There Is Potential To Be Maximised At Edinburgh’s Waverley Station

Waverley Station - the retail potential is enormous

Seeking inspiration from what has been achieved at a number of major rail terminals in London, rail bosses have been advised to travel down the same route to transform Edinburgh’s Waverley Station.
Retail experts, such as Leigh Sparks, a professor of retail studies at Stirling University, have urged rail bosses to mimic successful models like King’s Cross and St Pancras in London if they are to “maximise potential” at Waverley.

A catalyst to this change of thinking has been a controversial taxi ban coming into force, freeing up prime retail plots in the heart of the building. Waverley is one of the busiest rail stations in Scotland with around 25 million commuters passing through its doors each year.

Experts take the view that the new private vehicle ban offers a chance to expand the retail offer to include boutique stores and franchises in what they have called an “untapped gold mine”. Prof Sparks said Network Rail bosses should emulate London and Japan to exploit Waverley’s potential.

“When you think about the footfall that goes through Waverley, you have got a very interesting market and the retail offer should match that,” he said.  “I think a model like London should be their ambition in terms of a gateway to Edinburgh. They could look at more international examples like in Japan where railway stations are commercial hubs. This should also showcase Edinburgh.”

Waverley already has a popular Marks and Spencer mini-supermarket, fast food restaurant, bar and several eateries among its commercial lettings, but it is thought that there are more restaurants and franchises interested in leasing space. As an example,  St Pancras International boasts a blend of recognisable retail brands and independent stores with extended operating hours to cater to the early-rising and late-finishing commuter.

Andy Neal, chief executive of Essential Edinburgh which represents hundreds of city centre outlets, said Waverley station had “fallen behind” stations at other major European cities. “At the moment it’s below standard and needs to be upgraded,” he said. “The station is the first thing people see when they got off the train.

“Although there has been significant improvement to the environment, in terms of retail and restaurants it has fallen short of other capital cities, certainly some of the ones in London. This is not the consumer place it could be. At the moment you have a very basic retail offer and it should be brought up to the standard you would expect of a city. I think this is a great opportunity for Network Rail.”

Transport expert Simon Johnston, editor of the magazine Tramways & Urban Transit, said a retail hub in Waverley makes “absolute sense”. “The space is absolutely ripe for retail development as long as it is sympathetic to the architecture of the station. This is an untapped gold mine,” he said.

“Transport for London is already getting rid of some of their ticket offices and using some of those spaces for supermarkets. Something like that or “click and collect” for commuters is an idea that Waverley could perhaps be looking at.”

Similar retail expansions in London stations have generated revenue worth hundreds of millions, he said. Network Rail said there were currently no plans for the former taxi rank but conducted “regular reviews” to ensure its facilities met passengers’ needs.

Four Pronged Campaign For Tidal Lagoon Grant Funding

Severn Estuary - second highest tidal range in the world

Four local authorities covering South West England and South East Wales are mounting a united campaign seeking funding for grant aid relating to a tidal lagoon project in the Severn Estuary.
Bristol City is leading the scheme and, along with Sedgemoor, West Somerset and Cardiff councils, will table a bid to the European Union this summer. This approach follows the shelving of the £25 billion tidal barrage proposal last year.

The councils hope building a tidal lagoon will have the advantage of creating valuable local expertise of the technology involved. A tidal lagoon works by isolating a large area of water with a concrete wall which houses a series of turbines. Electricity is produced as tidal water flows through the turbines four times a day.

Bristol City Council has not provided an estimate of the final cost of the project but has said it would be paid for through a combination of private and public money. The £3m grant would be used to carry out feasibility studies and gain a clearer estimate of the cost of the project and the size of the lagoon required.

Bill Edrich, from Bristol City Council said: "We've got this great geographic anomaly which is the second highest tidal range in the world and the highest tidal range with over a million people on both sides of the estuary.

The tidal lagoon project differs from the previous Severn barrage proposal which involved building an 11-mile (18km) wall between Lavernock Point near Penarth, Vale of Glamorgan, and Brean near Weston-super-Mare, Somerset.

