Great Western Coffee Shop

A disused railway station in Somerset, which was due to be auctioned off, has been withdrawn from sale at the last minute.

Yeovil MP David Laws said he had persuaded the company responsible for selling non-operational railway land, to pull Chard Junction from auction.

Campaigners had urged the government and county council to consider bringing the station back into use.

Chard lost its local station during the Beeching cuts in the 1960s.

The Campaign for Better Transport said people in the town have had to drive or catch a bus to Crewkerne or Axminster to pick up a train, which was environmentally unfriendly.

BRB (Residuary), which was selling the land, had said the site was being sold because it had not been used for railway purposes for more than 40 years.

The plot was due to be auctioned at a guide price of ^30,000 to ^50,000.

Mr Laws said he spoke to Doug Sutherland, chairman of BRBR and the office of the Secretary of State for Transport late on Monday afternoon and persuaded them to withdraw the lot from sale.

"This piece of land will be critical if Chard Junction station is to be reopened, which is part of the county council's Local Transport Plan," the MP said. "The car parks at Crewkerne and Axminster stations already operate at capacity and our area needs a new station at Chard Junction with a large car park. The county council must now act very urgently to buy this land, so that it will be available to rebuild the station. If they fail to do so now, they will only end up paying a much higher price later."

Somerset County Council was previously offered the land for ^330,000 and will now have the chance to bid again at a lower price, he added.

which would incorporate a bus interchange to link to Chard and parking for up to 30 cars.

From the BBC (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/somerset/8413693.stm):

Local politicians ‘incensed’ after council decides not to back Chard Junction reopening

Campaigners and councillors have criticised their local authorities after they said they could back not back the reopening of Chard Junction railway station, likely ending a 30-year campaign.

Somerset County Council (SCC) and South Somerset District Council (SSDC) have both said they could not commit to the station’s future, stating there is insufficient business to support its reopening.

Cllr Andrew Turpin, who has been part of a long campaign to reopen the station, slammed the councils’ decision and said he was “incensed” by SCC’s comments.

He stated: “The Chard locality has a catchment area of 20,000 people. It is the biggest catchment area for any station between here and Salisbury, and it is interesting that they think opening this station will detract from Axminster and Crewkerne.

“It is absolute nonsense; it is quite untrue.

“Another issue is the question of cost. There are funds available from central government to do these things.

“The platform is in place and the line is in place. The signalling is in place. They would have to do nothing in comparative terms. There is even potential parking at the old milk factory.

“I am just staggered people can just make these blind, fictitious statements.”