend warriors and they will not thank you for it. For a

:16:24.:16:29.

fortnight in this wilderness these men are full—time soldiers. Men like

:16:29.:16:38.

William. Matthew. And Joseph. You learn to build up a family, you get

:16:38.:16:44.

out and do this kind of thing and you push yourself to the limit. The

:16:44.:16:48.

government wants more like William to do just that. The regular Army is

:16:48.:16:53.

set to shrink by one fifth, the hope is that there will be 30,000

:16:53.:16:59.

reservists by 2018. There are more benefits coming through that the

:16:59.:17:03.

army are offering reservists that were never there. I hope in the Army

:17:03.:17:08.

hope that this will encourage more services —— encourage more people to

:17:08.:17:14.

join. For an army looking to cut costs you may ask why there are

:17:14.:17:20.

people getting sent to Croatia for two weeks when we have training in

:17:20.:17:24.

the UK. The answer is immersion. Immersion in a different country and

:17:24.:17:28.

culture. The town of Slunj still bears the scars of the Civil War of

:17:28.:17:34.

the early 90s. Mayfield and memorials to dead soldiers are sober

:17:34.:17:38.

look —— sober remainders to soldiers. There will be less

:17:38.:17:43.

fighting in Afghanistan. Will people be less inclined to join the

:17:43.:17:47.

reserves? I have no doubt that we have a generation of soldiers at the

:17:47.:17:53.

moment whose primary aim was to join to be on operations. My job as the

:17:53.:17:57.

commanding officer is to identify the hooks to keep people in the

:17:57.:18:02.

reserves in the future. Exercises such as this offer adventure and the

:18:02.:18:06.

opportunity to progress their reserve carriers. Certainly, the

:18:06.:18:12.

novelty of training alongside Croatian soldiers is a draw for

:18:12.:18:18.

local reservists. This is the first time. It is, if you have made us

:18:18.:18:26.

very welcome. Awesome. Poll, who works at Stansted airport, is proud

:18:26.:18:31.

to be part of the first British military units to train in Croatia.

:18:31.:18:37.

I can take back general confidence, I will be a more rounded person.

:18:37.:18:43.

Better time management. When the enemy is in front of you, do not get

:18:43.:18:50.

focused on him. The Anglicans enjoy strong local royalty across the

:18:50.:18:53.

eastern region, but it is sobering that, 2020, more than one in three

:18:53.:18:59.

soldiers will be a part timer. Tonight our sister programme Inside

:18:59.:19:03.

Out will be revealing the state of the region's sewers It includes

:19:03.:19:06.

footage of the deposits of fat clogging the system. Two years ago

:19:06.:19:10.

the watchdog Ofwat gave Anglian Water until 2015 to improve the

:19:10.:19:13.

network. But its latest performance report says it is falling behind.

:19:13.:19:18.

One of the main problems the company faces is these so—called 'Fatbergs'

:19:18.:19:25.

which have built up in the sewers. Back to Stewart on the A14.

:19:25.:19:35.

Welcome back to the A14 in Cambridgeshire. Just a quick

:19:35.:19:39.

reminder of why we are here. Today the government announced plans for

:19:39.:19:43.

part of the A14 to become a toll road. The new stretch will run for

:19:43.:19:49.

some 12 miles between the Swavesey junction and Ellington. As part of

:19:49.:19:53.

the package there would also be improvements to the existing A14 and

:19:53.:19:56.

the A1, all at a cost of £1.5 billion. Let's talk to her political

:19:56.:20:01.

correspondence, Andrew Sinclair. This has been a years in coming. I

:20:01.:20:08.

was talking to Andrew Lansley who reminded me that when he first

:20:08.:20:12.

became a Kim Butcher MP in 1987 he talked about improving the A14 in

:20:12.:20:18.

his maiden speech. The campaign had been going on for that. There are

:20:18.:20:23.

two problems, the first is that Kim Butcher is growing, the roads are

:20:23.:20:26.

very congested. —— Cambridgeshire is growing. Traffic will increase by 20

:20:26.:20:36.

or 25%. But it is so expensive to do something that previous plans have

:20:36.:20:40.

failed. The government says that things will be different, they have

:20:40.:20:46.

a big and bold plan. This is one of the problems that people have, they

:20:46.:20:51.

will have two use the road and pay for it. A new precedent has been

:20:51.:20:56.

set, if you look at the other pole road in the country, the M6, you can

:20:56.:21:00.

either choose to pay to go on it or go up the old insects. Here they are

:21:00.:21:04.

taking daily bread so the obvious alternative is gone. There will be

:21:04.:21:10.

other alternatives, but the government has admitted that they

:21:10.:21:14.

want as many people as possible using this new toll road. That has

:21:14.:21:21.

made a few MPs jumping. The Suffolk MP is worried about what this will

:21:21.:21:25.

do to the future of Felixstowe port. Most MPs, their reaction is that

:21:25.:21:32.

they do not want to have a toll road but it is the best thing. Thank you

:21:32.:21:37.

very much indeed. Let's get more of your reaction.

:21:37.:21:43.

Thanks, Stewart. We've already heard how people living close to the route

:21:43.:21:48.

of the new road feel. Hauliers too. But of course the A14 runs right

:21:48.:21:52.

through this region. And it affects anyone heading to and from the

:21:52.:21:55.

