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Scheme would include ‘HGV hub’ and could bring 1,800 jobs to area

Plans for a massive employment development and HGV hub on fomer green belt land close to Haydock Park racecourse are moving forward.

Developer Peel Land, said proposals for for Haydock Point, a 1.3 million sq ft ‘strategic employment destination’ between Wigan and St Helens would bring up to 1,845 ‘higher-value and skilled jobs, improvements to the M6 Junction 23 Haydock Island and significant investment’ to the area. The development has this week been launched for public consultation by Peel Land.

The site is north east of the M6 J23 Haydock Island and south of Haydock Park racecourse.

Peel said its vision is to ‘create a modern, high-quality, leading-edge manufacturing and employment campus in one of the region’s best-connected employment locations’. Peel Land’s proposal includes a multi-fuel HGV hub to ‘help address HGV parking issues and a lack of quality facilities for drivers in the area’.

It said the proposal will also provide significant new landscaping and wildlife areas equivalent to more than 17 football pitches, more than 600 new trees, and new walking, running and recreational trails, including a fitness loop of more than 1.6km.

The site was removed from the green belt and earmarked for future employment development in the St Helens local plan which was adopted 2022. The developer said the project is being brought forward now ‘to meet current needs, deliver major socio-economic benefits and avoid the risk of losing businesses and jobs to other areas’.

Stephen Wild, managing director, Peel Land Group, said: “Haydock Point will bring long-lasting benefits for the community.

“The need and demand are here now to bring forward a modern sustainable employment campus that can meet the requirements of growing local firms and major occupiers.

“As part of the project we will close the northern arm of the A49, diverting that route through our site to the A580 East Lancashire Road, to address long-standing highways capacity at M6 Junction 23 Haydock Island and improve journey times for all.

“Our HGV hub will help tackle a known problem locally whilst the extensive landscaping proposals will provide a parkland setting for development.

“We are also developing a social value plan which will create future opportunities particularly for young people and those currently out of work, through partnerships with schools, colleges, job centres and the council.

“Through this consultation, we want to hear which of these benefits matter most to local people and businesses.”

Peel have released projections that Haydock Point would expect to create 1,845 on-site jobs across manufacturing, industrial, logistics and commercial roles. It said the development would also contribute around £76 million to the economy.

Dedicated and secure HGV parking would serve occupiers at Haydock Point, while also being available as a shared asset for local businesses and public services.

Consultation on the plans are now open until Sunday, September 13. A public drop-in event will take place on Wednesday, September 2 at the Mercure Hotel, Haydock, from 3pm to 7pm, where members of the public can view the proposals, meet the project team, ask questions and provide their feedback.

Following the consultation, Peel Land will use the feedback to inform the submission of an outline planning application, which will be submitted to St Helens council later this year.

South West Water said it would continue to provide regular updates

Pubs, cafés and food shops in a Dartmoor village have been left tallying up the losses after being forced to shut for two days owing to water supply problems. Closure notices appeared on the doors of numerous Chagford businesses throughout Sunday and Monday when their water supply ran dry because of a burst water main.

The water outage also impacted more than 900 properties. Issues were first reported at around 5.30am on Sunday and persisted until Monday afternoon.

Simon Court of the historic Three Crowns pub said he was unable to serve food and drink without running water, so had closed to non-residents and called off bookings.

“We are trying to accommodate the staying residents,” he said on Monday. “Some of them are walkers who are doing the Two Moors Way and have got no way of going anywhere else”.

“We spent yesterday afternoon phoning and cancelling quite a few people who were due to check in as we didn’t know when the water was coming back on.

“We also had bookings for lunch and evening meals that had to be cancelled. It’s had a major effect on our turnover for yesterday and today.”

Mr Court said he had been in touch with South West Water, who were fully aware of the impact on his business.

“Unfortunately this sort of thing happens, the great thing about Chagford is that everyone just pulls together. It’s a case of ‘we have got to deal with it, let’s get on with it’.”

Chris Mount of Blacks Delicatessen, who was forced to shut his shop, said he was confident that South West Water had done everything within its power to repair the burst water main as swiftly as possible, yet he described the firm’s communication as “atrocious”.

“The emails they do send out are very vague and give no indication of time. Just a guideline would be useful like ‘it’s tricky, it won’t be on for 24 hours’ but there’s nothing.”

Some businesses, such as the Fat Mouse dairy, managed to cope by bringing in water from elsewhere and brewing cups of tea when the coffee machine was unusable.

Manager Sue Rogers said: “You can’t get a coffee anywhere in the village because we need the water supply for the machines but we have been busy with teas. We have had a lot of custom today because unfortunately lots of places have had to close.”

