Stockport council mulls CPO move as bus giant says talks are ‘ongoing and positive’

Stagecoach is being accused of holding up major plans to revive Stockport town centre, amid claims the bus company asking for too much money. The issue is now being escalated by Stockport council over fears more than £40m could be lost.

The Stockport 8 development is one of the largest town centre regeneration projects in the UK. It could see over £350m of investment, and include 1,300 homes as well as new businesses.

It is part of plans by Stockport Council to completely transform the town with thousands of new homes.

The development covers a large area to the west of the town’s iconic railway viaduct between the now-finished Weir Mill scheme and the central railway station. Phase 1 of the scheme will include a mixed residential neighbourhood of 435 homes and 82 affordable properties.

It was hoped the first phase of the scheme would start construction in 2026 but the plans could now be delayed. This is because Stagecoach are asking for too much money in relation to their depots in the town centre, according to a new Stockport council report.

Cllr Micheala Meikle, Cabinet Member for Economy, Regeneration and Skills, said: “Our focus remains on reaching a negotiated outcome with the leaseholder, while protecting the delivery of a project that will bring new homes, jobs, investment and long-term benefits for Stockport and its people.

“However, a scheme of this scale and importance cannot be left open to unnecessary delay. Seeking approval to prepare for the possible use of compulsory purchase powers ensures the council has the appropriate tools available, if they are ultimately needed, to keep this major regeneration project moving to schedule.”

However a Stagecoach spokesperson said: “We remain engaged in ongoing, positive discussions with Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council regarding the voluntary surrender of an element of our lease in advance of its expiry in 2046.

“Both parties continue to work collaboratively to support local regeneration goals while ensuring the uninterrupted delivery of local bus services.”

Documents brought before councillors at a meeting on September 3 show the local authority want to buy two bus depot sites in the area to deliver both the first and third phases of the scheme. This is ahead of a cabinet decision on September 15.

Despite tenant Stagecoach agreeing in principle with the local authority, a council report said no agreement had been reached ‘despite sustained efforts over a prolonged period’, warning that ‘this is resulting in potential significant delays to the delivery of a major regeneration project for Stockport’.

There are plans to relocate the bus depot further west near Cheadle which will be owned by Transport for Greater Manchester. However the council said Stagecoach’s position ‘is that it will not enter into the required legal agreement unless it is a paid a sum that the council’s advisers consider is significantly in excess of the sum to which it is entitled’.

Now councillors at a scrutiny committee are expected to comment on the report before it goes to Stockport council’s cabinet. Officers are asking for permission to take all necessary steps to acquire the site, including the possible use of compulsory purchase powers to buy it without Stagecoach’s permission.

The scheme is being delivered in partnership with English Cities Fund, a joint venture made up of Homes England, Legal & General and Muse. In November 2025, £41.3m of Greater Manchester Combined Authority Funding was awarded towards the scheme.

In the council report, officers said: “Not only does the ongoing uncertainty risk significant delays to the delivery of a key regeneration scheme, but it could also risk the loss of the significant public funding that has been secured for the development.”

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The head of the US central bank said policymakers will “have work to do” to if they are not confident cost of living pressures are easing for Americans.

Federal Reserve chairman Kevin Warsh said while inflation readings looked better than expected over the summer, they did not show that the current picture had “meaningfully improved”.

The new Fed boss stressed that his remarks should not be treated as a guide for future interest rate decisions, but the comments suggest rates could be raised if policymakers believe inflation is too high.

The latest figures showed prices rose 3.4% in the year to July, above the Fed’s 2% target.

Warsh made the comments in his first speech at the annual Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium in Wyoming, which sees central bankers, government officials and academics from around the world gather to talk about interest rates, inflation and other economic issues.

Warsh said given prices were rising by more than 2% on annual basis, “the Fed’s predominant focus right now should be on prices”.

“Here is my standard: We must be confident that underlying inflation is moving to our objective, clearly and at sufficient speed. Otherwise, we have work to do.”

The central bank boss has remained tight-lipped about the potential path of interest rates, but investors will have watched his speech closely for any signs of the Fed’s approach under his leadership.

The central bank’s next interest rate decision will be made on 15-16 September.

Warsh issued a plea in his speech to not label his remark as “forward guidance” and said he believed the practice of sending signals to the markets on future interest rate decisions, adopted in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, had “overstayed its welcome”.

“Oversharing policy deliberations and overcommitting to future decisions can lead markets, businesses, and households astray,” he said, adding it also inhibited the Fed the “freedom to make the right calls when it’s time to decide”.

Interest rates were left unchanged between 3.5% and 3.75% in July for the fifth time in a row amid concerns over inflation due to the ongoing conflict between the US and Iran, which has caused as surge in global oil prices.

Higher oil prices has also fuelled bond market investors, who have demanded higher returns, leading to higher borrowing costs for the US government and other major corporations.

Such borrowing costs impact the cost of borrowing for mortgages, car loans and credit cards.

The spike in interest payments has driven US national debt past the $40tn (£29.5tn). The figure has doubled in a decade under both the Trump and Joe Biden administrations.

The figure is rising by about $90,000 every second, or $7.8bn a day, according to the Congress Joint Economic Committee.

