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Daily Record
14-07-2025
- Business
- Daily Record
West Lothian struggles to meet housing demand despite new builds
The county comes in third place behind neighbour authorities for the number of new houses built since the turn of the century. West Lothian is still struggling to tackle its housing waiting list, despite building more new houses than almost every other Scottish local authority. The county comes in third place behind neighbour authorities for the number of new houses built since the turn of the century. But while a quarter of the more than 1,000 new homes built in West Lothian in 2024 were classed as affordable, it comes nowhere near addressing the 11,000 plus waiting list. And elsewhere there are warnings that such concentrated development around the capital cannot continue without substantial infrastructure investment by Holyrood. Midlothian's Labour group leader last week said his council would have to put up the 'full' signs. New starts on housebuilding fell across Scotland to their lowest since 2012, according to figures released last month. The fall comes despite the Scottish Government calling a national housing emergency in 2024, while at least a dozen councils have also called their own emergencies. West Lothian far outstrips the national housing completion figures. Between 2001 and 2023, the number of homes in the county has increased by 28%. This is the third highest percentage change out of the 32 council areas in Scotland and a more rapid change than for Scotland as a whole, which grew by 17.%. Only East Lothian and Midlothian have seen more new homes built. In the last five years nearly 5,000 new homes have been built in West Lothian, which has substantially widened choices. Since 2018, the average annual delivery rate in West Lothian has risen from 875 to 997 per annum. In 2024, the all-tenure house building completion figure for West Lothian was 1088 homes of which 275, or 25% were 'affordable'. A West Lothian Council spokesperson said: 'The delivery of new social housing remains an ongoing commitment from the council and the development of new units is progressing well across a number of locations in West Lothian. 'Since 2022, 1,208 homes have been completed in the affordable housing programme by the council and Registered Social Landlords (RSLs) in West Lothian. 'All types of social housing in West Lothian, whether council or RSL, are currently in very high demand and as a result, anyone considering applying for social housing in West Lothian is strongly encouraged to ensure that they register not just with the council, but with all Registered Social Landlords who operate in West Lothian.' Access to Edinburgh has helped grow the demands for housing in the neighbouring authorities, putting pressure on all three councils in the number of planning applications and the demand for sites. While 25% of all new development must be ' affordable' the bulk of homes being green-lit are much more expensive, rather than purely social housing, leaving West Lothian with a growing housing list and limited cash resources to provide more social housing. The Local Democracy Reporting Service revealed last week concerns in Midlothian about the concentration of development. Former council leader Derek Milligan, who is the Labour group leader, says the county cannot continue to provide housing sites to meet government targets without more investment. Speaking after Midlothian council's planning committee approved the addition of new sites onto a land shortlist last month, Councillor Milligan who spoke out against the additional housing, said it was not possible to keep building without improvements to roads and services. He said: 'If we carry on like this Midlothian is going to be full'. Housing projections for the future in West Lothian schedule another 12,000 homes in the county by the end of the next decade. A spokesperson told the LDRS: 'The council has begun the process of preparing a new Local Development Plan for West Lothian - LDP2. 'The new plan will set out planning policies and proposals for the use and development of land including setting an ambitious target to deliver an additional 12,500 new homes across West Lothian a minimum of 25% of which will be affordable.'
The Guardian
15-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
‘We're so big we could do a gig on the moon': tribute acts on fame, money and what it takes to make it