Midlands. So we asked our Suffolk reporter Kevin Burch to gauge

:21:55.:21:58.

opinion 50—odd miles east of here in Bury St Edmunds. But a Saint Edmunds

:21:58.:22:06.

is packed with personally. There is something around every corner. One

:22:06.:22:12.

of the constant is the A14. It rumbles relentlessly. It is the

:22:12.:22:16.

highway that never sleeps, except of course when it is gridlocked. It is

:22:16.:22:20.

frustration over constant hold—ups that has fuelled fears lobbying for

:22:20.:22:27.

an the A14 upgrade from the business community. At this special was

:22:27.:22:37.

printing firm in Bury Saint Edmunds, they operate here and abroad by the

:22:37.:22:43.

£10 million annual turnover and they say the idea of a toll road on a key

:22:43.:22:48.

route is an outrage. Build a new road, yes, but paying for it in

:22:48.:22:53.

addition to what we already pay, that is bad for all commercial

:22:53.:22:59.

enterprises. This man chairs the local Chamber of Commerce. He

:22:59.:23:03.

believes that this will appeal local firms when they are helping to drive

:23:03.:23:07.

the economy forward. Anything that improves the road is good news to

:23:07.:23:13.

the area, but when you put additional costs on you can see

:23:13.:23:18.

where they end up. They end up with the consumer. Use our taxes to

:23:18.:23:20.

improve the road. I would pay to go through, I don't

:23:20.:23:28.

mind. To put a toll on the existing road seems like lunacy. Will they

:23:28.:23:33.

get any tax advantage for contributing? I think not. Will you

:23:33.:23:40.

pay the toll or would you look for another route? Green man —— I am a

:23:40.:23:46.

white van man, I will find a route around it. The government say they

:23:46.:23:51.

are keen to hear what people think about the idea.

:23:51.:23:59.

Kevin Burch there with some views from Bury St Edmunds. And we're keen

:23:59.:24:03.

to hear your stories on this subject. We've already had a big

:24:03.:24:07.

response — overwhelmingly negative so far. Just a quick flavour

:24:07.:24:11.

tonight: Jonathan Bowman on Facebook predicts thousands of cars and

:24:11.:24:15.

lorries will use side roads to avoid the tolls. And Dougie Richmond

:24:15.:24:19.

accuses the government of neglecting East Anglia. Would they toll the

:24:19.:24:24.

M25, he asks. Thank you very much for your comments. You can get in

:24:24.:24:28.

touch in the usual way And do remember to leave us a contact

:24:29.:24:36.

telephone number. Just before we came on air, the

:24:36.:24:44.

skies opened but the sun is out and it is pleasant. Let's catch up with

:24:44.:24:46.

the weather. We have sunshine and showers, two,

:24:46.:24:55.

the main area of rain heading into the North Sea. Some of these showers

:24:55.:25:01.

are heavy and Sunday. The risk of showers head into the evening. ——

:25:01.:25:08.

heavy and sundry. Or many of us it will become dry, but we will have a

:25:08.:25:15.

warm spot under clear skies and we could see a chilly eight degrees.

:25:15.:25:20.

The wind is settling towards the north—west and picking up on the

:25:20.:25:24.

north Norfolk coast. Tomorrow we have low pressure in the north—east

:25:24.:25:28.

with the weather front draped around it, that brings wet and windy

:25:28.:25:33.

weather to some of us. From the word go we are expecting some heavy and

:25:33.:25:39.

sundry showers, we could see some brightness and sunshine coming

:25:39.:25:42.

through. Then a more organised band of rain pushing westward. The

:25:42.:25:48.

heaviest rain is expected in North Norfolk, where we could see 20

:25:48.:25:53.

millimetres of rain, nearly an inch. We will see this this evening and

:25:53.:25:59.

overnight. As well as heavy rain we are expecting strong to deal force

:25:59.:26:03.

winds around parts of the course tomorrow, the strongest winds

:26:03.:26:07.

expected in the north Norfolk coast with gusts of 45 to 50 mph. A call

:26:07.:26:15.

day for some of us, highs of around 11 degrees. That is around 10

:26:15.:26:21.

degrees below average for this time of year. Into the evening we expect

:26:21.:26:25.

the rain to go further westwards before it retreats to the east. The

:26:25.:26:35.

rain might go to some western parts and others will remain completely

:26:36.:26:40.

dry. There will be when the weather and on Wednesday the last of the

:26:40.:26:45.

weather will clear the east and we can see a try and brighter slot, but

:26:45.:26:51.

another area of rainbow push down from the north—west later in the

:26:51.:26:54.

day, on Wednesday. Firstly looks fine and dry with some brightness

:26:54.:26:59.

and perhaps some sunshine, but on Friday a return to cloudy conditions

:26:59.:27:03.

with further outbreaks of rain. A humid feeling day on Friday. Does

:27:03.:27:09.

before I go, these are your overnight lows.

:27:09.:27:16.

Thank you very much indeed. As you stand here, you get a constant

:27:16.:27:20.

rumble of heavy goods vehicles coming up and down this road, it

:27:20.:27:27.

goes on and on. When the new road is built the junction will be just down

:27:27.:27:31.

the road there, couple of miles. Then we can look forward in seven

:27:31.:27:36.

years time in 2020 two This Rd being almost empty. That is a long way

:27:36.:27:40.

away. From hollows, good night.

:27:40.:27:40.

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