Campaign for Tavistock reopening

[whole diary]

[TerminalJunkie]

That would give North Devon (part of) the railway it deserves/needs.

You mean West Devon, surely?

[Lee]

That would give North Devon (part of) the railway it deserves/needs.

You mean West Devon, surely?

On that note, the links below give an indication of how the Tavistock issue fits into West Devon's local plans (thanks again to Nick Field.)
http://www.westdevon.gov.uk/doc.asp?doc=11141&cat=2397

http://www.westdevon.gov.uk/upload/public/attachments/352/A1L_BERE_A.pdf

[Andy]

This thread makes very encouraging (dare I say exciting) reading. Thanks for all the information shared. I do hope that Gunnislake/Calstock will retain at least a couple of direct services to/from Plymouth morning & evening to cater for commuters and day trippers.

[Andy]

The following link is to a story on a plan to fund a Bere Alston-Tavistock reopening entirely with private money.

http://www.thisiscornwall.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=144143&command=displayContent&sourceNode=144131&contentPK=19748525&moduleName=InternalSearch&formname=sidebarsearch

[Andy]

Also posted in Devon section: link to a report to fund Bere Alston-Tavistock reopening entirely with private money.

http://www.thisiscornwall.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=144143&command=displayContent&sourceNode=144131&contentPK=19748525&moduleName=InternalSearch&formname=sidebarsearch

[Lee]

Also posted in Devon section: link to a report to fund Bere Alston-Tavistock reopening entirely with private money.

http://www.thisiscornwall.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=144143&command=displayContent&sourceNode=144131&contentPK=19748525&moduleName=InternalSearch&formname=sidebarsearch

Thanks go to RichardB for providing earlier info on the forum regarding Kilbride Community Rail's involvement.

[Tinminer]

Interesting!
Does anyone know much about Kilbride Community Rail, and if so, what is there track record in getting these types of schemes off the ground?

[Lee]

Interesting!
Does anyone know much about Kilbride Community Rail, and if so, what is there track record in getting these types of schemes off the ground?

Background quote from RichardB :

Hi all.  Very interesting board.

Here's the latest on Tavistock.

Looking again at reopening Bere Alston - Tavistock is a key part of the Community Rail pilot project on the Tamar Valley Line.

Devon County Council commissioned consultants to do a study looking at potential passenger demand two years ago.   

In April 2007, Kilbride Community Rail came on the scene.  They are looking to fund rail reopenings through property development.  They have experience doing similar things to provide new freight sidings, but not passenger facilities to date. 

Kilbride Community Rail are very keen on Tavistock and have joined forces with ECT Group (owners of the Dartmoor Railway) to try and progress things.  In the meantime, the Tamar Valley AONB^▸ (Areas Of Natural Beauty) Partnership has obtained finances through their Devon Great Consols programme to create a cycleway along most of the trackbed.

Kilbride are regularly meeting Devon County Council and West Devon Borough Council to discuss next steps.  As mentioned above, Devon County Council is in discussions to buy the remaining trackbed in railway ownership - this includes both Shillamill Tunnel and Viaduct.

As another poster has pointed out, the formation is doubletrack so there should be no problem having the cycleway and reopened railway next to each other.  The AONB completely supports the return of the railway.  Personally, I also think it is essential to get the cycleway into Bere Alston station to encourage tourism visits into the Tamar Valley similar to the Tarka^▸ (Line from Barnstaple to Exeter) Trail out of Barnstaple.

The latest stage of the process is the public consultation on the West Devon development framework announced this week.  I don't know what the detail is (ie how many houses and where) but the public reaction will be key.

As you can see, Tavistock reopening is looking positive.  I think there will be significant developments this year.


Richard Burningham,
Devon & Cornwall Rail Partnership.

Here is a relevant Christian Wolmar article (link below.)
http://www.christianwolmar.co.uk/articles/tt/april27,07.shtml

[Lee]

BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) article link.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/devon/7235082.stm

[Tinminer]

It was all over BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) Radio Cornwall today (yes, I know, Tavistock is in Devon, but it is almost in Cornwall).
It is sounding very positive and hopeful now.

[willc]

This is who Kilbride say they are - rather playing down the property development side of things, it has to be said, eg Shipton-on-Cherwell Quarry, which is just north of Kidlington and Oxford, is being proposed to take a massive housing development, but because they say it would have a railway station, it would be eco-friendly. Hmm. Maybe if they paid for Kidlington station to reopen too and banned cars from the site, maybe it would be.

http://www.kilbrideresources.co.uk/index.asp

[andrewr]

And here's a link to Kilbride Community Rail: some interesting stuff on the website - its approach is rather similar to that of Hong Kong, where they build, say a station, and then some property on or around it and recover some of their costs through the higher rental values they can get because of the infrastructure.

http://www.kilbridegroup.com/index.asp

Andy

[Lee]

There is also a parallel topic running in the link below.
http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=1612.msg10590#msg10590

[Tinminer]

I think that it is this http://www.kilbrideresources.co.uk/case%20studies/Levy.pdf that has swung Kilbride's decision making.

On the one hand they are playing the green transport card to sweeten local authorities into ticking the yes box, but on the other it must be positive if they are serious about opening abandoned lines.

Only time will tell....

[andrewr]

Looks like the local MPs^▸ (Member of Parliament) have taken notice - is anyone able to go to the meeting?

http://www.tavistock-today.co.uk/today/options/news/newsdetail.cfm?id=52869

Andy Roden