Rail inspired landscaping plan revealed for MoD hub in Blackpool
'Boost sustainability'
These proposals will now be considered by the council. Designers Re-form Landsape stated: "The planting will function as a rain garden and will work in harmony with the recolonised railway character."It could include "a reclaimed railway track" where "surface water will be able to run into the planting areas through breaks in the edge" with "simple, robust" seating."Alongside providing positive visual interest to the scheme, the public art will also boost sustainability by providing a sustainable urban drainage system and reusing existing materials," the plans said.The site has lain empty since the Apollo building was demolished in 2014 but is now to get a new lease of life.The new office development represents the fifth phase of the £350m Talbot Gateway development, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.A £100m civil service hub has already been built on Cookson Street for the Department for Work and Pensions.
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The Independent
18 minutes ago
- The Independent
Students can get free AirPods for a limited time with this deal
If you're one of the thousands of young people to have received a place at university last week, you're likely embarking on the last-minute scramble to sort your accommodation, travel and equipment for the year ahead. Perhaps you're a returning student, and you've been working a summer job to upgrade a lousy laptop that decided to crash five minutes before your assignment is due. No matter what your reason is for wanting to upgrade your back-to-school tech, I've spied an incredible laptop deal. University students, parents and anyone working in education can get a free pair of AirPods 4 with the purchase of an iPad, MacBook or iMac. Of course, a brand new iPad, MacBook or Mac is a significant purchase, and as The Independent 's consumer writer, my main priority is to save you money. If you weren't planning on buying a brand new Mac, iPad, MacBook or iMac, it's not a financially responsible choice to drop hundreds of pounds just because Apple are throwing a pair of AirPods. Even with this deal, you'll be spending far more than you would if you bought a non-Apple tablet or laptop, and opted for a less expensive pair of our best wireless earbuds. If you're an Apple fan, you could also save hundreds by getting refurbished models from a reputable site like BackMarket. However, if you're set on a new iPad, Mac or MacBook, now's a good time to go for it. While third parties often beat Apple on price, through its Education Store, you can currently get up to 11 per cent off, plus a free pair of AirPods 4 to listen to your study playlist. Running until Tuesday 21 October, this deal is only available for a limited time. Here's what you need to know. Who can buy the student AirPods deal? We're calling it a student deal, but really, it's available to more people than that. Here's who can get it: New and returning university students Parents of new and returning university students Teachers and other employees of any educational institution, which includes not just universities but also schools and colleges You'll need to go to the Education Store and sign up using Unidays. Parents will need to get their child to verify through Unidays before completing a purchase. Education workers can create a Unidays staff account. Upgrade to the AirPods Pro 2 or AirPods 4 with active noise cancellation As part of this deal, you can choose to upgrade to the AirPods Pro 2, usually sold for £229, for an additional £50. For example, if you get a MacBook Air on the Education Store for £899, and you choose the AirPods Pro, you'll pay £949. Similarly, if minimising background noise is important to you, there's an option to upgrade to the AirPods 4, usually sold for £129, with active noise cancellation. This will cost an extra £50, unless you're getting an iMac in which case no extra charge will be added. Other accessories included in this deal AirPods aren't the only accessories included in this deal. If you wanted to, you could get an Apple keyboard, mouse, trackpad or Apple pencil pro as part of some of the bundle offers. You'll be asked which accessory you want to choose before you check out – just make sure you check the total at the end so you don't end up paying an extra fee by accident. Get a free pair of AirPods 4 with these Apple deals We've listed the products you can get a free pair of AirPods with below. Each model has different options available for storage, size and colour, but we've listed the lowest price you can get each one from under the deal. You can get an iPad Air, with a pair of AirPods 4 included, on Apple's Education store. This isn't the cheapest price we've seen for this model, as you can nab it for £417.89 on On Buy, but with the AirPods 4 included, Apple comes out on top here. The iPad Pro, which tech critic David Phelan called 'monsterously powerful and impossibly thin', is 11 per cent off on Apple's education store. Again, this price is beaten by On Buy, which is selling it for £747, but you won't get the AirPods 4 included. This tech icon is on sale for 11 per cent off on Apple's Education Store with AirPods 4 thrown in. Not bothered about the AirPods? You can get it without from Amazon for £849. You can save £100 on the latest MacBook Pro, and get a pair of AirPods thrown in when you buy it via Apple's Education store. At the time of writing, this is the lowest price for a new MacBook Pro from a reputable retailer. Though a £50 discount might not seem like much for a product this costly, this is the best price we've seen for an iMac at the moment – and that's without factoring in the AirPods 4, which you'll get bundled in.
