Great Western Coffee Shop

I started a thread on this in Frequent Posters Club about unmanned stations and lift opening times,  but it didn't start a debate.

As the Council will be aware, Network Rail is about to embark on construction of a new
footbridge at Goring and Streatley station.

This is a formal request for the Council to make available its Network Rail orientation plaque
for incorporation into the new bridge or erection nearby.

The plaque is currently held in the Council store room. Whether the plaque would, indeed,
be incorporated into the new station works would be for Network Rail and/or First Great
Western to decide. The purpose of this request is to clear the way for me to ask them, on a
personal basis, to do so. An alternative would be for the Council to make such a request
direct to Network Rail; in which case I should be happy to suggest a helpful contact.

The Council^s records will show that the plaque was a gift made by Network Rail to the
Council on behalf of residents of Goring in recognition of the patient way that residents had
tolerated the inconvenience caused by reconstruction of the High Street rail bridge in 2006.
The plaque was designed locally and commissioned and paid for direct by the Council, using
the money gifted by Network Rail.

Planning permission was granted in December 2009 for the plaque to be erected on the
station forecourt but the works have not so far been executed.

I hope there haven't been any road layout changes during that 6 year wait

Don't think there's any road layout changes, but the railway line has been 4-tracked in the intervening years...  ;)

Don't think there's any road layout changes, but the railway line has been 4-tracked in the intervening years...  ;)

Really I cannot remember it being anything other than 4 track over the last 50 years.  Unless it was for a short period in the late 70's and Early 80's when I lived up North.

I think II was making a little joke - the 'orientation plaque', or 'map' as I would call it, shows two tracks when there are, in faquet, four.  ;)

At last, visitor map installed at station

(http://www.henleystandard.co.uk/media/photos/160315/main/goring%20station%20plaque.jpg)

A plaque with a map of Goring and the surrounding area has been installed at the village station for use by visitors.

Network Rail commissioned the plaque in 2007 after refurbishing the road bridge over the railway at High Street.

It was a goodwill gesture as the project took three months and caused significant disruption, prompting complaints from Boris Johnson, who was then Henley^s MP.

Goring Parish Council wanted to place the plaque at the main station entrance and obtained planning permission in 2009.

However, Network Rail said it had to check whether it was possible as it could interfere with underground cables, so the council put the board into storage and there were no further discussions.

Last year, First Great Western offered to finally install the plaque it as part of a refurbishment of the station^s toilets, which is now under way. The council and Network Rail both agreed.

The board shows tourists the way to Goring village centre, the River Thames, Streatley and major footpaths and bridleways.

First Great Western may also produce a leaflet promoting Goring as a tourist destination.

John Boler, who was parish clerk in 2007, said: ^This has finally drawn a line under something that started when I was the clerk. It shows the extent of the goodwill that exists between the people of the village and the railway. I know it will prove very helpful to visitors as I am often stopped and asked directions in the summer.^

Cash boost for group^s road safety scheme

A campaign to widen a narrow pavement near Goring station has received a ^5,000 pledge from the parish council.

The authority has agreed to pay the grant towards the ^100,000 project next year as long as it receives the rest of the funding it needs.

The Mobility Issues Group for Goring and Streatley wants to widen a stretch of walkway in Wallingford Road, which is less than 1m wide, to more than 1.25m.

It says this is enough for two people with wheelchairs, mobility scooters, prams or pushchairs to pass without stepping into the road.

The pavement, which lies between the Reading Road and High Street junctions, would be extended backwards on to land owned by Network Rail, which has given provisional permission.

The area slopes downwards so the extension would have to be propped up on a parapet. Oxfordshire County Council, the highways authority, may be willing to take responsibility for maintenance.

John Boler, the mobility group^s chairman, told a parish council meeting last week: ^The pledge we^re asking from you is a sprat to catch a mackerel ^ the mackerel in this case being a larger grant from First Great Western. We hope they will provide between ^80,000 and ^92,000 depending on the final cost of the project. We have already received ^5,000 in private pledges and a considerable amount of pro bono work from Arup, which has put forward a workable solution to widening the pavement on such a steep embankment.

^Pedestrians will be able to walk side by side and passengers with bulky luggage will also be able to walk to the station safely. We need to raise ^1 in every ^5 towards this locally and all we are asking from you is 50p out of every ^5.^

Mr Boler said the scheme was the ^final piece in a bigger picture^ of improvements at the station, where First Great Western recently installed disabled access toilets.

Network Rail is installing a new footbridge as part of its electrification scheme that includes three passenger lifts which will open next year. Mr Boler said there were more than 60,000 pedestrian movements on Wallingford Road every year so many people would benefit. He first asked the council for a ^5,000 pledge last October but was turned down as the proposal was at too early a stage.

But at last Monday^s meeting, the chairman Kevin Bulmer said: ^I must say that getting a long^standing problem sorted out for ^5,000 is really good value for money. John and the mobility group deserve all credit for the effort they^ve put into this.^

The council agreed to provide a letter endorsing the group^s funding bid to First Great Western, which has a ^2.2 million fund for works ^not necessarily on railway infrastructure^.

Construction of the new Access For All footbridge at Goring and Streatley Station is nearing completion. We are currently working with SSE to provide a power supply for the lifts. The below are indicative dates for the opening.
^27 May - Open footbridge subject to Train Operation Company agreement and sign-off
^29 May - 5 June - Removal of temporary footbridge
^Mid-June - Open lifts subject to power supply

The new footbridge will provide passengers and the local community with a step free route across the railway.

The new footbridge will provide passengers and the local community with a step free route across the railway.