:00:00. > 3:59:59And we will ask why so many more people over the age of 65 are
:00:00. > :00:09.Good evening. getting married these
:00:10. > :00:12.The future of Wolverhampton has gone on show on the French Riviera.
:00:13. > :00:14.It's hoped businesses attending an international property convention
:00:15. > :00:19.in Cannes will help to regenerate the city and create 2,500 jobs.
:00:20. > :00:23.It's part of a multi-million-pound redevelopment of Wolverhampton.
:00:24. > :00:25.As our Black Country reporter Ben Godfrey has been discovering,
:00:26. > :00:34.the investment has been a long time coming.
:00:35. > :00:40.Wolverhampton, busy, sharing in the prosperity of the Midlands, this old
:00:41. > :00:42.market town is now a flourishing centre.
:00:43. > :00:45.You have to go back a long way to hear people
:00:46. > :00:47.talking up Wolverhampton as a place of prosperity.
:00:48. > :00:49.But after years of failed regeneration, of missed opportunity,
:00:50. > :00:57.A staggering ?3.7 billion is currently being invested
:00:58. > :01:08.It's the largest investment in over 50 years.
:01:09. > :01:10.Proving Wolverhampton is coming out of the economic doldrums.
:01:11. > :01:14.Grim old market buildings are making way for a massive retail
:01:15. > :01:17.corridor on the Westside, and the decaying railway station
:01:18. > :01:25.will be rebuilt as part of a ?130 million transport interchange.
:01:26. > :01:31.And this is i9 - a prestige office development, occupying 50,000 square
:01:32. > :01:33.feet of land near the historic Chubb buildings.
:01:34. > :01:35.Today, the plans went on show in Cannes, where international
:01:36. > :01:45.recession, Wolverhampton was hit the same as other people.
:01:46. > :01:48.We had a big retail development ground to a halt.
:01:49. > :01:50.The last few years, we've been moving into
:01:51. > :01:53.Now we're into the really confident phase where
:01:54. > :01:58.Around 2,500 jobs will be created in the city centre
:01:59. > :02:01.when the Wolverhampton interchange is complete.
:02:02. > :02:03.There's some brilliant work being done about how
:02:04. > :02:20.Those that can retain the 20, 35-year-olds, if you keep the
:02:21. > :02:21.publicity the city will naturally regenerate and businesses will move
:02:22. > :02:21.here. But for many Wulfrunians,
:02:22. > :02:23.large scale regeneration like this is decades overdue,
:02:24. > :02:25.so you can forgive some cynicism. You've got places like
:02:26. > :02:29.Bentley Bridge, St John's retail centre, you can actually
:02:30. > :02:31.do your shopping without You have people who live
:02:32. > :02:42.on the street and that is not good You have to take
:02:43. > :02:47.care of your people. With a growing student population,
:02:48. > :02:50.the city is becoming one Investment brings new challenges
:02:51. > :02:54.then, and here the demand for affordable homes has
:02:55. > :02:57.never been higher. Ben Godfrey, BBC Midlands
:02:58. > :03:02.Today, Wolverhampton. Staffordshire Police have become
:03:03. > :03:05.the 12th force to have sent files to the Crown Prosecution Service
:03:06. > :03:09.as part of investigations into allegations of overspending
:03:10. > :03:11.during the general election in 2015. They're looking into whether strict
:03:12. > :03:15.spending limits in target seats were breached
:03:16. > :03:17.during the Conservatives' The CPS will now decide
:03:18. > :03:22.if charges should be brought. Unemployment in the region
:03:23. > :03:24.has bucked the national trend and is on the rise,
:03:25. > :03:27.according to new figures. The jobless total in
:03:28. > :03:29.the West Midlands rose by 9,000 in the last quarter -
:03:30. > :03:35.meaning 160,000 people That's the equivalent of 5.6%
:03:36. > :03:40.of the working population - BMW workers at the Hams Hall engine
:03:41. > :03:48.plant in Warwickshire could be going out on strike
:03:49. > :03:51.in protest at the car maker's plans BMW wants the current scheme
:03:52. > :03:57.to close at the end of May. Workers say they stand to lose
:03:58. > :03:59.thousands of pounds. Hands off our pensions!
:04:00. > :04:05.Hands off our pensions! They've never protested like this
:04:06. > :04:07.before, but then there's never That's what they reckon they'll lose
:04:08. > :04:22.if BMW push through with a plan to end the current final salary
:04:23. > :04:25.pension scheme by May of this year. Last year, BMW recorded record
:04:26. > :04:30.profits of ?6 billion. In fact, industrial relations
:04:31. > :04:36.are said to be at their most fraught They say they are proud
:04:37. > :04:44.of what they call excellent pension provision in the past,
:04:45. > :04:47.but, crucially, they want to ensure and protect pension
:04:48. > :04:51.provision in the future. With an ageing population, though,
:04:52. > :04:56.some argue that big companies like BMW can't afford final salary
:04:57. > :04:58.pensions any more. Profitable companies,
:04:59. > :05:04.it's part of the package they offer. Our members have actually given up
:05:05. > :05:07.some of their pay in the past to make sure this pension
:05:08. > :05:14.scheme operates properly. Many of the 600 staff
:05:15. > :05:16.here transferred from BMW's Steven McWilliams was one of them.
