West Somerset Railway General Discussion

On paper you are correct Tom.

In practice it is a completely different story as the few on the PLC are controlling the many in the Society. The way I see it is that there is a conflict of interest as a majority of the PLC Directors wear two hats with one foot in the PLC and the other in the Society as Directors and Trustees. Also as I see it , the only person who should have that authority with a casting vote is Roy Watts.

The are other things that I could write about that would make peoples hair curl, but a public forum is nether the time nor the place. If however you wanted to chat off list, I would be happy to do so.

Regards
Chris:

 

There is one additional factor, which is the FoWSR. This looks to have been set up as competition to the WSRA. As the PLC GM resigned from being the PLC representative on the WSRA board last year and is now the PLC representative on the FoWSR committee, it's pretty obvious which organisation has the PLC's support and which hasn't.

Personally, I don't think that there is scope for rival membership bodies on the same railway.

Dave

 

The power lies with those who hold the Plc shares (if they choose to exercise it) As well as those shares held by the WSRA as a Body Corporate, I guess many members of the WSRA will also be individual shareholders in the Plc and could vote to support the WSRA position is they saw fit.

 

There is no desire for "power" on any side. Just the desire to get on with what each does best for the good of the railway. But, yes Tom, your summary is largely correct. The Plc run the railway; the WSRA provide support where and when it can. Hitherto, the Plc has been happy to provide concessions (fares and track access) to help the WSRA to recruit and retain members, and to help with the WSRA's fundraising projects (eg recycling ballast). So what went wrong?

We have had a situation where people (on all sides) have assumed or insisted that one party should be obliged to do something for the other. Each party has allowed that situation to happen. Plans were made public before proper consultation and agreement between parties which historically enjoyed mutual respect. There was a reluctance to nip things in the bud. Opinions polarised. The perceived ambitions of individuals were allowed to dominate arguments. And it has led folks taking sides with misunderstandings becoming major skirmishes. Human nature, eh!

From discussions with some of the key players on all sides, I now sense we are moving into a phase whereby each party has a greater understanding of the responsibilities and the capabilities of the other. For the sake of all the hard work put in by countless people over the last 42 years, I hope we can move on.

Meanwhile, if forum members fancy a day out in Somerset at the Steam Fayre and Vintage Vehicle Rally this weekend, I note that a round trip on the Shuttle DMU between Bishops Lydeard and Norton Platform (adjacent to the Rally site) is FREE to those purchasing an entry ticket to the Rally. With the Rally itself being well worth the entry price, how about a free six-mile round trip on a heritage railway this weekend? For those who like their ale, I gather there is a mighty list of beers available at the "Mini Real Ale Festival" at the Rally. Well, you can't blame me for trying to sell the idea, can you?

Steve

 

I hope the weather's better than last year......

 

Could not be worse!

BTW For those interested in WSR updates, there's now a "Briefing from the Board [of the WSR Plc]" on wsr.org.uk (see latest news page)

Steve

 

The WSR does seem to be different to many railways with a PLC in that they are not controlled by the Charitable body. On the NYMR, the PLC is majority owned by the Trust and is supposed to run the railway on behalf of the owners (the Trust) and with guidance from them, although I don't think that the NYMR Trust Board are terribly good at setting goals for the PLC or enforcing their collective will. I also get the impression that some members of the PLC board do not necessarily like taking instructions from those they regard as amateurs, but it's a system that does limp along reasonably well.

 

The briefings from the WSR board seem like an excellent idea. I hope that they are able to continue to issue these on a regular basis. We need to remember that board members of the PLC often have busy lives away from the railway and indeed are often busy in active roles on the railway as well. Great news on the revenues being ahead of plan for the year but it will be nice once the pit extension at MD is complete and everything is back to normal.

 

Actually, I think you have that the wrong way round, at least in a major part - the NYMR is unusual in having all voting shares in PLC held by the "membership body" - and more particularly because it is the membership body which owns the actual Railway.

