North Yorkshire Council has set out plans to increase parking charges by ten per cent from April 1, while fees will also be ‘rebalanced’ to ensure consistency across the county.
Council chiefs estimate the changes will give the authority a £3.563m boost in 2026/27
The changes will affect the council’s 170 car parks, as well as on-street parking and residents’ parking schemes.
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The authority says the rebalancing is needed to ensure fairness and consistency, with parking previously overseen by North Yorkshire’s seven former borough and district councils.
The changes will see parking fees introduced on Sundays and evenings in areas of the county where parking is currently free at these times.
An additional cost is planned for second permits in existing residential zones to account for the increasing number of houses with multiple vehicles.
But the council has decided that blue badge parking will be free in all council-run car parks in future.
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North Yorkshire Council’s executive member for highways and transport, Councillor Malcolm Taylor, said: “The changes to parking charges are part of our vision for a unified system that is consistent for everyone.
“After positive discussions with disability groups, we are pleased to be able to offer free parking for blue badge holders, meaning some areas will see them removed altogether.
“We have carefully reviewed the charges to ensure they deliver the best possible value while enabling the service to remain financially self-sustaining.
“In many cases, our rates are more affordable than privately managed car parks and are competitive with those set by neighbouring authorities.”
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The council says it has committed £2.4m into improving its car parks.
Of this, £2m will be used to replace the existing 430 pay-and-display machines, including new ticketless machines in 150 of its car parks.
Lighting and signage will also be improved.
Cllr Taylor added: “We strive to improve our parking services to provide a better customer experience.
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“We are investing in replacing parking machines, which will be more environmentally friendly, to save money and be more reliable.”
But opposition councillors have spoken of their dismay at the proposed changes.
Councillor Peter Lacey, leader of the Liberal Democrats group on the council, said it was “strange” that the changes were implemented in advance of local engagement to develop town investment plans.
He added: “This cart-before-horse centralist approach by the Tory-led administration is becoming tiresome and flies in the face of its claim to aspire to become the most local large unitary.”
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Councillor Arnold Warneken, from the Green Party, said: “The Greens don’t support a blanket increase of parking charges because it depends on location.
“In many cases, if you significantly increase car parking charges then it puts pressure on residential streets as we have seen in places like Wetherby.
Councillor Stuart Parsons, leader of the North Yorkshire Independents group, added: “If they’re going to be rebalancing the fees, they should be doing so downwards not upwards.
“They’re supposed to be encouraging people to visit our market towns but this does the opposite.”
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North Yorkshire Council’s executive members have recently agreed to adopt a set of parking principles with the aim of ensuring a “consistent, fair, and forward-looking approach to parking”.
The principles would be implemented in stages, with a review of tariffs being the first. This will be followed by developing localised town parking strategies over the next year, recognising that one size doesn’t fit all.
The parking plans will be discussed at a meeting next between Cllr Taylor and the council’s corporate director of environment, Karl Battersby.
Emergency services are at the scene of the crash this afternoon (Friday, February 20)
A woman has suffered serious injuries after a crash along a residential street. Emergency services were called to West Street in Wisbech just after 1pm today (Friday, February 20).
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The crash involved a car and a woman. Cambridgeshire Police are at the scene with paramedics.
The woman is believed to have suffered serious, but not life-threatening injuries. A police spokesperson said: “We were called at 1.03pm to reports of a collision between a car and a pedestrian on West Street, Wisbech.
“Officers are at the scene together with paramedics and the pedestrian, a woman, is thought to have suffered serious but not life-threatening injuries.”
The East of England Ambulance Service has been contacted for more information.
They are hunted for their unique scales, and the demand makes them the most trafficked mammal in the world.
Wildlife conservationists are again raising the plight of pangolins, the shy, scaly anteaters found in parts of Africa and Asia, on World Pangolin Day on Saturday.
Pangolins or pangolin products outstrip any other mammal when it comes to wildlife smuggling, with more than half a million pangolins seized in anti-trafficking operations between 2016 and 2024, according to a report last year by CITES, the global authority on the trading of endangered plant and animal species.
