Heavy local opposition to Moorland & City Railways plans!

Having been on the weed killing trains at cvr with p/wayman yes they do indeed go at 5mph.
Before anyone carries on saying mcr need to have a meeting you need to know they did one for the cauldon line and they are doing one for the stoke section also. Mcr also gave the local houses extra land at leek brook junction and built them a really nice fence. Not some cheap fence either. Yes they have stated that on heading to alton the footpath would be running alongside. Karen landon who is moaning in oakamoor also happens to have a job as a dog walker in the churnet valley between alto. And oakamoor. No prizes for guessing why she opposes the railway. And with regards the gentleman who lives 18yards from the house he lived there when the trains were running and his house survived but he now says that his house has settled and if trains come again it Will fall down. And he stated he Will throw something at me while Im working along the line. So don't know what to say about that. I for one Will be using the service as living g in Crewe I Will be able to jump on the train to stoke then jump on the train to cheddleton and volunteer. I can't wait as those at the churnet know how bad luck I have with my cars breaking down.

 

Hello,

I fully agree that some of the "arguments" of the opponents clearly lack a sound basis and sometimes contradict themselves* but at the same time it shows some lack of communication between all stakeholders. Yet I fear that as ever so often some sound arguments will fall on deaf ears as some opponents will just not give in to arguments which counter their opinion. If anything else fails, they might argue that any evidence is "just made up to silence opposition". I fear you just can't win over those people, you can only get some strong allies.

Regards

Christoph


* Did I get their message wrong, on the one hand they fear a high number of trains, on the other hand they doubt that the Alton Towers connection will take many cars off the road? That sounds quite contradictory to me. Or do those people fear that someone with an oversized wallet will runs a large number of empty trains just for fun?

 

Save for one fact - that the trains will be passing 18 yards from his back door! I think perhaps he's entitled to be a NIMBY!

 

Std Tank is quite right.

The railway has never formally closed, and the track is still down, so Network Rail have every legal right to operate the railway in line with their statutory powers that enabled the original construction and operation - as these have never been allowed to lapse

The critical item is lifting of the line - and that has not happened - Rule Off - The End

Oakamoor to Alton is a different matter, and a completely different proposal - there is no quarry at Alton -merely a grotesque road traffic generating activity which needs something to remove traffic from the moorland roads.

The web is full of Guido Fawkes style websites, seeking to create conspiracies where there are none, often by people who have never managed anything more than a keyboard.

So long as proper and provable consultation processes are followed by the stakeholders all this hot air will remain just that.

Best of luck to Staffordshire Moorlands, MCR/CVR and their supporters.

 

But it was in his back yard when he bought it.!!!!!

 

Precisely, if he bought it in belief the line was defunct forever, he should be suing the seller, his lawyer or the estate agent, that is of course, unless they advised him and he chose to ignore the risk, so he is now bleating on the net.
I suspect the smell of money will eventually be behind the motive.

 

I had imagined that M&CR had held meetings when I suggested another be held. Like I said, another meeting won't silence the prejudiced few, but can reassure the many that said few are talking out of an unorthodox orifice!

 

As Std tank pointed out trains and public footpaths can quite happliy coexist side by side as we do at the Pontypool and Blaenavon railway

http://aligrieve.smugmug.com/Pontyp...PBE-Monbun/16785476_GWg5tG#1266334313_2fvLs8h

http://aligrieve.smugmug.com/Pontyp...and-Blaenavon/16326651_DwJ6p#1227177431_s27Lp

http://aligrieve.smugmug.com/Pontyp...and-Blaenavon/16326651_DwJ6p#1227179213_6Pz5N

In fact the plan to extend the railway back down the valley relies on this as we'll be sharing the route with the cycle track.

 

....but a flamethrower train would be more fun!!!

Maybe, but if it was disused and he was led to believe it would stay that way, I think he has a right to object, even if I don't agree with him.

 

He may have a right to object but his rights for compensation lie with the person who sold him the house ( for not alerting him to the railway line's presence ) and the solicitor for the house purchase ( who failed to identify that railway operating rights were still in force and - if known - failed to advise him that those rights still existed ) If I remember correctly a similar situation arose on the Stirling - Alloa line when locals found 2000 ton coal trains rumbling past their back gardens less than 20 yards from the buildings. They had been built after the line had closed and the track removed but they still lost their claim for compensation IIRC - but that was under Scots Law.

 

He must have been advised, the local searches will have revealed a railway with existing order to operate trains, if he listened to an agent saying "oh, there not been a train here for years" then that's his lookout. As for him threatening to hit Gav106, well, that's assault and he will be prosecuted for it. Maybe if he goes inside, it will stop his 'noise' for a while...

 

Has anybody tried to register with their discussion forum? It says its sent an activation email, but you never get it. I'm wondering if they have closed entry to it because they dont want to be swamped with supporters opposed to objectors?

 

I love blogs; they're the only place where 2 people can constitute 'heavy opposition'. Well, maybe blogs and the Daily Mail...

 

I've tried twice. Same problem.

 

Wouldn't surprise me. The people who have been vocal on facebook really didn't like being told their presumptions were incorrect, and for when we proved them wrong it certainly became entertaining! After pointing out the line was mothballed and all the acts that protected them they came out with this gem;

The law needs to be changed regarding mothballed railway lines - if they have deteriorated into such a state whereby a train cannot now use them then surely the line is now not in use and to bring it back into operation would mean going through planning permission process as if it was a brand new railway line !!!!

Nail on the head. Though its more like a dozen or so people who are short sighted and refusing to see the bigger picture.

 

I'm on there now as well. Anyone else like to join and comment, especially the CVR volunteers who according to them are being "exploited"?

 

The railway might not need local planning permission to re-open the railway as such, but it would probably need planning permission for many of the infrastructure repairs and alterations that would be needed before they could re-open the line to commercial heavy freights! Bridge repairs.....drainage.....fencing.....etc.

 

You say re open, yet the line isn't closed, its mothballed, also since when did you need planning permission to repair a structure if its not going to be altered at all? I cannot see any alteration that will need to be done, as all the infrastructure carried frieght from Cauldon before, so theres no reason it cannot now.

 

I suggest that planning permission will have to be sought for the reinstatement of the level crossings at Birches Hill Road in Milton and Station Road in Endon. One could also assume that signalling would have to be put in place at these level crossings.