Senior councillors in Leeds will be asked to give the final go-ahead for enhanced new headquarters for the Assisted Living Leeds service, which helps people with health issues to live in their own homes, at a meeting next week. At the meeting of the council’s executive board at Civic Hall on Wednesday 12 February, councillors will be asked to approve £3.4 million of funding to allow the refurbishment of the service’s new base at Waterside Road in Stourton to complete a £9 million investment overall in the new facility. The service is currently based at Clarence Road, a 1960s building which requires increasing ongoing maintenance. With the service also growing due to demand, in 2019 the council approved £5.6 million for the acquisition of the new site at Waterside Road after assessing possible new locations in the city. The new site will offer high-quality modern accommodation and due to its layout also offers significant operational benefits which will help to improve the efficiency of service delivery and customer service. It will also help to future-proof the service for the coming years. Leeds City Council executive member for adult social care, active lifestyles and culture, Councillor Salma Arif said: “We are delighted that we are now in a position to get the refurbishment of the new Assisted Living Leeds headquarters underway as once completed it will bring significant benefits for our city and its residents. “The Assisting Living Leeds service provides an essential and invaluable lifeline to support people of all ages to be able to live healthy, happy and productive independent lives at home, and this move to its new location will enable it to continue to grow stronger and stronger helping even more people for years to come.” Should approval be given for the refurbishment to proceed, the new headquarters would be scheduled to open in January 2026. The new building when open will also become home to the council’s flood risk management team.

Planning consent has been granted for Innova’s Almholme Energy Hub project by Doncaster Council. With a 1025MW/2050MWh energy storage capacity and a 49.9MW solar capacity, this is the second largest battery storage project in the UK to gain planning consent to date.   The site will be able to store enough energy to power over 37,000 homes in Doncaster for an entire week and will generate enough electricity to power over 15,000 homes in Doncaster every year.   By storing excess energy generated during periods of high renewable generation, the project will help balance the grid, reduce reliance on fossil fuels, and enhance national energy security, providing a sustainable solution to the nation’s growing demand for clean and reliable power.   The site has been designed to incorporate a range of biodiversity enhancements that are in excess of the mandatory 10% requirement. This includes a predicted increase of 82% in habitat units, 132% in hedgerow units, and 16% in watercourse units. Additionally, a community benefit fund is being established to support local incentives throughout the project’s life span.  Rob Parish, Senior Project Manager at Innova, said: “We are proud to announce that Almholme Energy Hub has gained planning consent. This state-of-the-art facility will provide much-needed energy storage capacity, ensuring that renewable energy sources such as wind and solar are effectively harnessed and distributed. “As a result, it will play a significant role in helping the UK achieve its clean energy goals, accelerating the transition to renewable power and ensuring a more resilient, sustainable, and affordable energy system for generations to come.”

Fidra Energy, a European battery energy storage system (BESS) platform headquartered in Edinburgh, has secured planning consent to build and operate its flagship battery storage site at Thorpe Marsh, Yorkshire. The 1,400MW (3,100MWh) project will be one of the largest in Europe. The project was approved by Doncaster Council on 28 January 2025 and will create jobs during construction and operation of the facility. It will include the supply of containers of lithium-ion based battery systems by Sungrow which, once completed, is expected to have enough capacity to power up to 800,000 homes during peak hours of electricity demand. The project is being developed on ~55 acres of land that formed part of a former coal station site and adjacent to an existing National Grid substation. A final investment decision is expected in April 2025 with the first battery systems expected to be operational in early 2027. Chris Elder, Fidra Energy’s Chief Executive Officer, said: “Thorpe Marsh is one of the most exciting infrastructure projects in the world and we are delighted to have achieved this important milestone in its development phase. “As the largest battery energy storage site in the UK, the project will help turbocharge the UK’s ambitions of achieving a clean power system providing critical flexibility to store energy when there is excess renewable generation and release this when needed.” Walid Mouawad, Managing Director and Co-Head of Energy Transition at EIG, said: “We are thrilled to see the 1.4GW Thorpe Marsh project reach another critical development milestone. This represents a significant step in EIG’s commitment to advancing large-scale energy assets in the UK and driving the country’s shift to a more sustainable, low-carbon future.”

Work has started on the first phase of a £7m refurbishment scheme at the Goole’s Victoria Pleasure Ground has officially begun. Scunthorpe-based Britcon, the main contractor for the project, has been on site since November 2024 carrying out preparatory work, but this week the demolition of the old stand and buildings began. This will be followed by the construction of a brand new, state-of-the-art, two-storey pavilion offering both internal and external viewing for spectators, as well as modern changing facilities, a kitchen, offices, a first aid room, a physiotherapy room, a cafe and a 160-seat conference and hospitality suite capable of hosting sporting, corporate and social events. The new layout will also significantly increase on-site parking. Nick Shepherd, Britcon’s MD, said: “We will use best practice from previous sustainable leisure projects to minimise our impact and use regional suppliers wherever possible to maximise social value outcomes and local spend.” As part of a second phase of work due to be carried out later in the year, a new, full-size, artificial 3G pitch and compact athletics facilities will be installed by S & C Slatter Ltd, a contractor specialising in sports facilities of this nature. Goole Town Council Clerk Brian Robertson, said: “It’s a very exciting day for everyone involved with this project. The end product is going to be far bigger and better than anything we could ever have envisaged being able to provide for local teams, groups and organisations to use. It will undoubtedly make an enormous difference to the sports teams that already play at the VPG, as well as hundreds of local children who play for grassroots teams but currently have to travel outside Goole for training and many other local groups and organisations that will be able to make use of the new and improved facilities. “Working closely with Britcon, we’ll be doing our utmost to keep disruption to user groups and nearby residents to a minimum over the coming weeks and months, but we’d ask everyone to bear with us as we work to deliver sports facilities that the town can be proud of, and which will undoubtedly help to bring more people into the town centre, boosting the local economy.” Phil Jones, Chair of the Goole Town Deal Board, said: “Due to genuine fears for the long-term viability of the Victoria Pleasure Ground, as a Board we chose to prioritise its redevelopment as part of our strategic proposals to reinvigorate the town centre by allocating it a share of the town’s £25 million in Town Deal funding. “Working with Goole Town Council and specialist consultants Steve Wells Associates, who brought their vast experience of developing top class sporting venues nationally to the project, we developed a visionary business case for the Victoria Pleasure Ground and it’s wonderful to see those ambitious plans now coming to fruition as demolition and building work gets underway.” The venue is owned by East Riding of Yorkshire Council and leased long-term to Goole Town Council.