The promised completion by early December 2015 of the “Coombes Report” is just a few weeks away.
A great number of WSR supporters are hopeful the Report’s recommendations will help resolve the current unhappiness and wash away the recent discord.
Those hopefuls don’t know, of course, when they will actually see the Report and its recommendations – it could be some weeks or even months away.
In the meantime, we believe it is important for all to look ahead and so we have done so. We put forward a vision for two key groups involved:
- the WSRA finally comes to terms with its charitable status by morphing into an organisation that makes the most of that status through shedding its commercial activities and starting to achieve its charitable objectives by involving its partners. It needs to stop being a standalone and aloof body.
- the WSR Plc wake up to the potential gain to a successful railway by realising the advantages of having a co-operative charity alongside and working with it to maximise possibilities. It needs to stop being a standalone and aloof body.
It is sadly true that either organisation can, probably, operate without the other, and possibly with some success.
However, by working to the strengths of each other, the opportunities are far, far greater. Not a time to rend but a time to sew.
Maybe, just maybe, the relevant people in the two groups will be able to stand side by side on that vision.
Therefore, we hope the WSR supporters discover the recommendations of the ‘Coombes Report’ will help steer the WSRA – and as a consequence, the WSR Plc too – along a new path. Hopefully as outlined above.
WSRA+ 
I would point out that the WSRplc has been working with WSR based charities for many years for the benefit of both the Charity and the WSRplc
Look at the DEPG and S and D Trust
Both have leases of their sites, both bring something to the WSR as well meeting their own objectives.
We also have the WSSRT bevering away in the background
Much can be said about who could do what differently however the WSRplc are charged with provinding the platform for all other groups on the WSR and remain solvent
People can wish for what they like, it all has to be funded somehow.
How the WSRA can fit into this situation is with the current WSRA trustees at the moment.
Jeff Price
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With help from a number of others, Ian Colbey and I were the principal authors of the resolution which set the terms for the ‘Coombes Review’ as voted for by the WSRA membership. With the rest of the WSRA Reform Group and those who have supported us we have laboured long and hard to ensure the WSRA has a future on our Railway. We all await the outcome of the Review with anticipation , but it appears that the process has been followed fairly and properly. I know that the WSRA Reform Group look to the Trustees to buy into the recommendations, whatever they turn out to be , for the good of our Railway.
However, I also note the comments above. Given that the WSR plc initiated the inclusive body that is the PDG, and the WSRA, when, after an initial refusal, agreed to engage in that venue, and then regularly found itself in a 9-1 minority, I note that the WSRA has repeatedly ridden roughshod over its own procedures and moral standards of behaviour. So I think we need to be careful about fine-sounding comments which do not reflect the reality of wrongdoing if we are to build for the future.
The lamb cannot lie down with the lion if it expects to be eaten as soon as it drops its guard.
Robin White
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And in your final paragraph, who are you suggesting is the lamb and who is the lion???
Frank
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Which of the two organisations have shown themselves to be trustworthy in recent times? From my perspective, the answer is obvious.
Robin
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The question is will you be allowed to do due diligence by being allowed to see the previous board minutes and recent management accounts for the association and the subsidiaries? Based on past Trustees experience you will be denied this access. If so then I would expect you to resign.
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Jeff Price makes a good point when he writes “The WSR plc has been working with WSR based charities for many years for the benefit of both the Charity and the WSRplc. Look at the DEPG and S and D Trust. Both have leases of their sites, both bring something to the WSR as well meeting their own objectives.”
However, it was not THAT long ago that the WSR Plc Board advised the S&DRT that it would NOT renew their lease when it expires in 2020. From what I understood of the situation at the time, whilst the Plc may well have felt that it had a “better need” for the Washford site than the current incumbents, I do not recall that it make much, if any, effort to provide them with an alternative. I believe this decision caused a great deal of anguish and worry to those at Washford for quite some time. Not exactly a shining example of “working with a charity for mutual benefit” !
It would appear that in due course the Plc did change their mind, but nevertheless – as far as I am aware from enquiries made not long ago – no new lease has yet been signed. One wonders therefore if the Plc will have a change of heart as regards the Swindon Shed?
