Arch competitors: Campaigners provide their petition opposing the sell-off. Photo: Sarah Ainslie Countless signatures were delivered to the Department for Transport yesterday in support of companies running out of Hackney’s railway arches.The Guardians of the Arches is a national project group, which began as a renters’collective in this district, opposing the prepared over-₤ 1 billion sell-off of Network Rail’s residential or commercial property portfolio.The group argues such a relocation threatens the futures of small organisations housed in train arches throughout the country, and having actually held a conference in Parliament to plead their case on 12 June, the Guardians provided a petition with nearly 7,000 signatures to the Department of Transport.Local businessman Ben MacKinnon, who runs the E5 Bakehouse in a railway arch near London Fields station, stated:”Chris Grayling [the Secretary of State for Transportation] should stop the sale and think about community or city government ownership of the arches.” The property can supply important income to the government or local communities for centuries, rather of making a fast buck now to plug a financing hole. “Not only that, however the potential owners will have a monopoly over the arches, often the just large, industrial area available in numerous areas, and for this reason can destroy businesses by hiking up leas.” Flour power: Ben MacKinnon, founder of E5 Bakehouse. Photograph: E5 Bakehouse Network Rail, which owns, operates and develops Britain’s rail facilities, is 70 percent moneyed by network grants from the Department for Transport and Transportation Scotland. A quarter of its income comes from track charges to train operators, with the staying 5 percent originating from its nationwide residential or commercial property and station retail portfolio of over 8,200 properties.The company revealed at the end of 2017 the sale of its commercial residential or commercial property business, declaring this would permit it to “focus on its core organisation of enhancing the traveler experience and running a safe, reliable and growing railway and aid money its upgrade strategy”. Network Rail presently rents out 5,500 arches throughout the nation, making it the UK’s biggest landowner for small companies, inning accordance with figures from the New Economics Foundation.Ahead of the sell-off, entrepreneur have reported spikes in their leas of between 250-350 percent, and campaigners are now hoping for a conference with Mr Grayling to go over how their futures could be affected by the present course.Will Brett, speaking on behalf of think-tank the New Economics Structure, which supports the project , said:”Time is running out for businesses based in arches. If this sale goes through, they will be left defenceless against whatever prepares the new owner may have for the portfolio.”If the government truly values small company, it needs to pause this sale and satisfy the Guardians of the Arches to discuss a more sustainable future.”A spokesperson for the Department of Transport informed the Resident it has no strategies to fulfill with the campaign group following the shipment of the petition.You can find a link to the project group’s letter here Update: this short article was modified at 10:14 on Monday 2 July 2018 to consist of an action fromthe Department of Transport.Real news stories do not come cheap.The Hackney Citizen is the district’s only independent paper, and is now in its tenth year.Our hard-hitting journalism has actually revealed fire security failures in tower blocks, exposed plans to criminalise rough sleepers , exposed dodgy letting agents and reported on many otherconcerns of publicissue. We’ve always been totally complimentary in print and online, but marketing revenues are falling.That’s why we’re requesting your help.Hackney Person’s high quality journalism is produced by a small team on a small spending plan, so we’re asking you to make a monthly contribution to fund our work, making it possible for the paper to make it through and grow. Assistance the Hackney Citizen from just ₤ 2 per month. Can you spare ₤ 4 a month or more? Get the paper provided directto your door monthly!(UK only ) from http://taxi.nearme.host/advocates-battling-train-arches-sell-off-deliver-petition-to-transport-secretary/
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Rail industry stopped working passengers over brand-new timetable Transportation Secretary states7/28/2018 The rail market has “stopped working the guests it serves” following the implementation of a new timetable, the Transport Secretary said.There have been” entirely unacceptable levels of interruption “on Northern and Govia Thameslink Railway( GTR)services considering that departure times were rescheduled on May 20, according to Chris Grayling.In two letters to MPs, Mr Grayling explained how he is”frustrated “that exactly what need to have been a”great news story “about the intro of brand-new services and broadened capacity has had “such a poor start”. Former Tory minister Grant Shapps said the Great Northern Railway service through his Welwyn Hatfield constituency in Hertfordshire was “bloody undesirable”. He told Channel 4 News he had actually composed to Mr Grayling, asking