S&D Railway Trust

And the service of a Notice to Quit upon the SDRT to vacate Washford after some 45 years by the WSR PLC's solicitors on the instructions of the WSR PLC board without any warning whatsoever to the SDRT, is the clearest indication you could have that 'something's not right' at WSR PLC board level.

So much for a 'family', a 'string of pearls'.

I am totally shocked and aghast at how the new small WSR PLC board is behaving in respect of the SDRT which has been an integral part of the WSR for some 45 years.

Cheers,

Julian

 

The Somerset and Dorset Railway Trust have an excellent website with a novel way to join as a member that is quick and easy.

http://www.sdrt.org/Membership.Html

Please support them.

And somehow, lets get the WSR PLC board held to account over all this nonsense attempting to evict the Somerset and Dorset Railway Trust from Washford where they have had a base for some 45 years, and just under 2 years ago were granted a new lease for 50 years!

I can't say what I want to say because I will have the Moderators come down on me as they appear to be under some pressure from the WSR PLC board, though heavens knows why they should firstly be 'got at', and secondly why they should 'succumb'.

Cheers,

Julian

 

S&D Trust application has just gone through.
Pat

 

My application to the S&DRT has also gone through.

In the absence of any internal way of raising any issues, there being no policies in place, no internal communicate routes as speaking or writing to the PLC gets no reply (or worse, an alleged string of four letter words and a rapid departure as a certain other Chairman found out recently), no PDG, no governing body and a disparate group of PLC Shareholders that you can't write to because nobody will release contact details, supporting the S&DRT in this way when they most need support is a very good way to show the wider railway community you don't agree with this eviction and to try to bring some accountability back into play.

 

Thank you, Pat ..... and all others like-minded !

 

That is a bizarre argument. Just because someone might be wrong about one thing does not make them wrong about another. By your own argument, your own views on everything are therefore dubious because of this dubious argument. I am not sure if that was the message about your own postings that you wished to convey but hey ho.

It would also mean you've declared the views of every single poster and moderator to be rubbish as no poster or moderator is infallible and omniscient, even if some think they are.

Andy, I note that when you join up it asks if you have any skills that might be of use. I hope that the S&D will be able to take advantage of your knowledge and skills.

 

I see no reason to disagree with that point of view. However, unless the S&DRT is able to publish regular Press Releases announcing larger-than-average increases in membership over the next few months, I'm not sure how the 'wider railway community' will get to know about this. For comparison I would reference the situation now emerging from the S&DRHT at Midsomer Norton, much of which seems to be unheard-of outside the immediate circle of those apparently threatened with expulsion from membership for disagreeing with recent Trustee decisions.

DISCLAIMER: I neither make nor intend to imply any view on the merits or demerits of the various aspects of that situation, I'm simply using it as an example.

 

Thanks, yes I take your point and you are correct. In general terms without any specific references to current events it is always difficult to get messages across our hobby as its so diverse without including the general public as well. Its also difficult when the wider public Press Releases only come from one side as has been the case. Any falling out between groups or actions by one group to another within any hobby does of course have an impact on the hobby as a whole if it gets to the wider general public's attention. As some have said here before 'don't wash your dirty laundry in public', I agree with that, it would be much better to keep it internally, but that's difficult for people when its been put out there already with one sides point of view as part of the justification for the instigating action.

Its of course for others to decide how to respond or indeed not respond. However when there are no internal channels and one side puts out Press Releases to the public, an escalation which reflects badly on all in our hobby maybe unavoidable. All I can do is raise some facts to people in a proportional way and give my opinion on certain subjects as a Shareholder (which giving me a responsibility in the company I hold shares in) and under the Public Disclosures Act which also gives me a legal responsibility to speak out if I think people or companies maybe acting in an inappropriate manner and then others can decide to act or not.

 

I began to write the same thing, but not as well as you have done.
The PLC statement comes across as arrogant, foolish, and churlish. Alienating supporters is easy, getting them back is not.
Robin L.

 

The use of such language in a PLC Press Release is unbelievable. The document reads as if it was written by a fool, or several fools.
Robin L.

 

.... I'm just stating that I believe the Plc were lawful (not necessarily correct) in serving notice despite what others may think or feel about the situation.[/QUOTE]

One reason for serving notice - "the landlord wishes to occupy the site themselves" really doesn't wash.
The landlord didn't want to occupy the site when an increase of rent was proposed. The addition of other nonsense like "....acted rather like a 'cuckoo in the nest' which the plc found unacceptable....." and "following their own agenda" does nothing to confirm that either.

Other statements like "....as a result of this and other concerns, they have been served with a year's notice to remove themselves from the Washford site completely" and "..... the rent they pay for this land is much lower than any other organisation occupying space elsewhere on the railway" do not show that the landlord's intent is based upon wanting to occupy the site for themselves. Any subsequent statements such as "might do this" or "would like to do that" are just there to distract.
Robin L.

