The plans to create Gibfield Park, between Atherton and the Daisy Hill area of Westhoughton, also include 45,500 sqm of employment floorspace and creating a section of trunk road which is part of a strategy to better link the M61 to the M6 in an east west direction.

Developers Peel Land said Gibfield Park is allocated for development in the regional Places for Everyone Plan (PfE), the long-term joint development plan of nine Greater Manchester authorities.

The policy requires the site to be brought forwards in accordance with a masterplan that is approved by Wigan council.

The masterplan is currently being prepared by Peel Land, as landowner.

It has launched a public consultation on the draft proposals.

The masterplan includes up to 500 new homes across two sites close to North Road and Gibfield Park Way, 45,500 sqm of employment floorspace, the extension of Gibfield Park Way northwards and the creation of a country park.

Peel said the park would ‘preserve green belt land between Atherton and Westhoughton’.

A consultation website, set up by Peel Land, said: “Gibfield Park is strategically located within NorthFold growth corridor, one of the key growth locations within the city-region.

“The NorthFold strategic vision was established in 2025 as a collaboration between Wigan and Bolton councils, working together with Greater Manchester Combined Authority and development partners including Peel Land.

“Peel Land is proud to be bringing forward this proposed masterplan, continuing our commitment to sustainable development and strong community partnerships.”

Another Peel Group developer, Northstone, along with with affordable housing provider Torus is currently completing the construction of 113 affordable homes, known as Popple, off Stothert Street, Atherton, next to Gibfield Park.

Peel Land, added: “A key element of the emerging proposals is a country park for all to use, approximately 29 hectares in size (equivalent to around 40 football pitches). The Country Park will be accessible from both the east and west to integrate it into the new and existing communities.

“The park will deliver habitat enhancement, creation and long-term protection through ecologically led landscape design.

“The focus will be on improving existing habitats and creating new features, including a series of wetland pockets in the central area.

“The park will include a 1km walking and running loop that will be accessible to all, as well as a heritage trail providing information about the coal mining history of the site.”

Peel said following the consultation, feedback will be reviewed as they move towards finalising the masterplan for approval by Wigan Council.

Each of the proposals for housing and employment space will require separate planning applications, subject to the masterplan being approved.

The consultation information can be found at https://gibfieldpark.consultationonline.co.uk/.

The large fight involved more than 20 youths, according to reports

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At least four people have sustained injuries during a mass stabbing incident near a major railway station, with police confirming the arrest of a young person.

Emergency services rushed to Silver Spring Metro station, close to Washington DC, following reports of a large-scale altercation, according to Pete Piringer, chief spokesperson for Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service, reports the Mirror..

Montgomery County Police Department (MCPD) confirmed their officers were dispatched to the location at approximately 6pm local time.

Upon arrival, police discovered several young people with stab wounds. Paramedics treated three individuals at the scene before transporting them to hospital for further care.

A fourth person received medical attention from paramedics but refused hospital transport.

In a press statement, a police spokesperson revealed that officers attended what was described as “a large fight” outside the station.

The spokesperson explained: “MCPD responded to a report of an assault in progress involving more than 20 juveniles,” adding that “Three juvenile victims were stabbed and transported to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. A fourth victim was injured but not stabbed during the assault and refused medical transport.”

They continued: “A juvenile suspect was arrested and charged. The investigation remains active and ongoing.”

Metro Transit Police emphasised that the incident occurred beyond their premises and had no effect on rail operations.

An investigation into the large-scale fight and stabbing continues.

It is unclear if anyone has been injured as a result of the blaze.

A bus has burst into flames on a busy city centre street in Edinburgh. The huge blaze broke out on South Clerk Street in the capital city at around 7.24pm on Monday February 9.

Firefighters are currently at the scene but it is unclear how the fire started, reports Edinburgh Live. There were no casualties reported.

An image from the scene shows smoke billowing into air with flames covering the back of the vehicle.

Another picture shows the flames with traffic building up behind the incident. A bystander told our sister title: “I had hopped in the Sainsbury’s and when I left I noticed there were people standing in the street.

