The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
To use the current “in vogue expression”, there has been a bit of a ‘fracas’ about the railways recently.
So Jeremy Clarkson notwithstanding, I would just like to add to the many words already said on the subject.
I will, at the outset, make clear that as a pensioner, I am both a road user and a frequent rail user, so I am unbiased on the subject.
Whilst no, I don’t live directly backing on to a track, I am close to one and can hear trains from my house. I also use Winsover Road on a more or less daily basis.
Point one: Isn’t it about time that South Holland people stopped making Network Rail public enemy number one?
They are always being castigated for something, whether it is signal box closing and removal, cutting down trees, or running extra trains through town.
From the furore surrounding this, I believed that it was “more trains every week”, whereas it is in fact “more trains for five Saturdays”, on two of which the increase in trains is only in the afternoon.
The whole point being to make things safer.
Have the people of South Holland really become so selfish that theirs and other people’s safety is of less importance than a small amount of time out one day a week on a temporary basis?
If that is the case, then sadly, this is no longer the same friendly market town I moved to 14 years ago.
Oh, I also have used Winsover Road on each of the “troublespot” days and each time I drove in and back from town with no problems and no delays.
Point two: Recently chatting to someone who works at the council, she told me that at a meeting last year the subject came up about Vernatts Bridge – I hike frequently in that area so am fully aware of the surrounding neighbourhood.
Network Rail told the council that the bridge was no longer suitable and needed structural work – that is Network Rail told the council, not the other way round as has been suggested.
Our beloved councillors vetoed this on the basis that “the work was not necessary”.
Yes, you read that right, our councillors know more about structural work on load bearing bridges used by rolling stock than Network Rail do.
Oh wait, just how many councillors live in this area? Amazingly, and kept very hidden, is the fact that Network Rail offered South Holland District Council £30,000 as a payment in view of the disruption when the work took place.
This is their standard offering and indeed other places such as Heckington took advantage of it.
This money could have been used for play areas, community centre refurbishments, even the district council’s much vaunted projects like the Bull pub and Vista clean up or the Spalding in Bloom event.
But no, the district council refused it, and unsurprisingly, the offer was then no longer on the table.
Network Rail can therefore go to a higher authority, state the bridge is unsafe, and the Department of Transport can authorise work to start.
It will happen one way or another, so why not get the benefit out of it, ie, a £30,000 sum which could be used for the whole town or local communities.
It is unbelievable that this could be rejected out of hand, or that the councillors are not required to state the offer and their spurious reasons for decline, to the public – a £30,000 gift would have been very helping in spreading cash around to projects which may not otherwise get funding.
John Pollard
Hawthorn Bank
Spalding
