Innovation

Bus station reopens after urgent repairs

by William
written by William

Cardiff's bus station has reopened after being closed for several hours for urgent repairs.

Services were disrupted after Cardiff Transport Interchange was forced to shut for several hours from 13:00 BST on Tuesday while repairs were carried out to the building's internal sprinkler system.

Transport for Wales did not give a timeframe for the work to be completed, before announcing later the station would reopen at 18:00.

The interchange opened in June 2024, nine years after Cardiff's previous bus station was demolished.

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Industry

Legacy project displays Occupation stories

by Anna
written by Anna

A project which aims to keep the memory of Occupation survivors alive has launched in Jersey.

Called Legacy it has combined the words of islanders who lived through that period of history, with photos depicting different generations.

Plinths are now on display in Jersey's Royal Square, where crowds celebrated Liberation Day 80 years ago.

Project leader Rod Bryans said his aim was to capture memories, while eye-witnesses were still alive.

"I'd taken a photograph of my grand-daughter holding a picture of my grandfather, her great-great grandfather and explaining that if he hadn't existed, I wouldn't be here. That's where the idea came from," he said.

"There were soldiers everywhere," said Eileen Lerche-Thomsen as remembered the Occupation

One of Mr Bryans' subjects is Eileen Lerche-Thomsen, who was a child in St Ouen, at the time.

She remembered German troops training in her family's garden, and the impact their presence had on daily life.

"There were soldiers everywhere," she said.

"All the cars had been requisitioned, and they'd also ordered us to give up cameras and radios. All those things had disappeared."

However, as a child, she had found new toys by picking up the tiny parachutes used to drop British propaganda leaflets.

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Industry

States urged to act on concerns over housing plans

by Vanessa
written by Vanessa

A parish has called on the States to act over concerns about the impact of plans to build more than 1,000 new homes over the next six years.

The new homes would be built in St Sampson's in Guernsey under the Island Development Plan's (IDA) spatial strategy, alongside plans for 89 new homes in Vazon.

But St Sampson's Parish Douzaine said that while concessions had been made in relation to the Vazon plans, the Development and Planning Authority (DPA) had failed to act on concerns about the impact on infrastructure in their parish, including a rise in traffic volumes of as much as 50%.

The DPA has been approached for comment.

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Market

Charity to plant 30,000 trees for mountain woodland

by Samantha
written by Samantha

A high-altitude woodland is to be created on Scotland's sixth highest mountain.

About 30,000 native trees, including dwarf birch and montane willows, are to be planted at around 600m (1,968ft) on Cairn Gorm, near Aviemore.

Organisations involved in the Coire na Ciste Montane Woodland Project said it was the first habitat restoration scheme of its kind due to its large size.

They said the plan was to restore an ecosystem that was almost lost to Scotland.

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Economy

Young people to give advice on mental health care

by Eleanor
written by Eleanor

Young people who have faced mental health challenges are helping with a new scheme in Sussex aimed at providing specialist care at home.

The Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) team run by Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust is "drawing on the experiences of those who have been through the system to try to improve outcomes".

The former service users are helping to design the scheme aimed at treating some people at home rather than admitting them to hospital.

Dr Anna Moriarty, associate clinical director of CAMHS, said: "What we're hearing from young people is they are keen to have an alternative to being admitted to hospital."

She told BBC Radio Sussex: "They want to be closer to their family and friends and continue with their education.

"We are continuing to adapt to increased demand on services.

"This is enhancing our offer for young people with significant mental health difficulties."

Evie, who was admitted into inpatients for six months, is helping with the Sussex scheme.

She said: "Having a perspective from someone my age who has been through similar things to me would have really benefited me.

"It is about how we can make the system better."

Dulcie, another former service user, said: "People who are now in a better place can communicate with the professionals to improve outcomes for everybody.

"I think it's good to use people who have used the services themselves as they know how it is from a first-hand perspective."

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Tech

Miners' strike legacy and loss viewed 40 years on

by Stephanie
written by Stephanie

A new exhibition is exploring loss and changing landscapes following the demise of the mining industry.

