Latest news with #Sven
Scoop
3 days ago
- Business
- Scoop
Stratford District Council Rates Increase For 2025/26 Stays On Track From Long Term Plan Forecast
Stratford District Council (SDC) has adopted its Annual Plan 2025/26 with an average rates increase of 6.9%. Chief Executive Sven Hanne says, 'After a period of significant project delivery, as well as significant cost increases across most of our operations as a result of record-high inflation, things are now starting to look a bit more settled, and this is apparent in our annual planning for 2025/26.' 'While there are still some unders and overs in the individual budgets, we're pleased to have been able to maintain the overall rates increase for this Annual Plan at 6.9% as originally forecast in year 2 of the Long Term Plan 2024-2034,' says Sven. The Long Term Plan 2024-34 adopted a streamlined approach to the delivery of council services, in recognition of the strained economic environment and a significant reduction in external funding available to council. The Annual Plan 2025/26 realises that vision, with the next 12 months focused on maintaining existing infrastructure and continuing to replace assets when they come to the end of their life. 'It's about being realistic and prioritising our core service areas,' says Sven. 'Two notable exceptions from this will be the upgrade of Prospero Place, Stratford's town square, and the extension of Council's residential subdivision,' he says. The Prospero Place project has been a few years in the making and is now in full flight with draft plans being share with the community this month, and work expected to begin before the end of the calendar year. The residential subdvision is a continuation of the previous council subdivision off Pembroke Road with 2025/26 focused on preparing the site for the delivery of infrastructure, such as roading, water and wastewater. Progressing the outcome of the Local Water Done Well reforms will also be a key area of attention for SDC staff and elected members alike. Both options being consulted on in May 2025 will require additional work across the 2025/26 year, with financial investment from the following year, 2026/27. Outside of Local Water Done Well, SDC is awaiting the outcomes of the Resource Management Act and changes to the Building Act. These are likely to have a big influence on the way all councils operate in the regulatory space, setting a new direction for the delivery of consenting and building services. As part of the Annual Plan adoption, minor changes were made to the Fees and Charges Schedule across building services, parking, solid waste, and sale and supply of alcohol. The full Fees & Charges schedule is available here. Mayor Neil Volzke says, 'We have a lot to be proud of here, in the Stratford district, and we want to keep that feeling alive. Elected Members will continue to work hard to maintain a balanced and realistic approach that manages the needs and wants of our community against our financial performance. Finding that sweet spot, that we believe will result in positive outcomes for the whole community, is what democracy is all about.' The Annual Plan 2025/26 will come into effect from 1 July 2025. View the full plan online here: How much rates you pay can depend on a number of things like: The value of your property The services your property receives (water supply, wastewater or solid waste collection) How many dwellings are on the property View our sample rates on page 14 and 15 of the Annual Plan 2025/26.
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Lifestyle
- Yahoo
105 Adorable Swedish Names for Boys and Girls
Choosing a baby name is tough. There are so many good names out there! How can you possibly make a decision that's perfect for you and your little bundle?! When you're considering names, definitely don't overlook one option that's full of traditional appeal: Swedish names! There's nothing wrong with going with a trending option, but you could also choose something slightly more unique. Why not give your new little one a name with centuries of history and Scandinavian magic?Bundle up and get ready to trek up north with our list of 105 Swedish baby names for girls and boys that are just as full of charm and wonder as Sweden itself. After all, your child deserves to have a name that's idyllic, breathtaking and serene. Related: 1. Anders — The Scandinavian form of Andrew, meaning 'manly'2. Blomma – Swedish for 'flower'3. Greta — 'Pearl'4. Hanna — 'Gracious' 5. Himla – 'Heaven; sky'6. Lin – The Swedish word for 'flax'7. Linnea – Meaning "lime tree" or "linden tree"8. Olga — 'Holy' or 'blessed' 