24/02/2014 Look East - West

life changing experience. The question is whether the Games will

deliver a and a plan to bring a ?130 million

of investment to the city. It comes with the promise of hundreds of jobs

and growth. Peterborough already has one of the fastest growing private

sectors in the country with almost 4,000 created in one year, thanks to

new business. Just today a new distribution park opened which could

lead to a further 8,000. Finished and ready for the first

company to move in, a parcel delivery business. On its conveyor

belt, `` when the conveyor belt is finished, more than 50 will work

here. We run a model telling us where growth is going to be. We have

double`digit growth as a company and Peterborough is a hotspot we have

recognised. So we have decided to invest and move here.

This is the first warehouse on a 240 acre distribution park. Peterborough

is home to one of the fastest`growing private sectors in

the country. A city soon to see more private investment. ?130 million

worth. Money held in an account overseas, opened by the council It

is a mix of investors, sovereign funds, I wealth individuals, and

pension funds. It is a different way of doing things. The reality is that

councils have historically relied on government funding to unlock

development and that is no longer there are so we have to work in a

different way. Money from the overseas fund would be used to buy

council property and on it would be built houses and businesses, which

the council say would generate wealth. But some are concerned about

who may invest in the city. It is about being able to see clearly

where the investment is coming from. As a local authority, we need to be

principled and we need to have ethics. We need to make sure we are

getting money from sources that are sound. They say the Peterborough is

open for business. The city is attracting big investment from home

and abroad. And with that, the promise of many, many more jobs

Meanwhile in Corby, 900 jobs are at risk at Solway Foods, with losses

now described as 'inevitable'. The company which makes salad products

is one of the town's biggest employers. A few weeks ago it said

it was considering closure. Now a multi`agency taskforce has been set

up, but it's not overly optimistic about jobs. I do not believe that

they can all be saved. Because the company are obviously losing money,

having a lot of difficulties. But I believe, and would love to see

Solway running, probably in different premises, far more

efficiently and making profits so that they are there for the long

term. Major roadworks are due to start on

the M1 near Luton airport, with holiday`makers advised to allow an

extra hour so they don't miss their flight. As part of a ?30 million

pound scheme, the roundabout at Junction ten is being replaced by a

3`lane carriageway, linking the motorway to the airport. The

junction will be closed overnight for several nights from March the

4th. But lane restrictions will be in place for 18 months.

Luton has been closed for business for a number of years. The traffic

queues have been so great that it has put people off investing in the

town and those that have come to invest here have often found that

they have had objections from the highways agency, saying that if you

do that, it will put more traffic through the junction. It is an

excellent location and this link will provide a link from one of the

major motorways in the country to the airport. We have worked with the

contractors to reduce the closure period so that the closures are from

8pm until 4am. New trains for the region's busiest

commuter routes have been unveiled to passengers. They promise less

crowding, faster journey times and more destinations. But we'll have to

wait a few years until they're in service.

Travelling by train can be a tight squeeze. There are more passengers

than ever before. But help could be at hand. In Cambridge, they recently

had a revamp to accommodate trains with 12 carriageways. `` carriages.

In three years, the majority of fast and semi`fast services to King's

Cross will be made up of a dozen carriages. And that is not all. More

than 100 of these new electric trains are being built with more

space, climate control, digital displays and baby changing areas.

There is more space at four level. They are coming in in 2017. A bit of

weight. Yes, but worth waiting for. What is the timetable? The new

trains will run on the Bedford to Brighton line in 2016. The following

year, they will be on the Peterborough to King's Cross route.

And in 2018, there will be direct services across London. Meaning you

could travel straight through with your luggage to Heathrow, and

perhaps even Gatwick. It will do an enormous amount to decrease

overcrowding. The programme is geared up to address the levels of

crowding on the route and that capacity is much needed. But if you

heading to King's Cross, the new trains will run alongside the

existing stock, so you are not guaranteed to catch one.

The new fleet of electric buses in Milton Keynes is having problems

coping with the weather. The buses run on batteries which are charged

wirelessly at points along the route. Five buses had to be

withdrawn because water got into the electrics. They've since been

adapted and returned to service Time for the weather with Julie

During the rest tonight, we will see a band rain moving eastwards. The

wind is also picking up at the moment, to a mainly moderates to

fresh south`westerly. Tonight will be frost free. Tomorrow morning the

last of the rain will clear quickly and then we're left with dry day,

give or take a few showers. And hopefully some brightness and

sunshine coming through. Temperatures in double figures at

best. And we finished the day largely fine and dry. I'll leave you

with the outlook will stop on Wednesday, there will be fewer

showers around, so a largely dry day, and then outbreaks of rain on

Thursday giving way to brighter skies and some showers.

rain moving eastwards during Thursday with brighter

rain moving eastwards during will be more rain overnight into

Thursday. Good evening. We have a spell of wet

and windy weather working across the British Isles. Today brought many of

us some decent spells of sunshine and it brought us some decent

temperatures. In fact, our warmest day of the year so far.

At the moment, though, things have changed. This is the gap in the

satellite picture. Now, this curl of cloud looks like a snail's shell, it

is an area of low pressure that is sweeping wind and rain across us.

It's pushed into the west already and is now making rapid progress

eastwards, moving into eastern England through the small hours

Strong, gusty winds around the Irish Sea coasts. The weather front will

weaken as it gets into eastern areas. Behind the weather front

things are a good deal clearer and that is the way we will start

tomorrow. Our wet and windy weather, the worst of it is out of the way as

we look at