:05:17. > :05:19.The agreement was that when we came over here
:05:20. > :05:22.they would keep our And we feel let down
:05:23. > :05:27.that they haven't done that and honoured that agreement
:05:28. > :05:30.for when we did come over here. Because they needed skills to come
:05:31. > :05:33.into this factory from day one. A ballot for industrial action
:05:34. > :05:36.will close at the end of March. Unions say a strike is imminent
:05:37. > :05:39.unless BMW do a U-turn. Sarah Bishop, BBC Midlands
:05:40. > :05:44.Today, near Coleshill. 261 motorists have been
:05:45. > :05:46.given new, heavier fines for using mobile phones
:05:47. > :05:49.while driving in the West Midlands. In a week-long clampdown,
:05:50. > :05:51.offenders included 30 lorry drivers, a driving instructor,
:05:52. > :05:53.and a driver accessing mobile All those caught have
:05:54. > :06:00.been fined ?200 Fundraisers trying to keep a rare
:06:01. > :06:08.piece of Wedgwood pottery in Stoke-on-Trent have been given
:06:09. > :06:13.until July to find the money. Yesterday's deadline
:06:14. > :06:15.was extended after a ?90,000 But a total of ?482,500 is needed
:06:16. > :06:20.to stop the First Day's vase from going abroad,
:06:21. > :06:23.rather than being returned An eco-dome has been built up
:06:24. > :06:30.in the grounds of a stately home in Warwickshire as part
:06:31. > :06:32.of a thought-provoking Hundreds of so-called caretakers
:06:33. > :06:38.have volunteered to live without modern comforts
:06:39. > :06:40.and technology in the structure It's set across the lake
:06:41. > :06:46.from the mansion of Compton Verney. In a forest clearing
:06:47. > :06:50.in the Warwickshire countryside stands the Clearing - a creation
:06:51. > :06:53.of environmental art facing the I know they seem quite different,
:06:54. > :07:02.if you look over the river, yes, they are very, very different,
:07:03. > :07:05.but actually they really balance of the landscape and the mansion
:07:06. > :07:09.house with something that actually is very 21st century -
:07:10. > :07:13.for me is really, really important. Built with temporary
:07:14. > :07:16.planning permission, scrap metal and recycled industrial
:07:17. > :07:18.plywood, the ?60,000 Heritage Lottery-funded dome will be
:07:19. > :07:20.in place for three years. But can the experiment
:07:21. > :07:28.with other people's What we're trying
:07:29. > :07:32.to do is we're trying to do a project
:07:33. > :07:36.about climate change. It's the idea that if this world
:07:37. > :07:39.without traffic jams and central heating and Kim Kardashian
:07:40. > :07:42.and big supermarkets - is that actually a nightmare or is it
:07:43. > :07:45.actually an opportunity to live in a Capability Brown
:07:46. > :07:49.carefully designed this Now it is hoped the people
:07:50. > :07:55.of the 21st century will get a You don't have to like it -
:07:56. > :08:02.art's always like that, isn't it? If you make art that pleases
:08:03. > :08:11.everyone, it's really rubbish art. So, yeah, we're not even
:08:12. > :08:13.trying to please everyone. We're confident that we've
:08:14. > :08:16.made a good thing here. From next week, a series
:08:17. > :08:18.of volunteer caretakers will live in the dome for a week at a time,
:08:19. > :08:22.turning their back on the comforts of home for a once-in-a-lifetime
:08:23. > :08:24.experience. I think there's plenty
:08:25. > :08:26.of people that put their names down to be caretakers,
:08:27. > :08:29.so we're one of the lucky ones, There's everything
:08:30. > :08:31.here you need, so... To survive, anyway,
:08:32. > :08:33.let's put it that way. When you live in a space
:08:34. > :08:36.like this you make with what you have and you appreciate
:08:37. > :08:42.everything you have, so it's an exercise of...it's
:08:43. > :08:43.almost a social experiment If you fancy a peek
:08:44. > :08:48.at an artistic life off the grid, the dome opens
:08:49. > :08:53.to the public this weekend. Finally, on Midlands Today tomorrow
:08:54. > :08:57.at 6:30, we'll meet Herefordshire's
:08:58. > :08:59.champion jockey Richard Johnson as he prepares for
:09:00. > :09:04.Friday's Gold Cup. Johnson will be on the joint
:09:05. > :09:07.favourite Native River He last won the Gold
:09:08. > :09:10.Cup 17 years ago. That horse, Looks Like Trouble,
:09:11. > :09:12.lives at Johnson's home For me the Gold Cup
:09:13. > :09:18.is the race of the year. The Grand National is a fantastic
:09:19. > :09:22.race, but for me, the Gold Cup, if I could win any race in the UK,
:09:23. > :09:25.any season, that would be the best Obviously, the Championship
:09:26. > :09:29.is what I set out every year to try and do, but the Gold Cup
:09:30. > :09:32.is the blue riband. It is called the Gold Cup and it is
:09:33. > :09:49.the biggest race of the year. It has been a glorious start to the
:09:50. > :10:25.festival. We should see lows of around five
:10:26. > :10:29.Celsius and that cloud continues to picking up continually from the
:10:30. > :10:32.West. Cold front draped across the north and west of the country
:10:33. > :10:36.driving in that cloud and it will give us a little bit of drizzle as
:10:37. > :10:41.we enter the day tomorrow. It will be a cloudy start to the day. A
:10:42. > :10:44.touch better for a time but very limited sunshine and by the end of
:10:45. > :10:48.the day, we start to get that drizzle pushing its way down across
:10:49. > :10:51.the North and west of the region. Temperatures are starting to
:10:52. > :10:55.struggle a little bit for that. Sunshine certainly not getting back
:10:56. > :10:59.up to 17 Celsius. We will still be into double figures. Rain is
:11:00. > :11:02.arriving on Friday, wet and windy. More information on
:11:03. > :11:06.been. The outlook, rain around, if it stays dry I will be surprised.
:11:07. > :11:20.Here is Nick with the national headlines.
:11:21. > :11:26.For large parts of Wales and England there was blue sky and warmth.
:11:27. > :11:29.Warmest day of the year, a clumsy way of saying the UK had the highest
:11:30. > :11:30.temperature