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Club among objectors to Homes England scheme

A plan for 250 homes in Carnforth has been refused by Lancaster councillors, after fears that it threatened a football club’s activity and wider community needs.

There were also concerns the plan failed to consider reopening a nearby Lancaster Canal marina, and that residents’ cars from the new homes would add to local congestion.

Carnforth Rangers FC was among a number of objectors to the plan by government agency Homes England, for up to 250 houses at the Lundsfield Quarries site, off Kellet Road.

Now, Lancaster City Council’s planning committee (on Monday, March 23) has refused the application, against planning officers’ advice.

Homes England wanted outline planning permission for 250 homes and bought the land after developer Redrow Homes failed to deliver an earlier scheme some years ago, council planning papers said.

The 29-acre site covers the former Lodge Quarry Works bordering the canal south of Carnforth town centre. The football club’s location, Quarry Park, is on the northern edge of the application site.

Neil Wakeman, representing Carnforth Rangers FC trustees, wrote an objection letter to the council, included in planning papers.

He said: “We have real concerns for the incompatibility of football activities with this proposed housing development. This would threaten the viability of improved football facilities in the area.

“A significant shortfall of playing pitches in the Carnforth area has already been identified in Lancaster City Council local plans. Rather than building housing around the existing football ground, we believe all proposals should be considered holistically – together with the community’s sport and footballing needs. Plans for the district should facilitate the expansion of football facilities.”

Carnforth Town Council had also objected. It claimed there has been poor consultation with the community, had worries about traffic congestion and feared the football club would face complaints about disturbance from future residents living in the new homes.

Elsewhere, Lancaster Canal Trust had raised concerns, but not objections. It said the potential loss of canal boat moorings would not encourage a focus for leisure activity in Carnforth. It and the Canal and Rivers Trust also made suggestions to protect the canal infrastructure and its enhance its surrounds.

The Homes England plan included demolition of some existing buildings to build new homes, access and infrastructure. It also proposed a car and coach park for Carnforth Rangers.

Lancaster City Council planning officers had advised councillors to approve the plan with conditions and a legal agreement. Officers said news homes were needed and the canal could be protected.

Their recommendations include having a football club car park with at least 58 spaces and two coach spaces, with long-term security of tenure for the club. Also a contribution by the developers for other sports amenities elsewhere.

Also recommended were affordable homes, new traffic signals on Kellet Road and the developer making a bus service contribution of £500,000. New public space at the housing estate and a management company to maintain open space, roads, landscaping and drainage were also recommended by officers.

But city councillors on the planning committee refused the application.

To find all the planning applications, traffic diversions, road layout changes, alcohol licence applications and more in your community, visit the Public Notices Portal.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) said on Monday it was banning the import of all new foreign-made consumer routers, a move that comes as the latest crackdown on Chinese-made electronic gear over security concerns.

China is estimated to control at least 60% of the U.S. market for home routers – which are the boxes that connect computers, phones and smart devices to the internet.

The FCC order does not impact the import or use of existing models, but will ban new ones.

The agency said a White House-convened review deemed imported routers pose “a severe cybersecurity risk that could be leveraged to immediately and severely disrupt U.S. critical infrastructure.”

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The FCC said that malicious actors had exploited security gaps in foreign-made routers “to attack households, disrupt networks, enable espionage, and facilitate intellectual property theft,” citing their role in major hacks like Volt and Salt Typhoon.

Hackers can exploit consumers’ home internet routers that aren’t properly secured. (Getty Images)

The determination includes an exemption for routers the Pentagon deems do not pose unacceptable risks.

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Lawmakers have previously raised security concerns about Chinese-made routers and Michigan Rep. John Moolenaar, the Republican chair of the House select committee on China, praised the FCC order.

“Today’s tremendous decision by the FCC and the Trump administration protects our country against China’s relentless cyberattacks and makes it clear that these devices should be excluded from our critical infrastructure,” Moolenaar said. “Routers are key to keeping us all connected, and we cannot allow Chinese technology to be at the center of that.”

The Chinese Embassy in Washington did not immediately comment.

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The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced a ban on imported internet routers after finding security vulnerabilities. (Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Last month, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued TP-Link Systems, a California-based router manufacturer spun off from a Chinese firm, for allegedly marketing its networking devices deceptively and allowing Beijing to access American consumers’ devices.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton speaks during the AmericaFest 2024 conference sponsored by Turning Point in Phoenix, Arizona, on Dec. 21, 2024. (Cheney Orr/Reuters)

TP-Link Systems said it would “vigorously defend” its reputation, adding that the Chinese government had no form of ownership or control over the company, its products or user data.

Reuters reported last month the Trump administration had put on hold a proposed ban on domestic sales of routers made by TP-Link.

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The FCC issued similar rules in December that ban the import of all new models of Chinese drones.

Reuters contributed to this report.

