Somerset and Dorset Rebuild

I have a cunning plan... said Baldrick.
Why don't lines that need fill (GCR) join forces with those that need excavation. That way the landfill tax is avoided.

PS. For variety of reasons this is unlikely.

 

If only a means of transport ideally suited to the conveyance of large quantities of low value, high bulk materials existed between the two ...

Tom

 

@35B makes some excellent points. When it comes to funding from HM Treasury, all UK registered charities actually do very nicely, courtesy of Gift Aid provision (and let's hope that manages to survive the current uncertain conditions). The pioneers of our movement would doubtless be amazed at the generosity of current provision, when you compare it with the absence of any statutory support over the first three decades of it's existence.

In no case I'm aware of would there be the vaguest justification for allocating funding on the basis of 'necessary transport project' as the truth is that no preservation scheme which once had aspirations to provide a 'mainstream' timetabled service has found a viable means to do so. This leaves inclusion in schemes for regional development (e.g. Coastal Communities Fund, which has benefitted several lines). With the obvious absence of further EU regional funding, in the event we do actually leave, that's one very significant potential investment source down the tube. There's always the possibility of some similar replacement schemes being developed by HMG, but number any such among the many unknowns the UK currently faces.

Are heritage railway schemes any different from any other attraction with an educational component? The truth is, they're not and in reality, I've always thought classifying our collective obsession alongside more traditional museums, in the undifferentiated manner applied, could easily be considered 'stretching the definition' somewhat ..... not that I'm complaining about that, mind!

 

Just on the Gift Aid point - this admirable scheme allows charities to benefit from the taxes that donors pay. As such, it is not a government subsidy (please don't get me started on the difference between cost and opportunity cost in public discourse!), but the government acknowledging that there is real benefit in charities (which must have public benefit) getting income from real donors rather than relying on grants or being limited to donors' post tax income. On that basis, with the parties in the positions they currently adopt, I'd say that it is much safer under the present government than it would be were the Opposition to have the keys to No. 10.

 

I get where you're coming from and from a technical and legal standpoint, you're doubtless perfectly correct, but given Gift Aid is money which would otherwise find it's way to Treasury coffers, I always tend to think of it as us being allowed to choose where some of our hard earned akkers end up ..... for a change!

 

I'd agree with that interpretation.

 

The thing with gift aid is that it benefits all charities, be they heritage railway ones or, say, arts funding, homeless shelters, medical research and so on. And because higher rate tax payers can also claim back the difference between the basic rate tax (which the charity gets) and the higher rate (which they paid to HMG), it encourages people especially in the higher income bracket to throw money at these causes. Now imagine the shambles if HMG had to actually fund things like medical research and homeless shelters properly out of taxation and the scheme makes a lot of sense to leave exactly as it is, especially as volunteers do so much of the work. The fact that a few heritage railways benefit too is a bonus for those of us interested in such things, but isn't really the driver behind it, and they would be way down the pecking order if the scheme ever finished.

 

Trackside Magazine have the story of this acquisition in their latest issue.

 

What an interesting development. I was at boarding school only about a mile away from here in the mid-'60s so knew it quite well. Here is a poor photo that I took in the summer of '68 showing the Redan Bridge in the foreground and the twin bores of Chilcompton Tunnel in the distance, which is the entire section that has been purchased.

Peter

 

That is not a photo that it is possible to "like", but thank you for sharing it

 

This is really good news, safeguarding the track bed is a very sensible move.