Melksham Railway Development Group - AGM and future meetings

[whole diary]

[grahame]

The AGM^▸ (Annual General Meeting) was held on 21st May at Melksham Town Hall ... here are the minutes (thanks, Sion) ...

Accounts:
a) Treasurer handed out copes of accounts (scan copy attached) her reported that the accounts only show eleven months due to AGM being held early.
b) John Hamley asked why we paid tax on the interest? This due to the fact we are not a charity and to change to one would be a lot of hard work for a small amount, it was agrees to carry on as we are.
c) Funds are high but Treasurer advised that we kept in reserve just in case the Santa trips failed for one reason or another. Phil suggested that funds be kept and wait for the LTSF so that we could match fund a project. Si^n suggested a notice board as join venture with TransWilts at the Station and Town Centre. Eddie advised that the Tennis Club had one attached to the fence at the club and we could see it after the meeting. He could also send details to Phil on who they purchased it from. Phil also to contact Chris Hankin to see where he had purchased one. Could the group get help from area board on a match funding? With notice board it was then asked what should be displayed the following came up:
(1) MRDG^» (Melksham Railway Development Group - about) Meeting dates
(2) Times of Trains to Bristol and Bath via Chippenham and or Trowbridge.
(3) History of station
(4) Bus map
(5) Welcome to .............
(6) Things to see and do
(7) Taxi firm numbers.
( How to get into the town centre.
(9) Santa Trip.
(a) Actions:
(i) Eddie to send details to Phil.
(ii) Phil to contact Chris.

Station Gardens:
a) Si^n reported that he and Eddie had spent a couple of hours weeding the two tubs and the looked better, copies of the tubs were handed around showing before and after their work. They planed to visit again next week weather permitting to plant some plants. With and article to be put in the local paper. Actions -^‐ Si^n to send copies of photo be sent when completed
 
Mondays trip to Weymouth:
a) TransWilts Rail Partnership had been working FGW^▸ (First Great Western) on this trip, FGW printed a posted with feedback from Graham and posters were put up at Melksham & Chippenham Railway Stations only. Transwilts want a low key on the publicly to enable folks to have a great day out. This is a public service but FGW are going to add an extra carriage to the service down to Westbury and the return service in the evening.
b) Si^n & Graham to join the train at Melksham. Actions Si^n/Graham to report at next meeting.
c) Bob from Coffee shop to join the train at Swindon and report to Graham on Numbers joining at Swindon and Chippenham.
2
Santa Trip 2013:
a) A date of the 1st December was agreed subject to engineer works on the line through
Melksham and up to Swindon.
6) New Council Officers/Passed member:
a) Cllr Fleur de Rh^-Philipe was not the cabinet member for transport at Wiltshire Council and Richard Gamble had moved to a different post. Graham advised he had written to Fleur inviting her to the trip to Weymouth and to TransWilts meeting on 8th June but had not had a reply. Graham was to write to her with the view of ^working together^ after all the working together with Richard and his team. Actions ^ Graham to write to Fleur.
b) Si^n reported he had e-mail from the Town Council to let the group know that Paul Coward would be representing the Town Council. Si^n had spoken to Paul inviting to the meeting but it was short notice but he would attend he could but if not there send his apologies.
c) Graham suggested that we should send a letter to Sheila Wilkinson (Town Councilor) say thanks for all her help with the group while on Town Council. Actions ^ Si^n to send letter.

Rail Matters:
a) Franchise:
i) FGW to run the Franchise but had not sign paper work as of date of meeting.
ii) MP^▸ (Member of Parliament) had been advised by DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) that FGW/WC^▸ (Wiltshire Council (Unitary Authority)) could run the services through Transwilts
line.
b) LSTF^▸ (Local Sustainable Transport Fund):
i) Funds were not ring fenced for rail.
c) Services from Melksham:
i) These been running ok but the mail problem been connections to Melksham, on services
from London and the 7:01 to London out of Westbury.
d) Electrification:
i) No news on this issue but we need to keep our eyes open on how this could effect the
line through Melksham IE while the lines in and around our area are converted and
after.
e) A350:
i) It seems the Westbury By pass is back on the agenda with a report in the Swindon
Advertiser and a local transport group has raised it and article in the paper.
f) Transwilts Rail partnership.
i) They are holding a meeting in Westbury on 8th June and Si^n, Graham will attend and
maybe Peter Blackburn as well. Graham is happy for others to attend.

