National Lottery funding bid to reconnect Stroud canal with network
Applications for the lottery grant have to be made by July, and without this work cannot start.Stroud District Council has been trying to restore the Stroudwater canal since 2006 when work started on bring the five-mile stretch between Thrupp and Stonehouse back to life.The money would be used to construct 1.5km of new canal in the River Frome under the M5, a mooring basin, and a new cafe and car park.The council also proposes to reconnect the towpaths, which would effectively extend all the way from Stroud to Gloucester.According to a council report, the finished project would provide a boost to local tourism.
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BBC News
41 minutes ago
- BBC News
Mid-Suffolk Light Railway celebrates track extension
A heritage railway is celebrating an extension of its track which it hopes will give customers a "more complete experience".Mid-Suffolk Light Railway, at Wetheringsett, near Stowmarket, has added just under a kilometre of track after being given permission by the secretary of state for will be able to travel in a steam train along the new track during a special event on Saturday and Meigh, chairman of the railway, said the extension had meant "a lot" to the volunteers. "I think the families and children are our bread and butter - that's what we're doing it for," he said."We're giving them a taste of what it was like 100 years go and with Victorian carriages, they are different."It's not an experience they necessarily would have had another time." With the extension it means passengers can enjoy almost 2km of railway in total, whereas the original line ran to 19 miles (30km) between Haughley and first carriages to run on the new section of track will be hauled by the 135-year-old guest locomotive, the Sir Berkeley. Paul Davey, a volunteer driver and founding member of the heritage group, said he "loved" steam locomotives."It's a dream come true," he said of the line extension."Half my lifetime really I've been involved with [the railway]. It's a great achievement for everyone involved." The railway is only open to the public for 30 days of the year and Mr Meigh said he believed it had struck the right balance between ticket prices and its for the weekend are £12 for an adult, £10 for concessions for people over 65, £6 for children, and a family of four pay £30."We do rely a lot on our supporters, it is about donations as well as ticket receipts because to run a steam engine is not cheap," Mr Meigh added."It's very much more expensive than diesel. Coal is expensive."It's old technology; it requires a lot of skilled volunteers to maintain and look after them, but it's a pleasure."There's something magical about steam." Follow Suffolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
The Independent
42 minutes ago
- The Independent
Heathrow's third runway plan is wrong – and not just because of noise and pollution
Here we go again. To say there is a deja vu aspect to the latest proposal to build Heathrow's third runway is an understatement. For reasons that are not clear, Sir Keir Starmer has determined the airport's expansion to be a key plank in the government's economic growth strategy. Seemingly, he did not take into account the issues that grounded the plans in the past, as far back as 1968 – namely, Heathrow's unfortunate and unavoidable proximity to the M25, the rivers and their valleys that cross that part of west London, the additional noise pollution, and the need for improved and costly transport links to and from the centre of the capital that will result from the vast uplift in passengers. On the constant sound from the increased number of planes landing and taking off, the prime minister will insist that great technological strides have been made in curbing the din. It is true that new aircraft are less noisy. However, they are still extremely audible, there will be more of them, and they will be flying over a heavily residential area. As for the rest, nothing has altered fundamentally, environmentally and logistically, since Heathrow last submitted a scheme, pre-Covid. Inflation means the bill is now an eye-watering £49bn. The bill, ultimately, will be borne by the air passenger, and Heathrow is already the most expensive airport in the world. Will the airlines and their customers stomach at least a doubling in charges? There is the thorny problem, too, of public transport to and from London. The London mayor will be expected to find a way to enable an extra 60 million people a year to use Heathrow. Transport for London is strapped for cash, struggling to upgrade the Tube network. How the additional demand will be met is not clear. What has shifted as well is the nature of air travel. Post-pandemic, business travel is down and looks unlikely to recover – that, certainly, is what the industry is saying. During the outbreak, holding meetings remotely came into its own and employers took a hard look at their budgets – Zoom or Teams often represent a better alternative in executive time and expense. That therefore raises a major doubt about one of the main claims made for Heathrow's extension. It is said to be necessary to enhance London and the UK's standing in the business world, but how, if the commercial users are not there? There has been movement too, and not of the positive kind, in attitude towards Heathrow the operator. The power outage that shut down the plum in Starmer's vision for resurgence and global acclaim was a shocking episode; it not only highlighted a neglected infrastructure but also a failure of