It was great to meet the representative from the properties team at Network Rail today at the station site this morning. We discussed the condition of the station site and our aims for restoring it.
A further visit to the site with Network Rail will be organised and will establish the structural integrity and safety of the site.
An interesting development is that an individual in the local community is in possession of the original station sign. We will seek to restore the old sign and propose to acquire it. It was initially thought that the sign was long gone.
Some concerns were raised which may hinder or completely stop our project entirely:
- A dropped curb entering the car park of the site will be required for construction vehicles (eg. A vehicle skip) to enter the site.
- We will need to establish if there is a presence of bats on the site. If this turns out to be the case, our project will not be able to go ahead as bats are a protected species.
- The representative for James Wild MP is keen to know the estimated cost for restoring the site. This will be established at a later date, after the second visit with Network Rail.
Knowing a figure for renovation costs is key, before we do any further crowdfunding projects.
- There are concerns over the safety and practicality of using the site during Sibelco’s operations. It was proposed that any restoration work would occur on a weekend, negating this problem entirely. We would however need to approach Sibelco to propose a split driveway to the site, using the site’s current car park area. This is the only way to access the site without going via the platform.
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