A flagrant disregard for the environmental health acts?
Or just plain incompetent?
Do you really trust these people with a franchise to run a Railway?
By now you will have heard that Chiltern Railways is building a multi-storey car park at Beaconsfield Railway Station. They are ignoring the problems that this will cause because they are going ahead without planning permission because such development is deemed as 'Permitted Development', or within the powers already given to Chiltern Railways as part of its franchise. They are also ignoring environmental health regulations and making excessive noise at weekends that is not allowed under the 1974 Control of Pollution Act
Why should the car park concern you?
If you have schoolchildren then this development will affect their safety. The Beaconsfield Transportation study raised safety concerns about the car park development and Chiltern Railways will not respond to questions about this. Because the Station will be busier the car park will generate additional drop-off/pickup traffic on nearby residential roads where children play, ride bicycles, and travel to the tennis courts.
Chiltern Railways failed to notify local residents about the development. Overall, Chiltern Railways approached this development in a way that concealed their intent from public scrutiny. If you tolerate this then it could happen to you next time. SDBC say that they are not sure whether it would have made any difference if the car park were 10 storeys!
Chiltern Railways can put their profits before local amenity. We have planners at SBDC who should be allowed to do their job. They are pretty unhappy about being excluded.
If you pay taxes, then you will be left to pick up the tab for the highway improvements that will be needed to support this development.
Chiltern managers show off their new livery
Why the headline?
Actually we almost feel sorry for Adrian Shooter of Chiltern Railways because he did go to the trouble of visiting a Beaconsfield Town Council meeting. Unfortunately though, he has been exceedingly economical with the truth on other occasions and his Project Manager's failure to complete the appearance of local concern and actually tell directly affected local residents about the car park must really count as GROSS INCOMPETENCE.
When the project manager (Mr James Mendes) tried to make amends by delivering a last minute letter to residents, he left one pinned to a front door announcing to the world that nobody was at home. GROSS INCOMPETENCE again.
In the Beaconsfield Advertiser on July 10th, Jane Green on behalf of Chiltern Railways stated that they would be responding to the issues highlighted by this site. This has not been done so Jane Green is a LIAR and she is presumably LYING with the support of Chiltern Railways. (Unless of course this is yet another example of INCOMPETENCE)
One of the issues raised in our open letter is the danger caused by parking places at crossing points. On the 19th of July My Stuart Yeatman of Chiltern Railways acknowledged the problem and stated that the parking places would be withdrawn in the "very near future". Unless you count nearly 5 months as the "very near future" then Mr Yeatman LIED about the real intentions of Chiltern Railways. If we give them the benefit of the doubt on their bonuses and the 500 pound a year or so revenue that each of these lethal parking spaces generates, the alternative is that this more INCOMPETENCE.
During the summer we were informed by SBDC that they about to serve a notice to Chiltern Railways (under the 1974 control of pollution act) that no more heavy work would be permitted at weekends. Chiltern Railways said they had finished working weekends (another LIE) so SBDC held off. On Friday 30th November Chiltern contacted SBDC at 16:00 to say they planned to work all weekend when it was too late to do anything about it. Could be more INCOMPETENCE but much I suspect that this timing was probably deliberately sneaky..
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You should still complain to these people to get the issues addressed properly.
Chiltern Railways Managing Director
Adrian Shooter. Actually, Adrian doesn't want to hear from you so he has changed his email. Try by letter to:
Chiltern Railways
2nd floor, Western House
Rickfords Hill
Aylesbury
Buckinghamshire HP20 2RX
If you have a problem with the noise then contact SBDC Environmental department
