Graham Ellis - my blog
Melksham - Housing and Public Transport Development
I "dropped in" as a member of the public on line to the Melksham Without Parish Council meeting last night, via Zoom, as they had several agenda items of interest that align with my strategic planning interest.Land Supply for building - and what it means
An interesting discussion on land supply for development, informed by councillors Alford and Holder from Wiltshire Council. I have found this difficult to follow in the past, but last night explained the system rather better. If you want to build new houses, you need land to be available for them. And that is the "land supply" figure - land approved for development across the county. There are some 18,000 planned homes already approved, which at a build rate of 2,000 per annum would give you - you would think - a nine year "land supply",
But it doesn't work like that. Many of the approved sites are no longer of interest to the developers - reference made to a big Persimmon site in Trowbridge, where economy changes mean that building there in the next few years in unlikely, and the issues is so big that around a half of the sites with planning permission are not included in the official land supply figures. So it's not a nine year land supply - it's less than five years.
The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) looks ahead, somewhat arbitrarily, to five years and requires local authorities to have a five year land supply (why not 3? - why not 8?), and if the local authorities fail to deliver that, there's a presumption that developers can get planning approval for green fields outside the local plan. In other words, new estates of houses that don't jell with the areas on which they are located, and with less or little thought to supporting infrastructure, but at a greater potential profit to the developers.
So Wiltshire through its efforts have allowed through the planning system something approaching twice the number of new homes wanted - only to find that the house builders aren't happy with that and want to build at location of maximum profit, and they can do that just by saying they're not happy with what they've already been given.
It gets "worse". The new government is in the process of revising housing numbers and the NPPF, and the number of new homes in the county looks like it's up from 2,000 to 3,700 per annum. I am not personally averse to more housing - perhaps even in our own back yard - but it needs to be planned for the future. Which makes the local plan and the neighbourhood plan all that much more important. What legal weight those plans will have, we need to "wait" and see but yet NOT wait - progress and get them finalised with some haste. And at the same time, if we miss deadlines we will still be very powerfully informed to work within the future systems.
Plan for Rail - Wiltshire
MWPC members had taken a look at the Network Rail Wiltshire Plan for Rail and found much to support. The draft report looks forward to the provision of an hourly train service each way at Melksham, facilitated by a loop to allow trains to pass each other on the long single line section between Chippenham and Trowbridge. It looks forward to electrification of the line though Melksham, which makes sense sooner rather than later, encouraged by the heavy freight on the line, to the extension of the services to Bedwyn on to Devizes, and the provision of a Bristol to Oxford service. These latter enabling new stations at Devizes Gateway and Corsham too. A good report, making common sense, with priorities which include - early - improvements through Melksham. I'm delighted to see MWPC having it on their agenda and adding their support.
Last night, the "Plan for Rail" was not linked to land supply and development but yet these two items should not be considered in isolation. Rail is mass transit, and a growing Melksham becomes all the more necessary. We have moved from 3,000 journeys per annum to 70,000 in the last decade, but the figure should be 400,000 even on current population. Move the service to an appropriate and reliable level, and provide joined up transfers (such as a connecting bus) to the station and that can be achieved - not as a goal itself, but as something for the good of the economy of the area and the people who live here. With housing we should expect, we should be planning for at least half a million journeys a year, and that's before you add a full million of through passengers from Swindon and Chippenham to Trowbridge, Westbury and beyond
On service reliability
I have been - embarrassed - to promote rail travel this summer. The timetable offers some excellent opportunities, but trains have not been running to timetable. This weekend just gone was typical for the holiday period, with just seven out of 14 trains each way running and enormous failings with seven cancelled on the day.
All cancellations were explained as "shortage of train crew" ... for which initial responsibility has to be taken by our train operator - "Great Western Railway" - a part of the First Group.
Melksham Without Parish Council had on their agenda - at my request for the Melksham Transport User Group - a request to write to GWR, express severe concern, and request action to return cancellation rates from 50% to less that 2%. It's not just about the weekend just gone - very occasionally there will be a bad day; it's an ongoing issue with short notice cancellations, week after week.
The official letter will be sent. Will it make any difference? It may well, but I doubt it will result in the service being fixed in coming months. It helps put Melksham, officially, on the radar. It reminds First Group that they can't just ignore us as if we were a little village with the occasional person travelling. But then ... the commercial operation of rail services here ends next year with "nationalisation" when the First contract reaches a break point next May, so should they care? We have to be careful how we handle this and ensure we minimise damage caused by appalling unreliability at present, and also make sure that we are partners with rail and government officials for the future.
And in summary
The rail items were moved up the agenda for me - THANK YOU to MWPC for that, and I left the meeting soon after they were covered. Part of me wanted to stay around to listen and watch the rest of the meeting which was fascinating, but having had the items moved up I felt in more polite to leave than to stay.
Asking us for money? Please show up!
