Latest news with #StormArwen
The Courier
6 hours ago
- Business
- The Courier
High street round-up: Frasers Dundee opens, new Dunfermline world buffet and Montrose Chinese restaurant plans
Dundee's new Frasers department store opening and a new world buffet in Dunfermline are among the latest developments on high streets across Tayside, Fife and Stirling. The Courier has rounded up the latest from pubs, restaurants, shops and hotels across the region in one handy place. Our regular updates will bring you up to speed with what's going on in your local high streets and shopping centres. The new Frasers department store in Dundee's Overgate Shopping Centre opened on Friday. The shop is located over three levels in the unit formerly occupied by Debenhams. It combines Frasers, Sports Direct, USC and Game across 60,000 sq ft. Around 100 people queued to be the first inside Frasers when it opened on Friday morning, just before 11am. Shoppers were 'impressed' with the new department store, which they hope will increase footfall in the city centre. Matalan was rapped by Dundee City Council after carrying out unauthorised works at its city centre store. The retailer carried out work, which included moving checkouts, the erection of barrier gates and associated electrical works. A new Hotel Chocolat shop and cafe is set to open in St Andrews later this month. The luxury chocolate chain will open in the old Superdrug unit on Market Street on June 14. Dundee bar owner Andrew McMahon, who runs The West House and Top Dog Sports Bar, has taken over the former Boat Brae venue in Newport. The bar, which sits on the banks of the Tay, has been renamed Shoreline and opened on Friday. A Dundee pub is in line for a six-figure transformation after its roof was blown off during a storm. The Charleston Bar has been closed since sustaining severe damage during Storm Arwen in 2021, but plans are now being put in place to bring the pub back to life. The former Bridge of Allan Social Club is set to reopen as a community pub after major renovations. Over The Bridge will serve pints and pizza from Inverallan Road in July. World buffet chain Booffi has opened a new restaurant in the former Kinema building in Dunfermline. The buffet offers a variety of dishes from different cultures around the world, including Italian, Indian and Chinese. Perth's South Inch pavilion cafe has been reopened by the team behind Blend Coffee Lounge. Blend's Sundeep Salins says it's a privilege to become the latest stewards of a venue that holds so many warm memories for the people of Perth. A new Mediterranean restaurant has opened in the former Gulistan House in Broughty Ferry – but has had to change its name after a legal letter from an Edinburgh hotel firm. Iftikhar Ahmed had planned to open the venue under the name Le Monde, however, just days before opening, he received a letter stating the name was trademarked. A new Chinese restaurant named Panda Palace is set to open in Montrose town centre. An exact opening date has yet to be confirmed for the new Hume Street restaurant, which promises to bring the 'best of Chinese culinary traditions' to the Angus town.
The Courier
6 days ago
- Business
- The Courier
EXCLUSIVE: Dundee pub in line for 6-figure transformation after roof blown off during storm
A Dundee pub is in line for a six-figure transformation after its roof was blown off during a storm. The Charleston Bar has been closed since sustaining severe damage during Storm Arwen in 2021. Plans are now being put in place to bring the once-popular Charleston Drive pub – known locally as the Charlie Bar – back to life. City Centre Pubs Dundee, run by the Marr family, has taken over the bar and hopes to have it open next year, subject to planning approval. Director Peter Marr Jr has revealed artist's impressions of how the building could look. He told The Courier: 'We're really looking forward to bringing this community pub back to life. 'Unfortunately, over the last few years, the building has fallen into a state of disrepair following the storm. 'We have some concept designs we're working on before going to planning. 'In the next couple of weeks, the plan is to make the building wind and water-tight for the time being. 'We need to work with architects to finalise our designs and assess the building as a whole. 'By the time we get planning, licensing and a building warrant, it will be next year before we can get to work on it. 'The hope would be to start working on it in January and have it open by the middle of next year.' Peter added: 'This will be a six-figure investment, creating 15 to 20 jobs. 'We're looking forward to working with the local community and hope the regeneration will benefit the whole area. 'As part of the new design, we're also exploring the potential for multi-purpose use at the site.' The Courier has taken a look at seven other Dundee pub sites that could be given a new lease of life, including Clancy's Irish Bar, which is owned by the Marrs.