management. Thomas Woldbye, who is seeking permission to build this national project, is the same boss who slept through the night as Britain's busiest airport ceased to function. Heathrow's reputation in the sector was already poor, but this took it to a new low. Woldbye has an idea that is different from the one previously suggested, which is to build the third runway over the M25, taking the motorway underneath – and all without any disruption to road users. This is fanciful even without a track record that hardly inspires confidence. Which raises another question. Why? Why should Heathrow as a company get to preside over the airport's improvement and reap the benefits? If we're all agreed that it is a vital national asset, holding a pivotal place in the economy, then why should the incumbent be in charge, not to mention entrusted, with its development? Those who wax lyrical about Heathrow's importance like to reminisce about how Britain led the transformation of international aviation. Boosting the airport is seen as completing that journey. It is the case that we once did. That was in the Margaret Thatcher era, when British Airways was freed from the shackles of state ownership. Thatcher did more than that, though. She enabled and encouraged competition, giving a steer to the challengers and disruptors, notably to Richard Branson at Virgin and Michael Bishop at British Midland. The newly privatised BA was forced to raise its game, and together, these three set new standards. There appears to be an assumption that Woldbye's company must be given the job. But there is another option. Surinder Arora, the self-made billionaire who has masterminded the building of leading hotels at Heathrow and other airports and is a substantial Heathrow landowner, has his own remedy. His is much cheaper, envisaging a shorter runway that does not affect the M25. It is easy to dismiss Arora. But he is popular with the airlines, he rails rightly against Heathrow's pricing, and he knows a thing or two about customer service. He also possesses heavyweight advisers in the shape of Bechtel, the US engineering, construction and project management giant. He deserves to be taken seriously. Heathrow needs a competitor. Likewise, if neither the airport operator nor Arora is selected and the third runway is again kiboshed, then surely serious thought must be given to expanding rival airports. Heathrow has been resting on its laurels for too long. As for Starmer, he perhaps should ask himself how it is that someone who professes to be forensic legally is so capable of displaying rushes of blood to the head politically. Giving Heathrow such prominence smacks of impetuousness. He's done it and has been left with an almighty headache.
The Independent
42 minutes ago
- The Independent
Our flight was cancelled because of the software glitch – can we get compensation?
Q Our flight was delayed and should have left before Wednesday's air traffic control failure. Then the failure happened, and our flight was subsequently cancelled. Are we entitled to financial compensation? Clare B A You were among around 25,000 passengers whose flights were cancelled on Wednesday and Thursday as a result of the 'software glitch' at Nats, the national air traffic control service. The event temporarily closed the skies above southeast England and led to dozens of diversions and delays. In peak summer, there is little slack in the system. With planes, pilots and passengers out of position, cancellations swiftly began. When a flight is cancelled, the default assumption in UK and European air passengers' rights rules is that airlines are obliged to pay compensation of between £220 and £520, depending on the length of the trip. But if the carrier can show that ' extraordinary circumstances ' were responsible, it dodges that liability. The general principle: if the cause was beyond the airline's control – such as bad weather, a security incident or airspace closure – there is no need to pay out. Your case is unusual because you should have been safely clear of the UK before the system failed. You can put in a claim with the airline, arguing that a timely departure would have avoided problems. Expect the claim to be declined on the grounds that it would only have been a modest delay had the system not failed. You could then go to alternative dispute resolution, a free service for passengers. If this fails, you could go to Money Claim Service – or at least write a letter before action stating your intention to do so, giving the airline a chance to settle. The next step, actually making a claim, requires you to pay a fee; I am not sure I would advise you to go ahead. Whatever the cause of a cancellation, the airline is responsible for providing accommodation and meals until it can get you to your destination. If you had to fix things yourself, send the itemised evidence to the airline. There should be no issue in getting the money back, as long as you leave any alcoholic drinks out of the claim. Q You wrote about British Airways wanting to charge £900 extra for switching you to an earlier flight. I believe that if you turn up early and there are seats available, it's a no-brainer for any airline to let you on. So why doesn't BA allow it? Mary C A I find myself in the unusual position of defending a British Airways policy that did not work out in my favour last Friday night. These were the circumstances: I was flying from London Heathrow to Istanbul and unexpectedly arrived at the airport in time to catch the earlier flight. Seats were available, but they were in business class only. I was told I could fly on