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Lynton and Barnstaple - Operations and Development

Discussion in 'Narrow Gauge Railways' started by 50044 Exeter, Dec 25, 2009.

  1. Mark Thompson

    Mark Thompson Well-Known Member

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    Thanks Harold. That is interesting. I'm sure that ENPA, if not the railway itself, have also been taking legal advice. It's prime objective is almost certainly to use up time, but I get the impression (and it is only that) that a workaround has already been found.
     
  2. Meatman

    Meatman Member

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    I too have received the latest magazine / newsletter and as far as I can see news of the S73 isn't that positive considering there are less than 6 months to go before the planning runs out, the legal threat is obviously planned to drag issues out for as long as possible and if no decision is made by November then it could run into next year all cutting things very fine to get a spade in the ground, but my issue is why has this been left so late in the day, the challenge to the conditions should have been made immediately after the planning was granted, even more so when within a few months conditions such as those were banned from being used, 4 and a half years have been squander away and now here we are sat in the last chance saloon
     
  3. RailWest

    RailWest Part of the furniture

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    Whilst I appreciate your view, I would suggest that if the Trust had obtained planning consent (as it did) and then immediately afterwards it had set about challenging the conditions, that was unlikely to have gone down well with all the objectors. At least in the meantime the Trust has been able to demonstrate -perhaps not as publicly and quickly as might have been desirable - that it has been getting on with progressing all that is necessary to fulfill the conditions. Hopefully the ENPA will recognise that and perhaps feel able to take it into consideration.

    With hindsight, it might perhaps have been better to have challenged the proposal to add Grampian Conditions before the consent was given. Although that might have delayed the grant of consent for a few more months - which no doubt was seen as undesirable at the time - the actual grant of consent might not then have taken place until after the date from which Grampian Conditions were no longer permissible. But, as they say, we are where we are now.....even if where we want to be is a few miles further south :)
     
  4. lynbarn

    lynbarn Well-Known Member

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    While the Trust membership as a whole may have felt disappointed at very little progress, the same feelings must have been had by both the Directors and the Trustees as well. I would like to think this is a positive step forward.

    But to confirm their own commitment to the cause don't forget that some of the Trustees and Directors have also taken on a burden of a bank loan to secure the Blackmoor Pub site, which by comparison is just as vital to the long term restoration of the railway to its full length as the issues we have now at Parracombe.

    We still have a long way to go figuratively speaking, but sadly we still need a rich ex Russia oligarch for support, if this project is to get done in my life time.
     
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  5. Meatman

    Meatman Member

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    whilst that is one option i had heard they were toying with, has it actually happened ? the other was to use the railways assets as security
     
  6. Biermeister

    Biermeister Member

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    Are you speculating on the basis of this undated leaflet or have things moved along?
    https://www.lynton-rail.co.uk/files/embedded/pdfs/OSHI_leaflet.pdf

    It would be the boldest move to-date, if it were to happen, but it does seem rather imprudent to put all (most of?) the L&BR Trust assets forward as security.
    As Lynbarn says, and I paraphrase, we need an L&BR patron who can provide the money required.
    Paradoxically, one is more likely to emerge as they see a successful enterprise building its own head of steam, as it were...
    Of course, we all would like to see this in our lifetimes too!
     
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  7. Snail368

    Snail368 New Member

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    The bank loan (as I understand it) is being taken out by the l & b (blackmoor) company to cover the difference between the monies raised from the purchased shares and the purchase cost of the pub. The company is of course separate from the railway companies (although the l&b trust owns a lot of shares in it). So the railway assets are not at risk.
     
  8. Jamessquared

    Jamessquared Nat Pres stalwart

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    I think be careful what you wish for - the history of financial white knights riding to the rescue of heritage railway projects isn't always a happy one. At the very least it it can leave you high and dry if interests (or politics) change; more significantly it can also leave you open to the accusation that what is being built is a rich man's play thing, rather than something with community support. Being able to demonstrate a wide donor base is also useful in unlocking support from funding bodies such as the HLF.

