Rother Valley Railway

Wishful thinking ?

 

Does the RVR need access to the land it still needs to purchase in order to install the level crossing? In other words, does it need to wait for access to the land covered by the Order in order to plan and install the crossing, or could the two proceed separately? TIA

 

...

 

Bikers on this outing always did stop in Salehurst Lane near the roundabout. We used to go to see their machines and talk to them

 

This sort of deletion seems to be probably standard: soon after the planning application was granted I wanted to go back to one one of the letters received from the public only to discover that all were no longer accessible.

Would one be mistaken to believe that an archive copy should/ought/must have been kept and would be available on a Freedom of Information application?
It was surely a public document available to anyone to get up on any screen for the trouble of finding it and connecting.
On this basis anyone doing so would at least temporarily made a copy, has anybody kept theirs?

 

They wouldn’t need to wait long since the TWAO is (amongst many other things) a compulsory purchase order. Therefore RVR can enter and take possession of the land, after giving notice in the prescribed manner, within a fairly short time period; and the final amount of the purchase price & compensation settled later if necessary. There’s a prescribed process for this so that land negotiations need no longer delay the scheme.

However I imagine RVR, through their legal representatives, would be approaching the landowners with the hope of settling as many issues as possible by negotiation before formally serving the notices. Their announcement said substantial physical works are unlikely to start before next year.

They’ll also need to be talking to the highway authorities to agree road closure dates etc. for construction of the level crossings.

 

Putting in both the Northbridge Street and Junction Road level crossings would be good practice for the A21, and given that the Northiam LC has only just been upgraded, the expertise and work team is probably readily available.

 

My understanding is that the Inquiry was run by external consultants. The paperwork all 'disappeared' in the new year - I emailed and asked why and was told that they were no longer dealing with it. I think someone else contacted the Department for Transport and then the paperwork re-appeared. So I suspect that the disappearance it due to the fact that the consultants are no longer involved.

 

Plus their both on B roads that would be fairly quiet at night, or on a Sunday, the A21, would need quite a few restrictions in place for preparatory work, my betting is work will start from Junction road, then Austin's bridge, will be renovated, and the track will extend towards the A21, stopping near the point of the crossing, Northbridge St, LC, will be put in, track laid up to the other side of the crossing, and the A21 will be the final bit,

 

I think the priority is the environmental surveys and that the most important of these will be the land at Moat Farm where the trackbed has been allowed to go wild. Obviously there will need to be clearance here but there won't be a lot done since we are now in bird nesting season. The environmental consultants know what they are doing. I suspect that whatever is done will be subject to scrutiny with picture posted to Social Media.

The posts from the opposition seem to have stopped on the Robertsbridge facebook page seem to have slowed down/stopped for the moment.

I understand that plans will be on view at SAMREX over the Bank Holiday weekend.

 

I notice that the Great Robertsbridge Train Robbery Facebook Page has also been quiet for a very long period of time. Given recent news, I am surprised it was not reactivated.

 

I suspect that it has been forgotten - although the landowners don't seem to be posting anything to facebook. I am sure they realise that there is no point and could affect their negotiations with RVR.

 

And a certain level crossing in Minehead could provide a lesson in how not to go about it.

 

That would be a workable plan. However the Northbridge St LC could go in whenever it suits (with appropriate permits) because an embankment will be needed on the other (eastern) side.

 

For the land owners, that would be the most sensible course of action to promote their own interests. I am no expert at compulsory purchase orders but the inquiry result encouraged me to investigate. So I may come across as armchair based instant expert.

I was surprised at how unfavourable CPOs were to the seller. I had previously and incorrectly believed that the sale prize 150% of market value. It is not! At most it is 110%. Given that the actually land value of the strip will only be at agricultural prices, the land owners will now hugely benefit through purchase via CPO, plus they will have little voice in terms of how it is executed or future permissive arrangements with the railway. So the most pragmatic approach would be to negotiate with RVR. Not only could they attempt to negotiate a price but there would be extraneous issues that could be discussed, such as favourable access routes to their remaining land, access rental for construction traffic via their farm accesses which would easier for RVR compared to access along a linear site, there would also be environmental mitigations, so on and so forth. In sum total, a negotiated settlement would be better for the RVR in terms of good neighbours and the farmers could be in a better position compared to compulsory purchase.

Am I reading this correctly?

 

That would appear logical. Of course, the $64,000 question is whether the landowners will act logically, or instead see the CPO process as a chance to dig their heels in as a form of last ditch opposition to the RVR. Without knowledge of the people or area, I wouldn't like to bet on the outcome of that.

 

Difficult question. I would have expected them to get more money through negotiation than through CPO. I'm am not sure whether 'digging their heels' in will achieve much. The TWAO has been issued and as I understand it RVR can move in and fence the land off pretty much immediately.

 

A while back, there was a CPO on a house needed for improvements at a junction on the A1. The owners spent a fortune resisting it, and eviction, for the dubious benefit of being completely surrounded by a junction.

Emotions can trump reason.

 

Worth pointing out that per acre 'pony paddock' sized parcels of land go at a significantly higher price per acre than 'farm size' bits