Trying to understand you here - are you saying that Oxford City Centre is like Melksham centre, some way from he station? It's about a 10 minute walk.

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Mayors to get powers to overrule local councils on planning decisions

Mayors across England will be given new powers to overrule local councils on some planning decisions.

The change would apply to proposals with more than 150 homes, more than 15,000 square metres of commercial space or buildings over 30 metres.

Mayors in 13 areas including Manchester, Liverpool, the West of England and the West Midlands will gain similar powers to Sir Sadiq Khan in London, who is already able to "call in" planning decisions.

Housing minister Matthew Pennycook said the powers were an "essential part of the toolkit that mayors need to effectively deliver new homes and regeneration".

The Conservatives questioned whether it was right for councils to lose the "ability to make planning decisions in their own communities".

The powers will also be available to mayors in the Combined Authorities in North East England, South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, York and North Yorkshire, Hull and East Yorkshire, Greater Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, East Midlands, and Tees Valley.

Housebuilding has fallen in London in recent years, but Pennycook insisted the "call in" powers had helped the mayor "unblock strategic growth sites" in the capital.

In the 2024 general election, the Labour government promised to build 1.5 million homes in England by the end of the decade but housebuilders have warned the target could be missed.

Pennycook said the government was "absolutely determined to stick with that ambition".  He acknowledged the target was "really stretching" but said nearly 180,000 children were in temporary accommodation and "any smaller target wouldn't be commensurate with the scale of the challenge".

In addition to gaining the new "call-in" powers, mayors are set to be able to grant "up-front permission", which the government says will allow building to begin "without a developer having to apply".

A consultation on how the powers will work is due to be published next week.

The government has sought to stress that local councils will continue to decide the majority of applications and that all decisions must still follow planning rules.  It has also said mayors will get a "bigger say" over how housing funding is spent in their area, with the government directing national agency Homes England to focus on local mayors' priorities.

New Prime Minister Andy Burnham, who served as mayor for Greater Manchester for nearly a decade, has repeatedly expressed his desire to transfer more powers to local mayors.  "Challenge does need to be made to local decision-making and actually it cuts both ways," he told the Sunday Times.  "Sometimes it's the other way round. It's the local authority putting forward something that's unacceptable in terms of the impact on the community. It's a two-way street."

Last month, Burnham promised to give all mayors a share of income tax revenue, saying he wanted to "bring power home" to "every postcode".  Earlier this week, he announced a secondment programme to send high-performing civil servants to work in mayoral offices.

The approach has faced criticism from some in his own party and the Liberal Democrats, who fear it could create a "two-tier system" that discriminates against those areas that do not have an elected mayor.

Responding to the new powers for mayors, Sir James Cleverly, the shadow housing secretary, said the government was "simultaneously stripping councils across the country of their ability to make planning decisions in their own communities, while making it easier to build traveller sites against local wishes".

Sir James also suggested Labour mayors had failed to meet housing targets, adding: "The Conservatives are the only party with a plan to get Britain building and moving again with our plan to scrap stamp duty on the family home."

Gideon Amos, the Liberal Democrat housing and planning spokesperson, said "taking powers away from communities and local councillors is taking powers away from local people.  Instead of silencing residents and handing mayors a blank cheque, the government should be empowering local councils with the resources to deliver genuinely affordable homes alongside the infrastructure to support them," he added.

Mothin Ali, deputy leader of the Greens, said "more powers for mayors to direct local councils" was "more tinkering from the Labour government when local authorities continue to be forced by government into austerity budgets".

Reform UK accused Labour of "centralisation in disguise", saying: "Westminster is stretching its tentacles outward instead of giving real power, resources and decision-making capabilities to devolved authorities."

Not to weigh in on the criticism... but to ask why "XC control" has become vital to the running of trains? Isn't the signalling and NR control function capable of meeting all the operational and safety requirements?

Also learned - somewhat though not sharing more about fellow passengers arriving into Melksham / taxi sharing - travelling from Oxford (that flow again!) on personal / family business, and headed for a location in Melksham that's a significant walk from the station there.

Still ongoing, no reopening date yet available.

If this had been GWR then I'm sure some of our regular posters would have quite rightly been all over it.  Strange that it's only generated a handful of replies.

apart from the normal timetable for IET's,are they passed on other routes,

like beyond Westbury to Portsmouth and Brighton.

Milford haven and Pembroke

Worcester heading North   

Leaving aside some that will travel earlier, it's a couple of buses/coaches. Hopefully booked them as soon as the staff shortage was noted

The unlikely vineyard inside a London railway station


The vines are just metres from rail station platforms and passing trains - Image © BBC News

There are few places you would expect to stumble across a vineyard in inner London and a sunny railway embankment in south London is probably not high on the list.

Yet just metres from the tracks at Denmark Hill station, a small group of volunteers is growing grapes to turn into wine.

The aptly named Château Denmark Hill Station vineyard is the work of Camberwell Society members Nick Mair and Tony Coleman, who saw a neglected patch of land as a place with the potential for making wine.

