This is the context these tiers of councils and Government should be reckoning with, not defering and massaging and hoping no one notices!
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-48964736
Background:
This is why people resort to tearing down statues and mob rule, because the system is not responding, is not spontaneous enough and is negative largely for what people may wish for. The Government award £27 billion for new roads schemes yet places a mere £500 million for the Rail Reopenings Fund. Likewise, many good ideas and popular public interest flounders with the barriers of 'business cases' which cost £millions which ordinary people do not have even if they tick most of the socially mooted boxes of 'normal life'. This is a Climate Emergency, yet our leaders are playing fast and loose with hope. Here's 3 responses this week we thought you may like to consider and any support for us and our causes, are welcome via Mr Richard Pill richard.erta@gmail.com It is all voluntary.https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-48964736
Background:
1. Gloucester-Hereford rail link:
| Subject: | FW: RE: Gloucester - Ross-on-Wye - Hereford Railway |
|---|---|
| Date: | Fri, 5 Jun 2020 11:24:13 +0000 |
| From: | NIBLETT, Robert <Robert.NIBLETT@ |
| To: | 'simon4barber@gmail.com' <simon4barber@gmail.com> |
| CC: | SENFT-HAYWARD, Luisa <Luisa.Senft-Hayward@ |
Dear Mr Barber
Thank you for your email of 12th May and my apologies for the delay in replying to it. Policy LTP PD5.1 - Rail Infrastructure Improvements of the adopted Gloucestershire Local Transport Plan (LTP) 2015 – 2031 states that:
‘GCC will only support the re-opening of railway lines where a robust business case can be provided by the scheme promoter. The business case must provide clear evidence of benefits to the economy and deliverability’
Consultation on the emerging review of the draft Gloucestershire Local Transport Plan 2015 – 2041 closed at the end of March this year. The policy position in the draft LTP remains unchanged. Details of the review process can be found at:
The ERTA’s support for rail and better integration of public transport is very welcome. Gloucestershire County Council is committed to reducing carbon emissions and increasing use of public transport. However, as you will no doubt appreciate local government finances remain very challenging particularly with the current Covid – 19 pandemic and the priority of the County Council is to focus it’s limited resources on increasing patronage on the existing rail network and improving station facilities.
Ultimately the reopening of the line between Gloucester and Hereford would be a matter for Network Rail to deliver and they would need to be convinced of the strategic need for such a considerable undertaking. Progressing schemes through Network Rail’s Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline is a lengthy and expensive process and for the potential reopening of rail lines the County Council would need to make a decision on support or otherwise on a business case produced by a third party scheme promoter.
I hope this clarifies our position on this matter and again I am sorry it took so long to reply to your original email.
Thank you
Rob Niblett
Senior Planning Officer
01452 425695
2. Guildford-Horsham-Shoreham rail rebuild: Dear Mr Pill
Thank you for your additional comments. As I say, we would agree that this line would have played a useful role had it still been in place today. Unfortunately, however, even when businesses cases are looked at over a long time frame and in the context of the Climate Emergency, the very high costs of reinstatement (costing hundreds of millions of pounds) means that it is extremely unlikely that this proposal would be achievable. The scale of development along the route likely to be necessary to fund the level of investment, which would probably be many tens of thousands of new homes, would not be acceptable along this rural route through the South Downs National Park.
We are not actively discussing this proposal with other councils as we cannot foresee how a business case generating good value for money could be generated. Although I realise that this response will be disappointing, we need to focus our attention on other priorities for attracting investment to improve the rail network where there is a much clearer and stronger case for major levels of investment. This includes Network Rail’s current proposals to unblock the Croydon bottleneck on the Brighton Main Line, and proposals that we expect to emerge through the West Sussex Continuous Modular Strategic Planning study considering the West Coastway and Arun Valley Lines in West Sussex.
Yours sincerely
Roger Elkins
Cllr Roger Elkins | Cabinet Member for Highways & Infrastructure and Member for East Preston & Ferring Division,
West Sussex County Council, Room 102 First Floor, County Hall, West Street, Chichester, PO19 1RQ
T: 033 022 23699 | E: roger.elkins@westsussex.gov.uk
3. Don Valley and Woodhead rail rebuild/reopening campaign:
| Subject: | RE: Woodhead Rail Route |
|---|---|
| Date: | Thu, 11 Jun 2020 08:14:45 +0000 |
| From: | Finnegan-smith Tom <Tom.Finnegan-smith@sheffield. |
| To: | simon4barber@gmail.com <simon4barber@gmail.com> |
| CC: | transport@sheffield.gov.uk <transport@sheffield.gov.uk>, Harrison Kelly (CEX) <Kelly.Harrison@sheffield.gov. |
Dear Mr Barber
Thank you for your email of 23th May, sent as a representative of the English Regional Transport Association, to SCC’s Interim Chief Executive Charlie Adan, and relating to the Woodhead rail route between Sheffield and Manchester.
You raise a particular issue around the proposed new underground cables. I understand that Sheffield City Region (SCR) did raise some concerns about the cables: however, the application is currently with Barnsley MBC and it is unlikely that any considerations about the future of the railway will provide grounds for refusal as there isn’t sufficient materiality behind any reopening.
You also raise an issue around a housing development at Deepcar. This was considered at the City Council’s Planning Committee in May and was approved there. There is some protection provided for a future rail halt on the rail line to Stocksbridge. You can find the minutes of the meeting and the full report on the application at -
More generally, you will know that Transport for the North (TfN) is leading development work on a Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) network. This has aspirations for Sheffield to Manchester services which partners across the north, including SCR and SCC, have supported. Locally, the South Yorkshire Districts and SCR have all signed up to the Sheffield City Region Integrated Rail Plan which you can find at this link https://sheffieldcityregion.
It is TfN which will take forward the NPR network and it is continuing to work on the evidence and business case for this. The NPR work is now being brought together by central Government with HS2 work under a banner of High Speed North and it has asked the National Infrastructure Commission to investigate. The NIC report is now keenly awaited.
You can be assured that SCR and SCC have regular contact with TfN (NB SCR is the constituent member and not SCC or the other South Yorkshire Districts). We put forward the case for the Sheffield elements of NPR at every opportunity.
Best regardsTom
Tom Finnegan-Smith
Head of Strategic Transport, Sustainability and Infrastructure
City Growth
Sheffield City Council
* Floor 5, Howden House, 1 Union Street, Sheffield, S1 2SH
( 07787268905
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