The World Wildlife Fund estimates that over a million pangolins were taken from the wild over the last decade, including those that were never intercepted.
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Pangolins meat is a delicacy in places, but the driving force behind the illegal trade is their scales, which are made of keratin, the protein also found in human hair and fingernails. The scales are in high demand in China and other parts of Asia due to the unproven belief that they cure a range of ailments when made into traditional medicine.
There are eight pangolin species, four in Africa and four in Asia. All of them face a high, very high or extremely high risk of extinction.
While they’re sometimes known as scaly anteaters, pangolins are not related in any way to anteaters or armadillos.
They are unique in that they are the only mammals covered completely in keratin scales, which overlap and have sharp edges. They are the perfect defense mechanism, allowing a pangolin to roll up into an armored ball that even lions struggle to get to grip with, leaving the nocturnal ant and termite eaters with few natural predators.
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But they have no real defense against human hunters. And in conservation terms, they don’t resonate in the way that elephants, rhinos or tigers do despite their fascinating intricacies — like their sticky insect-nabbing tongues being almost as long as their bodies.
While some reports indicate a downward trend in pangolin trafficking since the COVID-19 pandemic, they are still being poached at an alarming rate across parts of Africa, according to conservationists.
Nigeria is one of the global hot spots. There, Dr. Mark Ofua, a wildlife veterinarian and the West Africa representative for the Wild Africa conservation group, has rescued pangolins for more than a decade, which started with him scouring bushmeat markets for animals he could buy and save. He runs an animal rescue center and a pangolin orphanage in Lagos.
His mission is to raise awareness of pangolins in Nigeria through a wildlife show for kids and a tactic of convincing entertainers, musicians and other celebrities with millions of social media followers to be involved in conservation campaigns — or just be seen with a pangolin.
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Nigeria is home to three of the four African pangolin species, but they are not well known among the country’s 240 million people.
Ofua’s drive for pangolin publicity stems from an encounter with a group of well-dressed young men while he was once transporting pangolins he had rescued in a cage. The men pointed at them and asked him what they were, Ofua said.
“Oh, those are baby dragons,” he joked. But it got him thinking.
“There is a dark side to that admission,” Ofua said. “If people do not even know what a pangolin looks like, how do you protect them?”
In response to a reporter’s question on whether the U.S. could take limited military action as the countries negotiate, Trump said, “I guess I can say I am considering that.” A few hours later, he told reporters that Iran “better negotiate a fair deal.”
Earlier Friday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a TV interview that his country was planning to finalize a draft deal in “the next two to three days” to send to Washington.
“I don’t think it takes long, perhaps, in a matter of a week or so, we can start real, serious negotiations on the text and come to a conclusion,” Araghchi said on MSNOW’s “Morning Joe” show.
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The tensions between the longtime adversaries have ramped up as the Trump administration pushes for concessions from Iran and has built up the largest U.S. military presence in the Middle East in decades, with more warships and aircraft on the way.
On Friday, the USS Gerald R. Ford carrier strike group passed through the Strait of Gibraltar and entered the Mediterranean Sea after being sent by Trump from the Caribbean, according to images of the ship by maritime photographers posted to social media.
Both Iran and the U.S. have signaled that they are prepared for war if talks on Tehran’s nuclear program fizzle out. “We are prepared for diplomacy, and we are prepared for negotiation as much as we are prepared for war,” Araghchi said Friday.
Ali Vaez, an Iran expert at the International Crisis Group, said Iran “would treat any kinetic action as an existential threat.”
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Vaez said he doesn’t think Iran’s leaders are bluffing when they say they would retaliate, while they likely believe they could maintain their hold on power despite any U.S. airstrikes.
