内容摘要：The Portishead link's price tag of £152m was set to have been partly funded by the DfT, which paid upfront costs of around £45m as part of the Restoring Your Railway fund.

The Portishead link's price tag of £152m was set to have been partly funded by the DfT, which paid upfront costs of around £45m as part of the Restoring Your Railway fund.

The Labour-run council has outlined £40.7m of savings over a three-year period.The council tax rise means a band D household will pay £1.92 extra per week.

Councillors approved the closure of shop mobility and a significant reduction in its community events programme.The council will also remove security staff from Wolverhampton and Bilston markets to save £91,000.Leader Stephen Simkins said the authority would crack down on fly tipping and spend an extra £500,000 to help fix potholes and maintain highways.

Labour-run Sandwell Council outlined savings of £19m to balance the 2025/26 budget.Residents will pay an extra £2 per week in council tax in a band D home.

The council will look to close the

, transfer Hadley Stadium to a third party and develop a new operating model for Tipton Sports Academy.Plans to build 446 homes on green belt land near Horley have been approved on appeal, overturning the local council’s initial rejection.

The development will include including 201 affordable homes and four Traveller pitches on land west of Reigate Road in Hookwood.Mole Valley District Council (MVDC) has confirmed there is a significant unmet need for this type of specific housing within the area.

Despite concerns about its impact on the green belt, the planning inspector ruled that the “very substantial public benefits” of the housing outweighed the harm to the protected area.The decision comes amid what the inspector called “an acute need for affordable housing” in the district.