him to strip the operator of its franchise immediately due to the fact that”they are not fit to run a train “. He said:” Exactly what they have actually made with this brand-new timetable is stripped away the services so they now take much longer to take a trip from Welwyn Garden City into London. ” They have actually eliminated the daytime services, so they have actually gone from three to two an hour, and after that they cannot even run that timetable with this lowered, poorer service, on time or indeed at all.”They definitely don’t be worthy of to be running this train line and I’m calling for the Transportation Secretary to eliminate their franchise right away rather of waiting. “Commuters are suffering their 2nd week of travel mayhem with the new timetable.On Tuesday some 14%of Northern services were cancelled, with a more 25%at least five minutes late.GTR saw 10%of trains cancelled and 14%delayed.The rail schedule is updated twice a year, but the newest upgrade has seven times more modifications than regular due to financial investment and a quote to make existing services more trusted. Mr Grayling composed to MPs about being’ annoyed ‘that exactly what ought to have been a ‘excellent news story’ about the introduction of brand-new services has actually had ‘such a bad start’ (Danny Lawson/PA) Mr Grayling composed: “We were mindful that there might be some disruption in the early days of any new timetable change of this size, however the scale of the problem has actually far outstripped any expectation.” The brand-new schedule was settled “much too late to allow appropriate logistical preparation” due to delayed Network Rail facilities works, Mr Grayling stated.In relation to Northern paths, the minister described that the failure to provide electrification to Bolton and Preston in time for the brand-new timetable had actually delayed the introduction of brand-new electrical trains.This suggested there was a scarcity of trains to cover the scheduled increase in services.He included that the way Network Rail produces timetables is “merely undesirable”. Mr Grayling divulged that he has actually bought Network Rail, Northern and GTR to use “whatever resources they require” to solve the situation.Both Network Rail and GTR apologised for the issues caused.Mark Carne, Network Rail’s president , said:”There is no doubt that the Might timetable was settled considerably later than typical for reasons that were both within and without our control.”The repercussions of that have been particularly hard for both Northern and GTR to take in. “But we are all firmly concentrated on fixing this issue as quickly as possible to give guests the reliable service they require and should have.” GTR primary executive Charles Horton included:”We constantly said that providing the most significant timetable modification in generations would be tough– but we are sorry that we have not been able to deliver the service that guests anticipate.” Postponed approval of the timetable resulted in an unforeseen have to substantially adjust our strategies and resources. “We completely comprehend that guests desire more certainty and are working really difficult to bring greater consistency to the timetable as soon as possible.” from http://taxi.nearme.host/rail-industry-stopped-working-passengers-over-brand-new-timetable-transportation-secretary-states/ Royal Air Force C17 Globemaster transport airplane are pictured in the early morning mist at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire. < The C-17 Globemaster III can rapid, strategic shipment of soldiers and all kinds of cargo to primary operating bases throughout the world, or straight to more momentary forward operating bases owing to its short field capability. The style of the aircraft permits it to perform high-angle, steep techniques at relatively slow speeds, therefore allowing it to run into little, austere airfields onto runways as brief as 3,500 feet long and only 90 feet large. < The aircraft can operate into and out of troublesome websites such as those surrounded by unwelcoming terrain or made difficult by adverse weather conditions. The fully-integrated, electronic flight-deck and the advanced cargo-handling systems enable a fundamental crew of only 2 pilots and one air loadmaster to operate the airplane. << br > On the ground, the aircraft can be kipped down a really little radius and its four Pratt & & Whitney engines are fully reversible, offering it the capability to manoeuvre into and out of restricted parking or freight-offload areas at undeveloped strips. This enables the C-17 to provide freight to small airfields with minimal parking space in a much shorter time, so increasing throughput where time on the ground is kept to a minimum. < The C-17 can carry 45,360 kgs of freight over 4,500 nautical miles whilst flying at heights in excess of 30,000 feet. Sourcehttp://www.mediastorehouse.com/armed-forces/raf/c17-globemaster-transport-aircraft-raf-brize-15227504.html from http://taxi.nearme.host/c17-globemaster-transportation-airplane-at-raf-brize-norton/ Edinburgh and the Lothians will deal with 3 days of heavy snow showers and transportation disturbance, inning accordance with the current Met Workplace data.Weather warnings have