Monday's Town Council Finance Committee meeting agenda includes applications for grants from • Back on Track - Stroke Rehab Service, • Melksham Community Larder, • Melksham Foodbank, • Melksham Music Festival Ltd, • Splash - Community First Wiltshire, • Wessex MS Therapy Centre and • Youth Adventure Trust, • with some 56 pages of backup data / forms and evidence provided by those organisations. The grant meetings are held in public (that may not have been clear in the past) and it's a rather good idea for the organisations who are asking for money from the council to come along to show an interest and to be available to answer any questions that may arise. In fact it seems a bit silly to do all that paperwork and then miss out the final step of being there to ensure it's properly understood.
P.S. There is no rule that you must show ... more friendly advise!
Having recommended that you (if you are applying) go, I have to admit that I won't be there. I am no longer on that committee and will be attanding a different meeting at the campus where there's an agenda item I wish to talk to looking forward at aspects across Melksham for the next decade.
Footnote comment on Facebook: "Melksham Town Council hands out a number of grants to local organisations and four times a year the Finance committee meets to decide which of the application it will accept in full, which it will partly fund and which it will reject. It makes huge sense for the Town Council to help "seed" new group and in a few instances to support them routinely for the good they bring to the town. Groups receiving grants are asked to feed back annually ... and it makes sense to turn up to the meeting where you're asking for money in the first place too."
Published Saturday, 7th September 2024
Melksham Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan
Here is my submission, going in today, following from my 31st July blog
From: Graham Ellis, a Melksham Town Councillor for South Ward
To: Wiltshire Council, f.a.o Kingsley Hampton.
Subject: Consultation Input / Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan
Date: 5th September 2024
Sirs,
Thank you for your invitation to make comment in consultation on the Melksham Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure plan (LCWIP) by close of business on 6th September 2024. A great deal of hard work has gone into the preparation of your document and I commend and thank all of those involved with it at Wiltshire Council and with your consultants.
The LWCIP is a detailed document, and Melksham Without Parish Council (MWPC) have spent some considerable time and resource reviewing it for you. They have provide the Town Council with a copy of their response, and it was discussed at the Melksham Town Council's (MTC) Economic Planning and Development meeting on 27th August. It was agreed to offer the Town Council's support to the MWPC response and to thank them for all their hard work in the local review. However, it should be noted that we are separate parishes and MWPC cannot (and has not sought) to speak on behalf of MTC, nor vice versa.
It is uniquely appropriate for travelling around to be in the joint sphere of interest of both parishes and all wards of both Melksham Local Councils, and for planning for their future to be under the auspices of a joint community body such as the Melksham Neighbourhood Plan, into which both councils have invested heavily financially, and I commend the views and inputs in the Joint Melksham Neighbourhood Plan II. Please also see the Town Council’s “Priority for People” reports which includes hundreds of responses on local travel.
The LCWIP is a county rather than parish initiative, and I encourage you to take into consideration any inputs received from Unitary councillors Alford, Holder, Hubbard, Oatley, Sankey and Seed.
Melksham Town Council has encouraged responses to the LCWIP consultation through including the matter in public papers, and I personally have publicised it. However, we do not have qualified staff with resource to go through the detail as a separate exercise to the neighbourhood plan. I will add comment below to reflect my own inputs and comments from others. Please bear in mind that I am not an infrastructure or travel planning expert, though I do cycle and walk locally.
You are welcome to share my input to this consultation and my contact details and to contact me further as appropriate.
Specific input points
1. Melksham is a town that has changed a great deal since the 2011 census, which is the latest evidence base you had available for some of the plan. For example, the walk and cycle to school metrics in 2011 still reflected the George Ward site on the road to Bath, whereas the secondary school is now on the road to Devizes and with severe pavement overcrowding between The Spa and the school on the busy A365 at school start and finish times.
2. The movement from the consultation 6 months ago that routed passage from the Bowerhill area to the Town Centre away from Spa Road back onto Spa Road makes sense. Walkers and cyclists were unlikely to take the suggested alternative routes which added substantially to the distances to be covered, and under human power would have been resisted / ignored. However that does not make Spa Road safe, and I welcome the identified need for interventions there. Both reduction in volume and slowing of powered vehicle travel on Spa Road should be encouraged, in addition to works to make it more suitable for walking and cycling.
3. Maybe outside Wiltshire Council's remit and in that hands of commercial operators, but there are quite a number of places in Melksham which lack stands or otherwise to lock cycles to. The Morrisons on Pembroke Road and Subway on the A350 Beanacre Road are just examples.
4. Public transport use in Melksham has grown significantly [since the 2011 stats base] with passenger journeys to and from Melksham Station up from 3,000 per annum to 75,000 per annum in intervening years, and bus services changed. On a Sunday at the time of the census, there were just 12 bus departures whereas now there are 40, the latest increase being jogged by the service this summer being full and standing to the extent than passengers were being left behind. Good WALKING route to buses and WALKING AND CYCLING routes to the station are important. This includes access to the station from Foundry Close (see point 7), and making the underpass on the A350 onto the old Bath Road more attractive
5. Future developments in Melksham may include a new bypass to the east of the town. A new bypass would relieve pressure on the current A350 through Beanacre out to the Semington bypass and the plan should take advantage of potential reduced traffic flows. In particular, the Challeymead bridge over the river is currently unsuitable for walking and cycling and steps should be taken to make it safe and useful for such traffic from Hazelwood Road through to the Farmers Roundabout, sooner if not later.