Pink Floyd, Queen, AC/DC and, of course, Elvis play every weekend around Australia, often to sell-out crowds. Sure, they might not be the real thing – but they're close enough. Tribute acts – the artists who make their living performing covers of well-known musicians – are not new. But in the past few years they've surged in popularity – even while Australia's live music industry has struggled – as audiences embrace nostalgia more than ever before. RSLs and regional towns might be the stomping ground for tribute acts but today the best in the business can charge more than $100 a ticket. So who are some of the biggest tribute acts in Australia, and what drives them? We meet four to find out. Bjorn Again, the world's biggest Abba tribute act, have played gigs most artists only ever dream of. They've done Glastonbury three times and graced hallowed venues such as Wembley Stadium and the Sydney Opera House. They perform 300 and 400 times a year, and have toured about 120 countries. But as co-founder John Tyrell sees it, the truest sign of the group's success is the celebrites they attract. 'Dave Grohl is our biggest fan,' he says. 'Rowan Atkinson has booked us for his parties. JK Rowling's been to a gig. Russell Crowe booked us for his wedding. We've played Money, Money, Money to Bill Gates at a Microsoft function in LA – I could just go on and on.' To meet the level of demand, Bjorn Again has more than one line-up on staff to play the Swedish superstars and it operates offices in London and Melbourne. Shows sell out quickly. As Tyrell puts it: 'We could do a gig on the moon.' Sign up for the fun stuff with our rundown of must-reads, pop culture and tips for the weekend, every Saturday morning But this global success story wasn't born – or, ahem, Bjorn – out of a great love for Abba's music. In 1988, Tyrell and his friend Rod Stephen were playing in bands around Melbourne. But when their bands failed to take off, Stephen had the idea for an Abba cover act: he thought it would be funny and something different from other gigs on the market – and a way to meet all the girls they'd have to audition. 'I said, 'I don't really like Abba,'' Tyrell remembers. 'And he said, 'I don't either, but that's not the point.'' They couldn't have imagined they'd still be doing it more than 35 years later. Tyrell stopped playing in the band 10 years ago and now works behind the scenes, but he still loves the job because 'you just never know who will ring up wanting us for a gig'. A case in point is their most famous – or infamous – fan: Vladimir Putin, who booked the group for a private show in Moscow in 2009. The gig was booked through their UK office, so Tyrell didn't learn about it until after the fact – when he woke up to 80 missed calls from journalists. It was a different time in geopolitics then, he says. 'I don't think he had invaded anywhere [yet].' But recent events have somewhat soured that momentous booking: 'Since the Ukraine thing, we've taken it off our website.' Despite Bjorn Again's lucrative global success, Tyrell says it's enjoyment of the job that keeps him going. 'We are not driven by money,' he says. 'We were just doing it for fun. But it's been insanely successful.' Kelly O'Brien admits she looks 'nothing like Dolly Parton'. It's true – out of costume, the only trace of the Australian-born, UK-based performer's alter ego is her long acrylic nails. That, and her height – she's exactly five feet, just like the real Dolly. But for the past 18 years, O'Brien has been doing a bang-up job of looking like Parton when she takes to the stage in The Dolly Show. It hasn't come easy – as Parton once famously said, it takes a lot of money to look this cheap. When O'Brien first decided to become a Dolly Parton tribute act in 2007, she took out a £10,000 loan to buy 'big prosthetic boobs', wigs, makeup, nails, costumes and custom-made corsets. It takes two hours to doll up, and every show has six costume changes, which, done hastily on stage, are 'like two pigs fighting under a blanket'. Off stage, O'Brien adheres to a strict ketogenic diet to stay as tiny as the real Parton. The commitment has paid off: O'Brien 'now gets paid extremely well for what I do' and she was recently chosen by the real Dolly Parton to be one of 15 finalists in contention to play the singer in a Broadway show about her life. O'Brien's road to Dolly began many years ago. A gifted singer, by age 12 she had begun entering country music competitions in her home state of South Australia. It wasn't that she was particularly enamoured with the genre, she just liked the attention and the chance to win easy money. For one competition, she dressed up as Parton 'and everyone lost their minds', which sealed her future. She now plays between 75 and 100 gigs a year. But her costume wasn't the only thing O'Brien had to master. When she started out, she spent three months studying every video of Parton she could find so she could convincingly imitate the star's mannerisms. And the work is never done. 'She's written more than 3,000 songs – I'm always learning another one,' O'Brien says. 'I've learned to play the guitar with these nails; the banjo, the harmonica, the tambourine. The stories, the anecdotes, the Dolly-isms, the way she moves … I studied her laugh on repeat over and over, just so I have it right. I want people to think when I'm on stage – as they do – that I'm her.' Her shows attract Dolly diehards of all kinds. As well as the paycheque, what keeps O'Brien coming back is the feedback she gets from audiences – such as the woman who told her she'd experienced a miscarriage, but listening to her performance of Light of a Clear Blue Morning made her feel, for the first time, that everything would be OK. Sign up to Saved for Later Catch up on the fun stuff with Guardian Australia's culture and lifestyle rundown of pop culture, trends and tips after newsletter promotion 'When the world is so bonkers and you can stand up there for two hours … and everyone leaves feeling so good, that's the most amazing feeling,' O'Brien says. 