actually been put in location ahead of the arrival of the wintry weather condition front, dubbed the ‘Beast from the East’, which is set up to strike Scotland later tonight.Edinburgh and the Lothians are anticipated to be among the worst affected areas with a yellow weather warning turning to amber by Wednesday.An amber weather condition caution suggests much greater probability and seriousness than a yellow caution, as detailed by the Met Workplace’s own weather condition matrix.Snow showers are set to begin in the early hours of Tuesday, continuing on and off till Thursday.Wednesday is expected to bring the heaviest snowfalls and lowest temperature levels, which will practically definitely mean considerable transportation disruption across the region.Between 5-10 centimetres of snow could fall locally, with some locations experiencing snowfall of as much as 20 centimetres.The Met Office has actually released advice to those travelling by rail, air and roadway over the next couple of days, warning that hold-ups and cancellations are likely. Drivers are advised to take extreme care on the roads.Those in rural communities might discover themselves stranded and without power as the weather aggravates, while other services, such as smart phone services, might likewise be affected.Temperatures in specific areas of the country might dip as low as -11, matching those more typically experienced in northern Norway and Iceland.Alex Burkill at the Met Workplace stated:”There’s going to be snow on Tuesday, which shouldn’t cause a lot of problems as it will only be a centimetre or 2. Wednesday it’s going to be much heavier and more frequent.”We have an Amber caution for Edinburgh on Wednesday. There will a minimum of be 5-10 cm of snow locally, and it might reach as high as 20cm from the showers in the day.”It’s going to be freezing temperature levels anyhow, but when you factor in the cold wind it’s going to feel near -10 degrees even in the day. “Join our Facebook group Our Edinburgh to share images and news from and around the Capital Sourcehttps://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/our-region/edinburgh/edinburgh-faces-three-days-of-snow-and-transport-disruption-1-4696622 from http://taxi.nearme.host/edinburgh-faces-3-days-of-snow-and-transportation-interruption/ I always look forward to the arrival of the Leicestershire Historian, which is published annually by the Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society. Editor Joyce Lee ensures there’s always plenty of variety and to anyone interested in Leicestershire’s local history, it’s essential reading. Each year, it makes a bigger thump on the doormat, as it seems to increase in size with every edition. This year’s articles begin with a revealing item on Leicestershire’s First World War memorials. It’s written by local historian Elizabeth Blood and shows that the creation of a memorial wasn’t as straightforward a business as you might have thought. Sensitivities had to be taken into account and quite often there were differences of opinion as to where a memorial should be sited and what should go on it. Yet, once differences were overcome, over 180 memorials were erected in the city and county. Fortune telling was a popular pastime in Victorian and Edwardian England, even though it was not approved of by the authorities. It was also a way of earning a living and many a widow would set herself up with a pack of cards or a crystal ball. Cynthia Brown gives a characteristically entertaining and informative account of the practices and the pitfalls of the fortune tellers – and of their own fortunes when they fell foul of the law. I was interested to read that the Leicestershire town of Hinckley was a pioneer in council house building. Due to an acute housing shortage prior to the First World War, the local council unveiled, in January 1914, some of the first local authority homes in the Midlands. How this came about makes interesting reading by Paul Griffiths. Richard Graves has done a fine job in bringing to light a little-known chapter in the city’s history, by telling the heart-rending story of the evacuation to Leicester of the child refugees during the Spanish Civil War. The second and concluding part is published alongside an appreciation of Dr Richard and Dr Audrey Ellis, two of the leading figures in the story. Theatre posters and programmes, along with contemporary accounts from the Theatre Royal and the Royal Opera House, are used by J D Bennett to illustrate the occasions that Leicester audiences would have witnessed the great Victorian actor-manager, Henry Irving. Leicestershire-born John Parsons Cook was a likeable man who became a victim of William Palmer, the notorious “Rugeley Poisoner”. Cook’s death led to what became known as the ‘Trial of the Century’. David Howell investigates. A decade earlier, an accidental death on the Leicester to Swannington Railway, at Ratby, in 1844, came to play an important part in the early days of railway safety. Barry Kendall relates the events which led to significant safety improvements nationwide. The Victoria County History project for Charnwood (Charnwood Roots) involved the training of over 650 volunteers and Julie Attard tells how this was done and what it has achieved. Not