6. Future developments may include the Wilts and Berks canal passing through the town once again, and the LWCIP should be compatible with the support of such a re-opening. In particular, walking and cycling links to Lacock which are currently poor should be improved.
7. With regards the consultation questions, I concur with the common view of public inputs so far that the Town Centre to the Railway Station and the Town Centre via Spa Road to the Oak School and to Pathfinder Way should be the priorities of your routes for both cycling and walking. In addition, the part of MC13 and MW15 which links the railway station to Foundry Close should also be prioritised as a quick win, opening a major new walking and cycling flow.
Thanking you once again for your hard work on the LCWIP and your consideration. See https://grahamellis.uk/blog1308.html & https://grahamellis.uk/blog1344.html
Graham Ellis
48 Spa Road, Melksham - 07974 925 928
https://grahamellis.uk - graham@sn12.net
My emailling policy: https://grahamellis.uk/email
Published Thursday, 5th September 2024
What is TravelWatch?
Public questions ..."I would like couple more buses as they get to full in mornings and after work". "I for one will be sad if we lose the £2 bus fares. That's what encouraged my husband and I to ditch the car." How are those questions answered?
Who are TravelWatch and what do they do?
TravelWatch SouthWest is an independent organisation representing all users of public transport in the South West of England. Membership is open to any not-for-profit organisation representing the interests of users or potential users of public transport. TravelWatch holds regular general and special meetings in a central location in the South West and online, that inform and debate issues of interest and concern to public transport user groups.
Let me put that more colloquially - public transport is complicated and there are a lot of experts around. Passengers and potential passengers are very bright and thoughtful, but they are not transport experts - they will know their local issues and what they would like to see, but there is a natural chasm between industry experts, government regulators and users and our TravelWatch facilitates explanations in both directions for the benefit of all "sides" so they become far less "sides" and far more partners working together for a better, more appropriate network.
TravelWatches formed from the Transport Users Consultative Committees (I tell you that because it gives a further idea of what they do) in various regions in the UK. There is a very active TravelWatch in the North West and also in London which, however, has a different and statutory base.
So TravelWatch SouthWest has a paid secretariat staff and a volunteer board of ten directors, most of us people of long experience in the public transport and spatial planning fields from across the South West and with a mixture of majoring in buses and trains. As a board we meet, usually online for a steer every couple of months and we learn, inform, analyse reports and make comments prior to and during consultations. Characteristics of public transport updating is that it is a process that takes a very long time, and spreads very widely across the region, where a changed in one street may have implication right across the region.
Why do we do it at TravelWatch SouthWest?
Well - no-one else does! There's a hideously complex array of organisations - private, public and community, official, and unofficial and causing some of the very confusion I described above of who to contact about what if you want to make effective solutions for the future, or if you are a local or central government or rail or bus industry professional or planner looking to communicate with and learn from your customer base effieicntly.
This is something of a theoretic post, so far - so let me write you a TravelWatch Director's view / comment on those two questions we started with
Question: "I would like couple more buses as they get to full in mornings and after work".
Answer: OK - you are heard, but there are many issues to be addressed. Providing seats costs money, and providing more seats to be used just for two journeys a day is horrendously expensive, and everyone wants those seats at the same time. Where you have heavy school and employment flows which co-inside in the morning it makes it a double peak. The afternoon with schools finishing before work is less of a problem.
You also need to bear in mind that if your working day is 8 hours and you have journey to and from home, including your walk to and from "the office" of an hour, you get on the bus in the morning 10 hours before you get off in the evening, even assuming that the buses run at exactly at the time you need. Remember that the driver has to start his route earlier, and be even earlier from the depot, and later in the evening. So it's s long day, drivers are expensive and in short supply, have working hours regulations for safety's sake, and typically dislike split shifts.
There you are - the troubles of being a bus operator. You may find a capacity improvement can be achieved by putting on a bigger vehicle such as double decker and indeed that has people raise other issues about why there's a big bus on quiet runs during the day - it does make sense commercislly.
The answer could go on looking at senior bus pass times and how they help the loading, and looking at evening provision which brings in another metric,
Question: "I for one will be sad if we lose the £2 bus fares. That's what encouraged my husband and I to ditch the car."
The £2 bus fare has done some good - however not as much as might have been desired (I do have some figures). It was never advertised as more that a temporary thing to help chance people's habits as the subsidy / funding is, I believe, substantial. Cynically, it was always going to be extended by a government headed for a general election so that the incoming government - whichever party is was - would be able to take an unpopular decision with 4 years for the public to forget.
What are the options for the government? They could make a long term policy decision to continue to offer journeys at a fixed £2. They could put a higher cap on. They could have a cap increase at intervals (annually?) to it ends over time, but keeps repeating the bad news at each rise. And then you also need to consider then your passenger numbers will drop and so doubling the price will far from double the money taken at the farebox.
There is another option to move away from s minimum flat fare to have them mileage based. Say £1.50 + 20p per mile - puts Melksham to Bath up to £3.50, for example. But that start to make the whole fare collection and understanding much harder and leads to arguments as to whether the milage is the distance the bus goes, or the distance the bus WOULD go if it didn't wander all around the housing areass. (Subject for another day - route optimisation ...)
