Moorlands and City Railway

Hi Chris.

Yes that is where I thought. Churnet works it is called. Be handy for you to pop in Sainsburys to take some supper back home!

 

I smell a restored Rat, see Railway Illustrated p19.

 

After the successful replacement of the crossing at Cheddleton and bringing the CVR line up to MCR standard, it was decided to replace the crossing at Boltons with concrete sleepers. Work started on Tuesday and will continue until Friday these are a few photos taken today. A long day starting at 8-45 finishing at 5-00

 

What exactly is the crossing used for now that Boltons no longer exists?

 

It is still an offical crossing for Boltons they require it to get across to various monitoring systems and who knows what for in the future.

 

I suppose when it is developed it will be used a lot more then. Presume it is like a public right of way footpath that HAS to remain accessible, but then these repairs are paid for by the council. Or is it a case of because we cut through private land with our trains we are obliged to maintain the crossing? Just curious.

 

Its an IF as its definitely brown belt land and contaminated. Anyway the crossing wont need doing again for a good many years to come as the sleepers are now concrete not wood.

 

An update in the press on the "green" application. http://www.yourleekpaper.co.uk/News/Rail-link-on-track-16112011.htm

 

Does anyone have a reference number for Wendy Birks' application? I cannot find it on the Staffordshire County Council website.

 

Application dated 9th September 2011 ref no AW411E

 

Thanks for that but still no luck. I was looking using Staffordshire County Council Planning Applications Register Search (CPLand Search). I just get " No results have been found that match your search criteria" when I put AW411E in as the application number. Help!

 

The application by Ms Birks is under the Section 15(1) of the Commons Act 2006 and I don't know whether this would appear on the Staffordshire County Council Planning Applications Register.

The no quoted is from the official notice posted on the fence at Endon level crossing, the contact is John Tradewell, Director of Law and Democracy, Legal Sevices Unit, 16 Martin Street, Stafford, ST16 2Lg.

Hope this helps.

 

My own thought on this lady's application is that it SHOULD be doomed to failure, simply because the railway was NOT closed, but simply 'mothballed'. Big difference, I would think. I sincerely hope it is.

Also, councils these day are, in general, supportive of schemes to create jobs, and to bring people into the area. M & C achieves both.

 

See my earlier postings on this subject. It is not a planning application so you will not find it on the planning website. The application is unconcerned with the merits of railway restoration. It is purelya legal manoeuvre attempting to demonstrate that certain things happened in the past that have a certain result now.

 

Thanks for the info. Hope to see it go flying out of Staffordshire County Council's window in the not-too-distant future.

 

This may be of interest
Norfolk Mills - Briggate watermill (near the bottom)

The villagers failed to get community green status.

 

The lady's application is doomed to failure. The land is legally and physically a railway in the same manner as it always has been since first constructed, and is therefore so designated by Act of Parliament.

Trespass on a railway line is a criminal offence and merely needs a notice to that effect on the nearest platform end to confirm that the railway bye-laws are still in effect, and therefore no access that has been gained can be accepted to have been "as of right"

The only problem is that it will take time for this nonsense to be dismissed. In ther meantime however as MCR are merely track clearing - also under the provisions of the ongoing railway act, there is nothing to stop them proceeding with that work.

 

Although I do not agree with the lady in question, she MAYthink she has a valid point, as the OS map does indicate that line is a " Dismantled line" !

 

As someone on here has said before, sorry I can't remember who, OS do most of their mapping from ariel photograph's and I have also pointed out, that in the copy of Network Rail's Sectional Appendix I have, it is still a complete line from Stoke to Cauldon Low, granted my copy is dated 2006, but none the less it is still there.
Plus I'm pretty sure for her claims to work, the line would need officially closing and that requires an Act of Parliament, which I'm pretty sure is way above any local council and would also need public consultation.