02/01/2017 South Today

Good evening, I'm Jo Kent. where you are.

Three major housing developments in the South have been

given financial support from the government.

Welborne near Fareham in Hampshire and a new site near Eynsham

in Oxfordshire will be designated as Garden Villages.

Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire has been named as a Garden Town.

As David Allard reports, the new status could push forward

projects which have been held up in planning rows.

Welborne - it's been talked about for years as a way to solve

But after all the protests, a public inquiry and a compulsory

purchase row, not one of the planned 6,000 homes has been built yet.

Today, though, the project got a shot in the arm.

Welborne would be a completely new community, built on these

fields, with affordable homes, schools, shops and

In fact, pretty much what the Government says

So now Welborne gets a share of ?6 million and other support

What we're looking for is for the Government to start pushing out

of the way some of the obstacles to getting this

We accept that it's needed, the Government accepts it's needed,

we need homes, we need jobs, we need schools, we need

They feel other sites are more suitable for housing.

A lot of it could be absorbed in either brownfield sites or sites

that have come through and hopefully will go into the local plan.

It's likely Fareham can now bid for money to upgrade the A32 and M27

Improved transport links will be crucial to another

planned Garden Village near Eynsham in Oxfordshire.

One of the important aspects of Government backing for this

scheme is it gives us access to the Housing Infrastructure Fund,

and that could go some way to helping alleviate some

of the existing problems in nearby areas such as the A40.

Meanwhile, thousands of new homes will see the extension of Aylesbury

With talk of new planning freedoms and accelerated development,

it's clear the Government wants these garden communities built

So it may not be long before landscapes like this change forever.

There have been significant delays to ambulance services

At one point this afternoon, 20 ambulances were queuing outside

Portsmouth's Queen Alexandra Hospital, waiting to hand over

Patients caught up in the queues were cared for by ambulance

Ambulance response times were also affected by the high demand.

The South Central Ambulance Service has apologised to patients.

Rail passengers in the South have been expressing frustration

at the annual rise in fares, which went up today

The government says the rise will help pay for rail modernisation.

However, commuters on Southern Rail in particular have called

for a freeze in fares altogether after the industrial action

Normally, I don't mind, but in view of the problems

with Southern Rail this past little while, I'm quite annoyed

I think the price of rail fares now is extortionate and I think that it

would be a lot easier to tolerate if the trains actually ran

consistently on time in that, you know, we knew we could get

to and from work and to and from London the way we should be able to.

I think they've got a bit of a nerve, putting rail fares up.

The Cowes floating bridge on the Isle of Wight

is making its last crossing tonight after 40 years of service.

It's being replaced with a new version costing ?3.5 million.

A temporary launch will operate for foot passengers from tomorrow

until the new bridge is ready at the end of March.

Vehicles will be diverted via Newport.

Match of the Day follows so, if you don't want to know

There was another disappointing result for Southampton,

who lost a third successive Premier League game.

Everton put three past them in the last 20 minutes.

Manager Claude Puel said his players were tired after three

Better results for our Championship sides.

Brighton came from a goal down to beat Fulham and go two

points clear at the top of the Championship table.

Tomer Hemed fired from the penalty spot to equalize before Lewis Dunk

And Yann Kermogant scored two late goals for Reading as the Royals came

from behind to snatch a 3-2 victory against Bristol City.

In League 1, there were goalless draws for the MK Dons

at Chesterfield and also for Swindon hosting Southend.

And in League 2, there was a 1-0 home win for Portsmouth

against League 2 promotion rivals Luton.

The Met Office has a warning out for icy stretches on roads

and pavements that haven't been treated by tomorrow morning.

But it's unsurprising with temperatures dropping below

Indeed, some parts of Oxfordshire could be as low as about -4 or -5

But aside from that, it should be a sunny start to the day.

And the general trend, then, is for more in the way of cloud

to start to develop rather patchily, it has to be said, until we get

into the evening, when it will be thick enough to maybe just introduce

a spot or two of light rain up towards the North.

Now, after that cold start, temperatures will remain

They will eventually, as we get further into the afternoon,

recover somewhere to about 4-6, possibly seven Celsius.

Good evening. It's been a dry and bright day across most parts of the

country today. Despite the chilly feel to the weather, there has been

some sunshine. Clear skies as the sun set in east Essex. With those

clear skies around, temperatures are plummeting, particularly across

southern parts. Here we see the coldest temperatures. We could see

icy stretches on untreated surfaces, pavements and roads first thing

Tuesday morning. Not quite as cold towards the North West. Cloud moving

in here through the overnight period. Lows to minus