No easy solution there; I have offered you options - you tell me what you think. My personal preference would be to take the final option and apply it to trains too / perhaps consideration for return fares and a loyalty scheme across public transport. Reasons - subject for yet another day!
Image - at a TravelWatch SouthWest meeting in Taunton
Published Wednesday, 4th September 2024
Public Transport Melksham - Risk and Opportunity
On this day, 2nd September 1848, the railway opened through Melksham. Public Transport here has a long and illustrious history. And over the last 12 years, our train and bus services have for the most part improved, thought with some regretted losses.
We are now at a time of both great risk and great opportunity. An opportunity for further improvement - much of it being small changes that would make a big difference. And a risk that if we don't cherish our services (and let people know that we cherish them) that we could lose many of them.
A date for your diary. Friday, 25th October 2024. The Melksham Transport User Group public meeting. To be held in the party room at the Melksham Campus. We are looking for YOUR input and YOUR support - whether you are a current or a potential user.
What has been achieved?
In 2013, we stepped up from 2 trains each way per day calling at Melksham to 8
In 2016, we successfully opposed Wiltshire Council plans to cut 50% of the supported buses
In 2020, we successfully promoted the replacement providing an evening and Sunday service to Bath
Also in 2020, we fought the permanent withdrawal of Sunday trains after Covid
In 2022 and 2023 we persuaded the train service providers to fill evening timetable gaps
And in 2024 we saw the return of Sunday buses to Trowbridge and Chippenham
What has already been lost?
In 2014 we lost the (temporary) Melksham Rail Link bus
In 2015 we lost the evening buses from Chippenham and Trowbridge
From 2019 there were no Santa trips (**)
In 2020 we lost First Bus sevices (**)
In 2020 we lost the second Town Bus
In recent years we have lost Train reliability
(**) - this loss not necessarily a big deal
What could also be lost from Melksham (most likely first)
* Loss of interest in anyone providing a reliable train service
* The Cheaper of train fares (some extra rises already this month)
* The £2 bus fare (could be up to £6.50 to Bath or Devizes)
* Buses to Marlborough, the RUH and most to Corsham and B-o-A
* Sunday buses if the enhanced services does not work
* The ability to pay cash fares
* All but a skeleton (or even no) train service
(I can explain my fears on each of these)
What could be gained?
* Reliable train services
* Clock-face train including capacity works
* Buses to the station doubling up as second bus to serve dropped and new areas
* Electic buses, improved evening service, improved frequencies
* Porous and more friendly station and access
* Encouraging fares systems
* Real time at town centre bus stops
* Improved community inputs and ownership
* Electrification of the railway
* Open Access / commercial service opportunities
* Better help if things don't work as they should
It's a time of great risk and great opportunity. I regularly talk to passengers using public transport to, from and within Melksham, and also to people who do not used trains and buses who might, and I use it myself and feel I have a fair handle on most of the services, history, and issues for potential change. I have also made a point of learning something of how the transport industry and its financing and management works so that I can be informed when talking to both professionals and to passenger groups.
What will we be doing on 25th October?
The Melksham Transport User Group is looking to recruit a new membership of interested users (and wannabe users) - for a variety of things ranging from people who just want to be kept informed through to active people in helping with the friends of the station and buses through to key officers for the group. As acting chair I'll be "putting together" 25th October; I already have a number of readers / friends who I look forward to having help and indeed take leads, or just listen, in the autumn. The vestigial membership met last week and agreed the time is appropriate to restart.
Published Tuesday, 3rd September 2024
Wonderful outdoor and indoor venues
Both are owned and managed by the Town Council, and both busy and well loved by the community.
Picture - former mayors Simon Crundell (with Melksham Environment Group leaflet) and Pat Aves, & current mayor Tom Price
A wonderful weekend just concluded at the Melksham Food and River Festival in the KGV park. 14th September The Lions will follow up with "Picnic in the Park" and that evening the Last Night of the Proms will be shown on a big screen, courtesy of the Town Council. The Splashpad is open daily through to 15th, and don't forget Evie's Cafe in the Pavillion. As the days get shorter and cooler, there will be less events in the park, But don't forget Park Run every Saturday and the park is always open, lit, and with free public WiFi.
At the Assembly Hall, the Flower and Produce show on 8th September is followed by the "Night to Remember" Motown show on 13th, the Record Fair on 15th, the superb Peter Kay tribute on 19th, Melksham Rock and Roll on 21st, Quiz night on 25th, "An evening remembering The Avon Rubber Company in Melksham" on 26th, and the Community Larder's clothes swap on 29th. A busy September, which will be followed by an even busier October.
I found myself as stand manager on Saturday and want to add a huge THANK YOU to the staff and volunteers who helped in so many ways - it was a huge pleasure to work with you. And I enjoyed being part of the team as a volunteer and councillor on Sunday. We have a great team; you won't see a great deal of press because the purpose was to reach people in the park, and that objective was admirably and positively achieved.
