Venue: Y Ganolfan (ger yr Harbwr), Porthmadog, Gwynedd
Contact: Glynda O'Brien (01341) 424301
Note: glyndaobrien@gwynedd.llyw.cymru
No. | Item |
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APOLOGIES To receive
any apologies for absence. Minutes: Apologies were received from Councillor
Owain Williams, Mr Tudur Williams (Head teacher of Ysgol Ardudwy), Mr Alun Wyn Evans (Meirionnydd Representative One Voice Wales), PC Rob Newman
(British Transport Police), Cllr.
Trevor Roberts (Shrewsbury-Aberystwyth
Railway Liaison Committee), Mr Neil Hamilton (AM for
Mid and West Wales),
Tracy Parkinson (Talyllyn Railway). |
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DECLARATION OF PERSONAL INTEREST To receive
any declaration of personal interest. Minutes: No declaration of personal interest were received from
any member present. |
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URGENT MATTERS To consider any business which the Chairman decides is urgent. Minutes: No urgent matters were received
by the Chairman. |
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To confirm
the minutes of the previous meeting held on 20 May 2016. (Copy
enclosed) Minutes: Submitted: Minutes of the meeting of the conference held on the 20 May 2016. Resolved: To accept and approve
the minutes. |
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REPORT BY NETWORK RAIL PDF 417 KB To receive
a report by Mr Sam Hadley and Mr Mark Peters, Network Rail. (Copy enclosed) Minutes: Mr
Sam Hadley, Wales Route Public Affairs Manager, and Mr Mark Peters, Asset Engineer, were welcomed to the
meeting. Mr
Mark Peters had prepared a presentation on Barmouth
Viaduct, in the form of slides, but unfortunately due to equipment not being
available, he promised to send the presentation to the Members’ Support Officer
for onward transmission to members of the Committee. He
went on to state that trains have now been running since the recent fire on Barmouth Viaduct and hopefully only a small amount of remedial works need to be
completed which will be done soon as possible.
The
Cambrian Partnership Railway Officer stated that the 150th celebration
anniversary of the viaduct is to be held next year and was anxious to know as
to the work programme of the development work to be undertaken on the viaduct
and the timescale as to how long would it be out of use. He also requested that Network Rail be
mindful in order to minimise disruption during the busiest tourist season since
the area relies hugely on the tourism economy. A
suggestion was made as part of the celebrations to the showing of the famous
Ghost Train thriller film to which Mr Ben Davies, Arriva Trains Wales, further
suggested that half of one of the trains could be used as a cinema for the
showing. In
response to the above, Mr Sam Hadley stated that Sian Lewis, who was present at
the last meeting, is no longer the sponsoring officer of the Commercial Scheme
Sponsor (Network Rail) and there will be a new sponsor. He also added that Network Rail will want to
participate in the celebrations and will contribute. Mr Hadley promised that as soon as
information is available he would pass it on to the Members’ Support Officer in
order to inform members of this Committee. A
member stated that he was aware that the 150th celebration would
take place in October so as not to clash with the Three Peaks Race which is
held annually in June. In
response to concerns expressed, Mr Hadley reassured Members of the Committee: ·
that
Network Rail had no intention of closing the line, despite local people being
fearful that it would be closed, and was aware of how valued it is for the
community ·
that
there would be no disruption to the 150th celebrations in terms of
sea defence works ·
That
the additional rock face work at Llanaber will not
affect the railway line at all and it was reassured that the necessary machines
would be accessing the work from the
beach In
response to the Dwyfor/Meirionnydd Member of
Parliament’s request for further information as regards planning applications,
design, etc, on the Barmouth
Viaduct, Mr Hadley stated that there was no clarity on this matter but he would
write to up-date the MP and members of this Committee as soon as information is
to hand. Members
also noted that when the work is carried out:
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REPORT BY ARRIVA TRAINS WALES LTD To receive
a report by Mr Ben Davies, Arriva Trains Wales. (Copy to be
circulated at the meeting) Minutes: The Chairman welcomed Mr Ben Davies, Arriva Trains
Wales, to submit his report on Arriva Trains Wales’ activities to date. Members’ had received via e-mail the autumn
newsletter. Mr Davies stated that it had not been a particularly
good summer for Arriva Trains Wales in terms of operational problems on the
line due to:
However, it was hopeful that the situation will
improve. The Cambrian Partnership Railway Officer was
congratulated and thanked for his work in promoting the line. It was further
noted that Ysgol Ardudwy had been excellent and
co-operative in view of the problems encountered on the Barmouth
viaduct. In response to comments made by members, Mr Davies
replied as follows:
During the ensuing discussion it was noted by
individual Members: (a)
That there is a sub-committee of 4 members namely: Cllr. Trevor Roberts Cllr. J. Michael Williams Mr Robert Robinson Mr Rhydian Mason who are in contact with Mr Ken Skates, the Welsh
Government’s Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Infrastructure, and if there are
any issues of concern that these be brought up at the joint meeting with the
Shrewsbury-Aberystwyth Railway Committee to be held on the 25 November 2016. (b) With
regard to the problem of insufficient train drivers, it was suggested why not
recruit part-time drivers Resolved - To receive, note and thank Mr Ben
Davies for his report. |
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REPORT BY THE CAMBRIAN RAILWAY PARTNERSHIP OFFICER PDF 336 KB To receive
a report by the Cambrian Railway Partnership Officer. (Copy
enclosed) Minutes: Submitted - A written report by Mr Rhydian Mason,
the Cambrian Partnership Railway Officer outlining activities undertaken since
the previous meeting which included;
Mr Mason referred
to the recent passing of Cllr. Mansel Williams in
July and that there will be a commemorative memorial on Platform 3 in the
Shrewsbury Railway Station in memory of the late Cllr. Williams. Mr Mason had arranged for a Welsh couplet to
be inscribed thereon. Ysgol Ardudwy Head Teacher and pupils were to be commended for