Telegraph
04-05-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Lord Blunkett: Net zero push risks making Labour toxic to voters
Labour's net zero push risks making the party 'electorally toxic', Lord Blunkett has said. The Labour peer and former home secretary urged Sir Keir Starmer to take a more flexible approach towards green targets to save businesses and consumers money. It comes days after Sir Tony Blair said net zero policies were ' doomed to fail ' and people were being asked to make financial sacrifices for a 'minimal' impact on global emissions. A spokesman for Sir Tony later insisted he believed Sir Keir's approach was 'the right one' but the intervention has opened a debate in the party about its green policies. Labour suffered heavy losses at last week's local elections to Reform UK, which said it would tear up pledges to achieve clean power by 2030 and net zero carbon emissions by 2050. Lord Blunkett served in Sir Tony's cabinet for eight years and said the former prime minister's intervention, the election results and the recent power outage in Portugal and Spain, must focus minds in No 10. The peer denounced Nigel Farage's pledge to abandon net zero altogether as 'insane' as Reform prepares to block its new councils from installing solar farms or pylons. But he went on to argue that green policies introduced by successive governments – all of which have been backed by Labour – have made both industry and households poorer. Lord Blunkett said: 'In years to come we will need to have protected ourselves from the vagaries of those world events which lead to fluctuations in both the availability and price of oil and gas, never mind the impact on the environment. 'But the politics of this are genuinely tricky. So far, the moves that have been made – and yes, we as a country have made substantial moves towards net zero – have been at a heavy cost to both industry and domestic users. 'Getting energy prices down quickly is a political imperative if the necessary changes aren't to become electorally toxic.' A reliance on green energy was blamed for mass blackouts across the Iberian peninsula that hit millions of people in what is believed to be Europe's biggest power cut. Lord Blunkett called the outage 'a timely reminder of just how dependent we are on electricity supply, and the devastation that can be caused when the lights go out, the trains stop, and charging points fail'. He went on to compare the power cut to Storm Arwen, which hit Scotland and northern England in 2021 and left around 100,000 families without power. 'Those reliant almost entirely on electricity couldn't heat their homes, even where they had ground or heat pumps, couldn't take a warm shower, nor could they use their electric oven, charge their car or connect to the Internet. 'On that occasion it was a natural occurrence,' he said. 'However, it did remind us – as the Blair Institute paper was intended to – that reliance on only one source of energy is not only politically dangerous but practically unwise.' Lord Blunkett said it was vital for Sir Keir and Ed Miliband, the Energy Secretary, to decouple the price of electricity from the global gas market and to overhaul Ofgem, the regulator. 'It is absolutely true that we can accelerate growth by investment in renewables and away from dependence on carbon fuels, but it's also true that the price of energy for our industrial base is a major drag on growth and on our competitiveness. We have to square that circle.' The Blairite grandee concluded that Sir Keir had to present environmentally friendly policies to voters as 'a promise not a punishment' if he was to sustain public support for net zero. 'Yes, we need targets, we need the ambition and momentum set by deadlines,' Lord Blunkett said. 'But we need the flexibility to ensure that the drive for a cleaner, pleasanter and safer planet is not undermined by the political victories of those who would reverse all that has been achieved so far. 'In a democracy, you have to persuade, not command, people to contribute in their own lives to bringing about change. 'You must ensure that what you're offering is a promise not a punishment, and, above all, you have to listen to them. That is the lesson of the last few weeks.' Labour MPs including Jo White, the chairman of the Red Wall Group of backbenchers, have questioned No 10's messaging on green energy in the wake of the election results. Mr Farage put a vow to 'reindustrialise' Britain at the heart of his pitch to voters in the north of England, and Reform went on to gain full control of Durham and Lincolnshire councils. On Sunday, Khalid Mahmood, a former Labour frontbencher, said his party had 'still got the bourgeoisie in London pulling the strings' and was 'ignoring the working classes'. He told LBC Radio: 'All these ideas like net zero, which we are pushing far above anyone else looking at it… It's costing hugely working people, who have to get up in the morning and get in their van and actually deliver.' Mr Mahmood added: 'What we need to do is get our industries back up. The cost of energy is horrendous at the moment and part of the cost of net zero is the energy cost.' Labour needs to learn lessons of past week and be flexible in green-target drive by Lord Blunkett Last week, three events focussed minds on the politics and practicality of achieving net zero by 2050 and decarbonising the production of electricity over the next