it, but only after paying the difference between what I had paid for an economy ticket (£266) and the prevailing business fare (£1,203). I politely declined. I can come up with any number of arguments for why it would have been in BA's interests to allow me on board, after perhaps taking £50 from me and upgrading an elite member of the British Airways Club to business class in order to make room for me. The airline would have gained extra loyalty at zero cost. BA would also have avoided potential extra expense, had the later flight 'gone tech', requiring alternative flights and hotel accommodation, and the payment of £350 in compensation. Yet there are some powerful arguments against allowing those on cheaper economy tickets to switch to earlier flights. The first is this: tickets on a flight that gets you to Istanbul close to 1am are always going to be cheaper than those promising an early evening arrival. If free switches were permitted, then passengers would game the system, booking a later flight in the hope of changing to an earlier one. Next, flexibility has a value – and airlines prefer to reserve this facility for passengers who have paid more for their trips. If the opportunity to switch for little or no cost were granted to everyone, that benefit would be eroded. Finally, and most practically: this was all happening at Heathrow within an hour of departure. Given all the demanding dimensions of dispatching an aircraft, catering to the whims of a cheapskate passenger are low on the list of priorities. I hope I have presented BA's argument reasonably. Q What can you tell me about Vueling? Also, would you say that flying with them is worth the risk? I've read some pretty awful reviews. But when I was looking for flights to Rome in September, Vueling popped up as the carrier on the British Airways site. Nick C A Vueling, based in Barcelona, is Spain's leading budget airline. It has an interesting route network. As well as operating lots of flights between London (Heathrow and Gatwick) and the usual suspects of Barcelona, Malaga, Paris and Rome, it serves smaller Spanish cities including the northern trio of Bilbao, Oviedo and Santiago. Vueling has a useful link from Gatwick to Florence, which I prefer to Pisa as a gateway to Tuscany (except when poor weather scuppers the landing). The airline connects Cardiff, Edinburgh and Manchester with Spanish destinations. And if you ever need to visit west Africa, change planes in Barcelona and continue on Vueling to either Banjul in Gambia or Dakar in Senegal. I have flown frequently on Vueling, most recently from Paris to Gatwick, and have another flight booked in September from Gatwick to Barcelona. I haven't studied reviews, but my conclusion is this: Vueling is fine from an operational point of view, with no significant advantages or disadvantages compared with easyJet, Wizz Air or indeed British Airways on shorthaul. They all fly Airbus A320 series aircraft with much the same seat configuration. Indeed, the 'layout of passenger accommodation' (or LOPA, as it is known in the industry) is identical on Vueling and British Airways, which are sister airlines. The main difference is that BA keeps the middle seat empty in business class. The crew are friendly and professional, and Vueling has a good safety record. It also has an unusual but welcome policy of tackling overbooking by inviting passengers on heavily booked flights to switch to another departure in return for a voucher. One aspect at which Vueling does not perform well: customer service when things go wrong, with cancellations or long delays. A fair number of people have contacted me to say that getting compensation – or recompense when they have had to pay for hotels – proves difficult. But if Vueling has the best schedule and price for your trip, there is no reason to avoid the airline. Q My 11-year-old nephew is obsessed with aviation. What can you recommend in the way of flight-related websites and aircraft attractions that would appeal to him? Sean K A I use the excellent free Flightradar24 service professionally all the time – to check flight cancellations and delays across major airports, for example. But it is also a mesmerising website/app for anyone interested in aviation. Right now, I am looking in real time at flights coming in from Corfu, Zurich and Ho Chi Minh City to London Heathrow. You can filter for passenger, cargo, military and business jets, as well as the elusive 'lighter-than-air' category. For destination dreaming, your nephew might like to try the Great Circle Mapper website. You tap in the airport codes separated by a hyphen (eg LHR-SFO) and it will instantly show the straightest line ('Great Circle route') between London Heathrow and San Francisco International. Not only is it an excellent way to see how that UK-to-California route goes well into the Arctic – he can also start to learn all those tricky airport codes, such as ORD for Chicago and AGP for Malaga. In terms of UK aviation museums, for mainly military aircraft, I recommend the Imperial War Museum outpost at Duxford, near Cambridge. For civil aviation, the Runway Visitor Park in Manchester is excellent. It is adjacent to the taxiways at the UK's third-busiest airport, and also has a Concorde – the closest anyone these days can get to the supersonic era. Around the world, the best aviation museum I have been to is Aeroscopia Toulouse, on the edge of the airport in southwest France. It can be combined easily with the fascinating Airbus factory tour, which I hope will fuel an interest in your nephew in working in the world of international connectivity.