“The back right corner of it was on fire and it smelled like burning rubber in the street. I thought, ‘maybe I should get out of here really fast’. When I walked down the street a bit farther and I turned around the whole bus was now enveloped in flames.”

Another eyewitness said residents were ‘running to safety’ from the city centre blaze.

They said: “I was walking home when I noticed a huge traffic queue and I could smell smoke. When I got closer I could see a bus was on fire and people were running from the scene to get to safety.

“Soon the whole road was shut down as the fire service arrived. There was a lot of smoke and I could smell burning rubber.”

A number of bus lines were diverted from South Clerk Street amid major disruption in the city centre. Lothian Buses has alerted travelers to diversions for the 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 29, 30, 31, 33, 37, and 47 routes.

A spokesperson from the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service said: “We received a call at 7.24pm to a bus on fire on South Clerk Street. We are currently in attendance and have sent two appliances. It is not known whether there are any casualties at this time.”

They later added: “Our crews received the stop message around 8.25pm and the last appliance left the scene at 8.48pm. There were no casualties.”

HONG KONG (AP) — The deadliest fire in Hong Kong in decades last year left thousands of residents without some of their friends, family or the place they called home. More than two months later, the occupants of the Wang Fuk Court apartment complex are not only waiting for answers about what happened, but longing for a new place.

Authorities are yet to unveil plans for long-term resettlement after surveying the residents’ preferences. The Lunar New Year on Feb. 17, meanwhile, is stirring recent memories of celebrating the festival in what is now a largely burnt complex.

The massive blaze that engulfed seven apartment buildings killed 168 people on Nov. 26, 2025, shattering a close-knit community. Authorities blamed substandard scaffolding netting and foam boards from the buildings maintenance project for rapidly spreading the fire. Although some arrests were made, an independent committee is still investigating the cause.

The Associated Press talked to four families who lived in the complex or lost their loved ones there. Here’s what they said:

No place to call home

When flames devoured towers of the Wang Fuk Court complex, Pearl Chow, 87, fled her apartment with essential documents, like her title deed. Her grandson, Dorz Cheung, 33, rushed from his office to find her safe nearby, but the fire was raging.

That night, Chow went to a friend’s home and didn’t sleep, while Cheung watched the flames for hours, crying while clutching his friend. They both miss old photos lost in their home in Tai Po, a suburban district in the city’s north.

Now they are separated into two temporary housing units on separate floors, each around 100 square feet (9.2 square meters). Chow was satisfied, but Cheung couldn’t call it home.

“Only permanent residence is called home. That’s the root,” he said.

Chow still regularly returns to Tai Po for church and grocery shopping, despite the hourlong journey. They want to be resettled in Tai Po, where they lived for decades, in a unit about the same size as their old apartment.

“I am an elderly person. When they finish building, I may have gone to my heavenly home,” she said with a laugh.

Data from the 2021 population census showed over one-third of some 4,600 residents in the complex were aged 65 or above.

While the government proposed measures to combat bid-rigging in building maintenance and enhance fire safety in January, Cheung feels their resettlement hasn’t been addressed. He said he lost his sense of security with the authorities after the blaze.

“We can only wait, be tossed around like a ball,” he said.

A temporary refuge

Kit Chan, 74, lived in her 460-square-foot (43-square-meter) apartment for over 40 years and raised her children with her husband in the complex, where neighbors helped look after each other’s children.

Chan had planned to spend the rest of her life there, but the blaze forced the couple into a studio unit at a youth hostel half the size of their apartment. Weeks ago, they heard some fire victims were asked to move out, and that distressed her.

“It’s like being unable to get by in my final years,” she said.

She hasn’t been asked to leave, but is uncertain how long they can stay.

Chan initially wanted to be resettled in a new home built on the fire site, but the government estimates rebuilding will take about a decade — too long for her to wait. She can compromise on a similar-sized apartment in another district with good transport.

Her husband, Keung Mak, 78, hopes they can return to their old home just to have a look. It has memories like their family and wedding photos. “Many people hope they can at least see how badly it was burned,” Mak said.