I helped on the Melksham Town Council stand at the Food and River Festival, handing out Assembly Hall programs for September - and for October to December too. Also talking with so many people (it's a wonderful opportunity to meet residents and hear their views and what is concerning them). And handing out Melksham Evnironment Group leaftets which include a train timetable. And handing out new bus timetables for routes x34 (to Chippenham and Trowbridge) and 271/2/3 (to Bath and Devizes) both of which now run hourly, or nearly so, as well as with more services on Monday to Saturday.
Links -
Friends of Melksham Assembly Hall for the event program - https://www.melksh.am/fomah
Melksham Transport Group for train and bus times - https://www.melksh.am/transport
Melksham Environment Group - https://www.mkmeg.org.uk
Melksham Town Council - https://www.melksham-tc.gov.uk
Published Monday, 2nd September 2024
Splashpad - my final duty
A busy day at the Splashpad yesterday, with dozens of children (plus the occasional) parent in there getting wet when I did the hourly count, lots more using the facility in between (a typical stay time is a lot less than an hour), and for each child in the water, parents and other family members enjoying the park, with many parties using Evie's cafe which has gotten itself an excellent reputation and was doing a roaring trade.The Splashpad remains open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily until mid September when it closes for the year, with resurfacing booked for shortly thereafter. But yesterday was my personal last day. It's been marvellous to see everyone enjoying themselves and to meeting you (member of the public) and others, chatting about things Melksham and things Park and more. I will miss that. But it was only ever a stop-gap role. Last year, in 2023, my volunteer time together with S.... and J.... jumping in for the council helped ensure the pad could be open every day. This year, the Melksham Town Council team is renewed and established, and perhaps it's been unnecessary for me to be there, though it has allowed them to concentrate on other parks on Wednesdays. And with Evie's Cafe taking over most of the staff room as an active store, it's a far less pleasant work environment in which to get on with my other day to day (laptop) stuff. I was often in the way of Craig's team as they were doing their job, not that any of them, ever, expressed irritation at that.
As we come to the end of August, 2 months into a new Government, I am looking ahead. I am much more in my comfort zone looking at medium and long term planning issues with a a slant towards managed growth and the travel and transport aspects of planning and tailoring with that in mind. Although I only rejoined TravelWatch SouthWest a couple of weeks ago, I am already feeling very much at home with the subject. We are in a time of great opportunity, but also of great risk.
Published Thursday, 29th August 2024
Enjoyable meeting
Probably the best and most effective Town Council meeting (Economic Planning and Development Committee) I have been to last night, and certainly the most enjoyable. Thank you to fellow councillors, guests, and our committee clerk for making it so. We looked at the planning application for housing on the old upside yard at the station, submitted a couple of years back but held up by the Environment Agency due to concerns about the culvert under Bath Road. Site access, community gains, etc, discussed with the team proposing the development and some useful seeds sewn. Good to welcome colleagues from Melksham Without in the audience, and to get some very useful input from them.
We discussed the local cycling and walking infrastructure plan which went out from Wiltshire Council last month (July) and closes next week. None of us felt expert enough to make authoritative comment (it would be so easy as a councillor to pontificate about something we haven't a clue on), we don't have any experts on our staff, and our staff don't have the time anyway. And there is no legal obligation on us to comment. However, we have resolved to take a look through inputs we already have from a sister organisation and two of us will add brief further comment and, I suspect, an endorsement as most of it looks pretty good. Whether this will end up as a report sitting on a shelf gathering dust, or a framework for real change in the future, I am not clear.
We considered and resolved to support three planning applications - one in north ward and 2 in south. The major application for 300 homes at Snarleton Farm, just outside Melksham Town though access and the road junction feeding it is within, was deferred to the next meeting in 3 weeks. It is considered by Melksham Without next week and being in their parish is naturally their lead. We will probably support them at our next meeting, noting that these new estates if and when built often get transferred into the town so we (or the 2025 onward) council has a very real interest.
We considered whether to support two local highway requests - a crossing over Eastern Way on the section to be bypassed by Rocket Road, and an issue on Church Lane. We got an update on works agreed but which have been held up due to the passing of a landowner and a need to wait for probate near Maple Close. And we supported a request from the police to monitor speeding on Kenilworth Gardens. The idea of planters on the High Pavement was discussed, and it's possible that there might be an option worth exploring there on what has been an issue that no-one has been able to address to everyone's satisfaction for many decades.
The Town Council resolved to send a letter of concern to GWR in relation to the very high percentage of trains that have been cancelled, emphasising to them the very real harm done by this. We'll be pointing out the size of the town, the high proportion of residents who don't have access to a private vehicle here, and the very long wait between trains of for a road alternative if a train is cancelled. Current changes at government level make this a time of both great risk and great opportunity, and we are reminded that it was under a previous labour government when our eye was not on the ball that we lost most of our train service for a decade.
The Parish Steward provide by Wiltshire Council visits from 10th to 12th September and a number of places where he can help us tidy up were suggested and will be relayed on.
Published Wednesday, 28th August 2024
Introduction - South West England
Back to Basics - an introduction for newcomers and a reminder (which sometimes answers questions you have been too embarrassed to ask) for others. The "South West of England" is an official region of England. It consists of the counties of Cornwall, Dorset, Devon, Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wiltshire.Major conurbations include Bristol and Bath, Bournemouth, Poole and Christchurch, Gloucester and Cheltenham, Plymouth, Swindon, Exeter, Torbay, Weston-super-Mare, Taunton, Weymouth and Portland, and Salisbury. And there are many smaller "market" towns too - so that most people do live in an urban community.
It is geographically the largest of the nine regions of England with a land area of 9,203 square miles (23,836 km2), yet the third-least populous, with an estimated 5,764,881 residents in 2022.
Links within this article
Travel Corridors - how people get around
Who looks after the transport strategy in our area?
Who are our political representatives?
Who runs our rail network in the South West?
Who runs our bus and coach network in the South West?
And finally (conclusion and links)
A lot I could say about the region but this is a transport and travel post so I will carry on from that standpoint. There is at present a good article here on Wikipedia on South West England in general and knowing how Wikipedia changes I have an archived copy as a .pdf too.
I have taken a great community interest in getting around the area for many years and way back (20 years ago) I was triggered by a letter in the local paper asking "do your realise that your town [Melksham, population 28,000] is about to lose most of its train services?" and I asked the question "is this right?". Well, we lost them, we regained them too but many years later. From then a 4 fold increase in trains lead to a 25 fold increae in users. Other smaller victories for common sense too, with buses as well as train. I have been invited to be a director of TravelWatch SouthWest. So this is a positioning post asking "What IS the South West?"
Although we have had some victories, we mustn't rest on our laurels. We must be sometime-critical friends as well as advocates, and we must be informed and share that information. We live in a time of great change - which makes it a time of great opportunity but also of great risk. The role of TravelWatch (all directors are volunteers) is to help oil the wheels of that role we take as informed users and user groups. But that's for another day - I'm talking 'South West" today.
Travel corridors - how people get around
Main long distance travel corridors are like spokes from a hub in London to our East.• A railway to Weymouth (via Bournemouth and Poole) and to Exeter (via Salisbury and Yeovil) run from London (Waterloo),
• A railway from London (Paddington) to Penzance (via Taunton, Exeter, Plymouth and Truro) and to Swindon where it branches - to Bath and Bristol, to South Wales and to Gloucester and Cheltenham.
• The M3 motorway - outside our are in the South East - has tentacles that extend via the A31 to Weymouth and via the A303 to Exeter.
• The M4 Motorway from London serves the Swindon and then the Bristol areas before crossing over into South Wales.
As well as these spokes, there is a major corridor from the West Country up to the West Midlands:
• long distance trains from Plymouth and Bristol to Birmingham, Manchester, the North East and even Scotland.
• The M5 motorway runs along this corridor too, from the Exeter area via Bristol to Birmingham; traffic for beyond Exeter takes the A303 or M4 then M5 to Exeter and the A30 beyond. The M5 carries long distance coach services.
There is also a major travel flow from the Bournemouth and Southampton (just in the South East) area though the South West to the Bath and Bristol area and onwards to South Wales. • The roads involved are the A36 and the A350
• "the mainline railway they forgot" runs from Portsmouth outside our area, via Southampton, Salisbury, Bath and Bristol then across into South Wales via Newport to Cardiff.
• A network of other roads makes for regional and local journeys. Other railway lines link the cities and town I have already mention, many smaller towns and some villages fortunate enough to be on the railway and with stations that survived the major cull of 60 years ago that was instigated from "The Beeching Report" under a Conservative government, but largely actioned by the following Labour government with Barbara Castle as the Secretary of State for Transport.
• Airports at Bristol, Exeter, Bournemouth and Newquay serve our region• Many passengers flying longer distances will go from a London Airport, Birmingham or Southampton.
• The Scilly Isles are linked to Cornwall by flights and ferries.
• There are also some ferries from Plymouth to Spain and France, and from Poole to France.
• Local ferries across some estuaries for foot passengers and in some cases vehicles too.
Cycling and walking travel should not be overlooked and is greatly encouraged by government. A program of LCWIPs (local cycling and walking infrastructure plans) is happening. There is a national cycling network, a number of excellent and well used paths (and some appalling ones). In many places a real opportunity to link up "last mile" walking and cycling to the local bus or train, and to make it safe and secure to leave your bike there or take it with you.
• Electric bikes are with us, as are electric scooters in some of our cities, and it is surely only a matter of time before they come legally to our wider area.
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Who looks over the Transport strategy in our area?
There are three bodies you may not have heard of, but with a growing influence. They are likely to be major players in setting the regional transport agenda for years to come.
The Western Gateway Sub-National Transport Body (STB) is formed by an alliance of the following eight Local Authorities and one Combined Authority.
• Bath and North East Somerset Council (1)
• BCP Council (Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole) (9)
• Bristol City Council (3)
• Dorset Council (8)
• Gloucestershire County Council (5)
• North Somerset Council (2)
• South Gloucestershire Council (4)
• Wiltshire Council (7)
• West of England Combined Authority (1, 3 and 4 / links with 2)
Their vision is to enable clean growth and increased use of sustainable transport through a long-term investment programme designed to deliver a well-connected, clean, reliable and resilient strategic transport system; one that closes productivity gaps, provides a better quality of life for people across the region and makes the Gateway area more competitive while respecting its world-class natural and built environments. Read about the Western Gateway STB
The Peninsular Transport STB brings together the five lead transport authorities in the peninsula:
• Cornwall (13)
• Devon (11)
• Plymouth (14)
• Somerset (10) [not North or North East Somerset]
• Torbay (12)
"to transform the economic potential of the region. Working closely with co-opted members and key stakeholders from the private and public sector, the partnership is responsible for defining and delivering the strategic transport priorities for the peninsula. Read about Peninsular Transport
• Swindon - no. 6 on the map - is part of England's Economic Heartland which is the sub-national transport body for the region stretching from Swindon across to Cambridgeshire and from Northamptonshire down to Hertfordshire. "It advises the government on the transport infrastructure, services and policy framework which will realise the region's economic potential while supporting the journey to net zero. Their work is informed by a comprehensive and growing evidence base, and overseen by their Strategic Transport Leadership Board, containing the elected leaders and portfolio holders of their local authority partners". Read about the Englands Economic Heartland STB
Each of the numbered areas on the map and in the text above is the Local Transport Authority. "In England (outside the metropolitan areas and London), the Local Transport Authority (LTA) is either the Unitary Authority or the County Council for that area. More urban areas tend to have a single (‘unitary’) authority whilst more rural areas are often two-tier authorities with both a County Council and a District Council. In these two-tier areas, the County Council is responsible for transport. In either case, as an LTA, the Council is responsible for transport planning, passenger transport and highways." See The Urban Transport Group which provides a very useful general introduction.
Rail Passenger service levels and contracts are specified by the Department for Transport, sometimes influenceable by Local Transport Authorities, STBs and by MPs. DfT Rail took over this role from the Strategic Rail Authority in 2004. The Secretary of State for Transport is the senior minister at the DfT and there is another Minister there who is delegated to look after rail. Present incumbents are Louise Haigh and Peter (Lord) Hendy. Senior civil servants set/suggest main national policy, and other members of the civil service team are responsible for specific aspects, such as managing train operating contracts and compliance.
The Department for Transport also looks after buses but (see below) in a much more hands-off way. Simon Lightwood is the Minister currently looking after buses and coaches.
"Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) were established in 2011 to replace the nine regional development agencies responsible for promoting local economic development. In total, 38 LEPs were established and covered the entirety of England. Now 13 years on, Central Government funding has ceased and from 1 April 2024 LEP functions have been transferred back to local authority responsibility. However, as private enterprises LEPs may choose to continue operating." Read local government lawyer for more on this
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Who are our political representatives?
As of the 2024 United Kingdom general election, The South West contains 58 seats in the House of Commons. Labour hold 24 seats, The Liberal Democrats hold 22 seats, The Conservatives hold 11 seats and The Greens hold 1 seat.
There is an up to date (late summer 2024) list of our 58 constituencies and MPs on Wikipedia (here).
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Who runs our rail network in the South West?
Network Rail - Western Route (14 on the map) - "Our Western route stretches from London Paddington to Penzance, through Bristol and up to the boundaries with Wales, the Cotswolds and Hampshire. We operate, maintain and are renewing more than 2,000 miles of railway, including the historic Great Western Main Line, conceived by Isambard Kingdom Brunel. There are 198 stations on the route, and we manage London Paddington, Reading and Bristol Temple Meads stations." - Read about Network Rail Western Route
Network Rail - Wessex Route (12 on the map) - "The Wessex route covers the major commuter area of south-west London as well as from London Waterloo to the south and south-west of England. This route is one of the busiest on the rail network, taking in all or part of the counties of Surrey, Berkshire, Hampshire, Dorset, Somerset and Wiltshire." - Read about Network Rail Wessex Route
Most scheduled passenger trains in the South West on the National Network are run under contract to the government by Train Operating Companies GWR (strictly First Great Western), South Western Railway (First group 70%, MTR 30%), and Cross Country Trains (an Arriva company). Transport for Wales (Rail) - owned by the Welsh Government run a service from South Wales into Gloucester and Cheltenham.
Train operators can if they wish (and if they can jump through all the hoops) run commercial "open access" services too provided they don't abstract (extract) too much business from the contracted operators. There are several live aspirations to run open access services in the South West at present.
This new government has signalled its intent to bring all contracted train operations in house when the current contracts expire or reach a break point - in May and June 2025 for SWR and GWR, and in 2028 for Cross Country. Whilst the plan is for "Great British Railways" to take over Network Rail and train operation, it is clear that the skilled operational work force will be transferred over, and I would anticipate that transfer may go well up the management levels. It is a moving scene and I am unclear of what the outcome will be.
The majority of the trains themselves are owned by Angel Trains, Eversholt, Hitachi and Porterbook - companies in the commercial / private sector who lease them to the train operators (RoSCOs). I have not seen any proposal to change this and indeed privatisation would be expensive.