9. Stellan — 'Calm' or 'peaceful'10. Sture — 'Cross, proud'11. Suzanna — 'Lily'12. Sven — 'Boy'13. Thecla — 'Glory of God'14. Vilde – from the Swedish for 'wild, untamed' 15. Anna — 'Grace' or 'favor'16. Augusta — 'Majestic' or 'venerable'17. Birgit — 'Exalted' or 'noble. '18. Brita — 'Strength' or 'exalted one,' a Swedish form of Bridget19. Charlotta — 'Free woman,' a feminine variant of Charles20. Dagmar — A combination of 'day' and 'maid. '21. Edda — 'Great-grandmother. '22. Elise — 'God is my oath'23. Eva — 'Life' or 'living one'24. Gerda — 'Enclosure. '25. Gudrun — 'God's wisdom. '26. Gull – from Swedish for 'gold'27. Gunilla — 'Battle maiden'28. Helga — 'Holy' or 'blessed'29. Hilda — 'Battle woman'30. Ingrid — 'Ing is beautiful' (Ing being an old Germanic god)31. Irma — 'Universal or whole'32. Josefine — 'God will increase'33. Julia — 'Youthful'34. Karin — 'Pure,' a Swedish form of Katherine35. Kristina — 'Follower of Christ'36. Lena — 'Light' or 'torch,' a variant of Helena37. Lia — 'Weary' or 'delicate'38. Liv – The Swedish word 'life'39. Lo – The Swedish word 'lynx'40. Maj – Swedish for 'May,' the month41. Maja — 'Pearl' or 'mother'42. Majvor – a combination of 'May' and 'spring'43. Malena — 'Woman of Magdala'44. Malin — 'High tower' or 'woman,' Swedish variant of Magdalene45. Malva – from Swedish for 'mallow'46. Månstråle – From the Swedish for 'moonbeam' 47. Margita — 'Pearl'48. Marianne — Blend of Maria and Anne, 'bitter grace.'49. Marie — 'Bitter' or 'beloved'50. Märta — 'Lady' or 'mistress'51. Maud — 'Powerful in battle'52. Moa – Swedish feminine name meaning 'mother' 53. Naemi — 'Pleasant' or 'delightful'54. Noomi — 'Pleasant' or 'delightful'55. Pernilla — 'Rock' or 'stone'56. Pia — 'Pious' or 'devout'57. Pippilotta — The full first name of Pippi Longstocking, from the books by Astrid Lindgren58. Saga – from the Swedish word saga, meaning a story or fairy tale59. Sanna — 'Lily,' a variant of Suzanna60. Stina — 'Follower of Christ,' a short form of Kristina61. Sussie — 'Lily,' a diminutive of Suzanna62. Tindra – modern Swedish name meaning 'to twinkle, to sparkle'63. Tove — 'Dove"64. Tuva — 'Thor's peace' or 'strength'65. Ulla — 'Will' or 'determination'66. Vilja – from the Swedish for 'will, wish'67. Zara — 'Princess' or 'blooming flower'Related: 68. Anders — 'Manly'69. Axel — 'Father of peace'70. Bengt — 'Blessed'71. Bertil — 'Bright' or 'famous'72. Björn — 'Bear"73. Börje — 'Helper' or 'protector'74. Brasse — 'Brother'75. Edvin — 'Wealthy friend'76. Emil — 'Rival' or 'eager'77. Erland — 'Foreigner"78. Ernst — 'Serious' or 'earnest'Related: 79. Filip — 'Lover of horses'80. Gösta — 'Staff of the gods'81. Gunnar — 'Warrior"82. Hans — 'God is gracious'83. Henrik — 'Home ruler'84. Herman — 'Army man' or 'warrior'85. Jan — 'God is gracious'86. Jarl — 'Chieftain'87. Johannes — 'God is gracious'88. Jörgen — 'Farmer' or 'earthworker'89. Kent — 'Edge' or 'border'90. Kim — 'Warrior chief'91. Kjell — 'Kettle' or 'helmet'92. Knut — 'Knot'93. Lars — 'Crowned with laurel'94. Lasse — Variant of Lars95. Leif — 'Heir' or 'descendant'96. Matti — 'Gift of God'97. Morgan — 'Sea-born'98. Nils — 'People's victory'99. Per — 'Rock'100. Rolf — 'Famous wolf'101. Tage — 'Taken' or 'captured'102. Torgny — 'Thunder noise'103. Valdemar — 'Famous ruler'104. Valter — 'Army ruler'105. Wiktor — 'Conqueror' Up Next:105 Adorable Swedish Names for Boys and Girls first appeared on Parade on May 25, 2025
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Yahoo
The Arctic adventure so thrilling I forgot to look for the northern lights
I'd assumed Swedish Lapland would mean stylish chunky knits and chic fur hats, but I've just been strapped into a bright orange survival suit that consumes everything but my face. I'm an oversized traffic cone turned Teletubby – but thus goes the fashion when gloating in icy Arctic waters. I'm in Sweden's far north, trying to pre-empt a northern lights no-show by diving (literally) into more Earthly adventures. Basing myself around coastal Luleå (with help from specialist holiday company The Aurora Zone, I soon find I can swim, sled and sauna without ever driving much more than an hour. And the northern lights I'd travelled to see? A distant memory. The tourist-friendly icebreaker ship I'm on does just that as it plies the frozen waters of the Bothnian Sea: it carves a pool of inky black water… and in plop the lurid tourists, fully waterproof. I feel both weightless and safe as I bob on my back like an untethered buoy beneath the pewter clouds. Only it's hard to cling to any meditative state for long because I'm laughing so much. My friends and I flounder with our