Weighing time against place

During past Lunar New Year celebrations, Isaac Tam’s family used to visit neighbors on their floor with gifts. Now, the familiar faces he has known for years are scattered across the city.

The loss of their two apartments in the fire was heartbreaking. His parents cried, and his 92-year-old grandfather grew thinner. But Tam, 23, said at least all his family members were alive.

Last weekend, they were preparing to move into temporary homes, smaller than their old apartments and farther from the city center. They shelled out money to renovate them.

While he said the government’s handling is not as bad as some say, he still worries about his grandfather adjusting to a new district with temporary housing. Back in Tai Po, the grandfather used to have a morning dim sum routine with his friends.

As they await the government’s resettlement plans, they have been weighing apartments in another district that will be ready sooner than units in Tai Po, which he prefers because he grew up there.

Time is their priority, given the grandfather’s age, Tam said.

“I also fear he can’t wait until we secure an apartment of about 400 square feet (about 37 square meters),” he said, regardless of the district.

Grieving for mother and hanging on to memories

Phyllis Lo’s mother called her after seeing thick smoke outside her door when the blaze started. On the call, knowing she might not survive, her 74-year-old mother asked Lo, 48, and her brother to live well. Lo immediately rushed to her childhood home and called again minutes later. No one answered. The next morning, police told her they found her mother’s body.

After learning that a mix of issues including substandard materials were used in the building maintenance project and failed fire alarms, Lo wondered if the tragedy could have been avoided if each government department had done a better job. While she couldn’t determine who should bear responsibility, she blamed herself for not monitoring the project for her mother more closely.

What bothers her most is the lack of transparency — when she can see her burnt apartment, how authorities will use the $589 million relief fund. She hopes to get updates from the nine-month investigation.

She wants her childhood home rebuilt at the fire site, but considers the proposed timeline of about a decade unreasonably long.

As the Lunar New Year neared, Lo made turnip cakes — a tradition she inherited from her mother. “Maybe she is still everywhere and still seeing us now. I really want to be with her,” she said in tears.

Rebuilding community is challenging

In an emailed reply to The Associated Press’ questions, the government said it attached great importance to the residents’ long-term accommodation arrangements and had already received survey replies from over 95% of the homeowners. It did not give a timeline but said its task force is analyzing their preferences and that the government will announce the plans after finalizing them.

Jack Rozdilsky, professor of disaster and emergency management at York University in Canada, said the city is moving to a disaster recovery phase and noted that concrete plans for continuous mental health and trauma coping aid play a key role in long-term success for any resettlement measure.

Rozdilsky saw the community survey on resettlement as a good sign because a one-size-fits-all proposal will not satisfy the households.

While rebuilding living spaces is complicated, he said, reconstructing a community is much harder. He said understanding what promoted community at the housing complex before the fire and incorporating those features — be it a bus stop or a gathering point in a park — would help.

“Very small things matter,” he said.

North Yorkshire Council’s Selby and Ainsty area planning committee will consider the outline application for land at Highfield House on Church Fenton Lane, Ulleskelf, next week.

The plans propose the demolition of an existing property and its replacement with seven detached houses.

Planning officers acknowledge that most of the site falls within open countryside, where residential development would not normally be allowed.

Ulleskelf Parish Council raised this as a concern in its response and said this could set a precedent for future, larger-scale applications on adjacent land.

The council received 19 letters of objection from local residents, as well as one in support.

As well as much of the the site being outside the development limits for the village, concerns were raised about highway safety and increased congestion, no affordable homes being proposed and not enough local services to cope with extra residents.

However, the officer’s report concluded that the council’s inability to demonstrate a five-year supply of housing land qualified as exceptional circumstances.

The report states that while the proposal conflicted with local policy in principle, the site was closely related to the existing settlement and would represent a logical extension to the village.

Officers also noted that Ulleskelf was classed as a designated service village, with access to a range of facilities including a primary school, village hall, post office, pub and public transport links to York, Leeds and surrounding towns.

Officers conclude that the development would make an effective use of land, contribute to housing supply, and deliver economic and social benefits, including support for local services.

Officers recommended that the plans be passed when councillors meet on Monday next week (February 16).