Freight trains are also operated by private companies and provide a substantial amount of rail traffic in places. Of note is traffic from quarries in Somerset and International container traffic from Southampton. Coal traffic which was once the mainstay of the railways has ceased.
In the South West, we have a number of preserved / heritage rail operations and whilst they bring substantial tourist business to their locales, none of them at present operates a service for the traveller in their area primarily looking to get from "A" to "B". I note that the heritage operation at Okehampton, which was not strong, has been replaced by a refurbished national rail service that is doing well. That is probably unique, but if a way could be found to run a robust clockface affordable daily network service to places such as Swanage and Minehead, and perhaps to Kingswear and Bodmin, that would do very well too.
• There are no light rail or tramway operations in the South West at present
• I am going to park Cliff Lifts as being outside the scope of this general briefing.
• We also have sections of guided busway in Bristol but they really come in the next section
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Who runs our bus and coach network in the South West?
Bus services are operated "commercially" by anyone who thinks they can make a living doing that. But in practise it's a peculiar sort of "commercial". There is a very high ENCTS card travel (senior and disabled bus passes) and the £2 bus fare at present with the subsidy for both coming from somewhere. Across the South West, GoAhead, First, Stagecoach and Arriva run most services. National Express run longer distance coach services. There are a number of independents too - very honourable mention indeed for my local company Faresaver, and a mention for others such as Frome Bus and The Big Lemon. It all gets complicated with marketing / branding names.
Local Transport Authorities can invite bidders to run supported routes to fill the gaps not filled by commercial services. These are often run by the same operators with the same vehicles. But these gap-fillers must not compete to any substantial degree with the commercial routes. They could be serving places not otherwise served, or be an evening or Sunday service.
There are some places - the Vale of Pewsey is a local example - where a fixed route and timetable does not work, and the solution is perhaps a demand responsive service. The Vale of Pewsey is celebrating a successful first year, but the WestLink scheme just over the border into WECA has had - err - teething problems.
The Traffic Commisioner "Traffic Commissioners are responsible for the licensing and regulation of those who operate heavy goods vehicles, buses and coaches, and the registration of local bus services. They are assisted in this work by deputy Traffic Commissioners, who preside over a number of public inquiries." The Traffic Commissioners for Great Britain operate at arm's length as independent regulators and are a tribunal of the Department for Transport. See https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/traffic-commissionersNational Highways: "We manage and improve England’s motorways and major A roads, helping our customers have safer, smoother and more reliable journeys." - Read more at https://nationalhighways.co.uk/about-us/ and "We're the government company which plans, designs, builds, operates and maintains England’s motorways and major A roads, known as the strategic road network (SRN)".
Highways England was replaced by National Highways (Summer 2021)
I am in danger of writing an even longer section here. Topics such as "Bus Back Better" funding, the problems of town buses, ZEBRA and electric vehicles, enhance partnerships, tracking and fare systems, bus stops and bus stations and more can usefully wait for a different post.
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And finally
Two more offshoots of the Department for Transport
• The Office of Rail and Road "The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) is the independent safety and economic regulator for Britain’s railways and monitor of National Highways. It is responsible for ensuring that railway operators comply with health and safety law. It regulates Network Rail’s activities and funding requirements, regulates access to the railway network, licenses the operators of railway assets and publishes rail statistics. ORR is also the competition authority for the railways and enforces consumer protection law in relation to the railway. As highways monitor ORR is responsible for monitoring National Highways’ management of the strategic road network – the motorways and main ‘A’ roads in England."
• Transport Focus "Transport Focus is the independent watchdog for transport users. We put the interests of transport users first and aim to get the best deal for passengers and road users. With a strong emphasis on evidence-based campaigning and research, we ensure that we know what is happening on the ground. This knowledge is used to influence decisions on behalf of passengers and road users to secure improvements and make a difference."
The new governemnt's plans involve something of a shakeup of much of the above - we live in interesting times. The links above should all work as of the date of this article, but may change. A time of great opportunity, and great risk
As they may change or disappear, I have archived .pdf copies of many of the documents - which will also makes them searchable en masse for members at https://www.passenger.chat. we are upgrading that site at present so you will be referred at present to the http (insecure) site for searches. As all you'll be doing is reading published documents, no harm is done - "so what" if someone takes a copy as it's transmitted!
Already mirrored on our secure site:
1. South West England
2. Western Gateway
3. Englands Economic Heartland
4. Peninsular Transport
5. Urban Transport Group
6. England Transport Overview
7. No More LEPs
8. MPs in the South West
9. Network Rail Western
10. Network Rail Wessex
11. Traffic Commissioners
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Published Sunday, 25th August 2024
Site updates
I have updated a number of web sites - adding "https" security and making them lay out better on mobile devices.
The "top level" sites of interest here ...
• Friends of Melksham Assembly Hall - https://www.fomah.org.uk
• Melksham Environement Group - https://www.mkmeg.org.uk
• My Councillor Page - https://grahamellis.uk
• The Well House Collection - https://www.twhc.org.uk
and sitting in the background I have also updated
• "sn12.net" - our home
• and our image library
Further work remains to be done on my public transport interest sites which will follow in due course.
Published Saturday, 24th August 2024