Going Back Brockens: Monuments and Rhetoric After the Miners' Strike is a three-part display of paintings and sound installations looking at the post-strike landscape in County Durham.

Artist Narbi Price, who co-curated the exhibition, said he was fascinated that generations of people were living in places "shaped by mining" but with no "living memory" of it.

He collaborated with writer Mark Hudson and asked members of the public to share their stories, including videos, for a community archive.

"The combination of paintings and sound explores not only what was lost, but what remains, what has changed, and how people continue to define their places and memories decades after the last coal was mined," Mr Price said.

Narbi Price
Artist Narbi Price (left) and Mark Hudson in front of St Mary's church in Horden, one of the venues hosting a part of the exhibition

Mr Price's 40 paintings produced during the 40th anniversary year of the 1984-5 miners' strike depict former colliery sites as they are today which he said were "silent spaces once central to working-class life, now reclaimed, repurposed, or left behind".

"I find it really interesting that we have generations of people living in places that are entirely shaped by mining, but might have no living memory of it themselves," he said.

The works are paired with sound installations by Mr Hudson of recorded interviews for his 1991 book Coming Back Brockens about those who lived through the strike.

"The 86 hours of interviews I did in Horden 30 years ago were largely concerned with the miners' strike, which was then very recent," Mr Hudson said.

"In between the strike and me arriving in the village, the pit had closed."

Narbi Price
The three-part exhibition opens on 13 June at the Warehouse, in Newgate Shopping Centre, Bishop Auckland

The exhibition opens on 13 June at the Warehouse, in Newgate Shopping Centre, Bishop Auckland and, on 12 July, will form part of the 139th Durham Miners' Gala.

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Innovation

Weekly bin collections return after backlash

by Morgan
written by Morgan

Weekly waste collections have returned to a borough after a controversial scheme was scrapped.

Fortnightly black bin days and a new recycling system were introduced by the Conservatives on Basildon Council in November 2023.

However, when Labour assumed power of the Essex authority last May, councillors vowed to abandon the new-look service after backlash.

"We have listened and we are now delivering on our promise," said Aidan McGurran, cabinet member for environment and leisure.

About 8,000 people responded to a consultation on the waste collection, with 73.2% calling for the weekly rota to return.

McGurran said: "At the start of this administration we committed to fixing the bins and that is exactly what we are doing."

Under the previous rules, residents had to split their rubbish and recycling into six different sections, with refuse collected fortnightly.

They still have to split their recycling across multiple bags, but black bin collections are weekly and the use of sacks for some recycling has been abandoned.

Kevin Blake, the Conservative councillor responsible for waste enforcement in November 2023, had argued the scheme would "encourage more recycling".

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Market

Homes plan for abandoned Camelot theme park

by Faith
written by Faith

A fresh plan for housing on the site of the former Camelot theme park has been put forward.

Developer Story Homes wants to build 350 houses on the land at Charnock Richard, Chorley, which has been derelict since the attraction shut down in 2012.

The company applied to build similar schemes there in 2017 and 2019, but both were refused.

The plans faced objections over the use of greenbelt land.

'Zombie experience'

As part of the application to Chorley Council, Story Homes has asked for a "screening opinion" to determine whether the an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) would be needed.

An EIA gives planners information about potential effects on the environment before a formal planning application is made.

The application said the new proposed development would "deliver a mix of much-needed family homes and a community hub that can offer an accessible local facility for the community" while protecting "existing sensitive habitats, such as areas of ancient woodland".

It said: "While the proposed development proposes a change in land use, predominantly from a vacant former theme park site to residential dwellings, this is in keeping with the surrounding environment.

"The area is characterised by development including residential dwellings to the west, and M6 to the east which is already an urbanised area and would therefore not distinctly change the character of the area."

Camelot, which was closed after visitor numbers dwindled, was open for 29 years and was themed around Arthurian legend.

The derelict park has since been used to host pop-up events including a "zombie experience".

BBC Sounds

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail