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By ROB PARSONS - August 9 2022
They're described as 'cathedrals of nature' and are often decades if not centuries old, but ancient and veteran trees mostly have no legal protection.
So as it announces the shortlist in its annual Tree of the Year competition for 2022, the Woodland Trust is calling on UK governments to give heritage status to some of the most ancient and valuable trees, introduce strong, consistent policy protection for old trees and increase support for land managers and farmers to care for them.
There are three striking Northern entrants, including Hedgerow Hawthorn in Cumbria, described as a "gnarled and windswept tree which forms part of a small line of hawthorns that mark the site of a former land boundary".
Holly on the Hill in North Yorkshire is an outgrown coppice, with a trunk that is a collection of stems that have fused and grown together, while The Burnbanks Oak in Cumbria is a sessile oak growing in a pocket of ancient woodland. Vote for your favourite here.
Truss and Sunak under fire as they head North for hustings
After a week where they were forced on the defensive after major public missteps, Tory leadership hopefuls Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak are up North again today as they prepare for another regional hustings in Darlington.
Mr Sunak, who set up the Treasury's Northern campus in the town, triggered uproar last week when a video emerged of him boasting of stripping cash from "deprived urban areas" and pumping funds into areas like leafy Tunbridge Wells in Kent.
And a few days earlier Ms Truss sparked fury when she unveiled plans to pay civil servants and public sector workers less if they lived in poorer areas before quickly U-turning.
To ram the point home, Northern Powerhouse Partnership today unearthed figures showing how the North East had the lowest average earnings across the UK last year at just £27,646, compared with £37,500 in London. Across the wider region, the average full-time salary was £29,096 - £8,404 less than in the capital.
And as Ben Glaze reports for the Mirror, NPP chief executive Henri Murison said the leadership election was "turning levelling up from too much rhetoric and not enough delivery to being without any meaning at all.”
He added: "What is becoming clear is that only Rachel Reeves and the Shadow Treasury team are at the moment prepared to be serious about this agenda, and that could cost the current government when those in the so-called Red Wall compare and contrast where the parties stand on the North.”
Foreign Secretary Ms Truss was today visiting Reliance Precision Ltd, a precision aerospace and defence manufacturing company based in Huddersfield, while ex-Chancellor Rishi Sunak visited Carlisle and Chester.
In Carlisle local member James White asked him for assurance that he would appoint a minister to address the issues military veterans face, writes Local Democracy Reporter Gareth Cavanagh.
Mr White said: “I’m fortunate to have met both Liz and now Rishi. Rishi clearly has statesmanlike gravitas and seems to me to be the right choice of PM to represent the UK on the international stage."
On her visit, Ms Truss said Reliance Precision "is exactly the type of business I will champion as Prime Minister, with its innovative approach to engineering and nurturing of local skills and talent".
Northern water firms keep their powder dry on hosepipe bans
Last month was the driest July on record for parts of southern and eastern England - and amid fears the country is heading for a drought some water companies have introduced hosepipe bans.
But what's the situation in the North? Our region's big three water firms don't look like they're considering bans any time soon, but have urged customers to reduce their usage where they can
Approached by Press Association, Northumbrian Water in the North East and United Utilities Water in the North West are not anticipating the need for any restrictions this summer.
Yorkshire Water is asking customers to allow their lawns to go brown, not wash the car for a few weeks and turn the taps off when they are brushing their teeth to reduce waste. It added: “Our team of leakage inspectors are out and about across Yorkshire, working hard to save water from leaky pipes, and are prioritising larger leaks.”
'People in Consett don't group themselves with Redcar or Stockton'
With devolution deals being signed in North Yorkshire and apparently on the verge of completion in the North East, County Durham's status is described as the "elephant in the room" as powers and funding are gradually handed over to the North.
Earlier this year the area was announced as a front runner for a so-called 'county deal', meaning it wouldn't be joining other authorities either side of the River Tyne as they sought to extend the existing North of Tyne arrangement.
Trade publication Local Government Chronicle now reports that plans for a county deal for County Durham have all but fallen by the wayside, in favour of the unitary authority joining the expanded North East deal or even face the other way and join the Tees Valley combined authority.
Durham deputy leader Richard Bell told LGC the county has now been told by government there will be more money on offer if they join with neighbours rather than go it alone.
Former levelling up minister Neil O’Brien reportedly floated the idea of Durham joining the Tees Valley but the area's metro mayor Ben Houchen told LGC he does not see it as a “viable option”. He said: "I struggle to see that the people of Consett consider themselves part of the same economy or community as the people of Stockton or Redcar."
MP fears a 'democratic deficit' in new development zone
It's set to be one of three zones on Teesside where a new organisation will take charge of local regeneration with powers to acquire, develop, hold, and dispose of land and property.
But a Labour Middlesbrough MP has raised fears that the town's proposed development corporation will bring a “massive shift in power” away from the local council and into the hands of a board led by mayor Ben Houchen.
Middlesbrough’s development corporation is taking shape at Middlehaven and across a stretch of the town centre – with the new zone set to be led by Mr Houchen and a board, as Local Democracy Reporter Alex Metcalfe reports.
Middlesbrough MP Andy McDonald, while welcoming regeneration efforts, said: “There are many questions to be answered on just how this proposed corporation will function and what the potential deficits will be in terms of local democracy and accountability.