The Spar shop reported selling out of its 140 large bottles of water within two and a half hours on Sunday morning, with no further delivery expected until Tuesday.

A bottled water station was established at Chagford Primary School on Sunday, with South West Water confirming this would remain in place until supplies had been fully restored to all residents and businesses. Vulnerable residents received doorstep deliveries of bottled water.

By Monday afternoon, the water company confirmed the repair had been completed successfully. “However, as the water network recharges and refills, it may take some time for water supplies to fully return to homes and businesses,” said SWW.

“Customers may not see their water supply restored immediately, and we ask for continued patience while the system recovers.

“As a precaution, a Boil Water Notice is in place while we complete the necessary water quality checks following the complex repair. Customers should continue to boil tap water before using it for drinking, food preparation, brushing teeth, or any other consumption purposes.

“We understand this may cause inconvenience and want to reassure you that our teams are working hard to restore normal service as quickly as possible. We will continue to provide regular updates and contact affected customers directly as new information becomes available.”

The curtains were closed and the activity was technical, solitary and slightly obscure. That was the image, at least. But it was never entirely accurate.

Gaming was social long before online multiplayer became ordinary. Players exchanged discs, discussed strategies and carried heavy computers to local gatherings.

What changed was not simply the number of people playing. The culture that had formed in private rooms became visible to a much wider public. Today, gaming is present in fashion collections, film production, live music, sport events and online entertainment. Characters become celebrities. Soundtracks reach concert venues and virtual clothing inspires real-life fashion. Gaming has not merely joined popular culture. It has developed into one of the systems through which popular culture now moves.

The hobby built its own institutions

Gaming did not wait for traditional cultural industries to recognise it. Players created their own forums, competitions and social rules. They modified games, produced artwork and organised gatherings around technology that was not always designed to travel.

The basement was therefore more than a stereotype. It was an early cultural space where people learned how to build communities around interactive media. The activity involved playing but also programming, collecting, designing and displaying their expertise in front of others.

Local multiplayer gatherings turned private enthusiasm into a shared event. Later, streaming made the audience visible. A person playing at home could suddenly perform for thousands of viewers, while spectators developed their own rituals, jokes and personalities. Modern gaming festivals show how far that idea has expanded.

This combination matters because it makes digital games difficult to place in one traditional category. The industry has grown alongside this wider culture. Its broader influence comes from the way games encourage participation rather than passive spectatorship.

Games began exporting their language

Early games borrowed heavily from elsewhere. Adventure titles used the structure of fantasy novels. Action games recreated the pace of films, while sports games copied television presentation. As the medium matured, the direction of influence started to reverse.

Film and television now borrow production methods from games, as parts of the filmmaking process itself increasingly resemble game development. Music has also moved into game worlds. A soundtrack no longer needs to sit quietly behind the action. It can define a character, introduce players to an artist or become the reason a particular online casino slot remains memorable. Virtual performances and online casinos take the connection further by turning the audience into participants who move through the event rather than watch from fixed seats.

Events have changed too. Younger audiences are accustomed to entering environments where they can choose a route, complete a task and shape their own experience. That expectation influences exhibitions, branded events and festivals, which increasingly offer more than a stage and a timetable.

Gaming’s greatest cultural contribution may therefore be a new relationship between the audience and the work. Players expect to explore, alter and discuss what they encounter. They do not simply receive a finished product and move on.

With the school holidays in full swing, a charity is running ‘family fun days’ to help those struggling with the cost of food over the summer break.

YMCA Cheltenham is hosting park-based events, which allow children to play outside and enjoy free, healthy food with their family.

Rob Charsley, head of communities, health and wellbeing at the charity, said 67 children and their families had attended an event in one week alone.

Meanwhile, in Somerset, Radstock Food Club said the increased cost of living had seen a rise in the number of people requiring their service, with more than 100 families now receiving food from the facility.

Angelica Jaros’ son is starting school this year, on top of buying uniform for her six-year-old daughter too.

She said there was pressure to get new clothes, bags and shoes.

“It’s about £300 per kid…. because you remember when you were a child, you wanted to go to school with brand new things, you want the same thing for your kids as well,” Jaros explained.

Meme Horner, 21, volunteers at the charity and said it’s a way of giving back.

“As a child I got hand-me-downs, my mum got quite a lot of help, so it’s kind of like just giving back to the community in a way, I feel good doing it,” she said.

Schools having three branded items is still too many, she added.

“The crisis of money nowadays, the inflation has gone up so dramatically, and parents are struggling to do the basic necessities, let alone get children three pairs of logoed clothing for school,” she explained.