What Iran and the US are negotiating
Trump said a day earlier that he believes 10 to 15 days is “enough time” for Iran to reach a deal following recent rounds of indirect negotiations, including this week in Geneva, that made little visible progress. But the talks have been deadlocked for years after Trump’s decision in 2018 to unilaterally withdraw the U.S. from Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. Since then, Iran has refused to discuss wider U.S. and Israeli demands that it scale back its missile program and sever ties to armed groups.
Araghchi also said Friday that his American counterparts have not asked for zero enrichment of uranium as part of the latest round of talks, which is not what U.S. officials have said publicly.
“What we are now talking about is how to make sure that Iran’s nuclear program, including enrichment, is peaceful and will remain peaceful forever,” he said.
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He added that in return, Iran will implement some confidence-building measures in exchange for relief on economic sanctions.
In response to Araghchi’s claim, a White House official said Trump has been clear that Iran cannot have nuclear weapons or the capacity to build them and that it cannot enrich uranium. The official wasn’t authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Tehran has long insisted that any negotiations should only focus on its nuclear program and that it hasn’t been enriching uranium since U.S. and Israeli strikes last June on Iranian nuclear sites. Trump said at the time that the strikes had “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear sites, but the exact damage is unknown as Tehran has barred international inspectors.
Although Iran insists its nuclear program is peaceful, the U.S. and others suspect it is aimed at eventually developing weapons.
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What Congress has to say
Trump’s comments have faced pushback from some lawmakers who say the president should get Congress’ approval before any strike.
Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia said Friday that he has filed a war powers resolution that would require that step. Though it has no chance of becoming law — in part because Trump himself would have to sign it — some bipartisan consensus has arisen recently among senators who forced votes on previous resolutions on military action in Venezuela.
None of those resolutions passed, but they were successful in showing how lawmakers are troubled by some of Trump’s aggressive foreign policy maneuvers.
“If some of my colleagues support war, then they should have the guts to vote for the war, and to be held accountable by their constituents, rather than hiding under their desks,” Kaine said in a statement.
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___
Amiri reported from New York. Associated Press writers Michelle L. Price, Ben Finley, Stephen Groves and Konstantin Toropin in Washington and Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report.
Mr Griffiths cofounded fast-fashion retailer ASOS in 2000 and remained a large shareholder after leaving the company.
A spokesperson for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said: “We are supporting the family of a British national who has died in Thailand and are in contact with the local authorities.”
Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK
Since 2019, Hodgkinson has trained with coaches Trevor Painter and Jenny Meadows in Manchester.
Meadows, a former international runner, was in France to watch her protege take almost a second off the 800m indoor record, set by Slovenia’s Jolanda Ceplak almost 24 years ago.
“She actually said to me the day before: ‘obviously I know I’m going to get it’,” said Meadows.
“There had been so many benchmarks we measure in training, we had no doubt that she would do it.
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“Her biggest fear was to set a world record, but be disappointed with the time. She said ‘what if I can’t smile? What if I’ve got the world record, and everyone’s so excited, and I think, oh that was rubbish. I could have gone faster’?”
The date – 19 February 2026 – had long been set in the diary by Meadows and Hodgkinson given the track in Lievin is notoriously fast.
“Lievin has had a lot of world records over the years, and we kind of thought ‘you know what, let’s go with the statistics’,” Meadows said.
“We’re only probably going to get one opportunity during this indoor season to go for it. So that’s the event that we picked, and that’s the date we’ve really had etched in our minds the last three months.”
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“I’ve got to say, the time she did was the bare minimum of what she was happy with,” Meadows added.
“She definitely would have liked to run faster, and there was definitely half a second, maybe even up to one second in those legs.”
Everything you need to know as person seriously injured in major crash | Cambridgeshire Live
Need to know
Two people were taken to hospital
Police closed the road(Image: Getty Images)
Everything you need to know
A person has been seriously injured in a major crash in Cambridgeshire. The incident saw a head-on collision take place involving two vehicles this morning. One of the vehicles involved was a truck.
Police officers were called to the A1307 Babraham westboundat 5.25am and they closed the road. Ambulance crews, including two ambulances and a paramedic car, arrived shortly after to provide urgent medical assistance.
