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December 16, 2005
Should badgers be culled?
Why am I writing about badger culls this morning?
Because I was listening to the radio as I drove to the station for the 05:52 (Melksham to Swindon) this morning and I heard a minister interviewed on Radio 4's farming today ... {b}"This is a genuine consultation exercise"[/b} he said concerning requests for input. And that struck me as a very odd comment ... [i]why on earth would a consultation NOT be genuine[/i]
The consultation on the services to be provided on our railway line in the future was done in parallel with the issue of the tender documents - thus cannot have had any influence on the tender documents. The only effect it can have had (and it HAS for the sleeper service who got support from their MPs) was to have the decision makers say - "Oops - can't do that - too much public protest" about certain issues. In other words, we started with a playing field that wasn't level. Oh well. Makes me hopping mad ... but the game has moved on ... the game has moved on ... [i]the game has moved on[/i]. (I keep reminding myself).
We have one last opportunity to influence - now - the First Group to realise that it's in their interest as a commercial operation to provide a decent train service to Melksham. And - have a look at the new front page, my letter to Alison Forster, and you'll see that it IS in their interest. Let's hope that they are open to a genuine consultation over the next few short weeks before the timetabling meetings for 2007 after which any change of direction would be something of a miracle.
Posted by gje at December 16, 2005 06:20 AM