ONTARIO, CANADA — Joyburst is introducing a soda formulated with creatine.

The beverage is formulated with 2 grams of creatine, 340 mg of electrolytes and zero grams of sugar.

The soda is available in cotton candy, icy pop and orange cream crush flavors.

The soda may be purchased in a 15-can variety pack at Costco, Sam’s Club and Aldi stores or online through the company’s website. 

KATHMANDU, Nepal — Nepal Police have arrested two men after a viral video appeared to show them stealing gold earrings from the body of a woman swept away in this week’s catastrophic flash floods, an incident that has drawn widespread outrage as the country grapples with a mounting death toll from one of its deadliest disasters in years.

Authorities identified the suspects as Madan Gurung, 25, originally from Nawalparasi district, and Umesh Chaudhary, 38, originally from Sunsari district. Both men were living in Bharatpur Metropolitan City in Chitwan district and were arrested near the Pokhara Bus Park after police received a video showing the alleged theft, according to a press release from the District Police Office in Bharatpur.

The roughly 41-second clip, which spread rapidly across social media, showed the woman’s body being carried downstream by the Narayani River before the two men used wooden planks and, according to multiple accounts, her own hair to pull it toward the riverbank. Bystanders can be seen recording the scene as the men removed earrings from both of the victim’s ears and set them aside, making no apparent effort to retrieve the body from the water.

Nepal Police shared footage of the arrests on social media platform X on Thursday, confirming that the two men had been taken into custody. In a statement, police said any act of looting or inhumane behavior directed at disaster victims would not be tolerated during the ongoing crisis.

The theft has become one of the most widely shared and condemned moments to emerge from this week’s flooding, which was triggered by the collapse of a glacier and a rocky ledge along the Nepal-Tibet border. The disaster sent a wall of ice, rock and water crashing down the Bhotekoshi River on Wednesday, obliterating villages and infrastructure across the border region before continuing downstream into the Trishuli and Narayani rivers.

The death toll in Nepal has continued to climb sharply in the days since. Nepal Police said Friday that at least 579 people have been confirmed dead, with more than 2,400 people still listed as missing across the country. Authorities in China, where the flooding also struck the Tibet Autonomous Region, have confirmed five deaths on their side of the border, though communication challenges and government restrictions on information have made it difficult to assess the full scope of the damage there.

Among those unaccounted for are large numbers of foreign nationals. The U.S. State Department has said roughly 90 Americans remain missing, while Australian officials have said at least 38 of their citizens are unaccounted for, many of whom were part of separate pilgrimage and tour groups traveling through the region at the time of the disaster. India’s Ministry of External Affairs has said hundreds of Indian nationals also remain uncontactable.

Rescue operations have continued around the clock, with helicopters ferrying thousands of survivors to safety in Kathmandu and other locations. The Nepal Red Cross Society estimated Friday that roughly 90,000 people have likely been affected by the flooding in some way. Nepali Army units have also been working to free people trapped inside a hydropower tunnel in Rasuwa district, part of the Upper Trishuli-1 Hydropower Project, according to rescue officials.

Compounding the crisis, Nepal’s Disaster Management Authority has said it is monitoring two lakes that formed upstream of the flood zone after Wednesday’s glacial collapse, warning that further flooding remains a risk until the water is fully drained. Satellite imagery has shown both lakes growing in size, and Nepal Police issued a fresh alert Friday after receiving reports that a separate dam-like formation on the Tibetan side of the border was beginning to overflow. Rescue and security personnel were told to remain on high alert and to move to safer ground if conditions worsened.

Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported Friday that flood risks from the overflowing lake in Tibet were considered manageable, according to Reuters, though authorities on both sides of the border have continued to urge residents to avoid the banks of the Bhotekoshi, Trishuli and Narayani rivers as water levels remain unpredictable.

The disturbing footage of the earring theft has intensified public anger already directed at reports of looting and exploitation following the disaster. Nepali officials have repeatedly stressed that such behavior will be prosecuted, even as the country’s police and military remain stretched thin by the scale of the search-and-rescue effort. Local authorities in Chitwan said the investigation into the earring theft remains ongoing, and it was not immediately clear what charges the two men would face.

As recovery efforts continue, identifying victims has become increasingly difficult. Bodies and debris have been carried far downstream by the floodwaters, and officials have said the identification process could take weeks in some cases. Nepal’s government has activated emergency hotlines, including a toll-free number for families seeking information about missing relatives, as the search for survivors and the dead continues across the affected districts.

EAST HANOVER, NJ. — Mondelez International is launching a high-protein bar under its Clif brand. Each bar features 20 grams of protein and five grams of fiber.

The bar is formulated with rolled oats, nut butters, almonds, soy and whey protein. The product is available in peanut butter chocolate chip and cinnamon French toast flavors.

“Consumers are looking for protein-rich snacks to help fuel their busy lifestyles, and the Clif brand saw the opportunity to build on our energy bar portfolio with an innovation that offers a unique duality: 20 grams of protein with everyday energy,” said Joe Pellingra, senior director, Clif and Luna brands at Mondelēz International.

The bars may be purchased at retailers nationwide in a 4-count box for $7.49.