Two people were injured in the crash and were taken to hospital for treatment. Both patients were taken to Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge.
One person has been left with serious injuries, while the second is reported to have sustained only minor injuries. The A1307 Babraham westbound was closed to all traffic immediately following the arrival of the emergency services. This closure began around 6am and remained in place for several hours.
Drivers faced significant delays while the westbound stretch of the A1307 was closed. Drivers were advised to seek alternative routes while the road was cleared and investigated.
Cambridgeshire Police has launched an investigation. The East of England Ambulance Service said two ambulances and a paramedic car were sent
What’s in store for you today? (Picture: Metro.co.uk)
The Moon in Aries is tied to Mars in Aquarius, creating a sizzling cosmic energy. Thoughts become action today, and productivity is on the cards.
Pisces, Aquarius and Capricorn, changes are simmering beneath the surface. Tune into this transformation and embrace it with an open mind.
Ambition and innovation will stir today. Don’t apologise for what you want; go after it now, and who knows what the future holds.
Ahead, you’ll find all the star signs’ horoscopes for today: Saturday February 21, 2026.
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Today you get a double shot of courage as a cosmic blend of strong emotions and electric ideas sets things in motion. You’re bold, fired up and ready to act, but your moves are fuelled by innovation, not just instinct. The Moon in your sign and its tie to Mars in Aquarius turns energy into purpose and may push you in unexpected ways. Just watch the impulse to charge ahead without a plan.
Your inner world is buzzing beneath that calm exterior. You’re fired up behind the scenes with planning and maybe even scheming of the productive kind. Flashes of insight around career, purpose or long-term goals could arrive like lightning, especially when you give yourself space to think unconventionally. This isn’t the day for basking in your comfort zone, as it’s more about breakthroughs.
A lively line-up means your energy is electric, your ideas spark like lightning and your social charm is off the charts. Today’s cosmic blend fuels your thirst for action, adventure and a few clever debates along the way. You’re not just thinking outside the box, you’ve launched it into orbit. Group projects or visionary goals could get the green light. Just be mindful not to scatter your brilliance in too many directions.
Your usual cosy instincts get a jolt of ambition and innovation. You may be dreaming about change, but also ready to do something daring, especially in your career or shared ventures. Emotional courage meets strategic firepower, making this the perfect time to take a calculated risk or lead with confidence. Break free from outdated rules and trust your ability to navigate unfamiliar territory.
You may feel bold, bright and a bit rebellious as the Aries Moon aspects Mars in eccentric Aquarius. This alignment fires up your desire for adventure, big ideas and thrilling connections. You’re ready to shake things up, whether it’s booking a spontaneous trip, diving into a new philosophy or sharing something that really needs saying. Even so, being right isn’t as powerful as using wisdom when it’s needed.
You could get a celestial nudge to shake up your usual systems in a strategic way. You may crave depth, efficiency and a dash of rebellion, especially around work, wellness or behind-the-scenes matters. It’s the perfect day to tackle a problem with fresh eyes or finally kick an unhelpful habit for good. Enthusiasm meets precision now and your instincts are sharp. Just don’t let perfectionism slow you down.
Cosmic messages for Cosmic messages for Virgo today
Libra
September 24 to October 23
Sparks may be flying in love, collaboration or creative pairings. This is no time for tiptoeing, as you’re drawn to bold connections and brilliant minds, craving excitement with purpose. Someone may challenge you, but that’s not a bad thing, as it could ignite something fresh. A little playful tension might push things in a stimulating new direction.
Your focus zeroes in on routines, responsibilities and that to-do list you’ve been eyeing up. But this isn’t about dull activity, it’s about action with attitude. You’re ready to revolutionise your daily flow, ditch outdated habits and spark change where life has felt stale. Health, work or home projects could get a boost. Be determined, be efficient and above all trust your instincts.