In an exchange filing, TVS Holdings said that its board of directors, during its meeting today, has declared the interim dividend of Rs 86 per share with a face value of Rs 5 each for the ongoing financial year 2026, with the total dividend payout standing at Rs 174 crore.

Record date for TVS Holdings dividend

The record date to determine the eligibility of the shareholders set to receive the dividend has been set on April 2. This means that only those shareholders who have the shares of the company on their demat accounts on April 2 will be eligible for the dividend. The dividend will be paid within 30 days from the declaration of the interim dividend, the company announced.

This comes after the company paid an interim dividend of Rs 93 to its shareholders in March last year, and Rs 94 in April 2024.

Additionally, the company also announced that it has raised Rs 650 crore by issuing non-convertible debentures (NCDs) at an 8.10% coupon rate with a 39-month term.

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TVS Holdings share price

The shares of the company sharply surged nearly 3% to trade at Rs 14,125 apiece on NSE on Wednesday. The stock has gained more than 57% in the past one year, and over 265% over the past three years.
The Chennai-headquartered company has undergone key transformations in recent years, including its rebranding from Sundaram-Clayton to TVS Holdings. The company acts as the holding arm of the larger TVS Group, which has been expanding its footprint across mobility solutions, electric vehicles, and global operations.Through its subsidiaries and associates, TVS Holdings has interests in two-wheeler manufacturing, electric vehicle initiatives and global operations. Earlier in January this year, TVS Holdings reported a 28% year-on-year rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 493 crore for the October-December quarter of the ongoing financial year 2026. The firm’s revenue from operations grew 34% YoY to Rs 15,276 crore during the same period.

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The Supreme Court unanimously ruled Wednesday that internet providers are not liable for copyright infringement by their users, delivering an opinion in Cox v. Sony and tossing a $1 billion verdict.

“Under our precedents, a company is not liable as a copyright infringer for merely providing a service to the public with knowledge that it will be used by some to infringe copyrights,” Justice Clarence Thomas wrote in the opinion. “Accordingly, we reverse.”

The ruling marks a significant win for broadband providers facing pressure from copyright owners to police subscriber activity.

Cox Communications now cannot be held liable for piracy by its internet service subscribers of songs owned by Sony Music, Warner Music Group, Universal Music Group and other labels, ending their billion-dollar-plus music copyright lawsuit.

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The 9-0 ruling overturned a lower court’s decision to order a new trial to determine how much the internet service provider owed the record labels for a form of liability called contributory copyright infringement. Cox had said a retrial could have produced a verdict against the Atlanta-based ISP of as much as $1.5 billion.

“The judgment of the Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit is reversed, and the case is remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion,” the ruling concluded.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor, joined by Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, agreed Cox should prevail in this case but rejected the majority’s broader reasoning. 

In her separate opinion, Sotomayor wrote that “the majority, without any meaningful explanation, unnecessarily limits secondary liability” and warned that the decision “also upends the statutory incentive structure that Congress created.” 

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All nine members of the Supreme Court agreed that an internet provider cannot be held liable for the copyright infringement of their subscribers. (Getty Images / Getty Images)

“The facts of this case do not establish the requisite intent needed to hold Cox liable for infringement that occurred on its network,” she concluded. 

“Because the majority needlessly curtails secondary liability in a manner inconsistent with both precedent and statute, I concur only in the judgment.”

More than 50 labels joined together to sue Cox in 2018. Internet service providers like Cox are generally not considered liable under U.S. law for infringement by their users if they take reasonable measures to address it. But the labels accused Cox, the largest unit of privately owned Cox Enterprises, of failing to respond to thousands of infringement notices, cut off internet access for repeat infringers or take other piracy-deterrence steps.

A jury in Alexandria, Virginia, in 2019 found Cox owed the labels $1 billion for user infringement of more than 10,000 copyrights. The jury found Cox liable both for contributory infringement and vicarious infringement, two forms of secondary copyright infringement liability.

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The Richmond, Virginia-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals threw out the damages award in 2024. The 4th Circuit ordered a retrial on the award’s size after affirming the jury’s finding of contributory infringement but reversing its finding of vicarious liability.

People look at the U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C., March 14, 2026.  (REUTERS/Will Dunham / Reuters Photos)

Contributory infringement involves holding parties liable for someone else’s infringement because they knew about it and contributed to it. Vicarious infringement involves holding parties liable for someone else’s infringement because they had the ability to control the infringement and benefited financially from it.

Cox argued that the position taken by the labels in the case would expand the concept of contributory infringement too broadly. Cox said this stance would threaten to cut off access for thousands of innocent internet users including “entire households, coffee shops, hospitals, universities” and others “merely because some unidentified person was previously alleged to have used the connection to infringe.”

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Cox utility trucks are parked at the Cox Communications Springfield Warehouse on May 16, 2025, in Springfield, Virginia. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images / Getty Images)

The Supreme Court heard arguments in the case in December. A lawyer for President Donald Trump‘s administration argued in support of Cox. Alphabet, Amazon, Microsoft and other internet-focused tech companies supported Cox in the case, too. Music, film and book industry trade groups backed the labels.

