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West Somerset Railway General Discussion

Discussion in 'Heritage Railways & Centres in the UK' started by gwr4090, Nov 15, 2007.

  1. Big Al

    Big Al Nat Pres stalwart Staff Member Moderator

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    I believe the same as you. What seems to single out this particular set-up is that they behave as if they haven't made mistakes and, according to local commentaries, then treat others in a manner than adds little to the important relationships necessary for accord and progress on the line.

    It would be a very uncharitable (maybe that's the wrong word here!) group who were not prepared to cut some slack to any management trying their best. But that seems not to be the way things work.
     
  2. MellishR

    MellishR Resident of Nat Pres Friend

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    as martin1656 says, "Yet more half truths, lies and mis information"; whereas as far as I can see the statements from the new candidates are the plain truth, whether or not one agrees with their plans.

    I can see unbiased WSSRT members being unsure who to believe, but probably mostly inclined to swallow what the present Trustees are telling them, and consequently the new candidates being rejected. In that event, and bearing in mind recent postings about the very slow progress on restoration of the Trust's coaches, I see a very limited future for the Trust even if the PLC's version of the Bailey plan succeeds (which is dubious) and even if that enables the WSR to survive (which is again dubious).

    I joined all three of the WSRA, S&DRT and WSSRT with a view to making a small contribution to steering the WSR family in a better direction. If the present direction continues I may not need to decide whether to renew my subscriptions because the whole lot may fall apart.
     
  3. John Palmer

    John Palmer New Member

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    Andy, thanks for that. Am I right in thinking that you wrote to the HRA at about the time the grievance procedure was set aside, i.e. somewhere in the region of 20 months ago? Did you receive no acknowledgement at all from the HRA? Even if the HRA did not pursue the matter, either as a result of a decision not to do so or possibly internal administrative error, I would have expected it to have in place a mechanism to issue some form of response to a concern raised about one of its member organisations. If that didn't happen then in itself that is a matter for some concern.
     
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  4. Sidmouth

    Sidmouth Resident of Nat Pres Staff Member Moderator

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    Chris , with due respect many on here are volunteers or have an involvement with preservation one way or another who have watched agog as events on the WSR have unfolded . Personally your intervention and statement I find very regrettable however it is your prerogative to make. Perhaps before you withdraw completely you could clarify whether you support the eviction of the S&D trust , along with not having HR policies that would deal with the bullying and intimidation so many are calling out now. I don't note a great deal of dignity or integrity in either of these . I'll desist from drawing you into the season squandered given the hopeful success of the NYMR for example

    Working with selfless dedication is from experience not an indication of being any good . The worst manager I ever worked for certainly exhibited selfless dedication , they were also largely inept and nearly killed the business
     
  5. gwilialan

    gwilialan Well-Known Member

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    So you are saying that although you are an appointed representative of the HRA you should not be considered an 'officer' as such?
     
  6. gwilialan

    gwilialan Well-Known Member

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    Would be? So can you give any indication of when the help and advice will start?
     
  7. Sidmouth

    Sidmouth Resident of Nat Pres Staff Member Moderator

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    Wearing my mods hat . We are very fortunate @Lineisclear has joined the group and continues to engage with us , at times when confronted with some outright hostility . Hostility deemed so cold it has deterred another recent contributor and made a bluenose even more ... well blue ;-)

    as with everything discussion is important but when we can't sit in a pub and put the world to rights it becomes more important that we consider what we say and the context it will be read before posting .

    John, thank you for posting , please keep doing so .
     
  8. Breva

    Breva Well-Known Member

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    I have had the same circular with the half truths and misinformation :-(
     
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  9. RailWest

    RailWest Part of the furniture

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    I note from the statement:-

    ".....They prefer an alternative approach (dubbed the 'revolutionary' approach) which would see the demise of the Trust as it exists today, and hence the end of our successful educational programmes, most likely the closure of our museums and the end of the heritage carriages project...."

    Do I detect the emergence of the WSR version of 'Project Fear' ?
     
  10. Andy Norman

    Andy Norman Member

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    John. Yes at the time, after I had started my Bullying and Harassment Complaint, which then was extended once the bullying escalated further, then I extended it again to give me Whistle Blowing protection under the relevant WSR Policy. Then HR policies removal and then ID Card removal which I took a couple of weeks to find out about by asking why the footplate rosters hadn't been sent to me. All of which happened in a few weeks of each other in that order which brought it to the end of March 2019.

    There would have been another short time lag of a while after not getting a reply from the PLC person who was allocated to deal with my complaint, who is also a Board Member of the HRA as well as a WSR PLC Board Member (no its not getting better is it!!), and then through the WSRA & WSSRT (as a member of both) to ask for their support which was not forthcoming and then onto the HRA. From memory and I will need to check I emailed the HRA Chairman directly as I couldn't find a complaints email on their web-site, but I would need to confirm that after checking. No reply of any kind.
     
