Rother Valley Railway

Yes, I know. I suppose I was just idly speculating that as the RVR connection is, dare I say, small beer, in the scheme of things (though not for us of course) that it would be handled by a junior minister and just signed off by the SoS. (I know, idle speculation is baseless. Should perhaps just have thought this and left it there!!)
Then again, in the Heritage Railway scheme of things, perhaps this decision is not 'small beer' at all. (Thinking of L&BR here... (More idle speculation...) I'd best shut up!)

 

The more 'new' people (Ministers or otherwise) who have to familiarise themselves with the issue, the longer it'll take.

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-wales-63430740

 

Is there a legal time frame, whereby any decision has to be made? It might suit a government already in chaos to defer the decision, especially if votes might be endangered if their base reacts badly to whatever decision is made, For the extension, Robertsbridge might see more trade in its locality, but will upset rich farmers and residents of Salehurst, Against, it placates a few, but then goes against the local plan for increasing tourism.

 

No

 

That’s brilliant - I’m a bit of a fan of both Chris Bryant and Penny Mordaunt.

 

Wasn't it due in the first half of this year?

 

They originally said during the summer. However they were a lot of documents submitted to the Inquiry and a lot of evidence presented. So the report is likely to take a while to finalise.

 

I’d reckon the report was finished some considerable time ago since complex documentation and multiple grounds of objection is what public inquiries are always about. We'll see once the decision is announced, since the Inspector's report will be released at the same time and will be dated. I think the delay is more likely just collateral damage from the governmental paralysis and general inability to make decisions ever since since Mr. Johnson's administration started to crumble even before the summer. By then Mr. Shapps would've been distracted by all the Conservative Party in-fighting and thoughts of his own future; Ms. Trevelyan barely got her feet under the table before Ms. Truss imploded and probably Mr. Harper now has so many long-deferred "priority decisions" awaiting his attention you can't blame him personally if he needs to take a while to figure a way to get through them all.

 

Better still get the senior civil servant to tell him its all OK and maybe he would then just sign it to get something out of his in-tray!!!!!

 

Given the objection from a Tory MP (albeit from an adjacent constituency) this has probably been marked political and therefore the minister will want to see it. Mr Schapps was a waste of oxygen at Transport as well, so that will not have helped.

 

TBH, I'm struggling to recall a Transport Secretary who wasn't a waste of oxygen.
It's worth remembering that the key to this whole TWAO application hinges on a full reconciliation between Highways England (or whatever they are currently calling themselves), and the RVR. Whether this has now been reached, we will only know once the announcement is made, but for all we know, it could be this which is causing the delay, rather than any musical chairs in the cabinet office.

 

I think you are right. At the close of the Inquiry the issue of the A21 crossing largely resolved but discussions were ongoing. I suspect that there would be a desire to resolve the remaining issue(s) before the TWAO is approved. This may be the cause of the delay and of course the objection by the neighbouring MP was mainly about the A21 crossing.

 

My recent experience of using the A21 a couple of times over the last two weeks was that there were lengthly delays due to roadworks north of Flimwell and then at Flimwell traffic lights. The delays at the proposed level crossing will be a lot less than I experienced.

 

I have driven down the A21 many times, and flimwell is a major bottle neck, The proposed crossing site, Going Southbound towards Hastings is going to be just after the roundabout, the only issue i can see is traffic building up on the approaches and blocking the Roundabout, Going northbound, i can see no issues, as there is good visabilty approaching, and you would be slowing down for the roundabout, there is nothing to cause any disruption when the gates are closed, there is also a diversionary route through the town, if traffic has built up to that degree, the same at the Northbridge street end, so as long as it don't become a rat run, some traffic could leave the A21 at that point.

 

The "diversionary route" you mention would not be, for two reasons:
Firstly, for the amount of time the A21 barriers would be down, c.90 seconds, a "diversion" through Robertsbridge High Street would take longer than just waiting at the crossing, as you probably know if you've ever driven it, particularly if one meets other vehicles in the narrow section, and secondly, because of the proximity of the A21 and Northbridge Street, the two sets of barriers would be closed probably simultaneously, so defeating the purpose of any such diversion, anyway!

 

I ma not sure highways people think like you and I. When building a factory a few years ago they insisted that the road be widened to 7.5m or whatever their standard was for that type of road. I pointed out that we only owned the land for the first 100m and then there was highways land for another 25m before a sharpish corner where there was no spare land. The rest of the 500m to the motorway junction could also not be widened from 6m, but this hadn't caused an issue with the lorries to and from the neighbouring factory. I asked why I needed to widen an isolated bit of road. Because it is out policy. Was the reply. Logic and reason and the deployment of description were all alien.

 

Try Rhoslyn Bridge at Dduallt on the Ffesterbahn's spiral for planning logic. The original very tight cutting faces had to be restored after the bridge was completed, when the concrete pillars (which said cutting sides now enclose) were decreed too close to the sides of passing passenger vehicles. I kid you not.

 

According to the 'Disused Railways of Sussex Facebook page' - "National Highways as its now called have withdrawn their holding ojection, which suggests the main issues have been resolved."

There are several more entries concerning the Groundworks for the Engine Shed in the blog on the www.rvr.org.uk website.