oversized, cartoon hands, unable to stop giggling at our cumbersome, human-highlighter selves. I clamber onto an ice shelf and bounce back in with a splash, gurgling happily. An ice bath without any of the agony, this wholesome, silly dunking delivers a hit of wellness I'd not anticipated. Back on board, calm comes in a different form: the hissing crack of the 50-metre-thick ice beneath the hull is surprisingly like ASMR. Pale fissures snake across the crystalline surface before they gape wide in grizzly grins. Larger chunks capsize and upend, the beauty and power of their Haribo-sweet interior – gelatinous blue topped with white – is momentarily exposed before they sink to the depths like drowned spectres. Later that day at the Arctic Bath hotel, we step into a menthol-scented wooden room where 'sauna master' Sven promptly roasts us to within an inch of our lives. The perfumed water sizzles furiously on the rocks as Sven wafts a large red fan; he's a flamenco dancer, bullfighter and torturer all rolled into one as he moves the increasingly hot air around the sauna. Sweat bursts from my every pore like a confetti gun. When I am finally allowed outside for phase two of the ritual, a cold plunge feels incredibly welcoming. Though not for long. My language is as blue as my skin, as I'm stabbed repeatedly by the -1°C water. And then I'm out, marching around the pool in a bid to reanimate, like a prisoner released for yard exercise. Before it's back into the sauna to repeat the experience. Twice. Of course, one doesn't need to be in the freeze to enjoy the Arctic's adventures. I have a whale of a time trying my hand at ice fishing. I don shoe grip spikes and stride off like a modern-day Shackleton across the solid sea. Armed with a hand drill, I churn down into the thick whiteness, lower a fishing rod baited with a wriggling maggot into the hole, and wait for what seems like a very long time. Eventually, success strikes. Our guide guts the snared perch with aplomb, slicing it open, peeling off the skin and plucking out entrails as we watch with morbid fascination before he places it reverently inside a smoking tin to cook. I pause my angling to feast on the fresh catch – it's gently charred, tender and delicious – but return only to find some aquatic blighter has nibbled the worm right off my rod and scarpered. Survival talents are further tested when I head out for a wilderness skills afternoon. Equipped yet again with an unflattering 'outfit', I clamp into snowshoes – it's like walking on grippy frisbees as they clunk and flap – and make my way into the forest. Our guide points out the Arctic's edible secrets as we wander – blueberries, lingonberries, juniper and even wild rosemary (but don't eat that unless hallucinations are your thing). Spruce is great for tea, he says, as is Old Man's Beard – a plant signifying the air's purity. Luckily, a brew is on the agenda – provided we make the fire first. We're taught how to split birch logs, assemble them like Jenga, position scraped bark on top and use a nifty flint tool to spark our DIY stove alight. Before long, the fire is roaring and a little kettle burbles storybook-style, producing a tasty infusion that Twinings should probably investigate. Read more: 8 best ski resorts in Norway for your 2025 skiing holiday We're even taught what a female moose's mating call sounds like – part baby mewling, part cat in pain. Fortunately, the cacophony is courtesy of our guide's horn, not a lovesick cow. He's got a special whistle to mimic bird calls, too – Sweden's answer to Snow White. My fantasy of gliding over the white stuff in a sleigh finally becomes a reality when we take a snowmobile-pulled sled over a frozen lake. Everything in me screams to get off the ice – surely it'll crack at any minute? But no, this ice is thick and the worrisome puddles of water are simply melting snow sitting on the surface. After all, travelling this way is a standard commute here; I regularly spot locals zooming past on snowmobiles. Admittedly, it's not quite as smooth as I'd imagined – I don't exactly feel like a serene heroine from a 19th-century Russian novel as I bump along. And ideally, the soundtrack would be husky barks instead of a rumbling engine… and I'd be enrobed in furs rather than a snowsuit, but then life isn't all Doctor Zhivago (thank goodness). So yes, style-wise, the trip's been a letdown – but the adventures? Anything but. Who needs the Northern Lights when the real magic is right in front of you? Read more: 8 of the best northern lights cruises from the UK, Norway, Iceland and Canada Harriet Mallinson was a guest of The Aurora Zone.
