Poole Park Railway

Then why did they bid for it? Did they not know the budget beforehand? Did the design spec change?

 

It wouldn’t be the first time that a firm has bid for a contract and found that their assumptions when bidding were wrong, and that they need a change of contract to make the work viable.

Now whether that is because the firm got it wrong, or because important information wasn’t available, or because something’s changed, or because the firm have chosen to bid low and then recover their margin through change control, is an open question.


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Of course this would I assume as a council contract would be handled under the Public Procurement processes which are far more (according to a former colleague who went to a council impossibly) restrictive. Almost impossible I believe to not justify choosing the lowest price bid hence the last of 35B's option is the one I see as most likely.

 

I am equally open to believing the other possibilities, nor would I rule out a combination of factors.

 

https://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/18289732.poole-park-railway-project-appears-stalled/ is the latest newspaper story

https://pooleprojects.net/poole-park-railway/ has a slightly different update.

As a public body BCP Council have to publish details of any contracts over £5000. The only one published is £15952 to Track Systems UK for consultancy services - nothing has been published for the actual rebuild of the railway which suggests the contracts haven't been let.

I have seen correspondence from some of the companies who were interested in the project - there were numerous concerns over the proposed scheme (timescale, the design and even conduct of the council) which led to them walking away from tendering. I would not be surprised if the only tender was from Track Systems UK.

 

The Council 'borrowed' £350k with what is called a Prudential Loan....
This has incurred interest since the day it was started. A FIO might get the date this started.....another FIO might reveal the annual rate of interest. I guess at present the Interest and loan are being paid out of general funds...BCP tax payers.
This project was started by the previous Poole Council, taken over by the BCP council. At present BCP have about five officers looking after PPRy. A design by committee approach. The use of consultants was to give BCP residence proof of governance. The Consultants, Track Systems Uk have extended the minature gauge railway at Honeybrook Farm Wimbourne. This railway is run by Mr Bullen, former owner of PPRy. Track Systems according to their website and FB page do not appear to have done a lot of minature railway works. Worth while researching the Directors.
I will be emailing a few FIO's to BCP over the weekend!

 

They should have just left it stay running it was fine and a popular attraction

 

It was a death trap - the track looked like something from the Talylyn in 1951.

 

Track Systems UK directors appear to be Christopher Phillimore and Bruce Whalley https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/08931824/officers with other details on the other pages.
Honeybrook Farm, Wimborne is currently closed of course but, it seems, some boxes of Poole Park Railway - The last 68 years… by Chris Bullen [1949 - 2017] were discovered and are on sale at £7 plus £2 p&p http://www.honeybrookadventure.com/

 

Been some time since my last update.
I have sent and received various emails from the BCP Council and Council officers. I have gotten know where.
Now BCP Council has been subject to a Vote of No Confidence and a new Administration will take over. The new Admin are The Conservatives.
I can see that Poole Park Railway will be way way down The Conservative list of priorities, as most of this Party's are from Bournemouth or The richer parts of Poole.
I might be proved wrong.

 

Not exactly an update from the local rag:

https://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/n...railways-return-delayed-coronavirus-pandemic/


It has just been announced that the attraction run by the previous owner of Poole Park Railway is to close due to the lease not being renewed. Another miniature railway will close. A quick look on tripadvisor would suggest that the poor state Poole park railway was allowed to deteriate into was not a one off.

 

A lot of minature railways appear to be run by 'Showmen' not 'Railwaymen' with rather interesting results.

Certainly a few years ago the loco at Clevedon had some interestingly worn wheels and conversation with the owner indicated that his business was running seafront attractions

 

In this case it was a play farm attraction were he built a railway using the his stock that used to run on the Poole Park Railway. It is the state of the rest of the sight that is referenced in many of the trip advisor posts (and yes I am aware that people are more likely to post negative reviews than positive).

 

Bump .......
https://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/19097897.council-aims-reopen-poole-park-railway-year/
Currently not holding breath.

 

The exmouth train is another one that isnt there any more as all the locals in charge ganged up on it to build other things there. This was also the model railway but that was all fallen to bits anyway

 

I have spent far to much time asking questions to those who might have tendered for the PPRy contract.......answers have been not very complimentary of the councils officers. Dogs dinner is the one I will use.
The original tenders were for £350K. 100k was used for consultations. 250K was far far to little to: removed present track, re-grade track bed, upgrade to required gauge, remove current building and replace with new building, removed bridge and up grade said bridge. Design and build new electric steam out line locomotive ( one locomotive) build 4 new coaches to said gauge. One of these coaches would require wheel chair access. Operated by volunteers. Over seen by council officers with no experience/ knowledge of miniature railways. The prudential loan, a council facility , would be required to be paid by ticket sales. I wonder how these new monies are to be repaid and over what time scale. In a good year, while I was a volunteer the railway made a profit of about £40k in 9 months. BCP put up the fare from the then £2.50 for all over 3 y/o to what? There has been no survey of the passenger age groups....single parent, grand parents, ......etc. how long will it take to fund £400k? Plus. Somewhere an accountant of BCP council will decide enough is enough.......I hope I am wrong. Dogs dinner? I will not be volunteering.


Thanks

Nick

 

A new £350k tender has been posted by The BCP council. The gauge is now the same as before 10.25. Inch.
So new track, a loco , new coaches and a new shed.
I wonder if the extra £100k is enough.
I will wait and see.

 

https://www.bcpcouncil.gov.uk/news-...-railway-with-improvement-works-out-to-tender

 

BCP council have split the tenders into two.
1 for track and shed
2 for loco and coaches.

Tender 1 is £239k. This after asking around is insufficient The renewal of the track is going to cost about £170k this leaves about £70k for the new shed. This money will also have to cover demolition of the current shed. The current shed has a roof made from abstestos cement. It has been there since the building was first erected. It is in very poor condition. This will need removal and disposed by specialists . They would also have to put an extensive exclusion zone around the building. The tender also calls for a water pipe to be run from the station supply to the shed. 200 metres plus. I can not see that £70k is enough.

2. This tender has yet to be submitted.

 

£170k for supply and installation of the track seems a bit on the low side, especially as I recall some significant groundworks were being proposed. Is this the sort of figure the contractors were looking at before?