Brit Valley Railway - Bridport, Dorset
Contents
Overall Purpose and Content of Bid
How the Project will be delivered
Plans for Monitoring and Evaluating the Project
Arrangements after Rural Challenge
Funding Breakdown - Three Year Plan
| Brit Valley Railway (Trust) Ltd. | A company limited by Guarantee. Builder of the Railway |
| Brit Valley Railway Ltd. | Operators of Railway. |
| Brit Valley Railway plc | Funding £200,000.00 - from share issue |
| Funding £500,000.00 from revenue and share issue (over 3 years). | |
| West Dorset Internet | Fibre optic cabling, Internet links. Donation of £30,000 towards track costs. |
| Bridport Town Council | Local opinion and possible Banker. Funding £150,000.00 - land and grant - all subject to application and agreement. |
| Bridport Chamber of Trade and Commerce Contacts with local business. | Funding £10,000.00 - professional advice, services. |
| West Dorset District Council | Planning Authority and possible Banker. Funding £150,000.00 - land, buildings and grant - all subject to application and agreement. |
| Lloyds Bank plc | Banking services, financial advice. |
| Colfox School | Educational links, surveys, work experience. |
| Bridport Arts Centre | Links to expressive arts, art competitions. |
| Southern National Bus Company | Integrated transport, joint stations. |
| Magna Housing Association Ltd | Housing along line, land owner and easements. |
| Pilsdon Community | Station construction, handicapped employment. |
Note:- The Lead Organisation and Brit Valley Railway plc are to be formed if the Rural Challenge Bid is successful. Both Bridport Town Council and West Dorset District Council have pledged their support to the Project, and an application for commitment of funds, subject to winning the Bid, will be made soon. Any funds would be payable to the Brit Valley Railway (Trust) Ltd.
The overall purpose of the bid is to regenerate the Bridport and West Dorset areas through a package of business, training, transport and community projects which address these objectives:-
The content of the bid is to:-
The fragile state of the local economy is manifest (see Dorset Rural Development Strategy Report - 1994).
Agriculture is in decline, exacerbated by recent problems affecting all cattle holdings, which considerably worsen the critical situation already identified in 1994.
Local manufacturing industries are becoming ever more highly automated, defence related employment has suffered cut-backs with the closure of Portland Naval Base, fishing is only a minor, more or less part-time employer, and the area is becoming ever more dependent upon tourism, plus a sizeable proportion employed in service industries catering for an ageing population.
Rail communication is extremely limited, the nearest stations being at Crewkerne (12 miles), Axminster (13 miles) or Dorchester (15 miles). Bus services are, generally, infrequent and cannot carry a high proportion of potential users - disabled, parents with children in push-chairs, shoppers with trolleys, travellers with heavy luggage etc.
Note, due the poor economy of the area, 21% of the population are without a motor vehicle and the poor public transport is therefore a considerable inhibitor to rural mobility.
The Bridport area also has a disproportionate number of part-time and low-paid employees.
The provision of the railway will enable all of the above problems to be addressed in a positive manner, enabling the regeneration of the local community as envisaged by the Rural Challenge.
Whilst the overall scheme envisages a railway from Bridport to Crewkerne and from Bridport to Weymouth and Portland, the essential nucleus of the Railway is the Bridport to West Bay section, plus the short northern extension to Pymore.
Without this, the practicalities of the potential extensions would not be realised.
How does the concept of the Brit Valley Railway match the objectives of the Rural Challenge?
Locally owned, constructed and run.
Increased Tourism - more indirect employment.
Economic fare structure.
Frequent trains, to suit local employment, schools, shopping, leisure and holiday pursuits.
Local needs housing possible near small centres of population connected by railway.
Facilities for all potential passengers plus dogs, bicycles etc.
Comfortable carriages (heated in winter).
Trains hauled by oil fired steam locos (no air-borne particulates as are inherent in diesel engined vehicles) or by state-of-the-art kinetic energy prime movers.
Direct employment in construction of the railway.
Direct employment in running the railway.
Direct employment in constructing locomotives and rolling stock (potential for constructing for other, new railways - enquires already received).
Development of High Tech industry in Signalling and Communications.
Growth in tourism - spreading inland and laterally from the Railway.
Vital new physical links (to Europe effectively) for tourists and indigenous population (with Crewkerne extension).
Increased optimism from local businesses - more inclined to invest in training and equipment needed to cater for increases in turn-over.
Essential improvement in telecommunication links from all stations and cabled laterals - into villages and schools.
Railway will be direct employer.
Railway will be "High Tech" in its control systems giving opportunities for training and employment for high achievers.
See above.