The Guardian
20-05-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
Some guts, no glory: end of my amateur football career brings a painful realisation
There are the nights when the 10-minute walk to the tube station takes half an hour. There are the crossbow bolts of knee pain at 3am. There are the evenings when you convince yourself the recycling doesn't actually need to be taken out tonight. We can wait a couple of days, squash it down a bit, crush that box flat. And secretly, it's because you can't handle the stairs. There are the mornings when the bus is coming and the kids shout 'Come on!' and start running, but you can't, you just can't, and you don't know how to tell them. There is the very particular indignity of the 39-year-old man crossing the road in socks because blisters and swellings have rendered his boots useless. There are the fitness fads – hot yoga, reformer pilates, cold plunge – adopted at great expense and with the sole purpose of pushing back oblivion, of rendering the intolerable fleetingly tolerable. But in the end there comes a point in the life of every middle-aged male sports columnist when they must succumb to the inevitable ravages of time and torpor, and write the column about their own amateur sporting retirement, usually in the form of a jocular letter to the England manager ('Dear Sven, with regrets, etc'). And with apologies, here is mine. To the fans (none). To the glory (also none). To football. It's been weird. It's been emotional. But it's also been coming for a while. The first thing to say is that, in the grand scheme of things, this is no great loss to the sport. We're not losing Jude Bellingham here. We're not even losing Jobe Bellingham here. We're losing a technically tragic, tactically inept defensive midfielder who you would assume from their leaden right foot must have a zinging left, who you would assume from their lack of natural ability must have an incredible engine, and in fact has neither. We're losing a player for whom 'Did you score today?' has long become a cruel running joke. In short: football, at every level, may just survive. For all this, as we approach farewell season, the point where greats and non-greats alike take their flowers and step away, something about the last few weeks has been hitting slightly different. The sight of Thomas Müller and Joel Ward and Mats Hummels and Jan Vertonghen playing their final games amid a sea of tifos and garlands. The bleak realisation that in a few weeks, ridiculously, inconceivably, my own time will come too. 'I knew it was all over the morning it took me five minutes to get out of bed,' goes the first line of Ian Botham's autobiography. I remember reading those words as a kid and feeling baffled, befuddled, disoriented by them. Confounded by the sheer gulf in time and sensation, by the very idea that sport – this giver of life – might also take it away. Botham was 37 when he wrote those words. I am 39, in possession of zero Test wickets, have in comparison barely exerted myself. Even so, there are some days when five minutes to get out of bed would be classed as a genuine achievement. For this there is nobody to blame but myself. There is no cortisone abuse to report, no class action lawsuit in the offing, just world-class self-neglect. Every Wednesday I play football, and then I go to the pub, where I will have four pints and a chicken basket. Do I warm down? I do not warm down. Do I train? Lol. And in your 20s this is fine: an entire lifestyle built around the idea of your own indestructibility. And by the time it's not fine, it's also too late. No amount of reformer pilates is going to rebuild the knee cartilage you wore down over a decade of forlorn defensive transitions and self-destructive tactical fouling. One by one you watch your peers step away. Wayne Rooney, three weeks older than me and thus my principal sporting avatar, was the first big wake-up call. Luka Modric and Ashley Young are still somehow out there, doing it for the 1985 kids. Unlike Cristiano Ronaldo, I have zero desire to extend my career by padding out my stats in a substandard league. Sign up to Football Daily Kick off your evenings with the Guardian's take on the world of football after newsletter promotion But of course all these players can reflect on trophies and triumphs, medals and memories, the satisfaction of a sporting life lived to the full. What can I, a footballer who has never played at a level beyond Vauxhall Powerleague Division One, possibly take from these years of sweat and sore ankles and thousands of pounds in subs? What was it all for, in the end? The usual answer at this point is the friends, the comradeship, the ritual. It's a nice answer, but it's not mine. It took a decade of writing about athletes and sport to reconcile myself with the fact that while our achievements might never be alike, while our talents might never be alike, the sacrifice might still be. Pain and punishment are the only ways in which I could ever glimpse what it was like to be great. I will never play like Ledley King, never defend like Ledley King, never scale the peaks like Ledley King. But perhaps one day I might limp like him. There are still a handful of fixtures left this season: a few more salty Wednesday nights, a few more stiff Thursday mornings. Sport, writes David Foster Wallace, is humans' reconciliation with the fact of having a body. Perhaps for many of us, sporting retirement is our reconciliation with the fact that one day it will decay and decline and perish. Cherish yours. Or at least, what's left of it. Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.