READ THE SUPREME COURT OPINION – APP USERS, CLICK HERE:

Reuters contributed to this report.

Group focusing on key North West growth areas including retail, sports and infrastructure

A law firm holding its national conference in Manchester for the first time says the city’s ‘Manchesterism’ effect, as promoted by Andy Burnham, has encouraged its investment in the region.

Foot Anstey is holding its Partner Conference in Manchester this week after announcing plans to grow its headcount in the North West.

Foot Anstey recently reported its strongest-ever financial results, with revenues for the 2024/25 financial year reaching £76.9m. The Bristol-based firm employs more than 700 people, with other offices in Belfast, Exeter, London, Plymouth and Southampton.

In the North West, the group aims to grow its offering in key growth areas including retail, sports, infrastructure and technology. It will also continue its to “break down barriers” in the legal profession,

Foot Anstey plans to grow its headcount in the North West region and further develop its legal offering in line with key business growth sectors of retail, sports, infrastructure and technology.

The firm’s strategy also focuses on breaking down barriers to entry into the legal profession across the UK, including Manchester, through initiatives such as Achieve, its award-winning vacation scheme supporting Black and minority ethnic candidates.

The firm’s pledge to donate 1% of its net profits annually to responsible business programmes is already benefiting initiatives within Greater Manchester such as the Wood Street Mission.

Martin Hirst, managing partner at Foot Anstey, said: “The high calibre of our established team in Manchester as well as positive economic data gives us the confidence to make further investment in Manchester and the wider North West region. This is why we have selected Manchester as the location for our partner conference this year bringing people together at the heart of this exceptional business environment. I look forward to seeing the positive impact we will create in Manchester in the years ahead, not just in business terms but in social investment too.”

Melanie McGuirk, partner at Foot Anstey in Manchester, said: “The ‘Manchesterism’ effect is certainly being noticed in other parts of the country and is a major pull factor for business. The strength of Manchester’s economy is an important part of our decision as a firm to commit to this city. It’s a city that is growing in confidence and capability, attracting high-growth companies and exceptional talent, and we’re committed to being part of that continued growth.”

Jan Levinson, partner at Foot Anstey in Manchester, said: “We are building a powerhouse law firm, backed by exceptional talent and a clear vision for growth. Over the coming year, we will continue to expand our capability to support the most complex commercial disputes and high-value advisory matters, working alongside the region’s most ambitious organisations and leaders”

Breck Homes says scheme will be ‘100% affordable’

A new housing estate could be built on the green belt in Stockport close to the Airport Relief Road.

Plans have been submitted to the council to build 64 ‘affordable’ homes on the fields off Bolshaw Road in Heald Green.

It is close to the border with Cheshire with Handforth sitting on the other side of the A555.

Developer Breck Homes said in its planning application that the land is ‘well located for access to local shops, employment, community facilities and public services, many accessible from the site on foot.’

A report set out the vision: ‘The site will provide 100 per cent affordable housing, infrastructure needs will be met, and accessible public open space will be provided.

‘The streets have been designed to be a safe, pleasant environment for residents. This is within the context of Heald Green being a sustainable location in which residents can live, work and play.’

The developer said people with a local connection but without the ‘financial means’ to live in the area would be given ‘priority’ for housing allocation.

If the scheme is approved, half the homes would be at social rent prices, with the other half for shared ownership.

The developer explained in its application that while the site is part of the green belt, it ‘fulfils the definition of ‘grey belt’ in accordance with national planning policy.’

A ‘grey belt’ designation can mean land being released from its protected status or allocated for housing development.

This would be weighed up by Stockport council when reviewing the plans.

The planning application continued: ‘The combination of dwelling types and sizes, with apartments of one or two bedrooms and homes of two, three, and four bedrooms, will meet the needs of a wide range of users.’

Proposals could see new homes built on the land come with ‘spacious private gardens’ and communal areas for the apartments.

Planning documents state that the area is serviced by ‘regular bus services stopping 100m from the site’ which will ‘enable travel to locations such as Stockport, Macclesfield and Manchester Airport all within 30 minutes.’

Reports claimed that Heald Green train station is a ’15-minute walk from the site along Cross Road’, but Google Maps suggested the trek could take closer to half an hour from the application area.

Stockport is facing a shortage of affordable housing like in other areas of Greater Manchester.

More than 9,000 people are registered on Homechoice, a platform used by social housing provider Stockport Homes for bidding on properties.

The Lib Dem-led council has plans to build a total of 8,000 homes in Stockport town centre with a ‘brownfield first’ approach to development.

Stockport council has set a target date of May 25 for the plans to be decided.

To find all the planning applications, traffic diversions, road layout changes, alcohol licence applications and more in your community, visit the Public Notices Portal.