five years. The first event saw the Tony Blair Institute publish a report with a foreword from Sir Tony which caused controversy, not so much about its content as the interpretation of what it was saying. Plus, the unfortunate timing just before English local elections on May 1. The second was those elections themselves, including a by-election for a Westminster seat, mayoral and some county council elections, which saw Nigel Farage's Reform UK come out smiling. The third was the outage of power across Spain and Portugal a few days earlier, which was a timely reminder of just how dependent we are on electricity supply and the devastation that can be caused when the lights go out, the trains stop, and charging points fail. This reminded me of an event, three and half years ago, which seems to have faded from memory. A major storm hit Scotland and the north of England and around a hundred thousand families lost power – some of them for more than a week. Those reliant almost entirely on electricity couldn't heat their homes, even where they had ground or heat pumps, couldn't take a warm shower, nor could they use their electric oven, charge their car or connect to the Internet. On that occasion it was a natural occurrence – ironically too frequent because of climate change – that brought down the pylons and caused, for some, much more than simple inconvenience. It was, of course, Scotland and the north of England, so the impact in relation to much of the national media was nowhere near what it might have been had the event happened in the south. However, it did remind us – as the Blair Institute paper was intended to – that reliance on only one source of energy is not only politically dangerous but practically unwise. That is why, in that document, they talked about carbon capture and the continuing use of alternative sources – including, for the time being, natural gas in a world where many are continue to commit to using fossil fuels, and even where a country like Norway is slowing down their transition from the very lucrative oil and gas fields to renewable sources of energy. Reform's policy is insane Which brings me to the local elections. Reform UK is the one party totally committed to abandoning the drive for net zero. Their policy is insane. In years to come we will need to have protected ourselves from the vagaries of those world events which lead to fluctuations in both the availability and price of oil and gas. Never mind the impact on the environment. But the politics of this is genuinely tricky. So far, the moves that have been made (and yes, we as a country have made substantial moves towards net zero) have been at a heavy cost to both industry and domestic users. Getting energy prices down quickly is a political imperative if the necessary changes aren't to become electorally toxic. Decoupling the price of electricity from the global gas market is an essential move, as is completely changing the terms of reference of the regulator, Ofgem. At the moment, we're in a Catch-22 situation, which sees measures taken to reduce the cost of clean energy undermined by price increases, reflecting the world price of carbon. In any case, alternatives to total reliance on electricity are surely a no-brainer. For the reasons I've outlined, we need to look creatively at what can be done – both in terms of the use of technology to clean up existing sources of energy, but also to ensure that we can switch to alternatives or make them available for the comfort, well-being and choice of the consumer. It is absolutely true that we can accelerate growth by investment in renewables and away from dependence on carbon fuels. But it's also true that the price of energy for our industrial base is a major drag on growth and on our competitiveness. We have to square that circle. We need targets but must be flexible Much work is going on – including in my home city of Sheffield where the University of Sheffield, linked to ATM power and mirrored with work elsewhere, is looking to produce 'clean hydrogen', crucial to gradually replacing gas, including for some industrial forms of production. Other innovations such as Small Modular Reactors to ensure that we are not entirely dependent on large nuclear power plants – and that we can regionalise and therefore decouple from the National Grid where it's necessary – would be both a safeguard for our national security and the avoidance of devastating cyber-attacks, but also at times of natural disasters. The Blair Institute report touched on the critical importance of preparation for that eventuality. And so, paradoxically, did a report from the Climate Change Committee, focusing on our existing resilience and amelioration of what is continuing to impact on the sustainability of our planet and the politics of careful, well explained and, where necessary, slower moves towards a common goal. Yes, we need targets, we need the ambition and momentum set by deadlines, but we need the flexibility to ensure that the drive for a cleaner, more pleasant and safer planet is not undermined by the political victories of those who would reverse all that has been achieved so far. In a democracy, you have to persuade not command people to contribute in their own lives to bringing about change. You must ensure that what you're offering is a promise not a punishment, and, above all, you have to listen to them. That is the lesson of the past few weeks.