Having read the most recent PDG Minutes, once again the WSRA professes itself ignorant of various Plc initiatives, so clearly there is STILL poor communication somewhere along the line. It remains to be seen whether the problem rest with the messenger or the recipient, or both.
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Please can you provide firm information letters, attributable press releases (rather than magazine headlines!), e mails to lay the facts and background of the Washford Situation out for all to consider.
Rumours and hearsay are not facts.
I am sure someone can advise of the length of the current Washford lease.
As a general aside, is it reasonable for a charity to expect to have a perpetual occupancy once it has leased or rented somewhere on the basic that it is a charity??
Jeff Price
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1. The situation regarding the decision not to renew the lease at Washford was set out in Plc statements at the time (about 2011-2012). It was reported by the S&D Trustees to their membership via their magazine, discussed at their AGM at the time, and minuted accordingly. That much is fact, NOT rumour or hearsay.
2. The Trust reported in their magazine late 2014/early 2105 that discussions were ongoing about a possible renewal of the lease from 2020 onwards. That also is a matter of their factual record.
3. I have no knowledge of the latest situation, other than to suggest that – if and when a new lease is signed – I am sure that they will announce the fact on their website as ‘good news’. At the moment therefore it would *appear* to be still the case that the formal lease expires in mid-2020 (end of May or end of June if I recall correctly).
I agree that they could not *expect* to have a perpetual lease, and to be fair the PlC did give them plenty of notice about non-renewal, so that they had to time plan for a move away somewhere else. My point was that the Plc did not seem to working in their benefit, contrary to your original posting.
But I fear that we may be going off at a tangent here….
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Thanks for your reply, I recall the PLC announcement of no renewal of the Washford lease in Dec 2011 giving effectively 8 years notice, a longer period than the total length of a lease some people have on premises in which they earn their living.
I am certain that the S and D trust bring much to the railway, have more in the pipeline and the wagons are worthy of a special visit.
There is more to come, the Blue S and D coach when down a storm at the Autumn gala, just wait until the seats are fitted and the Spring 2016 gala
The Washford site ticks all the boxes for an asset to the WSR however the major issue is that the members are all getting older.
If an infusion of young and new blood can be ongoing with some new ideas to complement the old way of doing things there is no reason why the S and D Trust should not be there for may years to come.
If this young blood fails to arrive in suitable quantity then we are faced with a collection that will peak in the next say 10 years then enter a period of decline when regardless of the length lease, it will not halt the decline.
It is encumbrance on the S and D Trust to anticipate this and come up with a plan that will keep the charity in good heath
That way everybody is happy and the WSR does not have a long term never open attraction.
As currently arranged, the WSR and the S & D Trust work together for their mutual benefit.
The history lesson is that for many years the WSRA also worked with the WSRplc for their mutual benefit then a change at the top rather messed things up.
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Just going back to the lead posting here, may I politely suggest that the situation is a bit more complicated than your “vision” implies. You say that the new style WSRA should “shed its commercial activities”. I assume therefore that you consider fund raising by direct appeals, or by seeking grants is what it should be doing. How about selling old books and magazines, would that be OK? How about selling new books? You, like me, Steve have been around to know that incremental development from a shelf selling old railway magazines is how the excellent BL shop evolved. So are you actually saying the WSRA should not be involved in any commercial activity where the PLC is also involved, albeit on a different site? Not sure what the logic is here.
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Our comments are but those of just three WSRA members. It was perhaps too generalised a comment, Frank. Certainly the three WSRA+ members believe the Association should change tack away from trading activites which, to us, have tended to overwhelm all other fundraising opportunities. It would make sense if any future changes in this area are done in consultation with both the Plc and with other appropriate support groups. Our comments should not be seen as criticism of the quality and success of the WSRA’s existing commercial/trading services. In fact, it would be helpful if all parties and individuals recognise the WSRA’s clear and successful enterprising spirit over the years – creating trading opportunities where others have turned away or ignored. Hence there is much talent within the WSRA which must be welcomed and encouraged. We think the recent past has shown that the days of selling old magazines and cups of tea through the old booking office window (yes one of the WSRA+ team did just that a very long time ago!) have long gone and the WSRA needs to mature into the charity we think it wants to be – providing education, preserving railway stock and the railway itself, along with reaching out to the thousands of supporters (local and distant) who wish to be part of the West Somerset Railway.
