Lynton and Barnstaple - Operations and Development

I don't see why they can not publish the actual results ASAP on the website. How they interpret them and what they propose as the 'way forward' can then be discussed in slower time before definite proposals are announced for ongoing consideration.

 

1000 replies to a multi-question survey will take time to read, record, collate etc. You need at least two trustworthy people to manage even this first step-and currently it is a busy time of year for the railway, in farming, tourism and the pub lunch trade- I expect everyone who could and would deal with this is just very busy- like everyone else in Devon just now. Its three months for the year

 

I'm not sure where ther idea of waiting until the end of the year came from. The news item on the website which was posted on 29th July states that results will be posted on the website within a couple of weeks. They also state that there have been a large number of responses and that processing these will take time.
So Mid-August then rather than the end of the 'calender' year then.

 

The website states that results will be posted there in a couple of weeks.

 

Publishing the results is one thing, collating them is something else. Not only do you need to understand what the members have asked for, but you also need to have the answers to what you can deliver as well. My understanding is that part of the long-term discussion is to work out who and which part of the L&BR Group should be doing what to rebuild this railway.

As I have said before, all that is needed is a fundraising/ownership/policy body, an operating body and a construction body; the challenge the group faces is the current group structure, which needs to change to make this all happen.

 

It was a 7 1/4 foot railway on David Moores private land, so no trespassing. He did allow it to be filmedotob by the BBC (18!mins in)
.
There was also a work party with a photo on a newsletter.
Not sure of the current status, but hope David can enjoy the peace of his land and has said he will eventually hand it over to the railway.

 

It was later converted to 2ft Gauge, which I believe appeared in the UrbEx video.
According to the Exmoor Associates ownership map - https://www.exmoor-associates.co.uk/ownership/ - that section includes 502m of trackbed, and now belongs to The L&B CIC.

 

So, now a week and a half! And counting …

 

Great job blowing it out of proportion, it clearly states on the website the FACTS which state its going to take a couple weeks.

I imagine it would do with potentially upto 2,000 + responses .

We was given a voice , atleast give the trust time to process it properly and respond appropriately

 

Noted, but...

..if that is indeed the case, then I do not think it unreasonable to expect that the Board would have factored in such resource issues before making its statement that the results would be published "in a couple of weeks". Otherwise there will be some who - perhaps understandably - may consider that once again the Board has not "thought things through" carefully enough.

 

Exactly - They must have assessed what was required before stating the target.

 

But the 2 weeks hasn't happened yet so why are we making ASSUMPTIONS when on the website they have posted FACTS.

12th August is the 2 week 'deadline' so untill then , anything said on here is purely speculation, assumption and story telling .

 

What is with all this unseemly haste to "know"? The consultation was not just an "X marks the spot", but left plenty of space for comment, observation and, therefore, nuance. This will take time, and frankly I hope that it does.
There is no rush to beat a planning deadline here. I for one am OK to wait for a properly collated publication of results.
Haste is the enemy of clarity.

 

Can I just point out that a 'couple of weeks' doesn't actually mean EXACTLY 14 days - it's an approximation.

 

Which results? There are a series of questions and they deserve better than to get a “majority voted for x” response. We saw how that worked in 2023.

 

I don't see a problem with a simple of list of the Options and the number of votes cast for each. At least then we may - or may not, depending on the voting pattern - get a pretty good idea of (a) whether members want an appeal for CFL or not and (b) if there is a clear 'majority vote' for any one specific Option. How the Board then decides to take matters forward can wait a little longer IMHO.

 

Readers of the L&BR website will have seen the notice about the joint meetings between the Trust and the CIC regarding the future direction of the Project (which I feel is a good thing). There is a lot more to it than that. just having a meeting, as anyone who has been involved with the administration side of a project this size will tell you, it takes time to read reports, write replies and look up any research you need to do and all this needs to be done while having a day job, a family, sleeping and hundred and one other thing that you need to do before you can start on this work for the railway.

That is why I think a more realistic response won't happen until the end of the year; the Trustees and the CIC Directors have a lot more to think about right now than just this survey. if we work based on 2000 responses, and it will take half an hour to read each returned paper and take note of any comments made by each member, that's 1000 hours before you start, so 2000 + 16, that is 125 working days in total divide it up by 4 people looking at this and it will take about a month to do it properly.

You can guarantee that 2000 replies will also mean 2000 suggestions on what we should do next; some may overlap, while others will have a different approach to suggest.

It has been well over ten years since the last bit of track was laid, so an extra few months to get it right is not going to hurt and besides, even if we could, I would expect the next bit of railway to be opened, will take at least five years to plan, fund, organise and make happen.

 

Assumption over facts colin ....dont fuel the fire .

Stick to facts , the FACTS are the trust have given us an update and told us about 2 weeks .

 

I think it’s fair to give more time than just for that - especially given that the board are recommending against an appeal.

 

Do you honestly know just how much work goes into something like this? 2 weeks, 2 months, it does not matter how long it takes.

If you want to stay up till 4 a.m. dealing with all of this paperwork and then having to go to the day job at 7.30 am, then be my guest been there, read the book, brought the t-shirt, etc etc

It is important that the results need to be clear; otherwise, it will just all kick off again on here. If you read into this, you will also see that this is setting up all future policy decisions of the Trust. Get this wrong and you can kiss the project goodbye, simple.

I have been a member for 46 years, so a couple more months is not going to break the bank as far as I am concerned. If it takes more time, then good, as it means the membership is being listened to.