11/05/2017 Look East (West)

Fifteen years in the planning - the first

residents move into a new town north of Cambridge.

A Dunstable marketing company gets a record fine

And I'll be here with the very latest of the weekend. Join me

later. -- latest of the weather into the weekend.

More than fifteen years after plans originally went on display,

the first residents are moving into Northstowe -

the new township being build to the north of Cambridge.

When it's finished, it will have ten thousand homes -

and it was a big factor in the construction

This is Sebastien's new house in the new town of Northstowe.

He couldn't afford Cambridge or anywhere nearby,

When we came here for the first time, it was just a flat

piece of land with a few machines digging holes in the ground.

Then after five months, they built a home.

We came here few times and we could see the house rise from there.

Today marked the launch of the very first homes on the old

Plans for the new settlement were first mooted back in 1998.

Of course, there have been some tricky moments,

The economy has not been as friendly as it might have

been and we had the A14 in and out of the programme.

All these things have been sent to try us, but

those of us who have been in it for the duration, we've held onto

the dream and the reality is all around us.

Hunting through the BBC archives, it was

back in the summer of 2003 that the name Northstowe was agreed.

Back then, the plan was to have 6000 homes built by 2016.

As you can see, it's only now that the first

Were the developers waiting for land prices

We've always tried to proceed with the development of

Northstowe and the sale of land as quickly as we possibly can.

It's in no-one's interest to hold onto

the land and to keep those costs of servicing that land.

It's in no-one's interest to do that at all.

Of the 10,000 homes, 40% will be affordable.

With many people priced out of nearby towns,

We have been really surprised that most of it has come

These are really houses for local people.

The fact that the bus-way already exists

and you can get straight into the centre of town.

and to Cambridge North Station as well.

That has been a key factor for people's accessibility.

But also the way out for facilities Northstowe will offer.

Sebastien knows we will be living with the builders for

decades to come, but this afternoon, a collective sigh of relief.

Northstowe is finally a real place to live.

So what are the challenges for the housing market

Our political reporter Mousumi Bakshi has been

Well, it's no surprise that the houseprice slowdown in some

areas of the region has had little impact on the housing market.

Last year, across the East, more than 21,000

so there was a still a shortfall of around 8500 homes.

The lack of available land to build on.

One of my asks from the next Government would be to help with the

land availability and they can do that in a number of ways.

Firstly, by actually creating some flexibility

So, there are sometimes some regeneration sites that need

cleaning up before they can be built on.

Sometimes land needs to be assembled in a way that makes a site

Then there needs to be some investment in infrastructure.

So with house prices still going up, what about so-called

So how has a lack of supply affected house prices?

Well over the past year, prices have gone up by 3%

in Cambridge, 17% in Bedford and 19% in Milton Keynes.

The highest change was seen in Luton where average house prices have

Tough conditions for first time buyers.

My budget, I'm looking at somewhere between ?200,000 to ?250,000.

I don't really want to go that high, so maybe ?230,000

Saving for a deposit is the hardest thing about it and then going

Because they ask you every question and it is very difficult to justify

To what you're spending, and things like that.

So with house prices still going up, what about so-called

Well, according to the Hundred Houses Society in Cambridge,

220,000 low-cost homes need to be built every year in England.

But last year, 40,000 were built which suggests

political parties will have to make ambitious election pledges

And if there's a burning issue for you in this election,

Get in touch by phone, by email and tweet us

A marketing company, which made nearly 100 million nuisance calls,

has been fined a record ?400,000, by the Information

Keurboom Communications, based in Dunstable, made automated

The call, the click on your line and then the recorded

Today, Keurboom Communications was fined ?400,000

These calls disrupt my worker, cause unnecessary anxiety

One said it was a stalking complaint and they

were harassed by their ex-partner by calls and text messages, so

Companies can only call with permission.

Keurboom Communications did not but made the calls anyway.

It has now gone bust and a not pay the fine.

The industry itself welcomes tighter regulation.

At the moment, it may have well be in a bad place and people do

If we can get rid of nuisance calls, it would re-establish itself for

But some think fines are not enough and only

the threat of prison to

The long-awaited Dunstable bypass opened to traffic this morning,

It links the A5 to the M1, north of the Bedfordshire town.

The ?160 million project, also includes the new junction

Mike Cartwright has been to find out.

Nearly three miles long, three year is and ?160 million in the making.

A new bypass joining a new motorway junction.

We will be able to take heavy goods vehicles out of

Dunstable and the villages surrounding us.

That'll make a huge difference to the quality of life

-- for those residents and of course the air quality

In Dunstable, fewer cars and eventually

Drugs are coming through today but that will stop.

Numberplate recognition will be used.

We will only see then a there has been a closure or they are

Road networks made to stop the traffic bottleneck here.

I will just straighten it and trim it

The hairdressers hope it will tempt more customers into the

Hopefully they can get in and out without being stuck in traffic

We always have customers telling us they will be late because

they are stuck in traffic, it will be five or ten minutes.

First spoken about 60 years ago, now open for

A teenager has been found guilty of stabbing a police dog and his

PC Dave Wardell and his German shepherd Finn were attacked

Both have since made a full recovery.

A 16-year-old boy from London, who can't be named for legal

reasons, was found guilty of actual bodily harm and criminal damage.

That's the late news from Look East, I'll leave

Anna Lo. Some changes on the way with the weather, including some

rain in the forecast as they go to unite, Inc racing clouds could bring

some potentially happy, possibly some potentially happy, possibly

thundery downpours during the course of the night into the early hours of

tomorrow morning. Much milder than last night. Although, eight Celsius.

This whole weather system that has brought of this unit, Monty and

starting to head northwards. It remains rather muggy and humid

throughout the day. Brighter skies with sunshine. Some showers

following on behind the knees could be heavy, possibly thundery into the

afternoon. Some parts of the region will see them. Despite this,

18-19dC. The national weather is coming up that he is the outlook.

Into the weekend, slightly cooler, fresh appeal to things. Tim Rogers

We want to see the economy work for everybody, not

Now the weather. , yes a humid dead. We have had

photographs of