Your energy is practically electric thanks to today’s Moon-Mars tie-up. You’re fired up creatively, romantically and intellectually, and you’re not in the mood to play small. This cosmic blend fuels daring self-expression, unplanned adventures and inspired ideas that deserve sharing. Flirt with life, share that wild concept or dive into a project fearlessly. Let your inner visionary take the wheel and enjoy the ride.
Your foundations are on fire, but in a constructive way. Emotions may bubble up around home, family or your sense of stability, pushing you to make bold moves where you usually prefer careful planning. Have a sudden urge to rearrange your space, initiate a tough conversation or set new boundaries? Follow it. This is action with intention. Lead with calm confidence, but don’t fear the shake-up.
Your mind is blazing and your conversations may be too. You’re bursting with ideas and the urge to act now. Discussions are lively, curiosity fills the air and your words can motivate or mildly startle those around you. Use the energy of the Aries Moon and Mars in your sign to champion a cause, launch a project or say what’s been simmering. Your originality is your power today.
Your inner world buzzes with daring intentions, even if you’re keeping them private. You’re quietly preparing a revolution, driven by intuition and a surge of enthusiasm. This is the perfect time to liberate yourself from an old habit, limiting belief or sleepy routine. Don’t underestimate the power of a private breakthrough. Big changes often start small but can be truly revolutionary.
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Liverpool is not one of the “blue zones” – a term used for regions of the world where people tend to live unusually long lives, such as parts of Sardinia, Okinawa and Ikaria.
Healthy life expectancy in Liverpool is only about 56 years. However, overall life expectancy is much higher there, with many people living into their late 70s and beyond. This means many residents spend their final working years and a large part of retirement managing chronic illness or disability.
Ageing is inevitable but losing independence is not. As a PhD researcher studying muscle ageing, I work with adults in their 70s whose strength, mobility and resilience challenge common assumptions about later life – despite many of them living with long-term health conditions.
Jackie has three prolapsed discs in her spine and osteopenia, a condition where bone density is lower than normal and fracture risk is higher. Norma lives with a stoma following bowel cancer surgery. Mike jokes that his medical notes make him sound like “a wreck”.
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But then you see the three of them train together five times a week.
During lockdown, when gyms closed and isolation threatened their health, they converted Mike’s garage into a makeshift training space so they could keep moving and stay independent. “We thought, we’ve got to do something,” Mike told me.
They embrace effort. They run parkrun, climb stairs deliberately, and value the feeling of being challenged – slightly breathless but capable. I think of them as Liverpool’s “blue people”. Their experience suggests that ageing well depends less on where you live, and more on how you live.
I met them through Research Roasters, a science cafe connecting scientists and the public around health and ageing. They volunteered for studies on muscle health and physical function in later life, and helped shape how they were designed and delivered. They helped refine participant information and consent materials, introduced me to community groups and offered feedback on study design.
Muscle ageing starts earlier than many people realise. From our 30s, strength begins to decline – often faster than muscle size. People can look healthy while their muscle function is deteriorating.
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One simple way to glimpse this is through movement. Try standing up from a chair and sitting back down five times as quickly as possible without using your hands. If it feels slow, difficult or unstable, it may signal reduced muscle quality.
This matters because muscle function predicts future health. Poor muscle quality increases fall risk, slows recovery and raises the likelihood of conditions such as type 2 diabetes.
At the microscopic level, muscle quality is shaped by proteins. These generate force, produce energy and repair damage. Unlike genes which remain relatively stable, proteins are constantly renewed. During physical activity, muscles rebuild and reorganise their protein machinery to meet demand. When muscles are not challenged, this renewal slows. The system becomes less responsive and function declines.
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In my research, we use “dynamic proteome profiling” to track how thousands of muscle proteins are produced and renewed in older adults. This approach measures how quickly proteins are built, repaired and replaced inside muscle tissue.
Participants complete strength and mobility tests, wear activity monitors and provide small muscle samples, supported by a multidisciplinary team of researchers and clinicians. We analysed thousands of proteins and also grew their muscle stem cells in the lab, to understand how muscle adapts to activity.
