Agenda item

Cllr Led Initiative – Cllr Peter Edge

To consider allocating up to £5,000 to pay for scoping work for the viability of a Wilton Parkway Railway Station to enable a wider consultation to be carried out. Report attached.

The Chairman introduced the Cllr Led Initiative, explaining the background to the proposal detailed on pages 3 – 6 of the agenda.

Funding was sought for scoping work for the viability of a Wilton Parkway Railway Station; this would include illustrations, the production and printing of a leaflet and promotion at the Wilton Business Chambers event planned for 12 September 2015.

In 2017 the franchise for the National Rail Network was up for renewal, so any new stations would need to be underway by then to be included in the tender.

A station in Wilton would reduce the travel pressures on the A36, reducing the need for Network Rail to provide additional commuter parking in Salisbury as commuters would be able to use the Wilton Park and Ride (P&R).

This could also be a location for visitors to Stonehenge travelling by rail to be able to transfer to coaches for their visit to the World Heritage site, which would again relieve the traffic problems of Salisbury.

The project would also improve the travel for Wilton commuters and would raise the profile of Wilton both nationally and internationally as the gateway to Stonehenge. This in turn should have great economic benefits for the tourism and shops in Wilton.

The project was supported by Wilton Town Council, Wilton Town Team, Wilton CLT and Wilton and District Chamber of Commerce, TransWilts and many others.

There had been misconceptions following recent photos of the old railway station published in the Salisbury Journal, that this would be reopened. That was not the case.

There had also been talk of a separate Metro project and a TransWilts link from Swindon to Salisbury; this did not involve the Wilton Parkway Railway Station.

Several major players had expressed interest in the project, including English Heritage and Southampton Airport. Scoping work would establish what was viable.

A process was underway to assess this project for potential inclusion in the Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) capital transport schemes. At that point a feasibility study would be carried out. If the LEP decided to support the scheme, then it was thought that a Station could be in place within 2 years.

Questions and comments were then received, these included:

·         The Wilton Parkway idea would improve the area no end, whilst there would be benefits for the Area Board and the community areas, the main benefits would be for Salisbury and Stonehenge.

·         The project was estimated to cost around £5 – £10 million, therefore the consultancy fees would be quite substantial.

·         Where was the site and how big was it? Answer: The site was located at the junction on the Packway, close to the bridge. It was envisaged that it would be a three carriage length station.

·         Would there be any additional parking to the P&R? Answer: No the P&R would serve as the parking.

·         Would it be a shuttle service, or a stop on the mainline? Answer: Yes the station would be on the main line.

·         If you do not get all of the main players round the table now, writing cheques, then you never will. You need to get them to pay for this and not the Area Board.

·         Was there a set process to follow? Answer: Yes, it was called the GRIP process, with 8 stages. The first stage included a feasibility study, so the viability study we propose, was a pre-GRIP process.

·         The viability study would be a start, but we need to make people aware that there was no guarantee the project would go ahead, and not to give them false expectations.

·         Has the access to land been checked to ensure there was no ransom strip involved, meaning that rent would have to be paid to access the station? Answer: Part of the land was owned by Wilton Estate.

·         Had Salisbury AB been asked to contribute to this project? Answer: No they had not.

·         How many leaflets would be printed for the cost detailed in the papers? Answer: It was unknown.

Robin Townsend, Associate Director relayed information which had been circulated to all Board Members prior to the meeting, to advise the Board that there was a  process underway to assess this project for potential inclusion in the LEP capital transport schemes. At that point the feasibility study would be funded, and would therefore not require any area board funding. The Board should allow this work to continue to its conclusion.

In addition, it was the view of Officers that this was not an issue for the Area Board. Such a piece of work would contravene Area Board terms of reference, in that decisions involving the discharge of executive functions could be made by the local area board, provided the decision does not:

·         Have a significant impact outside of the area concerned; this decision would have such an impact

·         Have a significant impact on the overall resources of the Council; this would impact on capital and revenue resources significantly

·         Contradict any policy or service standard set by the Council; this may contradict other transport policies as transport authority

·         Involve the taking of regulatory or quasi-judicial decisions; this work could undermine our transport authority duties and approved polices

He also advised that project would also need to be revenue funded until the project was delivered, not capital. As such in terms of the Council’s Financial Regulations, the AB could not fund the study, as it could only fund Capital projects.

A second quote for work was also required to meet current criteria.

Following discussion, and despite the advice of officers, the Board made the following decision, as they felt that this was a separate project and within the remit of the Board to fund.

Decision

The South West Wiltshire Area Board awarded £2,500 to the Cllr Led Initiative – Wilton Parkway Station project, for Scoping works, with the following conditions:

1.    A second quote was obtained.

2.    Wilton Town Council to source and provide match funding of £2,500, from its budget or from other partners.

The Board would invite TransWilts to the next Area Board meeting to give a presentation on the project.