Olney Appeal and Concern - why should Bedford and Northampton be denied?

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

Agenda for Cobbler Railway Committee Wednesday 11^th July 1pm food and social for 2-4pm business at the Snug Room, at The Bull Hotel, 9 Market Place, Olney MK46 4EA.

1.              Chair-persons welcome/appointment of a Chair-person

2.              Apologies for Absence

3.              Can a viable rail route around the northern perimeter of Olney be re-established?

a)              The old route is blocked in several places

b)              The Handley Alignment (give out map) is under threat with development both sides of Yardley Road, the fields around Lavendon Road and much more

c)              Going north of Sewage works means a steep slope, also the challenge of linking up with the old route east of the River Great Ouse

d)              In any case, whilst the old route would have crossed the roundabout (A509) and then River, other options means crossing A509 at height, inserting a station with parking and bus interchange on field north of Lavendon Road, crossing at height Lavendon Road before seeking to cross the River Great Ouse.

4.              Should all expansion/development north of Olney be opposed?

5.              Should the corridor for the railway be made a green belt and development located north of it so the development is tailored for a railway?

6.              Does Olney have adequate parking? Are buses adequate? Should rail access be brought to Olney too?

7.              Any other business: next steps: route protection, getting councils and others on board, appointment of volunteers/team players, seeking funding for a study, growing a loose coalition of support.

8.              Day, date, time and place of next Olney meeting same venue of the Cobbler Committee.

Of the 21.5 miles of the former Bedford-Northampton railway corridor, most of it is still distinguishable. Yes, bridges and so forth need reinstating but the whole project is being held to ransome and the fly in the ointment is the 1.5 miles at Olney under Milton Keynes Council jurisdiction. There, the realignment route - the old route being lost - is being bombarded with piecemeal developments. Critical pinch points are coming from the west:

a. Crossing Yardley Road
b. whether new Gill Development Limited development encroaches old trackbed and whether railway can be slewed to go around it
c. whether the Sewage Works inhibits slewing or needs moving and whether it would be
d. then you have to cross the A509 at height, then assume field north of Lavendon Road at Olney - which is under attack from perpetual submissions for development and
e. crossing Lavendon Road at height, to then cross the River Great Ouse and link to former trackbed east of River Great Ouse and rejoin trackbed in the Clifton Reynes area.
Key question is can it be done? One solution maybe to (going east to west) having crossed the A509 to enter either tunnel or cutting to go under Yardley Road and continue to the Piddington Station area on new alignment alongside the old railway? In either case, a study is required. ERTA doesn't possess £40k and so it needs Councils to work together, find common ground, seek the collective strategic rail link recovery interest and court investment and backers to pay for studies to establish a robust solution and make the wider case for reopening this railway, protecting it interim for ultimate delivery within a 10 year period. Unless we get more support from the public, more active people involved/volunteers, the pace of development infill at Olney will thwart any reasonable rail recovery. No use some saying here's the cheque move please sort of approach and attitude, when they are not even doing that on the more establsihed and more supported Bedford-Cambridge section. The fuss over Level Crossings also being a cost and bedevilment. If at all interested please contact: 

Secretariat: Mr Simon Barber, 20 Fitzherbert House, Kingsmead, Richmond, Surrey, TW10 6HT
T. 0208 940 4399, E. simon4barber@gmail.com 

Our next Olney Forum is OLNEY FORUM  – WEDNESDAY 11 JULY

1.00pm food and social, 2.00pm – 4.00pm business at The Bull, 9 Market Place, Olney, Buckinghamshire, MK46 4EA

All other events including our weekly Northampton Market Stall - having a presence in Northampton is listed on our events page: https://ertarail.com/events/ 

Northampton town centre has lost BHS, is losing M&S and Debenhams may follow. Only better public transport can deliver volumes of people to town centres sustainably and rail delivers bulk of people, footfall and spend throughout the day. Otherwise, road based solutions give rise of land use allocations for more and more parking which cannot be satisfied, charges ensue to manage demand and spiral costs deters town centre access and thus spend goes down. 

Bedford Midland Station has a 15 mile arc catchment north and west of the town in terms of commuting catchment. A new station near Souldrop/Sharnbrook serves the A6 northern flank at some point as yet unspecified, but that leaves the north westerly, A428 corridor with no rail access, all commuting with growth to Bedford Midland, so addressing the rail link as a whole, protecting it and seeking it to be worked up towards delivery at the same time or just after Bedford-Cambridge makes sense going forward. It would take 2 trains off the through lines at Bedford per hour, which then frees up other paths for other trains to call at Bedford. 

Yours sincerely,

Richard Pill

ERTA Officer.