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I would also point out that the Coombs review is about the way the WSRA operates etc.
It is not about how the WSRplc should conduct itself
Clearly some areas that the Coombs review should have considered would have an interaction or cause a reaction with regards to the WSRplc
Also the WSRplc may have a view via the Coombs review as to how they see the past and future of the WSRA
The Review should have gathered all the elements together and then present the WSRA with a view as to ITS possible future.
How the current WSRA team deal with the review and what effect it has on the WSR and the WSRA remains to be seen.
As we know a motion of No Confidence was ignored
1st December is awaited.
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It is important to reflect that the Trustees characterised the Review as ‘unnecessary’ before the EGM, and Peter Chidzey said the following to Ian Coleby in an e-mail last November, referring to a review by agreement:
“There is no intention of opening the discussions up to every Tom, Dick and Harry. The PDG seems to be doing that very well and it doesn’t require another Quango to beat us over the head even more.” (Subject Access Request Item 15)
It is to be hoped that the Coombes review will be the spur to a change in attitude . There has been no sign of that in Chairman Chidzey’s attitude or behaviour as yet.
Looking forward to the first week in December (and not just because that is my birthday week!)
Robin White
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I am certain that the WSRA should fund raise rather than trade on the WSR
The WSRA has a number of ways of bring more funds onto the WSR from external sources, it members for a start!
It is of note that the Norton Rally in a good (dry) year will produce more profit for the WSRA as a volunteer run and managed event than the BL shop profit for the whole year with its staff and establishment costs.
The staff costs to operate the BL would remain whoever ran it but the establishment (back office) are duplication of what already happens on a larger scale at Minehead and could be combined to produce a real saving and extra income for the railway.
Just needs some creative action to resolve.
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Frank, as I see it, the problem is not that the WSRA runs commercial activities, but that the WSRA runs commercial activities that are in competition with those of the WSR plc. (see comments below) I am hoping the Report will recommend an attitude between the Association and the Plc of “you do this and I’ll do that” , complementing, not competing.
As Jeff Price has pointed out, the Plc works well with several groups on the railway. It surely cannot be a coincidence that the only group it is having problems with is the only one that is in competition with it.
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With respect, isn’t the real point “where do you draw the line”? The issue here is what the primary focus of the Association should be. Or put another way: one man’s incremental development is another man’s mission creep.
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As a regular visitor to the WSR, I find it bemusing – if not faintly ridiculous – that (for example) the shops at Bishops Lydeard and Minehead stations are run as a separate enterprises, when surely their ultimate aim is the same – raising money to support the Railway? This leads to farcical situations such as at a recent Gala, when – if my memory serves me correctly – the BL shop undercut the MD shop by selling its book stock at 15% discount rather than the 10% offered at MD. Similarly the Plc’s publicity leaflet mentions its own on-train buffet cars, but makes no mention whatsoever of the Quantock Belle – surely a potential money-spinner were it not for the lack of publicity?
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Rather than try to guess at what the independent review might say let’s just wait for a little longer until it’s published and then engage in the process.
In the meantime lets avoid criticism of any of the supposed parties, it’s hardly the best basis for the dialogue that will be inevitable after the report is published.
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The problem is that many people see the review as the universal panacea for all the WSRA problems. I think we will still be lumbered with the cabal. Unless the review says they should go what chance is there of the review being auctioned?
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Actioned!
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I think you were right the first time. But remember, it appears to be WSRA policy to run a secret auction and sell to the only bidder before anyone else finds out there is a sale in progress.
As locos are a liability for the WSRA, where do I lodge my £1 bid for Ditcheat Manor? 🙂 🙂
Robin White
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