09/01/2017 South East Today

Tonight, Southern rail commuters prepare for more disruption as Aslef

drivers know I'm strike tomorrow. We will be live in Eastbourne with the

latest. How well has the Newtown of Crawley

lived up to its founders' expectations?

And it is turning much colder by Thursday with the risk of snow

showers. Southern rail commuters

are preparing for a day of total disruption tomorrow,

as Aslef union members begin It comes despite a meeting

between Sussex MPs and the Transport Secretary this afternoon,

where the deadlock in the long-running dispute

over the introduction of Driver Only Operation

on trains was discussed. Following our debate programme,

aired earlier this evening, there have been discussions

between Southern bosses and the RMT union -

but no indication yet that either Our political editor

Helen Catt reports. Passengers returning home tonight

know this evening is the last time they will be able to catch

a train for at least 48 hours, as Southern drivers

prepare to walk out again. Their union says an offer to join

any new talks has not I have not been invited,

I'm not sure what the We have had correspondence

seeking talks based said that we will not be shackled

by any preconditions. At a special BBC South East

debate screened earlier, Southern and the conductors' union,

the RMT, repeatedly clashed over the key issue in the disputes,

whether or not it is safe to run We are not removing a second

person from the train. There will be a second

safety-trained person There will be a second

safety-trained person on more trains than there were at the start

of this dispute. Tell the public you will

guarantee a safety-critical We will roster a second

safety-trained person on as many trains as had

them before this debate. After the recording finished,

they went into discussion and it was recognised

that there is a need Tonight, the RMT told us lines

of communication remained open. We are definitely

looking for a solution. We think there is a solution

that is viable and there are We hope that Southern get together

with us when we meet with the same attitude,

the can-do attitude to getting a resolution

to the dispute that everybody How many more people have to leave

their jobs or lose their jobs and have their family life

significantly disrupted May I add, these are not

down to just strikes, they were bad before

the strikes started. In Westminster tonight, more talks

between South East MPs and the Transport Secretary.

He is under no illusion that the performance of Southern has

been not good of the last 18 months and he has said he will tackle that.

Once this is resolved, we need to tackle performance

But for angry, frustrated passengers facing another week

of reduced services, talk without action

Well, from tomorrow passengers face more disruption,

as the drivers' union Aslef start three days of strikes this week,

with three further days planned later this month.

Let's join our reporter John Young now, who's

to the dispute tomorrow that could see passengers who use

Southeastern trains sucked into this dispute?

Yes, very bad news if you rely on South-eastern Trains. Your trains

might be much more crowded than usual, because Southern and laying

on buses to take their passengers via text hill to Hastings. In Arc

and Crowborough buses will be taking passengers to Tunbridge Wells. In

Oxton there will be buses heading to Southern eats -- Southern Oaks --

Sevenoaks. Southern said they want only essential travellers to use the

services because they say tomorrow it will be exceptionally busy with

the buses and on South-eastern Trains.

We can return to our political editor, Helen Catt, now.

Helen, has there been any change in the political

Not really. The government has been pretty consistently sticking to the

line that the unions need to back down, we heard that repeated earlier

Worthing and shorten. If anything Worthing and shorten. If anything

that has hardened since last week when the regulator Rip -- produced

its second report saying that with some changes that Southern needs to

put in place driver only services are safe. The Prime Minister is a

crow spokesman said that Theresa May still thinks the Southern strikes

are still creating unfair disruption the people. -- the Prime Minister's

Questions spokesman. If you And if you missed the debate you can

see it on the BBC iPlayer - search for Southern Rail Crisis -

and you can join the debate on our Facebook page and on Twitter

using the hashtag @SouthernStrike, on our Facebook page and on Twitter

using the hashtag #SouthernStrike, and our Local Live pages are also

covering the story. Brighton health bosses say

they are going to stop funding prescriptions of painkillers

for some, in a bid to save half The Brighton and Hove Clinical

Commissioning Group say they want people to think more before

they book a GP appointment - and say that the savings made by not

incurring prescription costs for cheaper drugs such

as paracetamol will help The historic Leas Lift

in Folkestone could close The Health and Safety Executive says

the braking system on the Victorian water-powered lift is unsafe,

and the operators say improvements costing ?80,000

would be too expensive. 70 years ago the Government made

the formal decision that 6,000 acres of Sussex farmland should be given

over to the creation of a new town, based around the ancient

village of Crawley. Today more than 100,000

people live there. As Piers Hopkirk reports,

the experience of building new towns has shaped our planning system ever

since. NEWSREEL: On the Kent and Sussex

border, only 30 miles from London, Its population is around 7000

and its quaint old high street with its timbered houses is among

the most picturesque in Britain. It is 70 years to the day

since Crawley was chosen A giant expansion in rural

development to ease overcrowding I have much pleasure in opening this

road and in naming it Manor Royal. Designed to provide homes for both

families and business, Crawley was a place that

would arrive on the map The New Town was designed

by Anthony Minoprio and today his son returned to see

again his father's vision. How proud was your father

of what he had created here? If you produce a town with parks

and trees and shrubs and nice things to look out,

it is going to be a very nice place to live, and my father was always

very keen that the towns that he created should be

user-friendly and that he would The town's growth has been matched

and indeed fuelled by the expansion A report today suggested Gatwick

could support an extra The future of Crawley as a great

New Town success and Gatwick Around a third of Gatwick's giant

workforce comes from Crawley. So what do the New Town's

new generation think I think it has attracted a load

of different people, we have a great local economy now

and I think it is a really attractive place for

people to come and live. Recently Crawley has had a lot

of investment into the town centre and the surrounding area and it has

got a lot better. Seven new garden towns

are on the way, including Ebbsfleet in Kent, but it was Crawley

that was at the forefront Brighton have drawn Lincoln

or Ipswich Town in the fourth The Seagulls' away fixture will be

played between the 27th In a moment the national

weather forecast but first let's get the picture

in the South East by Thursday there is the risk of

some snow. It is a week of two halves, we start very mild, breezy,

potentially rain at times. By Thursday a slightly drier picture

but with the risk of wintry showers. Through tonight there has been some

rain, that has cleared. We start the day tomorrow dry and bright and

actually quite mild. By the afternoon we will see a bit more

cloud cover, potentially a bit of drizzle as well, and relatively

mild, potentially highs of nine or ten along the coast. A westerly

breeze stays with us through tomorrow night, rain for a time

which clears through. Behind it, overnight temperatures six or 7

degrees. Mostly dry for Wednesday. As we head through the afternoon the

westerly winds go to a northerly direction, Italy colder over into

Thursday. precipitation we get will be of a

wintry nation and Thursday is one we have to watch out for. The weekend

outlook, it stays chilly with a northerly wind and possibly frosty

nights. The national weather forecast