'It's just the best job in the world.' The Dolly Show is now touring the UK. The Australian Bee Gees Show has racked up more than 10,000 gigs since it began. The group performs six shows a week in Las Vegas and has four full line-ups, allowing them to play in different parts of the world at the same time. 'We've franchised, if you like,' says Michael Clift, the man behind this very global operation. Clift and his bandmates came up with the idea to put a Bee Gees cover act together in 1996 to bring in extra money while they worked on original music. Back then, tribute acts were few and far between – and Bee Gees fans were 'fairly standoffish', unsure if Clift and co were mocking their beloved heroes. Before the internet, it was a lot harder to research the ins and outs of an act, or even see them perform. Clift would drive to record stores and secondhand shops around Melbourne to rustle together the band's back catalogue. But he was determined. A great tribute act has to capture the essence of what fans love about an artist, he says – not just the music but the 'finer details' of the group's mannerisms, outfits and speech. 'We went to huge lengths to look like the Bee Gees – prosthetic teeth, wigs, makeup, you name it,' Clift says. 'To me, it was all about getting those details right. If you're watching Kurt Russell playing Elvis, you don't want to be thinking all night [if] it's Kurt Russell you're watching. You need to be able to suspend your disbelief.' It took a lot of work and time, but 'it definitely paid off', Clift says. They convinced a Vegas casino to give them a residency and 14 years later proudly count themselves as part of what they estimate is the 5% of tribute acts who work full-time. But despite Clift's success, the most dangerous thing a tribute act can do is get comfortable, he says: 'We've been doing it for nearly 30 years. But a new [act] could pop up tomorrow that's beautifully produced and full of talented people. You don't have any rights, you're playing someone else's music … so if someone else starts doing it better, you have to let it go.' The Australian Bee Gees Show is touring the US and Australia this year There are at least seven Fleetwood Mac tribute acts in Australia but Dreams, who ticked off 76 shows last calendar year, is perhaps the busiest. Behind the operation is Wayne Daniels, a longtime musician who founded the act in 2016. An old friend, who then managed a golf club, needed a show for Sunday afternoons at the venue and asked Daniels to find something to fill the slot. He slapped together a Fleetwood Mac cover show – and enjoyed the experience so much that he decided to keep doing it. 'I knew there were quite a few other Fleetwood Mac cover bands around, but I really wanted to do it for myself because Rumours is in my blood,' he says, referring to one of the band's most successful albums. Not everyone was convinced. 'People were saying, 'A lot of people are doing [Fleetwood Mac covers shows] – are you sure you want to do that? How popular can it be?' Daniels says, down the line from Redcliffe Entertainment Centre, where his band is getting ready to play to a sold-out crowd of 400. 'And look where we are today.' Women have been key to the show's success. They love Stevie Nicks and drive ticket sales. That's why it's crucial they have a performer on stage who looks like the real deal. Daniels, who serves as the group's musical director but also steps into the role of Lindsey Buckingham, admits he looks nothing like the real Lindsey. 'But that doesn't matter – I can be the one who doesn't look like him, because I started the band,' he says. 'And in all honesty, when we're performing, all eyes are on the girls.' Dreams Show now has its own fans, the most devoted of whom have seen the show '10 to 15 times', Daniels says. 'They come again and again and again, and they bring back their shirts for us to sign'. Not Fleetwood Mac shirts – Dreams Show shirts. (The band also sell hats and, because 'we are in Australia', stubby coolers.) Despite the number of Fleetwood Mac tribute acts out there, Daniels isn't fazed by the competition. 'Good luck to them,' he says. 'Whatever keeps the music alive is a good thing.' The Dreams Fleetwood Mac and Stevie Nicks Show is playing around Australia for the rest of the year
The Independent
07-06-2025
- Science
- The Independent
Mystery of the dark markings on Mars could finally be solved
Mysterious dark streaks on Mars, observed since the 1970s, are likely due to wind and dust activity rather than water, according to new research. Researchers used a machine learning algorithm to analyze 500,000 streaks from over 86,000 NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter images, creating a global Martian map. The study found that recurring slope lineae (RSLs) are not associated with factors suggesting liquid or frost, but rather with above-average wind speed and dust deposition. Older slope streaks likely form when dust slides off slopes due to seismic activity, winds, or meteoroid impacts, appearing near recent impact craters. The findings cast doubt on the interpretation of slope streaks and RSLs as habitable environments, suggesting a dry origin of formation.
