Lynton and Barnstaple - Operations and Development

If your grapevine in Sweden is mearly asking the trustees then, with respect, until not long ago some of them were confidently stating the planning applications would be decided under delegated powers and not even going before the planning committee. Additionally ENPA does not make the decision to call an application in - the Secretary of State does.

Time will tell, it always does - just like with choosing the Pope!

 

time for a

 

No - I didn't ask any trustees, so I guess my sources are as likely as your mysterious ones to be correct....
Some might say that a certain obvious antipathy to the L&B might have coloured your musings ....

 

I would be surprised if this were called in. The SofS usually tries to avoid call-ins unless there is some matter of national significance at stake. There isn't here; the environmental issues are local although the economic development implications could be regarded as having an impact outside the national park.

 

That's the wrong way round Felix. It is for the ENPA to determine the application unless the Sof S calls it in.

 

Wasn't the WHR called in by the SoS? Or at least the SoS had to intervene

 

The Transport & Works Act order was made by the Secretary of State for Transport, following a public inquiry (and a High Court case). L&B will, if they first get planning permission, then also require a TWAO but I hope the issues are somewhat less complex.

 

It was actually to overturn the results of the public enquiry which had found in favour of the WHR64co/WHHR.

 

Out of curiosity, and given some of the speculation on other threads, is there any kind of vision for the completed railway.

Will it be with exclusively replica L&B stock or will there be more modern/larger equiptment?

 

Yes, a wise decision I'm sure you agree . The WHR then had to face a second public inquiry for the TWAO.

 

The concept as (or the last time I was told) I understand it is this, it is to have a complete set of carriages in heritage independent livery and a more modern day set in SR livery, take this how you want, but for that to happen we shall need something like 32 carriages in total, there is a discussion to build four Manning Wardle locos and of course Lyn is well under construction which we hope to have in steam at Woody Bay this time next year.

AFAIK the current loco stock is not going anywhere else.

please see this http://www.lynton-rail.co.uk/page/our-plans-rebuild-line-between-lynton-barnstaple

 

Hi Charobin

I sent you a private message a few days ago. Could you reply?
Thanks

 

Charobin, "The Grapevine" is a notoriously unreliable source - nearly as capricious as "The Internet". Unless you can identify a reliable source, it is probably not worth reporting here. The Secretary of State normally only "calls in" such applications if they conflict with national policy, or are of national significance, neither of which is the case with the L&B's reinstatement. This is truly a local issue.

The latest from ENPA is that a decision is to be expected sometime around September. Until then, we will just have to wait patiently...

 

Well we can only hope all goes smoothly with the application, it was perhaps to be expected they'd need time to go through this complex application.

Having thought on these plans though, it's got me curious as to what sources will the railway go to in order to raise the money for the expansion once the applications are through?

I know it's something that won't be properly looked at until actual approval is given, but is there a rough idea of what directions they'll go? It's a lot of money to get the project kickstarted after all, so it can't really be done by normal means of rattling tins at passersby.

 

I imagine that the powers that be have some sources in mind, and may have even held initial discussions with them. I don't think they would reveal these sources at present due to the possibility of being gazumped by another project.


Keith

 

Not quite, Charobin. Perhaps the above should have read "Not long ago, some of [The L&B Trustees] were confidently stating that SOME of the planning applications would be decided under delegated powers..."

I refer you to the two applications considered by NDC:

http://planning.northdevon.gov.uk/detail.asp?AltRef=60675

http://planning.northdevon.gov.uk/detail.asp?AltRef=60676

Both official references include the comment

Decision Level/Committee: Delegated Decision

The five ENPA applications together form by far the largest - and in many ways a unique - application ever made to the National Park, so it was inevitably never going to be a delegated decision, however much some may have wished.

 

Exmoor National Park Authority submitted the Local Plan (which supports the rebuilding of the L&B) to the Secretary of State on 6th May. Representations received can be viewed here - and there are some entertaining pieces from the usual suspects!

I quote (as best I can), "I agree that former railways are important heritage assets, but NOT that the Lynton & Barnstaple Railway should be reinstated. It was built before road transport as a link for transport and haulage between Lynton and Barnstaple - two isolated rural locations. The railway failed twice historically because it was unfavourable (I think that's what handwriting says), unsafe, uncomfortable and unreliable and expensive. It was not the favoured geological route and was flawed in construction and cost from the onset. The Lynton and Barnstaple Railway Trust do not operate a railway or transport network, this is an unjustified tourist attraction without plausible potential to become a viable or sustainable transport network. It is a narrow gauge line with mock copy carriages with little heritage authenticity.
As a tourist business, it is speculative and out of touch with reality or current trends and tourist requirements: it cannot justify its claims to redevelopment and change to rural livelihoods and family continuum on Exmoor.
In most parts, the historic line is not a public right of way, and on my (the person who wrote this) land the conditions with flooding and river crossing would be an impossible access network, or in the locals interest. It should be noted that when the railway failed in favour of better road access, which suited the terrain of Exmoor more favourably, a by-pass around Parracombe was built to avoid the 1 in 4 hill - which forms part of the A39, and is in the 'users interest'. It follows the route of the former track bed in part, so there is no additional advantage of sticking a tourist ride which is expensive compared to the bus and the road and only gets you from car park to car park. This negates the need and benefits of reinstatement, while the A39 is the viable and more sustainable alternative. The division of the line around the combe would make the land unfarmable and be effective as a structure would require substantial building groundworks and land reinforcement to carry a carriage safely (the existing tourist mile is built on the easy straight without inclines and crosswinds, woodland and flooding, which exists along the aspirational extension, which this clause seeks to safeguard and reinstate). There is nothing GREEN or sustainable about this proposal. The LBR enthusiasts are not local farmers or landowners and it is totally unjustifiable to move farmers and landowners out in favour of (a) part-time, fine weather recreational tourist ride, which would make our (the person who wrote this) land unfarmable and disrupt the peace and tranquillity of the area, as well as the wildlife habitats of protected species, and crowd roads which struggle to support local traffic and make our homes and community unfavourable. The noise and smell of the train is unacceptable and history describes it as echoing through the combe noisily. This is not the sort of access and enhancement to the enjoyment of Exmoor that I (the person who wrote this) think benefits the area of complies with National policy."

Bravo!

 

Well so much for trying to be courteous and show a sign of good will to the local people... Guess they we're never gonna win everyone over though, were they?

 

ENPA minutes of last meeting and agenda for next here: http://www.exmoor-nationalpark.gov....ts/exmoor-national-park-authority/07-jun-2016