As Tom has previously detailed on here, the Bluebell constitution requires that the Society keeps a 75% minimum shareholding in the PLC (meaning the society must have £3 to buy shares every time a member of the public produces £1), but looking at other Railways, the freehold often lies with "the company" and "the society" often has a much smaller shareholding, if any, in the Company. From the SVR thread, the membership organisation (the Guarantee Company) held around 25% of Holdings plc before the present share issue and is now down below 20% (unless it has bought further shares since the last quoted figure). I sense the SVR position is more typical.

Of course, what seems to be the basis of the present (but perhaps not underlying) issue on the WSR (about which I know nothing other than what I read here and elsewhere) concerns the fact that neither organisation holds the freehold - but both would like to! If the WSRA is a charity (which I believe is the case), then there may be advantages of it being the freehold owner but clearly any such conclusion should be reached by both parties looking at the options and agreeing a joint approach to the County Council, who may well not wish to sell (indeed, from the comments in their recent statement, they see the advantage of retaining ownership of one of "jewels in Somerset's crown").

Whilst this is probably not the place to discuss it, I think your comments about the NYMR position are spot on in part (the setting of policies and goals) but in other parts very wide of the mark. If there is any lack of recognition of expertise and experience, then it most definitely works both ways! There is also a failure to appreciate that organisations as varied and complex as the average heritage railway cannot operate on the basis of everyone can challenge any decision at any level when it suits buy the most public means possible.

The underlying problem on I suspect many railways is that the public elections element most society/plc boards leads to an attitude that this is a situation similar to national or local Government (but without the mass bureaucracy of the Civil Service to, in theory, maintain order!) In reality, the duties and responsibilities of Board Directors are very different in law and in practice and whilst having "governments" and "oppositions" may seem "fun" - and undoubtedly a distressingly large number of people getting their "kicks" from playing politics - such activities are inconsistent with the legal responsibilities of a Board to look after the members' and the company's/trust's best interests (and a whole load of other parties interests under the latest Companies Act) and result in bad governance and those playing the games exposing themselves and others to legal risk. It should also be noted that "the members' interest" is not the same as "individual member's opinions" - and I am sorry if that sound a bit arrogant but it is the reality of the situation.

Steven

 

Bean counter is correct that for the SVR if nothing were done the Gurantee company holding would drop below 25% with the current share issue. Something is however being done. Members are being invited to contribute to a fund which will purchase shares and redress the issue

 

It's also reasonable to assume that a substantial number of shares are held by members of the Guarantee Company in their own right.

 

The Talyllyn has a similar set of circumstances where all the shares in the PLC are controlled by the Society via a Holding (Talyllyn Holdings) company.

 

Statement on WSRA / PLC by David Morgan in this months Heritage Railway Page 53 basicly saying what was in the statement issued at the WSRA AGM.

For working volunteers & Staff of the WSR who's identity can be checked with the office at MD there is the wsrvolunteers group on yahoo groups which is a closed group where the article can be seen.

 

I have a quick query, can anyone tell me which directions the locomotive rostered for this weekend are facing? That's: 6960, 9351, 7828, 3850, 4160.

 

All loco's should run smokebox first in both directions over the weekend. The plan (I think) is to turn them all at each end, except the diesels of course!

 

The West Somerset Railway Plc has issued its draft Corporate Plan for formal consultation. The document can be downloaded as a PDF from the West Somerset Railway Plc website. The Plan sets out the vision and strategy for the Plc and the railway over the next ten years. In addition to the Company itself, there have been extensive contributions from members of staff and from the majority of the support organisations who contribute to the running and stewardship of the railway which has enabled the Company to present a comprehensive picture of both the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. The Plc say "We appreciate that this is a lengthy document but we hope you agree that it seeks to cover all areas of the Company's business and reflects both the heritage and commercial considerations that we need to address over the coming years. There will be a summary version published on completion of consultation alongside the final full Plan in early 2014."

Steve

 

Its Classic Car Run on the WSR tomorrow, Sunday 14 and I will be at Bishops Lydeard from 9 to 11 and Minehead from 12 to close of play - do come and say hello if you are on the Railway.

kind regards

Robin White

 

That must have taken some work, sifting through all the guff to find actual railway related info! Well done mods, a good idea.