04:20

Welcome to Railway Forum!
Welcome!

Thank you for finding your way to Railway Forum, a dedicated community for railway and train enthusiasts. There's a variety of forums, a wonderful gallery, and what's more, we are absolutely FREE. You are very welcome to join, take part in the discussion, and post your pictures!

Click here to go to the forums home page and find out more.
Click here to join.


Go Back   Railway Forum > News and General Discussion > Railway News from around the World

Wolverton works face demolition

Reply
 
Thread Tools
  #1  
Old 1st March 2015, 23:11
pre65's Avatar
pre65 pre65 is offline  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Ashen-North Essex/Suffolk borders.
Posts: 3,560
Images: 93
Wolverton works face demolition

The historic railway works at Wolverton in Buckinghamshire is set to be knocked down to make way for 300 new homes.

Proposals put forward by land owner St Modwen would see a mixture of housing and retail built on the 37 acre site.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england...herts-31645885


__________________
Philip.
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 2nd March 2015, 10:16
DSY011's Avatar
DSY011 DSY011 is offline  
Station Manager
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: BRISTOL U.K.
Posts: 4,464
Images: 547
We are losing far to many historic railway sites.
__________________
The Old Git, Syd
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 2nd March 2015, 14:54
bramleyman bramleyman is offline  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Norfolk
Posts: 928
Images: 2
Quote:
Originally Posted by DSY011 View Post
We are losing far to many historic railway sites.
I agree 100%. Where next?
__________________
I wouldn't say I am old, but when I was a youngster, the Dead Sea was still alive.
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 2nd March 2015, 21:41
Bubblewrap's Avatar
Bubblewrap Bubblewrap is offline  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Loughborough(Twinned with Legoland)
Posts: 1,103
Trouble with most of these "historic" sites is that the land they are on is too valuable to let stand derelict.
And with housing desparately needed something is going to have to go.
And anyway the railway no longer owns the Wolverton site
__________________
Either he's dead or my watch has stopped.
Groucho Marx
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 3rd March 2015, 17:56
wyvern's Avatar
wyvern wyvern is offline  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Next to Owd George's last railway
Posts: 605
It should be possible for the developer to retain some of the history if his arm is twisted (since most of them are philistines).

Admittedly the Derby Roundhouse was taken on by the college rather than a private domestic housing developer but they have made it a feature.
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 6th March 2015, 18:42
aaamax's Avatar
aaamax aaamax is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: Bisbee
Posts: 4
Why do politicians. planners and owners always try to make the discussion an "either/or" situation. The need for housing exists, but obviously one can use a large portion of the salvageable buildings as repurposed housing. This has been done elsewhere with great success. The old train station in Nashville comes to mind.
However, it IS easier and cheaper to just raze everything to the ground and start a new. Cheap bastards.
Cheers.
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 6th March 2015, 21:08
Master Cutler's Avatar
Master Cutler Master Cutler is offline  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Mansfield Notts
Posts: 511
I always admire what they have done with the railway works in Swindon, but this was partly due to its close proximity to the town centre.
Wolverton however is a bit out in the sticks by comparison so retail and preservation would not yield the cash returns to make it a viable development.
Housing would however give greater short term revenue to the investors.
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 21st July 2015, 10:33
Phil Webb Phil Webb is offline  
Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: Wolverton milton keynes
Posts: 1
Images: 5
It is a shame what they plan to do but i have a facebook page called wolverton works heritage project please join and share ideas to save the oldest running Railworks site in the uk
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old 21st July 2015, 22:50
DSY011's Avatar
DSY011 DSY011 is offline  
Station Manager
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: BRISTOL U.K.
Posts: 4,464
Images: 547
"Wolverton however is a bit out in the sticks by comparison so retail and preservation would not yield the cash returns to make it a viable development".
Cribbs shopping centre was out in the sticks when it was built some years ago, but it very soon became a very busy place. A number of other retail outlets soon cottoned onto this fact and also built stores in and around Cribbs. Now there is even thousands of new houses been built all around the area, and the old Filton Airport is to be a new housing site with over a thousand homes and some shops and schools plus the Concorde museum.
__________________
The Old Git, Syd
Reply With Quote
  #10  
Old 22nd July 2015, 07:42
Master Cutler's Avatar
Master Cutler Master Cutler is offline  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Mansfield Notts
Posts: 511
Quote:
Originally Posted by DSY011 View Post
"Wolverton however is a bit out in the sticks by comparison so retail and preservation would not yield the cash returns to make it a viable development".
Cribbs shopping centre was out in the sticks when it was built some years ago, but it very soon became a very busy place. A number of other retail outlets soon cottoned onto this fact and also built stores in and around Cribbs. Now there is even thousands of new houses been built all around the area, and the old Filton Airport is to be a new housing site with over a thousand homes and some shops and schools plus the Concorde museum.
Good point, so all is not lost, yet.
It would be great if the works could be preserved and developed, perhaps with the housing shortage they could further develop the area for dwellings. The main problem though is Wolverton's close proximity to Milton Keynes' shopping areas, which may cause some objections to retail development.
We can all hope though as some form of preservation is desireable to say the least.
Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is Off
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 04:20.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.