| If there's one thing the North is not short of, it's old mill buildings - some get converted into breweries, art galleries or homes while others are left to gather dust. But when new homes are built near these monuments to our region's industrial heritage, what should they be called? That was the question occupying the minds of councillors in Lancashire last week, as Local Democracy Reporter Bill Jacobs writes. During a meeting of Hyndburn council, veteran Tory councillor Peter Britcliffe claimed the council had chosen 'Dickensian' street names for two new residential developments at the site of the former St Lawrence Mill, off Britannia Street in Great Harwood. The original names chosen by officers were Chimney Avenue and Saw Mill Close but the authority's street naming subcommittee rejected the latter in favour of Reed Avenue. Cllr Britcliffe told a cabinet meeting: "I cannot believe the Dickensian expressions we are suggesting for names. I mean Saw Mill Close and Chimney Avenue. They make the area sound run down before it is built. But Labour group leader Munsif Dad said: "Cllr Britcliffe does not know Great Harwood. The names are because there was a saw mill with a chimney on the site. And council leader Miles Parkinson said: "This is an urban area. The names are historically accurate." 
Rail operator halts a dozen timetable improvements on first day  Cancellations on TransPennine Express have continued after a new timetable was introduced
With all eyes on the North's under-fire rail operators ahead of a new timetable coming in this weekend, this newsletter asked TransPennine Express (TPE) last week if the much-needed extra services promised across our region would be delivered as planned. "The delivery of the timetable will be challenging," a spokeswoman admitted as staff shortages continue to bite. "Where cancellations and amendments are necessary, we will ensure these are communicated quickly and clearly to our customers." What this meant, as it turned out, is that 12 of the 26 planned extra services were suspended from the start of the new arrangements. A document sent to Financial Times journalist Jennifer Williams revealed that trains from Manchester, Liverpool, Saltburn and Cleethorpes were among those affected. There was no mention of this last week and today TPE says it hopes to "start building back the services which have been removed from the timetable from February 2023". Though it currently has a record 507 active drivers "we continue to experience traincrew availability issues as a result of continued high levels of sickness – which has seen a significant spike in recent days – and the unprecedented training backlog". Across the North there is concern that the failure to resolve staffing issues means the cancellation of thousands of trains in recent months will continue. Many rail workers are refusing to volunteer for shifts on their rest days amid long-running industrial relations disputes.
Monitoring how things were going this morning, Jen Williams tweeted: "There were 14 timetabled Manchester to Leeds trains this morning between 7am and 9am. Seven were cancelled and the other seven were delayed." And The Guardian's Helen Pidd reports 103 full or part cancellations on TPE trains this morning. Two days of national rail strikes kick in from tomorrow but as it stands even normal levels of service are enough to persuade passengers just to take the car instead.
Senior US politician has a dig at Cumbrian coal mine  Handout photo issued by Friends of the Earth of the rally to oppose the new coal mine near Whitehaven in Cumbria
Protesters gathered at the site of the proposed Cumbrian coal mine this weekend days after Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove gave the plan the go-ahead. They chanted: "Coal, don't do it" and "Leave it in the ground", while a choir sang songs including What A Wonderful World. The underground mine near Whitehaven is expected to extract nearly 2.8 million tonnes of coal per year for use in steel making, rather than power generation, and backers say it will create around 500 jobs for the area. But opponents warn it will create more greenhouse gas emissions and say it is hypocritical amid UK efforts to show climate leadership and to urge the world to give up coal. Someone taking a keen interest in the scheme US climate diplomat and former secretary of state John Kerry, who suggested on Saturday that he will keep a close eye on the proposed new mine. Mr Kerry, President Joe Biden's special envoy on climate, stopped short of criticising the Government's decision but told The Guardian he would be seeking information on the coal mine. "Coal is not exactly the direction that the world is trying to move in, or needs to move in," he said. "What I want to know is the level of abatement here and the comparison of this particular process in the production of steel."
Last week Hexham MP Guy Opperman explained why he campaigned against three coal mines in his constituency – but is now backing plans to open the first new mine in decades. In 2019, Mr Opperman called plans to extract 800,000 tonnes of coal from a site at Dewley Hill at Throckley "a climate change disaster" and had previously led the campaign against open cast mines at Halton Lea Gate and Whittonstall. The Employment Minister added at the time that he did not want to see a new opencast mine "casting a shadow on our vital green lungs". But speaking on BBC's Question Time in Bishop Auckland on Thursday Mr Opperman explained that the coal extracted from Cumbria would not be used for power generation. He said: "What we're talking about here is coking coal, which we currently import from Russia. If we decide as a country we need steel to build buildings or for manufacturing, which we clearly do, then we have to have coking coal."
 A general view of the Angel of the North in Gateshead. Snow and ice have swept across parts of the UK, with cold wintry conditions set to continue for days. Pic by Press Association
The current cold snap – which has seen the country suffer freezing temperatures and snow in many areas – has ramped up demand for power at a time when supplies are tight. And today it emerged that Britain's electricity grid operator has asked two of its coal-fired power stations - operated by Drax in North Yorkshire - to start warming up as freezing weather conditions heap pressure on the UK's power network. National Grid said it had asked the winter "contingency" plants to prepare for operation to "give the public confidence in Monday's energy supply". It said the move means the coal-fired stations can be used as "tools for additional contingency" as needed to allow the network to run as usual and stressed that people "should continue to use energy as normal".
In Sheffield, Yorkshire Water has announced it will consider claims for those affected by the burst water mains and heating crisis in a city neighbourhood after meeting with MP Olivia Blake, reports the Sheffield Star. Around 2,000 homes in Stannington have been affected after a burst water main flooded the gas pipes network on December 2, knocking out boilers, cookers and fires for hundreds who were left without hot water and heating. Gas distribution company Cadent Gas said a number of properties had their gas supply restored this weekend but it could not get gas flowing to more properties in nearby Malin Bridge due to the 'huge volume of water' in the gas network and it could be today before others are reconnected.