 

If the shed were mine, I'd be like a dog in a manger - if I can't have it, then nobody else will.
I'd willingly dismantle it for scrap rather than let an "opportunist" have it.
Robin L.

 

I have a feeling that these 'other concerns', whatever they are, maybe the driving force behind the Plc's demands.
I wonder what these 'other concerns' are.

 

One issue here is that some elements of the shed have historical S&DJR connections, such as the hut from Wells which forms the mess-room at the BA end. IIRC also the main shed doors came from the Wells goods-shed? I doubt that the S&DRT would wish for those to go for 'scrap'.

Also, I am reminded of the ex-Burnham signal-box which stands in the yard there. Another valued piece of S&DJR history and a small and relatively portable structure which could be taken elsewhere if a suitable home could be found for it. Certainly not to be left behind !

 

There have been lots of very interesting posts by forum members today.

So far as Washford is concerned, and the S&DRT, I note from the 16th January Board Minutes of the WSSRT, that it has a copy of the WSR PLC's 3 year business plan - at least Steve Williams had a copy at the meeting - and JJP was present at the meeting initially.

I wonder if some kind soul would be prepared to send me a copy of this 3 year business plan in confidence please?

I note that Ian Coleby as the then WSR PLC chairman agreed to the new 50 year lease for Washford for the S&DRT in April 2018, and that Ian is also a very long serving Trustee and Board member of the WSSRT, and his further comments on all this would be very welcome on here.

(The next WSSRT board meeting - after that of 16th January - is apparently on the 19th March, and I wonder if Ian would care to comment on what has apparently happened at WSSRT board/trustee level in the interim).

I don't think that the WSR PLC have thought through the implications of serving a Notice to Quit on the S&DRT for Washford - in fact I am quite sure they have not, and not sought legal advice on the implications under the lease or for costs and much else besides. And the idea that the WSR PLC can take over, as its own, the buildings and all the trackwork owned by the S&DRT in the Washford yard is fantasy.

Cheers,

Julian

 

Michael

Would you please be specific and qualify your comments "misleading'" and "other postings littered with inaccuracies" so I can have the opportunity of providing you and the wider audience with the specifics to support anything I have said. Whilst I understand that you supported the current PLC management, your broad sweeping statements to try and undermine people who have spoken out about things they are not happy with (i am also aware you have been criticising others concerned about current events as well as me) just serves to further embolden people when your only defence are broad, sweeping and undefined in nature. As another poster said here recently 'non-words'.

It also strikes me that again as another poster commented on here recently, it seems to be OK for some to publish Press Releases into the public domain containing broad sweeping, undefined statements such as "cuckoos in the nest", yet if others post a factually correct statement they are accused of misleading people.

I can of course reply to one comment you made. You are stating that when I said "two more departures = two more vacancies" I was "misleading" people. I think what I said was accurate, two people are leaving and two new people are needed and many did not know that and the formal announcement was only made today. I did not expand on my comment further as I could have done if I had repeated the current rumours about why these two people are leaving which have been heard from various different directions. Perhaps had I done you could have accused me of misleading people if those rumours were not true, but I didn't.

 

So I go to my family in Somerset for ten days and come back home to report here that there was some positive comment in the local press regarding the plc finances and what do I find... The railway has shot itself in the foot again. Bob Seeger got it correct.

 

I think it is important to go back to Mark Smith's press statement of 24th February, just over a week after the SDRT had been served with a Notice to Quit of Washford.

https://www.west-somerset-railway.c...et-railway-board-statement-regarding-washford

Rather than consider partial extracts the statement needs considering in its entirety.

I am not going to pick it apart. If anyone would like to consider s.30 (g) grounds of the 1954 Act, and then the 16th January WSSRT board minutes, then the WSR PLC board has deliberately embarked on a course of action which the results of it's actions have not been thought through, and with massive consequences for the WSR PLC board , not to say considerable costs.

We have already discussed at length parts of Mark Smith's statement to be 'phoney'. And indeed they are. The sudden hostility by the WSR PLC board towards the SDRT is bizarre after 45 years at Washford, and being recently given a further 50 years lease.

Cheers,
Julian

 

Nah, 5lb of Semtex should do the job.

 

The business plan is in draft form and was circulated for comment. I assume other support bodies have also had draft copies. I read somewhere that it is due to be issued in July. If you want a copy, you should contact minehead.
Since our meeting in January, the WSSRT has been fully occupied on the refurbishment of the gauge museum thanks to our lottery grant. This is looking really good and it will be one of the best museums of its type around when we reopen later this month. Our volunteers are putting in many thankless hours getting this work done.
On a personal note, I have produced another journal that is now with the printers. Thanks to Ian Tabrett, his journal article on the 1928 GWR book "Somerset Ways" led to a great double page spread in the Western Daily Press on Monday and other similar press releases are to follow.
Yes I signed the 50-year lease with the SDRT and my comments on that are further upthread.
Ian Coleby