GWSR to SELL BROADWAY GOODS SHED.

David;
May i remind you that the MHR did exactly the same thing by selling the land at the former Butts Junction.

IMHO my thoughts at the time was that this land would have been ideal for a carriage shed , but with hindsight the decision to sell was the right decision,and look where the Railway is now?

Kindest Regards
Chris

 

This is what I was thinking (to prevent alterations/demolition and provide first refusal in the future). I'm no expert on legal contracts etc., but could this be done?

 

A good point well made but off target Chris. It is the good shed , a historic structure, irreplaceable, we are discussing here. Land alone may pop up again somewhere else, who knows, structures, are lost forever.

The MHR shed at Arlesford is a case in point, can you imagine, now Arlesford without it?

 

Look, Mr Moderator, are you going to answer every post yourself or let the posters adressed do so lol?

 

I would disagree and say that it is.

It is during times of crisis that decisions get taken that affect the long-term future of preserved railways. These decisions needed to be questioned and justified by the membership to ensure that the best interests of the railway are being looked after.

Simply censoring opinion because events have produced a difficult moment for the GW&R is wrong - the membership, more now than probably ever, need to make sure their voice is heard.

 

I mentioned this in the other thread, but if the mods dont mind i think its worth reposting here...

If people complaining about this sale can overlook all the modern sheds and workshops, car parks, two less-than-pretty signalboxes, sidings full of unrestored rolling stock, lengthy sections of CWL on concrete sleepers, single track on a double track formation, a large fleet of often innappropriate diesels and a 2ft guage railway using foreign loco's for the sake of a commercially successful railway... then im sure they they can cope with the selling of a goods shed to people who already have restored and looked after it, respectfully and sympathetically, to enable said railway to survive into the future.

Lets be honest, all heritage railways have to compromise on their historical accuracy on a regular basis - but rarely IMO is it done for such good reasons as this.

Chris

 

Feelings on this one are clearly running high!

This is an important debate not least because in the current economic climate it might well not be the last significant asset sale which has to be contemplated by a heritage railway for pure survival reasons. NONE of the heritage railways are awash with cash!

If the interest is so high then why not quickly form a group of those with passion and committment to BUY the shed themselves?

After all they would then be buying an apparently saleable asset, have the ability to ensure its preservation, perhaps even gain rental income in the interim & then, when the situation suits, return it to the railway by resale at the then market price. Better than money currently rotting in that building society account? - certainly more interesting!

 

Yeah, but what could the railway actually do if the shed got suddenly demolished at 5am on a Sunday morning - as sometimes happens with buildings about to be listed?

 

Copied from the GWSR sticky, but as it pertains to Broadway Goods Shed I hope you don't mind. Please delete it MODs if it contravenes anything.

"Originally Posted by davidarnold
Ah your trust in the planning authorities is touching. In every local paper in the land you care to pick up there will be a protest against some hideous developement or other, and to no avail beause most go ahead. The reason, money or influence, or a bit of both, that is the real world.
There is some truth in your comment regarding planners and their seeming double standards but before we all jump on the "outrage bus" please remember that this is Broadway we are talking about here, one of the most picturesque places in the Cotswolds, where planning is very stringent. (The GWR would never get away with a brick built goods shed there now!) It is perhaps most unfortunate that the GWSR had not already reached here and was operating from here by now as it would have lessened the trauma of 2 significant embankment landslips. However, we are where we are and the GWSR is presumably going through every option (just like the MOD RAF Planners when it looks at the Red Arrows and the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight every year and says, can we chop them? No, let's chop the entire Harrier Force instead because Libya will never kick off - But I digress!) Even when the GWSR arrives at Broadway, the Goods Shed would still probably be used by the local Caravan Club as they have altered it internally for their use and the GWSR has no current plans to use it themselves. However, I do agree that the situation today may not be the same as that tomorrow and there might come a time when the GWSR looks longingly at the Goods shed and says "why did our predecessors sell it, the muppets?" I guess the answer to this dilemma is so obvious that its barely worth uttering but I will: empty your wallets into the GWSR coffers so that Chicken Curve can be repaired properly just like Gotherington embankment has been (track will be relayed very shortly on the latter according to the GWSR website but there is still work to do)."

 

Is everyone sure the caravan site want to buy it ? Looking at how its been restored I don't think it will become a tescos or an apartment block. Recently Dintings site was sold with pages of clawback revenue clauses in it so GWR could do the same.
As mentioned it has an income stream so there is buy to let potential

 

On the assumption that the present users of the goods shed are paying rent could not the railway not get a mortgage on the shed rather than sell it?

This does illustrate how much the railway needs everybody's support and donations.

Trying to run the railway in two halves for a long period is not very sensible and probably unsustainable hence the need to repair Chicken Curve in a fairly quick time frame.

 

There is a rather big difference inthe two situations you describe.

If you sell something with the priviso that it cannot be demolished then if it is you can get it reinstated as was.

 

So you'd rather the shed was kept and the railway fails?

Where else is the mony going to come from?

 

Selling the shed in any case would not raise much considering it would come, we'd hope, with covenants attached not to demolish or alter it and a buy back clause.

The money will come from appeals, events at other railways as well as this one, and donations. Especially if they get their act together regarding direct debits a la the Tornado Crew.