Election of Officers of the Committee

Officer - Name - Proposed by - Seconded by
Chairman - Peter Blackburn - Eddy Watts - Rolf Brindle
Vice Chair - Graham Ellis - Rolf Brindle - Phil McMullen
Treasurer - John Money - Eddy Watts - Rolf Brindle
Secretary - Si^n Bretton - Graham Ellis - Eddy Watts

Next meetings - 6th September, 25th October and 29th November 2013. 19:30, Melksham Town Hall.  All welcome. Contact Sion or Graham via this forum for more details

The Melksham Railway Development Group concentrates on Melksham Station - it's environment, publicity and use, both rail side and away from rail.    As you'll see from the report above, there's been a lot going on with publicity / help for Weymouth, excellent work on the station gardens, and there's a whole team champing at the bit to do so much more once we've got trains at appropriate times to promote.   


[Andrew1939 from West Oxon]

I am treasurer of the Cotswold Line Promotion Group and we have never paid tax on our investment income just tell the bank you do not pay tax!
We are also not a charity as our campaigning could be construed as a political activity but we are most definitely a non-party political organisation with vice presidents of the two major parties including David Cameron and Lord Adonis. We were at one time liable to pay corporation tax on our tiny trading activities but are no in practice exempt since our trading turnover is below the de minimus threshold introduced about 10 years ago. So, MRDG^» (Melksham Railway Development Group - about), get writing!

[grahame]

I am treasurer of the Cotswold Line Promotion Group and we have never paid tax on our investment income just tell the bank you do not pay tax!

We're aware we shouldn't ... as a principled matter, we should spend more time and effort than it's worth for less than 2 pounds.  But the pragmatic approach says that we would do far better putting the time and effort into promotional activities. I'll suggest to JM that he mentions it next time he's in the 'bank'.   

The whole topic of bank accounts for small groups such as MRDG^» (Melksham Railway Development Group - about), Village Halls, little societies an voluntary run museums - even local Chambers of Commerce where the annual turnover of the organisation is measure in hundreds rather than thousands of pounds is an interesting one ... but please never ask me to be a secretary or especially a treasurer!

[grahame]

Melksham Railway Development Group is funding the insertion of "Trains from Melksham" trifold brochure in the next issue of the Melksham Independent News, which is the free newspaper delivered to each household in the town. These brochures have been supplied to us (free of charge, Thank You) by First Great Western.  They include a complete current timetable for Melksham station, including connections to and from London, Bath and Bristol, and various day out opportunities which are available on Bank Holiday Monday, and every Saturday thereafter.

The TransWilts is about very much more than just Melksham. But this particular marketing piece is very much Melksham specific, and fills a significant gap in available information.

[TonyK]

Melksham Railway Development Group is funding the insertion of "Trains from Melksham" trifold brochure in the next issue of the Melksham Independent News, which is the free newspaper delivered to each household in the town. These brochures have been supplied to us (free of charge, Thank You) by First Great Western. 

An excellent initiative! FGW^▸ (First Great Western) will hopefully attract sufficient new passengers to cover their costs.

[Andrew1939 from West Oxon]

TransWilts needs to be given the highest congratulations on achieving this enormous increase in rail service. It just goes to show that a constructive approach can be more successeful that the often highly critical negative approach from some rail user groups that just tends to alienate the professional rail managers. It would be good if FGW^▸ (First Great Western) could offer some promotional fares for a few months to encourage new people to use the extra services.

[grahame]

In the various community groups in Wiltshire, we have a very busy autumn ahead of us.   As yet, I'm unclear as to just how much services shown on sites such as the one referred to in another thread are confirmed, and I feel it's rather early to go shouting about them.  But it's not too early to be prepared ... you may have noticed activity ... raising the visibility of the line, learning about tuning associated services (for example the survey work we helped with on 23rd July, and others to come in September), the formalisation of the constitution of the CRP^▸ (Community Rail Partnership) (we've been meeting on that too / FGW^▸ (First Great Western) and Wilts Council inputs mixed with our own thoughts and templates from other CRPs).  You'll see coverage of much of that in other threads.

MRDG^» (Melksham Railway Development Group - about) meetings (next, 6th September) are listed in other threads, and that's the Melksham specific stuff. Which actually will account for only about a half of the extra business (that figure of a half is very approximate).

http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=12693.0

[Lee]

TransWilts needs to be given the highest congratulations on achieving this enormous increase in rail service. It just goes to show that a constructive approach can be more successeful that the often highly critical negative approach from some rail user groups that just tends to alienate the professional rail managers. It would be good if FGW^▸ (First Great Western) could offer some promotional fares for a few months to encourage new people to use the extra services.

