FOWS Chairman Peter Aust with Elissa Robinson from Northern Rail
Never wanting to miss an opportunity to remind Northern of our objectives, I had a few words with the charming Elissa Robinson, Sales Manager who was looking after the stand at the time.
Although of course our problems do not fall into her area of responsible Elissa listened sympathetically and – who knows ? – the message may get through, whatever, we must keep on message !!
Peter
There’s some excellent coverage on the internet of the roof repair works started at Walkden this week.
Firstly the works are the subject of a Network Rail press release, and the story is also covered in a personal blog by a Network Rail insider, a blog that is well worth a read.
The FOWS website (www.walkdenstation.org.uk) has been given a make-over with a new look, lots of new content, and better support for disabled or visually-impaired web users.
Among the new features are pages on what to see along the Walkden line, advice for disabled travellers, and a history of Walkden’s rare signal box.
A few pages are still in progress, and more will be added in the months to come.
The date for our 2009 Annual General Meeting has been set for Wednesday 4th March at 7pm in the Concert Room of Walkden Royal British Legion (Wilfred Street, 5 minutes walk from the station).
The meeting is open to the general public (you don’t have to be an FOWS member) and we welcome anyone with an interest in the improvement of the station.
The agenda will include a review of activities over the past 12 months and setting of priorities for the year ahead.
Guest speakers to be announced shortly …
For the second time in the space of a month FOWS have narrowly missed out on an award. On Thursday we attended Salford City Council’s Community & Social Care Awards ceremony at Buile Hall where we were on the short-list in the Best Community Activist Or Group Nominated By The Public category.
Unfortunately for us we didn’t win, but we’d like to express our sincere and hearty congratulations to Charles Patten who volunteers at the Guild Hall over-60’s and visual impairment groups – a very worthy winner !
FOWS are delighted to have been short-listed for the Best Station Adoption Group at this year’s ACoRP Community Rail Awards. To have reached the short-list of 5 in Britain’s most prestigious, national community rail awards ceremony is quite an achievement for a group just over a year old.
FOWS’ competition entry was endorsed by Northern Rail, showing the strength of the working relationship we have with the train operator.
Our nomination recognised both the practical improvements we have made on the station itself, and our efforts to involve community groups and local politicians with the station (something that we would like to do much more of in the coming year).
The other groups on the national short-list are Brierfield in Lancashire, Leamington Spa, Bruton (Dorset), and Christchurch (also Dorset).
The award winners will be announced at the ACoRP Community Rail conference on September 19th.
Walkden station and the FOWS are featured in a short article in yesterday’s Bolton Evening News – click here to read it.
The audience discussed concerns including lack of Sunday services, the dirtiness of the station (particularly the frontage and the pigeon mess on the pavements), disabled access and the high platform step at last night’s AGM, and we welcomed a dozen new members to FOWS.
PC Gareth Wilson was the guest speaker and gave an interesting presentation on the operation of BTP and reported incidents of crime at Walkden in particular. Many in the crowd were surprised to learn that based on levels of reported crime Walkden is one of the less problematic stations in the area. Conceding that the lack of contact details for BTP on display at the station may contribute to some under-reporting, PC Wilson promised to speak to Northern Rail about installing a BTP poster at the station. PC Wilson also promised to look into a number of issues raised by the audience and investigate the possibility of a crime prevention campaign at Walkden. PCSO’s Michelle Mckeown and Melissa Birchall accompanied PC Wilson and promsied to schedule in some more visits to Walkden in the near future. The police asked for help from the public by contacting them with any information or concerns about crime at the station, and they re-assured the audience that all calls are taken seriously and will be followed up.
The AGM was well supported by local councillors with Iain Lindley, Les Turner & Beryl Howard all present. We were also pleased to welcome Sarah Clarkson representing Barbara Keeley (who was in Westminster), and Elizabeth Charnley from our colleagues at FRECCLES (the Friends of Eccles Station). An update from Barbara on her activities in support of the station is on display in our poster case at the station.
The three serving officers of FOWS were re-elected (unopposed) for another year.
If you were unable to attend the meeting but would still like to join FOWS, please drop us an email at friends@walkdenstation.org.uk
You may have seen the article in this week’s Salford Advertiser (“Campaigners fight for a safe crossing”) reporting on our recent meeting with Salford Council planners and the Walkden Road Traders Group to discuss road safety improvements around the Walkden Road/Park Road accident blackspot.
FOWS have asked for a pedestrian crossing to assist the hundreds of station users who face the daily peril of crossing two busy roads outside the station entrance. As any regular station user will know, the dingey under-bridge conditions and proximity of the mini-roundabout make it difficult for pedestrians to catch drivers’ attention, and getting over the road to or from the station can be a dangerous enterprise.
Salford have listened to our concerns, and are currently costing up several options.
We were pleased to note the letter in last week’s Salford Advertiser expressing Greater Manchester’s Chamber of Commerce’s frustration at the lack of investment from GMPTE in stations like Walkden, and the lack of clear commitments on spending plans for future years.
The letter shows that the lack of investment is viewed as a problem by the business community at large, and not just the passengers who face years of waiting for substantial improvments.