"We had this beautiful, south-facing slope covered in brambles, bindweed and stuff like that," says Tony. "And Nick said 'this could be a vineyard'. And we thought, 'wow, wouldn't that be an amazing thing to do?'"

(BBC article continues)

This is the Kylerhea to Glenelg ferry, which I also have fond memories of. The location is stunning, high mountains all around and much wildlife in the turbulent waters. The ferry operation is extraordinary to watch as they turn the turntable around in midstream.

To reach it involves climbing over 1,000 feet up narrow mountain passes on both sides. I cycled this route and it was wonderful, as was the b&b in Glenelg which had one of the most helpful landladies I have ever met. From Glenelg there is a 10 mile dead-end road down the loch (well definitely up and down and running roughly parallel with the loch), which reaches a tiny hamlet in the middle of nowhere, where red deer graze on the beach and the very last terraced house does teas. At one point this road crosses a large scree slope on a 3,000 feet mountainside. Absolutely beautiful and remote.

ALL Crosscountry services suspended [removed from timetable] due to a power failure at their control centre.

Several additional calls at Tiverton Parkway by GWR to cover.

09:14 Plymouth to London Paddington due 12:27

09:14 Plymouth to London Paddington due 12:27 will call additionally at Tiverton Parkway.
This is due to the train making extra stops because of service disruption.

I'm on the 18:18 Paddington to Swansea train and was planning to change into the train GWR have just cancelled at Swindon.  No indication on Journeycheck of alternative arrangements and no staff have passed through to ask (as yet). Will ne interesting to see what happens.

Mayors to get powers to overrule local councils on planning decisions

Mayors across England will be given new powers to overrule local councils on some planning decisions.

The change would apply to proposals with more than 150 homes, more than 15,000 square metres of commercial space or buildings over 30 metres.

Mayors in 13 areas including Manchester, Liverpool, the West of England and the West Midlands will gain similar powers to Sir Sadiq Khan in London, who is already able to "call in" planning decisions.

Housing minister Matthew Pennycook said the powers were an "essential part of the toolkit that mayors need to effectively deliver new homes and regeneration".

The Conservatives questioned whether it was right for councils to lose the "ability to make planning decisions in their own communities".

The powers will also be available to mayors in the Combined Authorities in North East England, South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, York and North Yorkshire, Hull and East Yorkshire, Greater Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, East Midlands, and Tees Valley.

Housebuilding has fallen in London in recent years, but Pennycook insisted the "call in" powers had helped the mayor "unblock strategic growth sites" in the capital.

In the 2024 general election, the Labour government promised to build 1.5 million homes in England by the end of the decade but housebuilders have warned the target could be missed.

Pennycook said the government was "absolutely determined to stick with that ambition".  He acknowledged the target was "really stretching" but said nearly 180,000 children were in temporary accommodation and "any smaller target wouldn't be commensurate with the scale of the challenge".

In addition to gaining the new "call-in" powers, mayors are set to be able to grant "up-front permission", which the government says will allow building to begin "without a developer having to apply".

A consultation on how the powers will work is due to be published next week.

The government has sought to stress that local councils will continue to decide the majority of applications and that all decisions must still follow planning rules.  It has also said mayors will get a "bigger say" over how housing funding is spent in their area, with the government directing national agency Homes England to focus on local mayors' priorities.

New Prime Minister Andy Burnham, who served as mayor for Greater Manchester for nearly a decade, has repeatedly expressed his desire to transfer more powers to local mayors.  "Challenge does need to be made to local decision-making and actually it cuts both ways," he told the Sunday Times.  "Sometimes it's the other way round. It's the local authority putting forward something that's unacceptable in terms of the impact on the community. It's a two-way street."

Last month, Burnham promised to give all mayors a share of income tax revenue, saying he wanted to "bring power home" to "every postcode".  Earlier this week, he announced a secondment programme to send high-performing civil servants to work in mayoral offices.

The approach has faced criticism from some in his own party and the Liberal Democrats, who fear it could create a "two-tier system" that discriminates against those areas that do not have an elected mayor.

Responding to the new powers for mayors, Sir James Cleverly, the shadow housing secretary, said the government was "simultaneously stripping councils across the country of their ability to make planning decisions in their own communities, while making it easier to build traveller sites against local wishes".

Sir James also suggested Labour mayors had failed to meet housing targets, adding: "The Conservatives are the only party with a plan to get Britain building and moving again with our plan to scrap stamp duty on the family home."

Gideon Amos, the Liberal Democrat housing and planning spokesperson, said "taking powers away from communities and local councillors is taking powers away from local people.  Instead of silencing residents and handing mayors a blank cheque, the government should be empowering local councils with the resources to deliver genuinely affordable homes alongside the infrastructure to support them," he added.

Mothin Ali, deputy leader of the Greens, said "more powers for mayors to direct local councils" was "more tinkering from the Labour government when local authorities continue to be forced by government into austerity budgets".

Reform UK accused Labour of "centralisation in disguise", saying: "Westminster is stretching its tentacles outward instead of giving real power, resources and decision-making capabilities to devolved authorities."