ERTA Events for Winter-Spring 2023 - all welcome

29-12-2022
ERTA Rugby Transport Forum: Saturday 21^st January 2023 1pm food, 2pm business at Rupert Brooke Wetherspoons 01788 576759 8–10 Castle Street, Rugby, Warwickshire
CV21 2TP https://www.jdwetherspoon.com/pubs/all-pubs/england/warwickshire/rupert-brooke-rugby Convenor/contact: Mr Simon Barber: T. 0208 940 4399 E. simon4barber@gmail.com
 
Agenda
 
1.     Appointment of a chair for the meeting
2.     Apologies for absence
3.     North of Rugby (Rugby-Magna Park-Lutterworth-Narborough area physical rail linkages)
4.     South of Rugby (Rugby Central Parkway – East-West Rail and Aylesbury for wider linkage to Bicester, Oxford, Bristol, Southampton and all in between, beyond as well as London Old Oak Common/OOC. This via the areas of Willoughby, Woodford Halse area, Brackley East Parkway). Nothing is easy or straight forward. But this is a new 21^st Century railway for the carriage of people and goods, more capacity, modal shift from road to rail and catering for sustainability more amidst spiralling growth and a lack of rail-based infrastructure.
5.     How to get from south of Rugby to Rugby WCML/Northampton Loop and beyond via DIRFT to Lutterworth and associated aforementioned linkages? It needs a study. Indeed, every aspect needs a study to look and identify options from construction/reconstruction, engineering, costs and environmental impact
6.     Seeking backers, sponsors, business interest and political support from councils, agencies and government.
7.     Association needs: This needs to focus on a. upping our presence in Rugby, b. getting and growing a team of support, c. leafleting and marketing, d. rails from Rugby Central south and rails from Rugby WCML to Magna Park, Lutterworth area and linkages to Narborough area existing rails. It needs backers, sponsors and professionals to take the ideas and make progress with them towards delivery. It needs buy-in from councils and public as well as MP’s. How we get there/preliminary strategies. ERTA is not equipped to do studies (they start at upwards of £50k), but we do plant ideas and seek to identify gaps and potential as yet unserved markets by rail to consider and pursue hopefully. Traffic and emissions reduction must be a main consideration in all our endeavours.
8.     Growing support in the Rugby area. Ideas of how best to do that on a very meagre budget. Leafleting is one option, but so far has not roused people to join ERTA.
9.     Any Other Business
10.  Day, Date, Time and Place of next meeting: Suggest first Saturday of whenever, probably November. However, sister meeting at Leicester and Market Harborough, all welcome.
a.      Leicester Forum: Saturday 25^th February. The High Cross Wetherspoons 1pm food, 2pm business 0116 251 9218 103–105 High Street, Leicester, Leicestershire, LE1 4JB https://www.jdwetherspoon.com/pubs/all-pubs/england/leicestershire/the-high-cross-leicester
b.     Market Harborough Public Meeting: Saturday 11^th March from 2pm
Details: To discuss Northampton-Market Harborough (MH) rail link being restored and accentuated others including stations, Rugby-Leicester, Magna Park and Lutterworth.
Market Harborough Methodist Church/Hall, Northampton Road, Market Harborough, LE16 9HE www.harboroughmethodistcircuit.org.uk  Opposite the Market Hall.
ERTA personnel will meet at the local Wetherspoons from 12 Noon. The venue is only a 5-minute walk from the Wetherspoon Pub. The Sugar Loaf: https://www.jdwetherspoon.com/pubs/all-pubs/england/leicestershire/the-sugar-loaf-market-harborough 01858 469231 18 High Street, Market Harborough, Leicestershire, LE16 7NJ
Local contact Cllr Peter James: peter341@btinternet.com
ERTA Contact: Mr Simon Barber, 20 Fitzherbert House, Kingsmead, Richmond, Surrey, TW10 6HT T. 0208 940 4399 E. simon4barber@gmail.com
 

Note: ERTA has many other calls and we wish to grow a team to delegate these projects to take forward and court support. In short, if you want more, be prepared to be part of that and making it happen. Local people participation and local knowledge is indispensable.
Any volunteers, beit professional, elected or lay people, 

please let Richard Pill know: richard.erta@gmail.com or to talk: 01234 330090

For your diaries:

Any offers to help with donations, volunteering or helping with delivery of flyers in the Ampthill area, would be gratefully received. Please contact Mr Richard Pill, ERTA Bedfordshire Area Rep. via richard.erta@gmail.com and join our email loop or tel. 01234 330090. Media interest always welcome to entertain as is pro-supportive coverage!