The results do not show simple deterioration. Older muscle is different, but remains adaptable. Protein turnover may be slower and some repair processes less efficient, but muscles still respond to activity by building the proteins needed for strength, energy production and resilience.
Even later in life, muscles can adapt when they are used. This helps explain why our participants became stronger and more capable despite existing health conditions. Their experience highlights a crucial point. Ageing is strongly influenced by how muscles are used across the lifespan.
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Blue people
Ray’s gym is a community fitness space in Liverpool where many of our participants train regularly. Not a formal research site, it is where the group work out, supporting each other and maintaining the strength and mobility that underpin their independence. The environment encourages effort, personal progress and accountability.
Members are not defined by their age. They are people working towards goals that matter to them – often, simply staying independent and in control of their lives.
This challenges common narratives about blue zones, which emphasise location, diet or lifestyle traditions as the main drivers of longevity. Those factors matter, but they can create the impression that healthy ageing is largely determined by where you live, rather than what you do. Liverpool’s “blue people” suggest something different.
Their strength comes not from perfect health but ongoing adaptation. They challenge their muscles and stay engaged with their bodies. Muscle quality is not fixed – it reflects the demands placed on it.
The implications are significant. Healthy ageing does not require relocation to longevity hotspots or adherence to exotic diets. It begins with recognising muscle as the organ that underpins independence, and maintaining it through regular activity.
Research is helping us understand the biology behind this process. New studies and recruitment cycles reflect growing efforts to understand how muscle health can shape independence across the lifespan.
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The people taking part are already showing what this looks like in practice. They are not reversing ageing, but they are maintaining capability. In doing so, they offer a realistic and accessible vision of growing older well.
Most of us can become a “blue person” by investing in the organ that most strongly shapes whether we age with independence as well as longevity: muscle.
Cambridgeshire County Council has said it will cut the speed limit along Bates Drive after a fatal collision to try and improve safety
The speed limit along Bates Drove near Littleport will be cut to try and improve safety after a fatal crash. Cambridgeshire County Council has said it will be cutting the speed limit from 60mph to 50mph.
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The decision was made following a number of incidents on the road, including a “tragic” fatal motorcycle collision that happened in June last year.
A report published by the county council said another “serious” motorcycle collision took place just eight days later, and that a further two incidents where people had been injured had been recorded along the road in recent years.
A multi-agency investigation was launched to assess the safety of the road following the incidents. The report said: “The investigation team undertook several site visits and conducted a thorough review of the traffic conditions. Their assessment concluded that the existing speed limit is inappropriate for the road’s structure and environment.
“Bates Drove is characteristic of Fenland infrastructure, it is undulating due to subsidence, narrow in places, and visually deceptive in terms of safety, particularly for powered two-wheeled vehicles.
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“Additionally, sections of the nearby A1101 are straight and encourage higher speeds, further increasing the risk of serious collisions. Many surrounding Fen roads are already subject to a 50mph limit, reflecting the unique challenges posed by the terrain and road layout.
“Reducing the speed limit on Bates Drove would bring it in line with these roads and enhance safety for all road users, especially vulnerable groups.”
Concerns were raised by some about the plans to cut the speed limit along Bates Drove. Five objections were lodged during a statutory consultation on the proposals, with many making the argument that it would be better to repair the roads than to cut the speed limit.
One objector said: “The road surface is more of an issue than the speed limit. The new speed limit won’t be enforced and so won’t make a difference. The council is proposing speed limit changes purely as it’s cheaper than sorting the road.”
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The county council report said road maintenance is “undertaken according to the authority’s asset management plan”. It added that cutting the speed limit would not be a substitute for ongoing maintenance, but would be a “proportionate and evidence-based measure to address specific risks identified by a multi-agency investigation”.
The plans were considered at a meeting this week (February 18) by Councillor Lorna Dupré, Councillor John Wells, and Richard Ling, the interim head of parking and traffic management.