Leader Live
07-06-2025
- Business
- Leader Live
North West growth plans for planning consultancy firm
Cadnant Planning, based in Pulford, near Wrexham, Conwy and Chester, is one of the industry's most respected firms. With associate planner Sioned Edwards stepping up to become managing director, the future looks bright for the award-winning chartered town planning consultancy. Their team of six has worked with a raft of big names on some of the region's landmark projects including infrastructure developments, leisure operators, further education providers, landowners, commercial developers and leading private housebuilders and RSLs (Registered Social Landlords). Sioned Edwards and Rhys Davies. Alongside founder and director Rhys Davies - who launched the business 20 years ago before rebranding to become Cadnant Planning in 2012 - Sioned is excited to focus on continuing to support existing and new clients in the future on projects across North Wales and into Cheshire, Wirral and across the North West, where they have enjoyed success in past years. "Together we have built up the reputation and client base of the company, and nothing will change from that perspective, but we have taken a long-term view in terms of the future of Cadnant, and I am very excited to step forward into this new role," she said. Read more: Flintshire accountants make move to relocate to former pub "That growth has been organic and happened quite naturally over the last decade, so we are now looking more specifically at new areas, both geographically and in the private and public sectors." Rhys added: "I will still be a director and integral part of the business but it's about looking ahead now, with Sioned leading on that vision and our long-term strategy. "That strategy includes strengthening our presence in Flintshire, Wrexham and over the border, where we have collaborated on some major projects over recent years. Read more: New equity partner announced at leading Wrexham law firm Providing a wide range of services from planning appraisals/strategies, applications, appeals and specialist planning documents such as Welsh language impact assessments to land promotion and expert witness representation, the firm is proud of its Welsh roots and "local values" centred on sustainability, bilingualism and providing opportunities for the next generation of planners. Sioned joined the practice as a graduate 13 years ago and is determined to build on its history while embracing technological and legislative advances in the sector. Read more: Village pub's new owner ready to serve 'warm welcome' to community As she prepared to take her place on the panel at Place North West's sub-regional briefing event earlier this week, she admits there is a need for a more simplified, joined-up approach to the current planning system, given the differences in England and Wales. "There are consultations ongoing via the Welsh Government with regards housing, and there is planning reform in England, but a lot of people are unaware of the big changes ahead and differences in each country," said Sioned. "That is a USP for us, that we are on top of the legislation on both sides of the border and have fed into a task group in Wales looking at affordable housing, another crucial issue given the need for more funding, better infrastructure in rural areas especially, and leadership to provide solutions and identify targets, because at the moment the process is far too complex." Read more: North Wales firm launches paid internship scheme with over 50 jobs up for grabs Looking ahead to the future, she said: "I have been a part of Cadnant from the beginning, so I'm very excited to see where we go from here. "There have been a lot of changes along the way, we have expanded our base at Riverside Business Park and navigated the Covid pandemic - where the breadth of our offering ensured we were relatively unaffected. "Rhys and I have kept moving forward and have been busy throughout. We now have a very strong team at present having been successful in recruiting in a tough market over recent years. Read more: Wrexham business lands Heathrow grant boost "We have a brilliant team here and we're looking to do even more from our Conwy office and from our Pulford base in Wrexham, Flintshire, Chester and beyond - we can't wait for the next chapter." Rhys, says the business is in "very safe hands" and is proud of its legacy. He added: "The business was set up from nothing, initially it was just me in a small office in Conwy, then the two of us and now there is a core team of six across several disciplines - we have worked very hard to establish ourselves over that period. "From this point it will be Sioned driving things forward. I am delighted for her and know Cadnant Planning will continue to go from strength to strength." • For more information email info@
The Independent
06-06-2025
- Science
- The Independent
These mysterious dark ‘streaks' on Mars aren't what scientists initially believed
Mysterious dark streaks first observed on Mars in the 1970s are not what many believed they were. Scientists now say the curious features that stretch for hundreds of meters down Martian slopes were likely signs of wind and dust activity — not water. 'A big focus of Mars research is understanding modern-day processes on Mars — including the possibility of liquid water on the surface,' Adomas Valantinas, a postdoctoral researcher at Brown University, said in a statement. 'Our study reviewed these features but found no evidence of water. Our model favors dry formation processes.' Valantinas and the University of Bern's Valentin Bickel coauthored the research which was recently published in the journal Nature Communications. To reach these conclusions, the researchers used a machine learning algorithm to catalog as many of the odd streaks as they could, creating a first-of-its-kind- global Martian map containing some 500,000 from more than 86,000 high-resolution images from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Then, they compared their map to databases and catalogs of other factors, including temperature, wind speed, hydration, and rock slide activity. They looked for any correlations over hundreds of thousands of cases. The authors found that the ominous streaks that don't last for decades, known as recurring slope lineae or RSLs, are not generally associated with factors that suggest a liquid or frost origin. Those factors might include a specific slope orientation, high surface temperature fluctuations, and high humidity. The features were more likely to form in places with above-average wind speed and dust deposition. That points to a dry origin of formation, and they seem to show up in the same locations during the warmest periods of the Martian year before mysteriously vanishing. They concluded that the older slope streaks, which run down cliff faces and crater walls, most likely form when dust suddenly slides off slopes following seismic activity, winds, or even the shockwaves from meteoroid impacts. The streaks appear most often near recent impact craters, where shockwaves may shake the surface dust loose. The shorter-lived ones are typically found in places where dust devils or rockfalls are frequent. 'There were statistically significant correlations between new impact sites and the appearance of nearby slope streaks in certain regions, supporting this view,' NASA said. Previously, some had interpreted those streaks as liquid flows. It's possible that small amounts of water could mix with enough salt to create a flow on the frozen Martian surface, Brown University noted. The red planet was once more temperate, and there is water under the surface of Mars. Others believed they were triggered by dry process. These results cast new doubt on slope streaks and RSLs as habitable environments. 'That's the advantage of this big data approach,' Valantinas said. 'It helps us to rule out some hypotheses from orbit before we send spacecraft to explore.'