Training and employment prospects enhanced by provision of the Railway.
Improved employment prospects for young people.
Active programmes for youth employment on line construction, with prospects of permanent work.
Railway will provide well lit, safe means of transport for vulnerable people.
Railway far less conspicuous than widened roads.
Reduces numbers of cars parked in highly visible amenity areas.
Opportunities for lineside planting.
Trains will be relatively infrequent - wildlife undisturbed by trains.
Opportunities for passengers to observe the natural environment, both from the trains and on foot via linking footpaths.
Thermally efficient oil-fired steam minimises use of fossil-fuels and avoids particulates.
Fuel consumption per passenger as little as one tenth of that used in a private car.
Probability that kinetic energy as a prime mover for light trains and as a booster for heavier trains.
The directors of the Brit Valley Railway are professional engineers and, with other professional assistance as required, will prepare drawings and contract documentation to enable the greater part of the railway to be constructed, utilising local contractors (plus specialist contractors for the large bridge over the lower Brit). Some work, such as fencing and track preparation will be carried out by volunteer labour and other groups will carry out planting schemes. Promises of assistance with station construction have also been received.
A small core of permanent staff will be formed to carry out a proportion of the construction work, so that adequate training can be given for future maintenance requirements.
The locomotives and rolling stock will be assembled in workshops to be provided as part of the scheme, from parts generally manufactured locally. (Some specialist items, such as boilers, wheel and cylinder castings etc will be bought in from outside manufacturers but the castings will be machined locally).
Communications networks and electronic/control systems will all be designed and fabricated locally. These will be of particular value in providing a good future for local school-leavers - some linked training schemes are being planned with the local comprehensive school, Colfox.
Map of Route
A route map is shown on page 12. Adjacent to each station or halt is a list of facilities which are immediately accessible. Other facilities are within a short walking distance or bike ride.
The area encompasses Bridport, West Bay and villages in the Brit Valley. Future extensions will cover Netherbury, Beaminster, Mosterton and Crewkerne and to the east Burton Bradstock, Swyre, West Bexington, Abbotsbury, Langton Herring, Weymouth and Portland. Apart from Weymouth all these villages and towns are in RDA's.
Tourists are a prime target, but the indigenous population is too. Those likely to benefit will be in the tourism industry, (hotels, restaurants, shops, clubs, pubs, Leisure Centre, "attractions", leisure fishing, etc), manufacturing industry (trains), construction industry (line, stations), non-car owning public (integrated transport system), car owning public (park and ride), people of restricted mobility, cyclists and walkers.
The Government's White Paper - A Nation Committed to a Living Countryside: Summary of objectives for the Countryside defines a series of objectives which are all directly addressed by the Brit Valley Railway.
A complete appendix is available where economic success, initiative, employment, new technologies, competitiveness, environmental respect, community initiatives, reversal of services, promotion of living communities, distinctive characteristics, environmental enhancement, derelict land, access to the countryside, wildlife and sustainable management and support are all clearly targeted. Space precludes the inclusion of the full appendix at this stage. It however features in a separate report on the Railway, 500 copies of which have been printed for distribution.
The Dorset Rural Development Strategy Report - A Nation Committed to a Living Countryside September 1994, graphically describes the actual decline in the economic and social well-being of the West Dorset Area.
The prime objective of the Brit Valley Railway is to actually reverse this decline and facilitate further regeneration. Strategic Goals and Principles addressed come under the headings of Employment, Enterprise, Training, Tourism, Facilities and Services, Transport and the Environment.
| Questionnaires printed and issued | 4500 |
| Questionnaires completed | 1000 |
| Question: Do you want a railway? | 999 - Yes / 1 - No |
| Question: Would you volunteer to help? | 60% - Yes |
| (Further analysis available) |
Local Hotels, Bed and Breakfast and Catering establishments will all benefit from an increase in business as a direct result of increased tourist traffic.
The railway's own shops and buffets will draw supplies from local businesses such as fresh food supplies, if licensed, supplies from a local brewery, souvenirs, T-shirts, and promotional lines. Printing, railway uniforms, etc. will be obtained locally. The setting up of Internet terminals at stations for business and public use, will make the Information Super-Highway available to all.
The expansion of the existing engineering workshops in Bridport in building the locomotives and rolling stock, will be inevitable. The prospects for export orders are good.
There will be numerous opportunities for all enterprising persons to take advantage of the influx of visitors and the requirements that these visitors will generate. For example, at village stations, landowners may consider providing extra parking facilities, which would become park and ride, in partnership with the railway.
The railway itself will be able to provide training in areas such as locomotive driving. We have many qualified steam loco drivers and intend setting up training courses in driving, signals, retailing, catering, etc. for school leavers and all age groups.
