On 9th February 2021, Rail Minister Chris Heaton-Harris and Innovate UK launched the 2021 First of a Kind (FOAK) competition, a platform that invites innovators and inventors to put forward cutting-edge ideas to improve passenger experience and decarbonise the rail network.
FOAK is now entering its fifth round and is aiming to promote innovations that make the railway network cleaner, greener and more passenger friendly. To date, the competition has seen the Department for Transport (DfT) and Innovate UK invest around £25 million. Previous investment has supported the UK’s first hydrogen train, live seat rebooking and technology to remove age-old challenge of ‘leaves on the line’.
The deadline for organisations to bid for funding is 10th March 2021
Stockton Borough Council is planning to demolish half of its town centre high street, replacing the Castlegate Shopping Centre with a new £37m riverside park alongside the River Tees. Under the proposals, the 1970s building will be demolished and replaced with an urban park three times the size of Trafalgar Square. The plans also include a new council headquarters at the southern end of the high street.
The scheme is to be funded by £20m from Tees Valley Combined Authority and £16.5m from the government's Future High Streets Fund; a number of retailers have already agreed to relocate. If the plans are approved, the shopping centre would be demolished in 2022 and the new park open by 2025.
Research in 2020 found that there were approximately 50,000 fewer shops on the country's high streets than a decade ago. Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Centre for Retail Research said the decline had left even larger retailers struggling. In recent years, Stockton’s Debenhams and Marks and Spencer shops have closed.
InHS2’s second stage has been given the go ahead, with assent given earlier on in the month.
Phase 2a will link the Midlands (where Phase 1 ends) to Crewe, a major rail interchange in Cheshire, creating direct links to many major town in the North and Scotland including Liverpool, Manchester, Glasgow and Carlisle.
Environmental works can start immediately, with construction likely to start from 2024.
Increasing sustainable urban development requires up to date data and digital systems. Our Head of Geospatial says this must start with a radical transformation.
All you need to know about green hydrogen and its role in decarbonising the UK’s heavily polluting sectors.
How is the commercial property market? Is the Oxford-Cambridge Arc harming or aiding housing delivery? Find out in our spring webinars.
Our Energy team will be speaking at the Low Carbon Agriculture Show, with talks on large-scale solar and valuing energy assets.