Auto Express
18 minutes ago
- Auto Express
Car Deal of the Day: Cupra Formentor offers style, power and low running costs for £253 a month
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Telegraph
19 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Badenoch vows crackdown on subsidised cars for benefits claimants
Kemi Badenoch has vowed to crack down on subsidised cars for benefits claimants. The Motability scheme received a record £2.8bn of taxpayer cash last year to assist with the funding of new cars for people in receipt of mobility benefits. The Telegraph revealed in March that successful claimants can still apply for subsidised top-of-the-range BMWs worth more than £50,000 despite cuts to welfare support elsewhere. The Conservative leader vowed that only people with 'serious proven disabilities' would be eligible for the scheme if she won power at the next general election. Critics have branded the scheme out of control after it emerged last month that 40 cars were given to people with tennis elbow – a condition the NHS says 'usually goes away with rest'. More than 400 people with sleeping disorders accessed a vehicle through the scheme last year, as well as 20 with a 'food intolerance' and 20 more who cited constipation. Sharing a screenshot of The Telegraph's reporting from earlier this year, Mrs Badenoch said: 'Hard-working taxpayers are funding subsidised cars for constipation and tennis elbow. Here's how we'll stop the scam. 'Motability was created to help people with genuine mobility problems lease a car, scooter or powered wheelchair using part of their disability benefit. 'That's fair. We all want people who truly can't get around to live with dignity. But look what's really happening – 32,000 cars for 'anxiety or depressive disorders '. Even cars for 'tennis elbow', constipation, and food intolerance.' Mrs Badenoch went on to cite Motability's statistics, which show almost one in five new cars registered in 2024 were bought for the scheme. She added: 'We've got pensioners cutting back on heating because of Labour's winter fuel cuts, while a drunk driver can get a brand new car because they've got an 'alcohol problem'. How is that fair? 'Under my leadership, the Conservatives will fix this. Tighten the rules so only serious, proven disabilities qualify. Zero tolerance for scammers and online fraud. End the 'get a free car for anything' culture – because taxpayers deserve fairness.' Hardworking taxpayers are funding subsidised cars for constipation and tennis elbow. Here's how we'll stop the scam🧵👇 — Kemi Badenoch (@KemiBadenoch) August 19, 2025 Earlier this year, Motability Operations admitted to finding more than 5,000 cases of abuse of its taxpayer-subsidised scheme. A total of 5,300 customers – an average of 15 per day – were removed from the service last year after investigations into misuse. As well as helping benefits claimants access cars, Motability covers insurance costs and has installed 66,000 charging points at the homes of people on benefits free of charge. Applicants to the scheme must prove that such conditions affect their mobility to be eligible. Around 815,000 people now qualify for Motability, up from 650,000 two years ago. The average user of a taxpayer-subsidised car is in their 50s. Mrs Badenoch's crackdown is one of the first detailed policy announcements she has made in more than nine months as Conservative leader. She has tended to shy away from detailed commitments to re-establish her party's 'first principles' following its historic loss at the last election, which left it with just 121 seats. The announcements that have been made by Mrs Badenoch include a vow to deport all Channel migrants who reach the UK illegally and a reversal of Labour's tax raid on farmers. Last month, the Tory leader said the word 'disabled' has lost all meaning as a result of Britain's booming welfare society. At a speech in central London, Mrs Badenoch admitted the Tories had not always been 'clear enough' that they were still the party of work in the mould of the late Norman Tebbit. Warning that the UK was 'sitting on a ticking time bomb' of spiralling welfare dependency, Mrs Badenoch said the current size of the state may eventually 'collapse the economy'. Her MPs voted against Sir Keir Starmer's flagship benefit reforms in July because he failed to commit to bringing down the overall welfare bill while also not promising to raise taxes at the next Budget in the autumn.