It is our intention with the co-operation of our council partners to have video films made with the railway and its route as the central thread with the audience taken by rail through the beautiful countryside, and stopping at a village. The audience is then taken into the village to see the points of interest and local shops, then back onto the train to the next village or beauty spot. In this way we spread laterally from the line to show as much of the beauty of the area as possible.
These videos will be used as promotional tools with commentary in English and European languages and Japanese. The videos will be of professional quality and will be sold as television programmes to promote the area as a holiday destination. Internet links currently publicise the Brit Valley Railway to a World Market, and future advertising opportunities for the Railway and West Dorset will be fully exploited.
During discussions with our financial advisors the recommended corporate structure is for a company, limited by guarantee, to build the railway. A supporters club or association will guarantee a continued flow of membership fees, and volunteers to assist in running the railway.
The other recommendation is for the operating company to become a plc in order that a share flotation can be used to raise the private capital part of the Rural Challenge bid. The plc is more suited to raising further funding by share issues as further cash is required to extend the line, and purchase rolling stock, etc.
The current situation is that we have the Bridport Town Council and West Dorset District Council approvals in principle, subject to requiring more detail including business plans (being prepared by Dorset Business Link). We have a list of other partners some who will be financial partners by cash, others by support projects vital to the railway, and in land easements.
We are currently preparing to form the plc as soon as we have the necessary cash to cover stock market requirements of £12,500 plus approximately £6,000 for the preparation of a prospectus and all the associated paper work and fees. West Dorset District Council has just voted us a £10,000 loan to assist in this endeavour.
It is vital that the first phase of this railway is completed as an entity, with a cost of £2 million. Even with the local support and the public participation funding, it will be impossible to get the railway started without the Rural Challenge funding of £1 million over three years.
Once the first phase is complete and the infrastructure is in place, the system can be extended as and when further funding can be obtained, however the important fact that it will be extending a working railway with income means that extensions will be partly funded by profits.
Without the grant from Rural Challenge we cannot even start.
With the grant we will be able to build a self sustaining organisation with the ability to expand through all its phases to provide a vital transport link for this deprived (White Paper) rural area, and to create up to 80 jobs, and by a steadily increasing flow of tourism, help to improve the local rural economy of West Dorset in general.
Once the railway has been commissioned, all accounts will be computerised, and the directors are fully accustomed to and will have monthly management accounts, and the assistance of accountancy expertise where necessary. Cash flow forecasting and tight financial control will be the norm.
Monthly board meetings will be held and the management team will be required to produce reports and management accounts on the activities of the past month/year, together with realistic forecasts for evaluation by the management team and board, and informed decisions made accordingly. Partners will consulted on a regular basis to ensure that aspirations are being met and that the Railway cotinues as it started, a true Community Railway.
"This (Railway) is of direct importance to the school's students. For a small number it may provide employment directly but the chances are that a larger number would benefit indirectly as tourists are attracted into the area.
Perhaps as important is the experience that students will gain from knowing that a project of this magnitude can be mounted through the enterprise and enthusiasm of a small number of instigators. This is an important inspiration for those of our students who wish to embark on business careers of their own.
In an area where it is difficult to find examples of design, engineering and build, it will inspire student interest in engineering in a way that is difficult to achieve without the benefit of local experience and example.
I note with great pleasure in your report that you have had a careful eye to the provision of work experience and training for students and indeed that you are incorporating modern electronic and computer facilities which will be a further enhancement to students' local experience.
The school regards itself as being at the centre of its community in spirit. We will be extremely pleased and proud to be associated with your project."
Chris Mason, Colfox School
"..the Bridport Chamber of Trade and Commerce....will be pleased to support the Brit Valley Railway in any practical way possible.
In particular we would be able to make available any premises that may be operated by us for use as a 'share-shop' on Bridport's main street and to donate such professional time and expertise as we have access to."
Lindsey Blair, Bridport Chamber of Trade and Commerce
"We are looking to contribute to the re-establishment of Pymore Mills as a living community and are currently building new homes at Beaminster alongside an existing estate and feel that any improvements to Public transport links to these areas could only prove beneficial to future residents.
Magna Housing Association is, therefore, delighted to offer itself as a Partner in your Rural Challenge bid and wish you well in fulfilling your commendable ambitions."
Derek Cash, Magna Housing Association Ltd.
"Thank you for your letter of 15th May. We are delighted to accept the offer of partnership which you have laid out, and are looking forward to working with the Brit Valley railway. We wish you well for the commencement of the construction later this year.
With best wishes for your success."
Chris Reynolds, Pilsdon Community.