so far from Charnwood lies Breedon-on-the-Hill and its ancient church houses some internationally-important early stone carvings. Bob Trubshaw presents an intriguing theory about one of them. Robin Jenkins’s compelling and remarkably well-illustrated account of the arrival of a night-time hospital train into First World War Leicester and Shirley Aucott’s detailed and revealing item on working class women and birth control, complete what can only be described as a really good read. For further details, contact 0116 252 5234 or see: Sourcehttp://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/history/veritable-annual-feast-county-history-883930 from http://taxi.nearme.host/a-veritable-yearly-banquet-of-county-history-has-shown-up/ Almost two-thirds of transport cops might not sign up with Cops Scotland after questionable merger7/27/2018 Almost two-thirds of British Transportation Authorities (BTP) personnel may not move to guarantee to protect the tasks, pay and pensions of railway policing officers and personnel in Scotland, and, together with Police Scotland, we satisfied with the BTP Federation in mid-December for three days to discuss terms of service, and this crucial work will continue. “The integration of train policing into Police Scotland, as approved by the Parliament in June 2017, will supply a single command structure with smooth access to larger assistance facilities and specialist resources of the 2nd largest cops service in the UK, supplying a boosted service to the rail market and taking a trip public.” Learn moreLeading newspaper article todaySourcehttp://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/almost-two-thirds-transport-cops-11790246 from http://taxi.nearme.host/almost-two-thirds-of-transport-cops-might-not-sign-up-with-cops-scotland-after-questionable-merger/ Seriously-ill pensioners warning to others after crooks steal 20k from him in elaborate scam7/27/2018 A pensioner has lost £20,000 to crooks who targeted him in an elaborate scam. John Sutherington, 69, was stung when he handed over his bank details to callers claiming to be from Virgin Media and Santander. The Charnwood borough councillor has spoken out about his ordeal in the hope others will not be tricked in the way he has. Coun Sutherington, from Anstey, said he received an unsolicited call from a ‘Jason Ry’ claiming to be a Virgin Media employee. John, who was diagnosed with Severe Aplastic Anaemia in 2013, underwent a bone marrow transfusion and is still receiving regular medical treatment, said: “I got the call on a Saturday morning. Normally I’d just put the phone down but I had actually been thinking about trying to get my Virgin Media bill down as it was quite dear. “His timing was perfect. I actually thought I’d been lucky. “He said he could offer me a deal for pensioners on a fixed income. “I did exactly what I know I should not have done – I gave him my sort code and account number so he could change my direct debit.” The grandfather said he later had a call from a ‘Michael Earl’ who claimed to be from Santander and told him his account had been hijacked. John said: “The alarm bells started to ring. I said I couldn’t get down to the bank because of my poor health. “This Michael said he would help me change my bank account. A new account was set up and a significant amount of my money was transferred into it – only it wasn’t my account, it was the fraudster’s. “When I realised what had happened what a prat I felt – and still do. “I can just picture the guy sitting at a desk watching my money enter his account and thinking ‘I’ve got another silly old fool’.” John added: “It has taken me a very long time to build up £20,000 of savings and now it’s gone – just like that. “To be honest I didn’t really think of it as my money. It was my kids’ money. It was theirs and I’ve gone and lost it.” The fraud has been reported to the police, Santander and Virgin Media. It has been investigated but the criminals have not been found. John’s efforts to try and recoup some of the money from Santander have failed. He said: “I’m pretty upset about that but I’m also upset with myself that I got taken in. “I could have kept quiet about what happened to me. “But these criminals will be going after others to exploit and if people know what has happened to me so they are more careful than I was. “This should be a warning to all. “Never give out details like I did however persuasive a caller is. “Genuine banks and companies do not make calls like this. I didn’t know that then – to my cost. “I do now.” He added: “Any suspicious calls, put the phone down and ring them back yourselves on a different phone. “Do not give out personal details unless you are certain the caller is genuine. “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. “Keep your computer regularly updated with protection software, such as Trusteer Rapport. “Register with the Telephone Preference Service who will block all unauthorised calls Report any suspicious activity to companies, Action Fraud and trading standards. “We must do more to raise awareness and ask why these big companies aren’t doing more to stop vulnerable people being robbed and exploited.” The Mercury has contacted Virgin Media for a comment. Santander said it could