their work as station adoptees. There
will be an event to celebrate the work undertaken on 16 December 2016 when the
Ysgol Ardudwy Band will be playing. It is hopeful that
Mr Mason will be able to invite Mr Ken Skates and Lord Dafydd Elis Thomas to
visit some of the activities to be undertaken. With regard to the
Helping Hand orange cards, it was hoped that a special function may be arranged
with the Dwyfor/Meirionnydd Member of Parliament and
the Dwyfor/Meirionnydd Assembly Member in Westminster
before the end of the year. It was
further noted that the orange card could be used by any individual who required
aid on the train. In response to an
invitation to attend the Meirionnydd Access Group in order to promote the
orange cards, Mr Mason agreed to liaise with Councillor Delwyn
Evans with regard to arranging a suitable date. With regard to
applications for the Welsh Government Community Rail Capital Fund Grant, a bid
had been submitted for shelters at Welshpool, Dovey
Junction and Llanaber, and it was hopeful that one of
these three bids would be successful. In response to the
above, members made the following points: ·
That a bid be made to upgrade the parking in Fairbourne ·
If the bid for Llanaber
was successful that it be ensured that the seating should not face the sea ·
What is the
situation with regard to having steam engines on the Cambrian Coast Railway
Line? ·
Whether the orange cards could be made available on
all public transport i.e. buses, taxis. ·
Whether the Pwllheli
Station could be tidied up (a)
Mr Sam Hadley replied stating that he had written a
detailed response to the Dwyfor/Meirionnydd Member of
Parliament with regard to the steam trains and that this information be passed
on to members of this Committee via the Members support Officer. (b)
Mr Rhydian Mason agreed to draft a letter on behalf
of this Committee to Mr Ken Skates with regard to the orange wallets being
mandatory on all public transport Resolved - To receive, note and thank the
Cambrian Partnership Railway Officer for the report. |
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REPORT BY BRITISH TRANSPORT POLICE PDF 7 KB To receive
a report by the British Transport Police. (Copy
enclosed) Minutes: In the absence of
PC Rob Newman, British Transport Police, his written report was submitted to
the Committee for information, and members were asked if there were any matters
of concern within the report. (a)
Councillor Annwen Hughes was concerned regarding the
offences at Talwrn Bach level crossing at Llanbedr,
and in view of the fact that work on the
installation of barriers would not commence until 2018, she was anxious
that an accident could occur at this location. (b)
In response, Mr Sam Hadley noted the observation
made and would arrange for his colleagues to attend the next meeting of this
Committee to up-date members regarding the level crossing renewals programme as
well as the Community Safety aspect. Resolved: (i) To receive and note the report by the
British Transport Police. (ii) To ask Mr Sam Hadley to invite his
colleagues to the next meeting of this Committee to up-date members as outlined
in (b) above. |
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To receive
responses to the questions enclosed herewith received since the previous
meeting. (a) Appendix A – Question from Mr Roger Goodhew (b) Appendix B – Question from Porthmadog Town Council (c) Appendix C – Letter from Llannor Community Council regarding concern about rubbish
on the line between Pwllheli and Penychain.
(Copies
enclosed) Additional documents:
Minutes: Formal
written questions had been submitted by Members of the Committee which were
addressed as follows: (i)
The
provision of sufficient rolling stock to meet passenger demands during the
period of the new franchise had been addressed in item 5 above and Mr Ben
Davies added that he would forward further information to members of the
Committee via the Members Support Officer
(ii)
The
need for Welsh or bilingual announcements in all stations along the railway
line. Mr Ben Davies responded by
stating that he was meeting with officers from the Welsh Language Board fairly
soon in order to ensure that all announcements were bilingual through Wales,
and would up-date members following his meeting. It was further added by a member that the
announcements in the lifts in Machynlleth Station
should also be bilingual. (iii)
Members
of Llannor Community Council’s concerns that not all
the rubbish is accruing from the Recycling Centre Pwllhelli
since it is all the way from Pwllheli to Penychain. Mr Sam
Hadley had responded to Llannor Community Council’s
concerns by stating that he had raised the matter with a member of Network
Rail’s maintenance team who was aware of the problem and believed the problem
stemmed from a containment issue at the local authority site and had been
liaising with them to try and resolve the matter. However, Mr Hadley apologised that the matter
was still unresolved and promised to raise the matter again with the maintenance
team. He also informed the Committee if
members / organisations are aware of any hotspots along the line that need
clearing up, that they report the matter immediately by calling the communities
team on 03457 114141 or by e-mailing
crwales@networkrail.co.uk
(iv)
Late
correspondence had been received via Councillor Gethin Williams which had been
sent to Barmouth Town Council regarding the
construction of a new fence along the boundary of the rail track and Gwynedd
Council’s main car park boundary. Whilst
appreciating that safety is of paramount importance, it was felt that the size
and nature of the fence was unsympathetic to its surroundings and also an
over-development as to its purpose. In
response, Mr Sam Hadley promised to look into the matter further and to contact
Councillor Gethin Williams directly. He
also stated that he was aware that one of his colleagues was intending to visit
Barmouth to talk to the Town Council. Resolved: To
express appreciation for the questions and for the favourable response given by
the officers. |
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MEMBERSHIP To discuss
a request received from the Regional officer for Strategic Transport,
representing Ceredigion, Gwynedd and Powys Councils, to attend the Cambrian
Coast Railway Committee. Minutes: Submitted - A request from the Regional
Officer for Strategic Transport, representing Ceredigion, Gwynedd and Powys
Councils, to attend the Cambrian Coast Railway Committee. Resolved: That
the request be approved. |