Personally, I do think the more combative "Save The Train" approach we began with in 2005/2006 was justified, in order to keep the TransWilts issue as high up the agenda as possible. What you have to remember is that we were in a fast-moving situation, where the TransWilts was continually being passed over, while other campaigns were getting their service cuts fully or partially reversed, sometimes as a result of using a rather more combative approach than we were.

I worked on some of those other campaigns myself, and it says a lot about the character of those who work for better TransWilts services that they never begrudged me that, always seeing the wider picture. Indeed, it was that element of forward thinking that led to the formation of this very forum.

Alongside the STT^▸ (Save the Train) approach though, a lot of effort was being put in to develop positive working relationships with rail industry, central & local government, and other relevant organisations who we would need to closely co-operate with once an appropriate TransWilts service had been put in place. The current partnership-based approach that you see nowadays is a natural progression of that, as we have reached the stage where everyone involved is pretty much on the same page, and share the same aims.

Chicken-counting fears aside, it does look as if this constructive approach may be reaching the point where significant mutual benefits are within reach for all concerned. Whilst one must always retain a level of professionalism about these things, I would hope and expect that our partners are as excited about the opportunities that lie ahead as we are.

[grahame]

Personally, I do think the more combative "Save The Train" approach we began with in 2005/2006 was justified, in order to keep the TransWilts issue as high up the agenda as possible. ...

I totally agree with you, Lee ... "Save the Train" was set up with objectives ...

The Objectives of the "Save the Train" group are
^ to raise awareness of the issues
^ to evaluate what's an appropriate service
^ to work towards that appropriate service
^ to ensure that the service regained is retained.

And that's ... almost prophetic.  But the right vehicle in 2005 isn't the right vehicle in 2013 - not due to the passing of the years, but rather due to the progress made.

Alongside the STT^▸ (Save the Train) approach though, a lot of effort was being put in to develop positive working relationships with rail industry, central & local government, and other relevant organisations who we would need to closely co-operate with once an appropriate TransWilts service had been put in place. The current partnership-based approach that you see nowadays is a natural progression of that, as we have reached the stage where everyone involved is pretty much on the same page, and share the same aims.

And this is much easier when the campaigning was being done with strong technical information, without venom, and looking to suggest constructive ways forward.   And of course it became much easier as we came to a common view as to what is an appropriate service, and that turned out to have a rather nice BCR^▸ (Benefit Cost Ratio) (benefit to cost ratio) and be do-able without any extra tracks or platforms.

Chicken-counting fears aside, it does look as if this constructive approach may be reaching the point where significant mutual benefits are within reach for all concerned. Whilst one must always retain a level of professionalism about these things, I would hope and expect that our partners are as excited about the opportunities that lie ahead as we are.

The work that I'm doing is, indeed, with very helpful and co-operative partners indeed.  We're all determined to make it work for the future and - make no mistake - there's and ongoing need for the community to continue to support the initiative for the next 7 years just as they've supported the campaign and technical work for the 7 years up until now.  In practise that may not be too difficult, as I would expect to find a much extended group of people wanting to be involved ... potentially, a lot of completely new names that we have never seen in the past.  And so it should be - as those are the people we want to help fill the trains!

[TonyK]

There are similarities to the Severn Beach line story here - in 2005, there was a pretty nominal service, and a plan by Atkins to rip the line up for a busway. The initial response was angry, but led in 2007 to additional services. Passenger numbers increased rapidly, and the line will see a million passengers this year. As with the trans-Wilts line, the key to success was  to raise the profile initially by any means possible, leading to true co-operation between campaign groups, councils, and FGW^▸ (First Great Western). I'm sure trans-Wilts will bear similar fruit for the considerable effort put in by MRDC and others. The impact will be felt well beyond Wiltshire, and I add my respect for the valuable work done.

[anthony215]

Ceratainly the improved service from 9th December will be a good thing for user of the line:

(Melksham (Station code) - next trains)/2013-12-09/0000-2359" target="_blank">http://www.opentraintimes.com/location/MKM/2013-12-09/0000-2359

[TonyK]

Ceratainly the improved service from 9th December will be a good thing for user of the line:

(Melksham (Station code) - next trains)/2013-12-09/0000-2359" target="_blank">http://www.opentraintimes.com/location/MKM/2013-12-09/0000-2359

Indeed so. 8 trains per day in each direction is a big improvement on the current 2.

[grahame]

Indeed so. 8 trains per day in each direction is a big improvement on the current 2.

More than you think ...

http://www.wellho.net/mouth/4146_A-few-more-trains-means-a-LOT-more-passengers-Why-.html

[older diagrams used; does not accurately reflect the Open Train Times data]