BBC News
30-01-2025
- Climate
- BBC News
Northumberland's Cragside loses trees to Storm Éowyn
Thousands of trees, including some that were part of a historical collection, have been toppled at a National Trust site during Storm É at Cragside in Northumberland have been clearing hundreds of large trees destroyed during the storm and fear there are thousands more still to be found deeper in the the casualties was a 150-year-old Douglas fir which fell into Debdon Burn and created a visitor operations and experience manager, Steve Howard, said it was a sad sight to see a "tree of that magnitude lying down in a heap and broken up". "If it could tell the stories of what it has seen and heard over the years, I think we would all sit around and listen," he at the site spent more than two days working to remove the 45m (148ft) tree.A noble fir tree, which was part of the original collection, also blew down and damaged a footbridge. Cragside trees have suffered significant damaged in recent years, with about 22,000 being blown down in Storm Arwen in November estate includes the Victorian home of Lord William and Lady Margaret Armstrong built Newcastle's Swing Bridge and his hydraulic water pump can still be seen at Cragside. The estate was closed for four days following Storm Éowyn but has now partially Lake, Ladies Walk, the rock garden and the Iron Bridge are all open to still need to be cleared on Carriage Drive, meaning the upper estate and Cragside House remain closed. However, no buildings were another National Trust estate, suffered similar destruction and lost some of its 200-year-old beeches.
BBC News
28-01-2025
- Climate
- BBC News
Kielder Forest paths and trails closed again after Storm Éowyn damage
Trails which were closed for up to three years after Storm Arwen in 2021 are inaccessible to the public again following Storm É England has temporarily shut all footpaths and mountain bike routes in Kielder Forest, Northumberland, after Friday's strong than 150 trees are blocking the Lakeside way, a 26 mile (42km) path which circles Kielder England recreation manager Alex MacLennan said: "Our advice is to stay away until our crews can get in there and get all the trees cleared." "Some of the trees down were quite problematic, one was tangled up with power lines but that's been dealt with now," Mr MacLennan said. "Our paths and trails will be closed probably until next weekend and will reopen one by one, once we make sure they're safe," he added. Approximately one million trees fell in Northumberland during the severe winds of Storm Arwen on 26 November of footpaths and trails were damaged and blocked, and the Lonesome Pine Mountain bike trail at Kielder Forest only reopened three years later in December. But despite Storm Éowyn bringing 96mph (154 km/h) gusts to places like Brizlee Wood in Northumberland, the damage has not been as severe."Arwen had already taken a lot of the forest out," Mr MacLennan said, adding: "So while we have a lot of trees down it's not nearly on the same scale." Other Forestry England sites in Northumberland remain open but visitors are urged to "use caution"."Not only have some trees fallen down but others may be lodged up against others and could fall and some power lines haven't been checked yet," Mr MacLennan said. Mr MacLennan said any decision to close or restrict sites was only made "to keep people safe"."We never want to shut access to the countryside, it's something we do not like doing but it's so important that we don't have a tragic situation which could have been avoided," he added.