not discuss the specifics of John’s case but a spokesman said: “ Santander invests significant resource each year to alert customers to scams through ongoing communications. “We offer tips and advice to customers for staying safe on our online security centre , send customers advice and have online warnings. “Our branch network is committed to educating and supporting customers in understanding scams and we support industry initiatives such as Take Five and Banking Protocol. “Throughout our scam awareness communications we make it clear that we will never contact customers by phone, email or SMS to ask them to disclose their One Time Passcode, transfer funds or tell us their passwords or personal details. “We are currently working very closely with all the major Telecomms Companies to understand improvements that can be made around text messaging. We are committed to delivering additional and enhanced solutions to support mobile banking.” How to protect yourself from scamsSourcehttps://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/leicester-news/seriously-ill-pensioners-warning-others-1559543 from http://taxi.nearme.host/seriously-ill-pensioners-warning-to-others-after-crooks-steal-20k-from-him-in-elaborate-scam/ Strike could cause weeks of disruption for students at Leicester and Loughborough universities7/26/2018 Students at Leicester and Loughborough universities face weeks of disturbance as strike action gets underway on Thursday.Some 2 Week of planned walk outs will occur across this month and next by members of the Universities and College Union (UCU), in a row over pensions.The very first wave of action starts on Thursday and stretches across the weekend to Wednesday, February 28. More action is intended on March 5,6,7,8 prior to resuming on Monday, March 12, for the remainder of the week.More than 60 universities throughout the UK will be hit by the go out which will see lectures and seminars cancelled, along with tutorials and other scheduled events, according to a Leicester University spokesman.He added:” Our primary focus throughout this period of disturbance is to support our trainees and guarantee that their studies are unaffected.”We will be upgrading trainees whenever there is more details about the circumstance.”Download the Leicester Mercury app We have actually simply released our very own app for Android and Apple gadgets which can be customized to provide the news and sport that you’re interested in.We’ve also got Facebook groups for traffic and travel, breaking news and parenting. Join by clicking the links Talks in between UCU and the companies ‘representative Universities UK(UUK)ended without contract on UUK’s plans to transform the scheme.The disagreement centres on UUK’s proposals to end the defined benefit aspect of the Universities Superannuation (USS )pension plan. UCU says this would leave a common speaker nearly ₤ 10,000 a year even worse off in retirement than under the existing set-up. In addition to the leave, UCU members will also “work to agreement”, meaning they will refuse to work overtime, set extra work or carry out voluntary duties.A spokesperson for< a href=https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/all-about/loughborough-university > Loughborough University stated:”It is unclear at present what effect the commercial action will have on us.”While there is likely to be some disruption to typical activity, it is our objective for the school to run as near to typical as possible and we are doing whatever we can to ensure that the disturbance to our students is kept to a minimum.”The action is being supported by the National Union of Trainees and Leicester Trainees Union.Leicester Trainees Union is motivating its members to” go to picket lines to show assistance on strike days” and is hosting a series of teach-outs where academics share their knowledge and abilities with all who are interested.A spokesperson for Leicester UCU said:”The changes to pensions being forced on our staff are insulting. “He added:”Staff are being paid less than ever, and this change to their pensions is disgraceful; it’s final straw for demoralised personnel. “The future of our pensions is being bet with.” Loughborough Vice-Chancellor Professor Robert Allison.Last month Professor Robert Allison, vice chancellor of Loughborough University, wrote to the UUK, criticising its pension reform plans, mentioning it should, if possible,”maintain an active specified advantage scheme”. A spokesperson for Universities UK stated:”The USS pension plan has a deficit of ₤ 6.1 billion and the cost of future pensions advantages has actually increased by one 3rd given that 2014.”To maintain current advantages total contributions would have to increase by around ₤ 1 billion every year.” We hope that employees identify that changes are required to put the plan on a protected footing, which the proposed strike action will just serve to unjustly disrupt students’education.” Sourcehttps://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/leicester-news/strike-could-cause-weeks-disruption-1235583 from http://taxi.nearme.host/strike-could-cause-weeks-of-disruption-for-students-at-leicester-and-loughborough-universities/ |
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