Daily Mirror
06-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Mirror
Sven Goran Eriksson home price slashed by £400,000 as family cut price to pay off debts
The former England manager loved his lakeside home but it must be sold after he died with debts Sven-Göran Eriksson's £2 million lakeside home has still not sold nine months after his death so estate agents have been forced to drop the price by £400,000 in the hope it will attract a buyer. The late football manager 's mansion in Sunne in Sweden went on the market following his death from cancer in August last year at the age of 76. Björkefors Manor boasts seven bedrooms, six bathrooms, a high-end kitchen, reception rooms, a music room, a library along with a pool house, a sauna and a tennis court. The ex-England boss bought it back in 2002 for around £400,000 but, over the years, it has gained more in value. Following his death, his partner Yaniseth Alcides and his children Lina and Johann discovered that the soccer chief was more than £8million debt. As a result, the house was put on the market for around £2million and they were also forced to sell many of his personal trophies and cups. However, it seems interest in the property has been slow. And now the estate agent has decided to lower the price to around £1.6million in the hope someone will now buy it. New photos of the mansion are being taken too in the hope it will bring more interest. Real estate broker Henrik Flinta from Sotheby's International Realty said: 'The problem is that it is far too expensive for many. It was a very high price for being in Värmland. 'There are certainly many Värmlanders who want Björkefors. The problem is that it's far too expensive for many. It was a very high price for being in Värmland. There are many who want it, but they don't have the money. We have had a few viewings, but have not reached our goal. Now we hope for renewed interest.' Sven's family unfortunately learned on his death that the former England manager owed a total of £8.64 million (118 million Swedish Krona), and had assets of £4.8m, leaving his estate with a hefty deficit. The largest single share in the new figures was tax debts in the UK, totalling £7.25 million. In 2011 Eriksson went to court, after one of his financial advisors Samir Khan allegedly accepted 'unlimited access' to Sven's wealth and proceeded to use his money in dubious investments, including property schemes. Sven ended up £10 million in debt. In the Prime documentary 'Sven' made shortly before his death, Sven looked back and said: "One day, I phoned the bank and asked them to do a transfer, and they said, you don't have any cash. I said 'what's that?'." He added: "Stupid, not as stupid as him, but still stupid. "My family, they were destroyed. And I said, 'Well, come on, I'll earn more money then'." His son and daughter were also seen speaking about what happened. Sven's daughter Lina said: "Dad is really good in a lot of areas in life, but a lot of the time I wish that he had had a really good mentor." His son Johan added: "Definitely worried sometimes that he could be a bit more careful." Sven himself delivered his own poignant goodbye message in the Prime Video film. Sven said: "I had a good life. I think we are all scared of the day when we die, but life is about death as well. You have to learn to accept it for what it is. "Hopefully at the end people will say yeah he was a good man, but everyone will not say that. "I hope you will remember me as a positive guy trying to do everything he could do. "Don't be sorry, smile. Thank you for everything, coaches, players, the crowds, it's been fantastic. Take care of yourself and take care of your life. And live it. Bye."