Leicester Forum

The High Cross, Leicester

Saturday 25th February 1pm food, 2-4pm business Leicester agenda and getting it underway.

The High Cross, 0116 251 9218 103–105 High Street, Leicester Leicestershire, LE1 4JB  https://www.jdwetherspoon.com/pubs/all-pubs/england/leicestershire/the-high-cross-leicester

As people get their new diaries, I attach our forth-coming programme of events* with which you and contacts are warmly welcome to attend and encourage others as well. 

We are pushing ahead with our grassroots style of campaigning which seeks to inform the public and via recruitment encourage membership and activism to take on campaigns and admin roles beit desktop or out and about and make the case or plant ideas of potential for professionals to adopt and invest in.

At upwards of £50k, we lack the resources to fund formal studies, but are open to collaborate and work with any who are interested in doing so. Our team has a desire to bring appropriate people together and they in-turn to take projects forward and work upwards towards delivery. Delivery is the only way modal choice can be informed and emissions reduced on the back of it.

Buses have been cut, rail suffers breakdowns and strike actions and we very much feel the pinch of the government not seeking to fix these dilemmas meaningfully. Some new money may be required, some compromise on 'modernisation' likewise. One idea is to give a under 65's concessionary bus and rail pass to all on or under £20, 000 p.a. with upwards being able to buy one. That could inform more footfall to public transport, which would boost patronage and usage terms and get people out of car dependency, which is left, right and centre a multiple faceted cost from tax, insurance, fuel and wear and tear/maintenance for example. More freight by rail of all sizes cannot happen without tracks back and accessibility with a more robust network made apparent. Key question is is anyone planning for such a modal shift meaningfully any time soon? COP27 showed where things are heading, there's a human cost to not doing much or merely tinkering at the edges whilst assuming business as usual.

ERTA will try and bring people together where we may and play our part to move things on appropriately.

News and Notes:

Generally: Venues may change or be cancelled at short notice. Stay in touch.

1.            People attend at their own risk. Everyone pays for their own food and drink.

2.            There is a pre-pared agenda, please help focus on the pertinent issues.

3.            Zoom Meetings: we need a Zoom Host Volunteer reliable and capable to host zoom meetings for external growth purposes. Things like reopenings, freight on rail and much else, especially for far flung or immobile people for whatever reason. All offers welcome.

4.            Join us on Twitter @ERTACampaigns and Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RichardPillERTA

5.            We welcome our new Leicestershire Area Rep: Mr Kuljit Maan: https://ertarail.co.uk/contact/

6.            ERTA is growing its team and welcomes support in terms of membership, donations and business/council interest to adopt ideas as policy, study, round-table further and get government moving towards funding and delivery. We need the rail links to cut road traffic blight, emissions, noise, pollution and impacts. Rail reopenings have often exceeded expectations and deliver footfall and spend minus congestion.

7.            Other news: we have made contact with Center Parcs in Central Beds and committed to a roughly quarterly meeting of the ERTA Ampthill-Flitwick Transport Forum in pursuit of a new Ampthill Parkway Station. All welcome and to offer to assist whether local or not. Contact richard.erta@gmail.com with offers. Please feel free to forward and invite other potentially interested people. Thank you.

8.          

Our volunteers and other pages on our website:

https://ertarail.co.uk/get-involved-volunteering/ are progressively being updated. Please have a perusal and give us feedback. We need to grow a steady team of volunteers to enable us to do more and better. Please consider what you can contribute, even a donation, all helps. Any enquiries via richard.erta@gmail.com and join our email loop for updates. Thank you.

Contact and convenor: Mr Simon Barber, 20 Fitzherbert House, Kingsmead, Richmond, Surrey, TW10 6HT T. 0208 940 4399 E. simon4barber@gmail.com * For all other meetings and details, please email richard.erta@gmail.com and join our loop.