West Somerset Railway General Discussion

I am currently covering as required by the Board, but have not committed to rejoining the Board, although I fully support what they are doing. I will not be commenting further here on Board matters and for information, I would only rejoin if elected.

Frank

 

For clarity, given the importance of language on this thread, can we take "if elected" to mean "following election at a General Meeting" rather than as the result of co-option and then ratification at a subsequent meeting?

 

I don't mean this in any derogatory way, it's an admirable intention, but just as an observation; given how little power and oversight shareholders have, that commitment doesn't lend itself much weight in itself. Personally, I'd actually prefer a co-option to just standing for election, if it was for a specific director portfolio with an interview process. Of course then followed by confirmation at the following AGM. That would seem to be to be the ideal way to go about appointing directors, at least for the Plc, much more rigorous than the paragraph you get to send out with the AGM papers etc.

 

The Washford yard is practically worthless to an outside organisation, as it only has unsignalled access over a working railway. To compare it with Sherring's Yard, which looks to me to be expensive for what it is (who signed that agreement?) is comparing apples with aubergines.

 

ooh brilliant
(quick measure on google maps & the yard looks to be ~3500sq/m, so lets call it 4000sq/m)

£841 for ~260sq/m = £3.23sq/m

105sq/m x £3.23 = £340 for the Washford station buildings
So £909 for the yard


So which part do the plc wan't more money for?
If it's the station building, then the rent for other buildings on the WSR would presumably also be up for re-negotiation upwards.
If it's the yard, well pasture land in 2018 was renting for an average of £105 per acre


If the issue with the S&DRT is about money, then why does the same Joint Statement also go on to say this;

The WSRA has developed and sourced funding for an imaginative plan for the development of Dunster yard, which would set out what a country station goods yard looked like. This will displace the present PW depot, and after consideration the PLC concluded that the PW group would be much better housed at WD

The PLC’s wants to develop further the Washford site, as part of its Ten Year Plan. This includes additional storage for permanent way vehicles, equipment storage closer to the middle of our 22 mile railway, which will improve efficiency of future track work programmes, develop the workshops for restoration works, develop some covered winter accommodation, and develop the museum and visitor facilities. The PLC wants to attract a new station master to the Washford Station, which will itself be developed further, including a repaint the station to be consistent with the WSR livery.
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None of that is directly revenue or income producing.
Indeed, all the stuff at Washford would need money to do, so where is that going to come from, especially at the same time as you've just kicked out a group paying £1250 a year & maintaining the station buildings. Income down, costs up.

Dunster site is ~3000sq/m, so yes Washford is larger, but not by a great deal. So where does all the stuff mentioned fit?

 

And I don't mean this in any derogatory way either, but it is interesting that there is a view on NP that being a Director of the WSR (or any heritage railway) is an accolade, rather than a relatively onerous voluntary responsibility. Indeed there has been much comment here about ego trips. If I wanted to promote my ego (I don't) I could think of many more fun ways to do it, especially at the present time!

Frank

 

Where does it fit? only in the imaginations of someone's head, Lets be plain about this, , its because someone didn't like being told " no sorry our charity status does not allow us to just give you money, " and unlike the Other two charitable institutions on the line, are not shareholders, The PLC's solicitors would only act on what they are told, not on whats omitted, to them at the time, hence the god almighty mess, one that will come back to bite the PLC very hard I fear, if it goes as far as a court hearing, as once the facts are known, then there really is no case, if the plc's reason for issuing the eviction is as was stated, i would expect the plc to have been advised that they really should not proceed, but as ever peoples ego's get in the way.

 

Frank, only speaking personally, but in every organisation, there does seem to get attracted people who once elected they get a taste of power, either find its not for them, and they sit on their hands, take the easy option, in the face of an overwhelmingly strong personality, or they become that strong personality, and over time think they are the railway, I've seen it personally in the two, I have been involved with, when a board has not stood up to a bullying director, or a general manager who ignored the boards instructions, did their own thing, and directors who could have pulled them back into line, sat on their hands, despite every volunteer group having reservations about the direction their railway was heading down.

 

I agree, a directorship is an onerous responsibility, hence my preference for proper job portfolios and applications, to get the best possible person to fill that role rather than co-options without a specific role. As @martin1656 says, because of the voluntary nature of directorships on heritage railways they do risk attracting people more interested in being able to have the title of director rather than actually being a good director.

 

Do the ORR get involved in the intended use of WD? An accommodation (farm) crossing that's also frequently used for access to the yard is a far cry from 24/7 permanent access across the live line. Workers arriving, works vehicles backward and forward, all on that nasty bend in the main road to criss cross a live line.

 

Good Afternoon Everybody

An update has just been posted on change.org and sent out to all those that have signed the open letter with regards to our next steps. The update can be found here:

https://www.change.org/p/west-somer...omerset-railway-plc-wsra-and-wssrt/u/27188802

EDIT: Link corrected 16:04 03/07/2020

 

site appears to be down

 

That link doesn't work, try this one.

 

Yes, a millstone which will get heavier with every broken agreement which comes along, still it was brave of Frank to come on here and say clearly he fully supports the PLC Board in all they are doing. I have to respect anybody who nails their colours to the mast in such an unambiguous way.

It does however seem he may have broken the second commandment from the Dear Leader I've been hearing rumours about: "thou shall not post on Nat Pres". I'll get my coat .

 

The recycling of plc board members seems to be gaining pace, re-recycling should Frank be elected again at next AGM.

I note that JJP reported to shareholders on 1st November 2019 "No board members who were in office at the time of my arrival continue to serve".

I make no judgement as to the wisdom or otherwise of this apparent recycling policy.

 

I have no view on the rights or wrongs of the current situation. But I do know from my work experiences that even at large companies with vast published HR and Employment policies the top guys want people who hold their views, not those that contradict. Not saying if this is good or bad, or even fits an organisation with a lot of volunteer input. But my career bombed when my GM got kicked into touch

 

Depends what you are doing with the crossing? If you are changing its status then potentially yes. If it still remains as a User Worked Crossing, then you would probably need to update your risk assessment for it and decide whether you need to introduce any mitigating measures e.g. always ringing the signalman (which of course only works when the line is open?) or employing a safe system of work.

 

And if it is used by pedestrians make sure that the sighting of trains is compliant, ensure the signage is of a correct standard amongst other things. I sometimes think that preserved railways don’t appreciate the modern thinking about level crossings ( this includes footpath crossings)

 

From little acorns...

https://www.wsra.org.uk/2020/07/03/wsr-joint-fundraising-group-issues-july-update/