Hundreds of scarlet fever cases discovered across the North With the number of Strep A cases on the rise, NHS England's medical director Sir Stephen Powis said this weekend that wholesalers had been tasked with producing antibiotics to handle demand. So far 15 children are confirmed to have died of invasive Strep A in the UK. And in the North, the latest data show that more than 300 cases of scarlet fever - a contagious infection and a manifestation of Strep A - have been found in a week.  Between July and December, there have been 11,089 cases of scarlet fever, almost a 10-fold increase from 1,338 cases over the same period of 2021
Figures released by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) show that 1,131 people in England and Wales have been infected with scarlet fever in the week ending December 4, up from 991 infections the previous week. As data journalist Richard Ault writes for The Northern Agenda, the 307 cases in the North include 182 cases in the North West, 59 in the North East, and 66 in Yorkshire and the Humber. Greater Manchester had the highest number of infections, with 56, followed by Merseyside with 41, and then West Yorkshire with 35. Strep A bacteria can cause many different infections, ranging from minor illnesses to serious and deadly diseases, including scarlet fever as well as strep throat, and the skin infection impetigo. The UKHSA says the rate of iGAS infection in children under the age of 10 has been "higher than levels reported in the years preceding the Covid-19 pandemic but substantially higher than the past two years".
Leeds bosses say City Square plans aren't set in stone  Concept images showing how City Square may look after a future revamp were released by the council in 2021, in which the statues weren't visible.
Eagle-eyed Leeds-watchers may notice something missing from this concept design showing how City Square outside the railway station might look following a future revamp. None of the square's statues, which most famously include that of the 14th century knight Edward the Black Prince, son of Edward III, are visible from the air, as Local Democracy Reporter David Spereall writes. In a letter to the city council, nine local historians, including an ex MP and the former head of Leeds Civic Trust, have demanded assurances that none of the Grade II listed statues will be removed. Leeds City Council insists there are "currently no plans" to move the City Square statues. The revamp is on hold due to a shortage of cash and the local authority has stressed they were not final proposals in any case. If revived in future, the scheme would be subject to consultations and the planning process before being signed off. The City Square roadworks scheme, which is a separate ongoing project to pedestrianise the area, will be completed after Christmas. The local authority insists the statues won't be moved while those works are completed either. But in their letter, the group of historians said: "Any proposal to remove the statuary from the City Square would be met by considerable opposition from Leeds citizens, who have for 120 years regarded the statuary as being integral to the Square through the many changes in the Square and its surroundings."
Meanwhile in Newcastle it's claimed drivers still don't know who is going to face major tolls under the the city's proposed Clean Air Zone, writes Local Democracy Reporter Dan Holland. Less than two months away from the first anti-pollution charges being issued under the new scheme, there are concerns that many motorists are confused about the fees. Lib Dem councillor Philip Hall says there is a "serious gap" in knowledge among car drivers worried about tolls that they will actually not have to pay. All private cars and motorbikes will be exempt from the tolls – instead, only certain older, high-polluting vehicles that do not comply with modern emissions standards will be affected. 
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Northern Stories  The Margaret Haes riding centre in Bury helps people with disabilities enjoy the experience of riding ponies over the West Pennine Moors
- A horse-riding centre in Bury which was at risk of closing is to be saved and expanded after getting £170,000 in levelling up funding. The Margaret Haes riding centre in Bury helps people with disabilities enjoy the experience of riding ponies over the West Pennine Moors. The money from the Government's Community Ownership Fund, which has handed out £6.67m to 30 projects this weekend, will secure the charity's future and expand the facilities to create an arts hub and community space for local events.
- A group of cows wandered from their farm onto a motorway in Yorkshire, holding up traffic for a short time, before being swiftly herded back to safety. Vehicles were stopped on the M62 between junctions 24 and 25 at 11am on Sunday as six cows kicked their way through a boundary fence and took to the hard shoulder. A spokesperson from National Highways told the PA news agency: "We're not sure why they were so intent on getting through the fence but they were obviously very keen to be hoofing it along the motorway."
- The private sector is to underwrite Liverpool's Eurovision fan park and has made a contribution to the city's wider staging of the contest. Liverpool Council will front up a capped amount of £2m to put on the biggest musical prize on the continent, match funded by the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority. In May 2023, representatives from 37 countries will descend on the city to compete for the title, won by Ukraine earlier this year. Bill Addy, chief executive of the Liverpool BID Company, which supports hundreds of businesses across the city, said he was "delighted" to bring the private sector, business, leisure and hospitality sectors together for the bid.
- The Tees Valley Combined Authority has backed behind ambitious plans to make Teesside Airport net zero by 2030. Tory Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen said it was a massive opportunity for Teesside, and the region would be setting an example for the rest of the country to follow. Along with the TVCA cabinet members, he approved a Net Zero Strategy on Friday morning. This includes proposals to ensure Teesside Airport's buildings and infrastructure hit net zero before the decade is out and to achieve net zero flights by 2035. If the targets are met, it could mean Teesside has the UK's first net zero airport.
- York is to get its first purpose-built gig venue in decades – to the delight of local councillors who have campaigned to preserve live music in the city. The former Fibbers site in Toft Green is to become a 500-capacity music venue managed by Jimmy's, the company founded by Helmsley-born brothers George and Jimmy Craig of the band One Night Only. Initial plans submitted in 2020 aimed to turn the site purely into office space. But campaigning by Labour councillors led Toft Green Developments to include a music venue , with office space also included in their latest plans, which were approved by a planning committee.
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