Closure threat - Bristol Railway

[whole diary]

[grahame]

from https://www.facebook.com/ashtoncourtrly/ also at http://www.bristolmodelengineers.co.uk

We urgently need your help please!

There is a very real possibility that Ashton Court miniature railway will cease to operate following the end of the 2018 season.
Bristol City Council are proposing not to renew our lease on the site as they intend to use the land for alternative activities.

If this happens the consequences will be:
🚂 No more Ashton Court Railway
🎂 No more birthday parties
🎅🏽 No more Santa visits
👩‍👧‍👦 No more charitable events

The railway needs your support! Please spare a minute and...
✅ SHARE this post to raise awareness
✅ FOLLOW this page - we’re in the process of setting up an online petition with Bristol City Council and will post a link here
✅ EMAIL your local councillor and ask them to support the railway (find yours here: https://www.bristol.gov.uk/council-and…/find-your-councillor)

Bristol Society of Model Engineers is a volunteer run, charity based, organisation that has built and operated #ashtoncourtrailway over the last 45 years. Over this time, it has given countless hours of enjoyment to the wider community in and around the city of Bristol.

[JayMac]

Thread or threat?

[grahame]

Thread or threat?

Threat, thank you. Title edited.

[martyjon]

from https://www.facebook.com/ashtoncourtrly/ also at http://www.bristolmodelengineers.co.uk

We urgently need your help please!

There is a very real possibility that Ashton Court miniature railway will cease to operate following the end of the 2018 season.
Bristol City Council are proposing not to renew our lease on the site as they intend to use the land for alternative activities.

If this happens the consequences will be:
🚂 No more Ashton Court Railway
🎂 No more birthday parties
🎅🏽 No more Santa visits
👩‍👧‍👦 No more charitable events

The railway needs your support! Please spare a minute and...
✅ SHARE this post to raise awareness
✅ FOLLOW this page - we’re in the process of setting up an online petition with Bristol City Council and will post a link here
✅ EMAIL your local councillor and ask them to support the railway (find yours here: https://www.bristol.gov.uk/council-and…/find-your-councillor)

Bristol Society of Model Engineers is a volunteer run, charity based, organisation that has built and operated #ashtoncourtrailway over the last 45 years. Over this time, it has given countless hours of enjoyment to the wider community in and around the city of Bristol.

Would be an awful shame if the railway ceases to operate, that pesky Marvin behind this.

[patch38]

...that pesky Marvin behind this.

And him with a brain the size of a planet...

[JayMac]

... Life? Don't talk to me about life.

[eightonedee]

Apologies again if (as an outsider to Bristol and its politics) I have got the wrong end of the stick. Is Marvin the local politician behind Metro Bus(t)?

If so, perhaps he wants to replace the miniature railway with a miniature guided bus way - a Mini Metro Bus!

[Red Squirrel]

Apologies again if (as an outsider to Bristol and its politics) I have got the wrong end of the stick. Is Marvin the local politician behind Metro Bus(t)?

If so, perhaps he wants to replace the miniature railway with a miniature guided bus way - a Mini Metro Bus!

No; neither Marvin Rees nor George Ferguson, his predecessor in the role of Bristol Mayor, were to blame for JustaBus. Lots of people have tried to hang the blame for it on George Ferguson, but in truth his main contributions were (a) an attempt to redirect the funds to something less ridiculous (which obviously failed), and (b)  diverting the most obviously egregious route - straight through the middle of the Industrial Museum - along a less ludicrous path.

As an aside, by its own definition JustaBus does serve Ashton Court - you can see it from Long Ashton P&R^▸ (Park and Ride). By the same definition, Justabus also serves Venus on a clear night.

[grahame]

From The BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page)

A row has broken out over a closure-threatened miniature railway run by volunteers.

The attraction at Ashton Court, Bristol, is operated by the Bristol Society of Model and Experimental Engineers (BSMEE).

Bristol City Council warned the society its lease may not be renewed as it does not make enough money.

A 12-month extension has now been agreed, but the group was told it needs to become financially viable.

Deputy mayor Asher Craig said the extension until the end of summer 2019 would allow time for a long-term solution to be discussed.

She said: "I have no problem with the railway being retained at Ashton Court but it needs to wash its face.

"The cost of running Ashton Court is nearly £500,000 a year."

A council debate was prompted by an 8,000-signature petition which supported an affordable rent for the attraction.

[martyjon]

From The BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page)
"The cost of running Ashton Court is nearly £500,000 a year."

But WHAT is the cost to the council of maintaining the small area of this large estate which the railway occupies, "Chicken Feed" I suspect.

[Red Squirrel]

From The BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page)
"The cost of running Ashton Court is nearly £500,000 a year."

But WHAT is the cost to the council of maintaining the small area of this large estate which the railway occupies, "Chicken Feed" I suspect.

Quite. Possibly the council is just playing political games, or perhaps they really can't see that if you raise the cost of something to the point where your customer can't afford it, you end up with a revenue of 100% of nothing. There was some similar kerfuffle a while back when they wanted to start charging the organisers of the Bristol's iconic Balloon Fiesta for the use of Ashton Court; Don Cameron said he was prepared to pay £1 (no typo; one pound) but if the council wanted more he'd have to consider moving it elsewhere...

[Phantom]

I honestly never knew that railway existed, lived in WSM for 43 years and worked in Bristol the last 23
Have been to Ashton Court before too

How did I miss it?

[martyjon]

I honestly never knew that railway existed, lived in WSM for 43 years and worked in Bristol the last 23
Have been to Ashton Court before too

How did I miss it?

Its in an isolated corner of the estate, I would say the North-West corner of the estate near where the Portishead Road an Beggar Bush Lane intersect, best gate to enter Ashton Court Estate is the one at top of Rownham Hill and head north west. Its well worth a visit.

[TonyK]

I honestly never knew that railway existed, lived in WSM for 43 years and worked in Bristol the last 23
Have been to Ashton Court before too

How did I miss it?

#MeToo.

Quite. Possibly the council is just playing political games, or perhaps they really can't see that if you raise the cost of something to the point where your customer can't afford it, you end up with a revenue of 100% of nothing. There was some similar kerfuffle a while back when they wanted to start charging the organisers of the Bristol's iconic Balloon Fiesta for the use of Ashton Court; Don Cameron said he was prepared to pay £1 (no typo; one pound) but if the council wanted more he'd have to consider moving it elsewhere...

Filton? Or Kuala Lumpur?

I don't think Don Cameron makes much from the Fiesta. Probably nobody does bar the stall holders - and the businesses of Bristol, of course. If Devon County Council, to take an example, was prepared to shell out tens of thousands of pounds to have the Cycling Tour of Britain clog its roads for a day and think it good economics for the county, I am sure Don Cameron would have little problem in finding a new venue. Marvin risks throwing the baby out with the bathwater, and making Bristol a joyless place.