| Archived Save the Train forum articles - 2005 to 2010. See below
DfT Consultations Relevant To The TransWilts - 7961/12880 Written by Lee on Wednesday, 18th February 2009 First up we have "Delivering a Sustainable Transport System - Consultation on planning for 2014 and beyond" (link below.) http://www.dft.gov.uk/consultations/open/planning/ One of the most interesting aspects of the consultation paper is that the map contained in Figure 6.3 (page 39 of the link below) shows the Melksham line as part of a strategic rail corridor for freight. Table 6.6 (page 43 of the link below) shows the main reasoning behind this as being aggregates flows on the Merehead/Whatley to Acton route via both Melksham (and GWML) and the direct route via Westbury through Reading. http://www.dft.gov.uk/consultations/open/planning/dastsconsultation.pdf The above consultation closes on 27 February 2009. Next up we have "Consultation on draft Guidance for Local Transport Plans" (link below.) http://www.dft.gov.uk/consultations/open/draftguidanceltp/ This consultation is draft statutory Guidance to support local transport authorities in producing Local Transport Plans. It applies to local transport authorities outside of London required to produce a Local Transport Plan under the Transport Act 2000, as amended by the Local Transport Act 2008. The above consultation ends on 9 April 2009. On a related note, publication of the LTP3 Consultation Issues Paper setting out proposals for the future of transport in Wiltshire has been delayed (link below.) http://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/transport/transport-policy-service/transport-publications.htm Re: DfT Consultations Relevant To The TransWilts - 7961/12886 Written by Lee on Thursday, 26th February 2009 Our response to the "Delivering a Sustainable Transport System - Consultation on planning for 2014 and beyond" can be found in the link below. http://www.raildocuments.org.uk/gwfuture/dastsconsultation.doc Re: DfT Consultations Relevant To The TransWilts - 7961/12920 Written by Lee on Monday, 23rd March 2009 [quote author=Lee link=topic=7961.msg12880#msg12880 date=1235001258]On a related note, publication of the LTP3 Consultation Issues Paper setting out proposals for the future of transport in Wiltshire has been delayed (link below.) http://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/transport/transport-policy-service/transport-publications.htm[/quote] The LTP3 Consultation Issues Paper has now been published by Wiltshire County Council (link below.) http://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/ltp3-consultation-issues-paper.pdf Those who care about rail issues will probably be struck by how little they are mentioned. Indeed, the "Public Transport" section of the Consultation Issues Paper doesnt even mention rail once. Cynics among you may also wonder whether some of the consultation questions have been framed to invite respondents to take a certain view. Examples of where cynics may find this to be the case: [quote="WCC LTP3 Consultation Issues Paper"]Question 6 Which of the approaches do you support and why? If you support the Re: DfT Consultations Relevant To The TransWilts - 7961/12935 Written by admin (Graham Ellis) on Thursday, 2nd April 2009 The LTP3 consultation link is now broken ... I have emailed Wiltshire Council to ask them to restore it as a matter of some priority, as there are links our there to it, and as it's during the consultation period the papers need to be available for people to consult ;) Re: DfT Consultations Relevant To The TransWilts - 7961/12941 Written by Sion Bretton on Saturday, 4th April 2009 I have also asked why this is still broken. ;D Re: DfT Consultations Relevant To The TransWilts - 7961/12942 Written by Lee on Saturday, 4th April 2009 Both the consultation issues paper and the questionnaire are now back online (link below.) http://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/parkingtransportandstreets/roadandtransportplans/transportpublications.htm Hooray ;D Re: DfT Consultations Relevant To The TransWilts - 7961/12944 Written by admin (Graham Ellis) on Saturday, 4th April 2009 I had reported the problem the other day ... pointing out that consultation documents really ought to be available for the consultees ;D ... and that we had been promised that there would not be any noticable change in service when Wiltshire went unitary - a promise that broke (with the web site) on the very first day. It seems that someone might have underestimated the work involved in getting ready: [quote] Dear Mr Ellis, I would like to apologise for the inconvenience you have been caused. My team has been under a great deal of pressure lately making sure all the content is available for our new Wiltshire Council website. Unfortunately we did not upload this consultation in time. I have personally uploaded the consultation and transport policies, which can be found at: http://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/parkingtransportandstreets/roadandtransportplans.htm. Alternatively, you can go straight to the LTP3 Consultation by viewing: http://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/ltp3_consultation_issues_paper_electronic_questionnaire.htm. Again, please accept my sincere apologies and I do hope you have an enjoyable experience of using our new website. Kind regards Lxxxx [/quote] I still await an answer to my question as to whether the consultation period would be extended to compensate - this is a very odd consultation, with the closing date being just a week before the unitary elections. I personally like to frame responses so that they push on open doors (it's much better to go for options that are in line with the party who's in charge rather than options they oppose, if both are equally acceptable) - but in this case we don't know which set of doors that might be. Re: DfT Consultations Relevant To The TransWilts - 7961/12947 Written by admin (Graham Ellis) on Sunday, 5th April 2009 That link took me to the questionairre ... you can find the real McCoy at: http://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/parkingtransportandstreets/roadandtransportplans/transportpublications.htm link to index of articles |
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Save the Train was the campaign to bring an approriate train service back to and through Melksham. Most big contributors are still around writing at the Coffee shop forum where new members are very welcome. The train has been saved - sort of - we have stepped back up from an unusable service to a poorish one but it's doing very well. We did that through setting up the TransWilts Community Rail Partnership. That fulfilled its early objectives; it has been taken over by local and regional government types who are now doing medium and long term work. The team from this forun can also be found at the Melksham Rail User Group (which was the Melksham Rail Development Group at the time these articles were written and we had no users. We mustn't loose sight, though, that the train service remains poor and needs our community support in marketing and campaigning to keep it going in a positive direction ... and all the more so when we're expecting to find a different normallity once we get out of the Coronavirus Pandemic and head for zero carbon via the climate crisis. Yes, it's saved ... it's now a key community facility ... the need for enhancement and the strong and near-universal local support remain, and the rail industry and goverment remain slow to move and provide the enhancements even to level us up with other towns. Please support the Melksham Rail User Group - now very much in partnership rather than protest with the rail industry and local government, including GWR, TransWilts and unitary and town councils. And please use the trains and buses, and cycle and walk when you can. -- Graham Ellis, (webmaster), February 2021 | |||
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