  11. Sidmouth

    Sidmouth Resident of Nat Pres Staff Member Moderator

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    It is maybe worth appreciating that the HRA is a trade association , not an independent body (happy to be corrected)
     
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  12. Lineisclear

    Lineisclear Member

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    I'm not sure what point you are trying to make? "Officer " would normally be taken to mean someone with a role such as Director or Trustee. I simply volunteered to help. In that sense I wasn't "appointed " by the HRA so much as by the parties involved. I outlined to them the proposed basis for facilitation and they agreed to it.
    In an earlier posting someone ( forgive me but I can't face trawling back through so much material to find out who) asked why the Sand D Trust would want to pay their subscription to the HRA? I hope that, in part it would be because they found the process of facilitation helpful. It certainly transformed a public slanging match into an amicable and constructive discussion which is continuing.
     
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  13. Lineisclear

    Lineisclear Member

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    Thank you! Much appreciated

    I admit I have been sorely tempted to give up. If only we could meet up and talk things through over a pint!
     
  14. Big Al

    Big Al Nat Pres stalwart Staff Member Moderator

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    So in short, what the statement is saying is that the WSSRT should remain exactly as it is. Nothing is to be gained by it morphing into anything else and everything that they do at present may be at risk if change were to occur.

    That is so depressing. No comment at all about the problems that exist and plenty to say about the destructive motives of those who are standing as Trustees.

    So it's all fine. We are fine. Leave us alone.
     
  15. Sidmouth

    Sidmouth Resident of Nat Pres Staff Member Moderator

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    When all this (Covid as opposed to WSR (which may go on for a very long time)) that is an offer to take up
     
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  16. FrankC

    FrankC Member

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    But I think the point that is being missed, Al, is that the Trust has significantly evolved over the last few years. Candidly, it was fairly static until Chris Austin and some others of the existing trustee group got involved since when it has significantly evolved with the receipt of various grants, the complete refurbishment of the Bishops Lydeard museum (I assume you've not seen this), the appointment of an education officer, the completion of GW coach 6705 and so on. Now clearly the pace of change is insufficient for some, but it has not stood still. No organisation in the heritage railway field can stand still and survive. Some people (members, volunteers, shareholders, etc) do want organisations to stand still, whilst others want organisations to stand on their metaphoric head and start again. At the same time, the financial books have to be balanced. Tricky.
     
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  17. RailWest

    RailWest Part of the furniture

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    I was under the impression that the aim of the '10' was for the WSSRT to merge with the WSRA in order to form the 'new' WSR charity. Indeed, that forms part of the claims by the WSSRT in their latest FB utterances.

    I was very surprised therefore, when - quite by chance - making one of my occasional visits to Mr E's 'butterfly blog', to find comments therein by Barrie Childs to the effect that the '10' now propose instead to get the WSSRT to merge with the new charity which the Plc proposes to set up. Have I missed some announcement from them along the way then or have I got it wrong ???
     
  18. flying scotsman123

    flying scotsman123 Resident of Nat Pres

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    That is what their resolution submitted for the WSSRT AGM states, merging with the new charity. It was discussed here yesterdsy I think, but hardly surprising you missed it! I too was surprised, think it a wise decision, and can't understand why they haven't made more of a song and dance about it. It would have been a better way to spend yesterday then releasing email trails between trustees IMHO.
     
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  19. flying scotsman123

    flying scotsman123 Resident of Nat Pres

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    Further to that, it would be interesting to know if @Lineisclear can object to the general thrust of the aims now, even if he still disapproves of the specific tactics. His report suggested a new charity to be formed. The Plc have apparently decided to do that bit, and John Bailey as endorsed it. The report also said that the WSRA and WSSRT may wish to merge with this new charity if their members voted to do so. The WSRA have committed to making that happen on their side. At a very basic level, the WSSRT candidates merely hope to allow that same vote to happen on the WSSRT side, whereas the present incumbents have decided they don't even want to ask their membership.

    If the WSRA were to merge with the new, "empty" charity, but not the WSSRT, would ther enot be a risk of this new charity simply being seen as WSRA2, and thus have no clean break, and a risk of bringing along all that baggage.? It seems to me that folding both charities in that new charity lessens that risk, as it makes it more of a genuine new start. I'd welcome John Bailey's view on this, and certainly endorse @Sidmouth 's comments from earlier. Even though I disagree strongly with him, I'm glad John is here. I hope I've remained civil and sorry if I haven't at times due to frustration.
     
  20. jnc

    jnc Well-Known Member

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    Absolutely. Although I don't always agree with him, and occasionally have some very pointed questions for him. I give him very high marks for continuing to engage here, and for calm replies which try to explain things as he see them.

    Once again I appeal to all to ask themselves, before clicking 'Reply', 'how would I like it if someone said that to me' - just the simple application of The Golden Rule and treating others the way you'd want to be treated.

    Which does not mean one can't ask pointed questions, etc, just that it should be civil (which it mostly has been, recently; thanks all).

    Noel
     
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