They agreed that the Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) should be made to cut the speed limit along Bates Drove from 60mph to 50mph. The decision notice said the members believed it would be “unlikely” that the national speed limit would be maintained if the route was resurfaced and maintained to a higher standard.
It also said that the “risk of harm” at 60mph was “still much higher” than at 50mph and that on these grounds alone a lower speed limit could be “justified”.
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Director Mary Bronstein’s discomfiting new film, If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, is a compelling watch. Centred by a career-defining performance from Rose Byrne that has gained her an Oscar nomination, the film is a dark treatise on motherhood, swirling in blame, shame and an increasing sense of dread.
Byrne’s Linda is an exhausted and perpetually worried mother, wife and therapist harbouring both guilt and resentment. She is looking after her seriously sick child, who is almost never shown on screen. Linda is not a woman unravelling, she is unravelled – the remnant pieces disintegrating in front of our eyes through a series of escalating awful events.
Her life is literally falling apart: her daughter’s health is not improving, her work as a therapist is difficult and unfulfilling, her husband (Christian Slater) is away for work and barely interested. Then the ceiling of her apartment falls in.
Byrne is magnetic, searingly raw and unfiltered as a woman pushed to the edge. She is ferociously committed to her performance and has never been better onscreen. She moves with emotional precision, careful and considered, never slipping into cliched melodrama or histrionics.
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Throughout the film, Byrne is shown in close-up – in all interactions, the camera is focused on her. In this way, the director brings the audience fully into Linda’s mind and point of view. Every unsympathetic dismissal (even from her own therapist, a grim-faced Conan O’Brien), every moment of blame, is keenly felt and depicted without apology.
Linda’s daughter’s doctor (played by Bronstein) has an impatient callousness which compounds the anxiety. Linda’s daughter is around ten years of age, and portrayed primarily through sound off-screen: grating, insistent and impossible to ignore. Her cries, her arguing, her screams and the beeping of her medical equipment create an uncomfortable and urgent soundtrack, which draws viewers even further into Linda’s intense and stressful reality.
Even welcome moments of levity are tinged with a darkness which restricts their impact. Linda’s therapy clients provide some light relief, but a pervading heaviness hangs in the air, particularly in disturbing scenes with Caroline (an excellent Danielle Macdonald). An anxious, needy and demanding patient, Caroline is also a struggling mother, like Linda.
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An unfortunate incident with a hamster builds in dark hilarity, only for the laughter to curdle. Linda becomes locked in a battle of wills with a motel receptionist (Ivy Wolk), whose jobsworth insistence around the sale of wine is exaggeratedly maddening – and leads to Linda’s unlikely connection with a charming motel employee, James (A$AP Rocky in fine form).
This is an urgent, important and admirable cinematic portrayal of motherhood, but I can’t say I enjoyed watching it. Its treatment of maternal anger and ambivalence without softening the edges is confronting and somewhat triggering. But this may have been Bronstein’s directorial intention.
Modern cinema has become less interested in saccharine, idealised depictions of mothers and more concerned with their inner lives, however messy. Recent films such as Nightbitch and Die My Love forego maternal sentimentality and tidy redemption, instead showing mothers as complex and imperfect human characters raising children.
Based on some of Bronstein’s real-life experiences of caring for a sick child, If I Had Legs I’d Kick you shines a glaring and uncomfortable light on aspects of motherhood which are usually kept in the shadows: the thankless drudgery, the loss of selfhood, and all the resentment and resultant guilt these carry with them.
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Linda is drowning in despair and shame, unable to find help, empathy or even a break. Her experience of motherhood is harrowing and messy, and the film dares its audience to confront the strain both of looking after a sick child and of fierce maternal attachment.
Like its depiction of Linda’s life, If I Had Legs I’d Kick You is imperfect and at times overwhelmingly chaotic. At its core, this is a dark and unsettling film which will start conversations about the complexities of motherhood. Byrne’s unrelenting and towering central performance makes it a compelling and unforgettable watch, albeit a challenging one.
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