“We have been here before with Teesside Development Corporation many years ago which reduced Middlesbrough and Stockton Councils to mere powerless consultees."
Mr Houchen has said no decisions have yet been made on the make-up of the corporation board – adding they would use their experience of the massive Teesworks freeport to shape it. The Tees Valley Combined Authority has put £10m into the Middlesbrough zone alongside another £10m for Hartlepool’s own corporation.
Why airport railway station plans may not be ready for take-off yet
There was optimism in the air this weekend as plans emerged for a long-awaited railway station at Doncaster Sheffield Airport (DSA) despite the site facing potential closure by its owners the Peel Group.
But as more details emerge of what the Department for Transport have agreed to, it may be a little early for local leaders to crack open the bubbly.
Proposals for a station with two 100 metre platforms at the key development zone around the airport are in the list of schemes to be delivered under the £5.7bn City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements, which sees £570m handed out to South Yorkshire.
But crucially it's listed as a 'retained scheme', meaning the department retains control and will require a business case to be approved before it can proceed. Whether this will happen with the airport at risk of closure remains to be seen.
Dan Jarvis, Labour MP for Barnsley Central and a former South Yorkshire mayor, told The Northern Agenda: "While it’s welcome news that there’s progress being made to provide a rail link at the airport, it feels a bit like shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted.
“The reality is DSA is facing closure. Without the Government taking urgent action the rail plans will be for nothing. There is no point building an airport station if you haven’t got an airport.”
Meanwhile, Doncaster is looking to decide its new name after being granted city status as part of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations.
The city has long been searching for city status and now it has finally been granted, Doncaster Council has to decide on a name. And it has decided to ask residents, businesses and community groups to help it pick.
Residents can choose between the ‘City of Doncaster’ and ‘Doncaster City’, as Sebastian McCormick reports for YorkshireLive. This will also affect the name of the council.
Bus services 'under serious threat' despite rescue plan
All over Northern England bus services are under threat from severe cuts, with government funding due to run out as passenger numbers fail to return to pre-pandemic levels.
And the latest SOS is from Stockport in Greater Manchester, where the borough's transport chief says proposed cuts to bus services could have a ‘devastating’ effect, as Local Democracy Reporter Nick Statham writes.
Emergency funding to keep services going is set to be pulled from October – and commercial operators in Greater Manchester have identified dozens of unprofitable services they intend to axe completely or run less often. But a plan to save the routes and maintain service levels has been hatched by local leaders.
Transport for Greater Manchester is currently working on retendering contracts, with funding from existing budgets and the government’s Bus Service Improvement Plan. But Stockport councillor David Meller says the rescue package is entirely dependent on successfully retendering the contracts – leaving vital bus services in the borough ‘under serious threat’.
Finding new operators to take the routes on may not be easy. A local report acknowledges that rising costs – including fuel and driver wages – have ‘further undermined the viability of the network and continues to do so’.
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Northern Stories
Middlesbrough-born TV presenter Steph McGovern returned to her home town to officially open a garden for critically ill patients at the James Cook University Hospital. The garden offers a private, tranquil space to spend time with their loved ones away from a clinical environment. Ms McGovern said: “When I got asked to do this, I was like 'definitely’ as I'm from Boro. My mam worked in this hospital for 40 years as a radiographer, so I used to come here all the time as a little girl when we came to pick her up."
Calls have been made for a Liverpool Council cabinet member linked to a stalled property scheme to resign. Abdul Qadir was a member of a council taskforce set up to investigate buyer-funded property schemes in the city, known as fractional sales where buyers put down large deposits to finance off-plan apartment schemes. Cllr Qadir’s links to a large stalled scheme on Vauxhall Road in Vauxhall through his role with the Liverpool-based Vega Group, which owns MV Canal, the subsidiary company behind the scheme, have now been uncovered.
Council chiefs in Huddersfield will have to reconsider plans for a 300-space town centre car park as part of the mammoth “cultural heart” project after a study of visitor parking indicated that weekend demand would be almost double the availability. A study of parking demands has revealed that around 240 spaces would be needed at the weekday daytime peak, rising to 515 at evening peak on weekdays and Saturday, and up to 550 at Saturday daytime peak, writes Local Democracy Reporter Tony Earnshaw.
A train operator has slashed its timetables and suspended ticket sales due to “unofficial strike action” by drivers. Avanti West Coast said it will run as few as four trains per hour from Sunday in an attempt to halt the short-notice cancellations which have plagued its operations in recent weeks. Services between London Euston and Manchester appear to be the worst affected by the cut, with train frequencies reduced from three per hour to just one.
A Cumbrian council’s social media presence has been “compromised” and members of the public have been urged to ignore any posts that appear which are “offensive or political in nature.” Penrith Town Council told residents that it will not be posting on Facebook and Instagram for the time being as unauthorised posts are appearing. Information on key services and how to contact the councillor for your area will still be available on its website.
A cherished Victorian chimney in Leeds will be reduced in height amid fears it could fall and kill a passer-by. The chimney, at Stonebridge Mills in Farnley, is thought to be more than 150 years old and is viewed as a significant local landmark. The Grade II-listed old mill buildings are being redeveloped into homes as part of a £25m scheme. But despite originally promising to keep the 30m chimney in place, developers are now set to reduce its height by 6m, after concluding the top is not structurally safe.