    In short - while it is inevitable that across a donor base, you will have some major ones and a larger number of minor ones, don't pin all your hopes on just finding that "one" major donor that financially carries the project: it comes with risks.

    Tom
     
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  9. Meatman

    Meatman Member

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    the trust will have i believe £12500 of A class shares, at the moment it seems the trustees are being asked to be guarantors to a significant amount of money for a business that hasn't yet released a business plan of any detail, once or if the risks are truly explained to these individuals would any of them in their right mind take that risk, if they proceed to do so then any monies borrowed would be their liability and that would be so irrespectively of whether they remain trustees or are at some point removed of their position, should this option not happen another option is for the trust to be guarantor and that is when the railways assets would be put at risk, of course what we don't know with this option is whether it is within the trusts mems and arts as to whether they would have to consult the members or not
     
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  10. mgp

    mgp New Member

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    Thank you @Biermeister for sharing that leaflet with the many readers of this page. Under current Financial Services Regulations, none of us are permitted to advise or encourage anyone else to invest in that share offer. However, we are all allowed to tell others of the existence of the brochure. They can then read the document and make their own decision.

    I invite everyone reading this note to share that OSHI leaflet with others who might be interested in reading it!
     
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  11. Miff

    Miff Part of the furniture Friend

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    Have the owners of the pub now agreed? This is what they said in 2019, and regardless of planning permission I don’t see how a scheme like this could proceed without them on board.
    https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/save-home-pub-say-family-3547776
    [Edit - Link corrected]
     
    Last edited: Sep 17, 2022
  12. MellishR

    MellishR Resident of Nat Pres Friend

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    That link opens for me with some HTML gobbledegook and nothing meaningful.
     
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  13. Miff

    Miff Part of the furniture Friend

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  14. Mark Thompson

    Mark Thompson Well-Known Member

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    As the draft contracts for purchase are with the Blackmoor plc solicitors, unless we are witnessing a severe case of cognitive dissonance, I'd say that position has changed.
    Perhaps one day in the future we may get to learn what on earth went on there.
     
  15. MellishR

    MellishR Resident of Nat Pres Friend

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    That cri de coeur from the current owners reads as if they had been threatened with compulsory purchase. That was surely not remotely under consideration at the time and would have been only a last resort even when the railway reached that location. Presumably their circumstances have changed, such that they are now ready to sell.
     
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  16. ianh

    ianh Member

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    Now would be a good time to move from owning a Pub to managing a Pub on behalf of new owners in the short term...
     
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  17. H Cloutt

    H Cloutt Member

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    The planning application referred to in the article [which was a resubmission of an expired planning consent] has not yet been determined. There were a lot of objections from people who had been lead to believe that the Pub would be shut. I wonder what the process will be with this application now.
     
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  18. Miff

    Miff Part of the furniture Friend

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    In any case I doubt compulsory purchase would’ve been possible, other than the trackbed, since the rest of the property could not be said to be essential for the construction & operation of the railway.
     
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  19. Meatman

    Meatman Member

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    We were told at last years members forum the deal was ready for just after Christmas, then at this year's AGM we were told things were with the solicitors, and still we wait
     
  20. lynbarn

    lynbarn Well-Known Member

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    While owning Blackmoor is a good thing in the long term I would think that to cover various legal nicety the Trust under charitable law can not own it out right but I think they can hold a majority shareholding, the last details I saw was that they only had about £10,000 pounds in the account and at the time the company was still dormant.

    As for using any of the Trusts asset's to be used as a form of guarantee that would not be possible under the current group set up as too many people need to approves the changes.

    What they don't appear to understand that it is not the Trust asset they can use but there own personal assets ie the house the cars life insurance policy you name it the creditors will want it.

    If it all falls apart at this stage then I just cant see the L&BR project surviving in its current state and someone somewhere is going to have to answer for the cock up if it happens.
     
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