Last September the UK government refused to commit to the Severn barrage proposal due to serious concerns about the environmental impact. There are also efforts being made by a Cheltenham-based Tidal Lagoon Power to build a tidal lagoon in Swansea Bay with the aim of it generating power by 2018.

TripAdvisor Award For Beverley Minster

Beverley Minster has received a 2014 Certificate of Excellence from the travel firm TripAdvisor for consistently earning outstanding feedback from visitors who comment on its website. The church is the most visited tourist attraction in the town.

TripAdvisors Reviewers Fall For The Charms Of The Minster

Of the 251 TripAdvisor reviewers who posted feedback, 97 per cent said their visit had been very good or excellent, with praise being given to the building, the roof tours, the shop and the general welcome.

One person noted that "The minster has a lovely shop and café. The tour of the rafters and the view from the opening in the ceiling was quite remarkable. The staff and volunteers clearly love their minster and are always excited to have visitors see this remarkable feat of building.

The Vicar, the Reverend Jeremy Fletcher, said: "The Minster is staffed by dozens and dozens of volunteers, all giving their time because they love what they do. They are inspired to work in this beautiful building and this award shows that the warmth they bring to their work is very much appreciated by the thousands of people they greet every year.

"Beverley Minster is a truly outstanding building and it is a privilege for all of us to be able to show it off to visitors from near and far. This award means a lot, because it means that those visitors are saying 'thank you' to them all – as do I."

About 55,000 people visit the landmark building each year. Minster verger Neil Pickford, who conducts tours at the church, said: "We are the biggest free attraction in the East Riding.
"We get visitors from across the world, as well as from around the UK. We have 16 different language leaflets, including Japanese, Chinese and Russian, so we are catering for a truly international audience. It is truly astonishing that this 800-year-old building can hold comparison with almost every other part of the world."

Mr Pickford said daily visitors were impressed by the sheer scale and beauty of Beverley Minster. He said: "People's mouths drop open when they see the size of the church. They are incredibly impressed by the way it has been put together, as it looks so majestic. It's not just a huge space – the design moves people. It's the scale and beauty of it."

The minster is a major tourist attraction for the town. Mr Pickford said: "There are a lot of people who come to the town because they have seen or heard about the minster. They come to Beverley on the strength of what they have heard about the minster. It's the first thing about Beverley most people will have heard of, but they don't just come to see us, they come for the whole town."

The minster offers tours inside the church roof spaces twice a day, normally at 11.15am and 2.15pm, involving a steep climb up several hundred spiral steps.

Mr Pickford said: "It's a unique glimpse inside the structure of a major Gothic building. It's really nice that people single out the roof tours as a highlight."

Metal “Greg Rutherford” About To Become A Milton Keynes Attraction

A giant metal statue that has been created in honour in of Olympic long jumper Greg Rutherford has been completed in Milton Keynes, and now proudly stands on the A421 Fen Street Roundabout near junction 13 of the M1. It stands 26ft (8m) high and cost in the region of £100,000.

Eye catching artwork in Milton Keynes

David Hopkins, the councillor behind the statue  said it was "fantastic" and "truly iconic", while Rutherford himself  who lives in Woburn Sands and leapt to gold medal glory at London 2012, tweeted that the statue was “blooming amazing”!      

The artwork, by artist Clare Bigger was financed by developers Gazeley after being stipulated as part of the planning process by Milton Keynes Council for the building of the adjacent Magna Park. The final touches of landscaping are due to be finished in the next few days.

The company's UK director Alex Verbeek said the artwork was something the town could be proud of. Mr Hopkins added that : "The statue is fantastic, truly iconic, and will set the perfect tone and image for people coming to MK for the first time. "We are all delighted and proud to see it finally in
place".
 
Greg Rutherford recently had his British long jump record which he set in April ratified.

Funding Changes May Hit South West Transport

The south west of England already has a deep suspicion that it is the poor relation as far as transport funding is concerned, and these feelings can only be heightened by changes to the way that the government funds road and rail projects.

Unwelcome spotlight thrown on South West transport failings

The south west is one of a number of regions that take this view, but the winter storms that destroyed the main rail link at Dawlish have thrown an unwelcome spotlight on the problems. It is not helped by the fact that the M5 Motorway is the only main road link into the area.

A report by the Transport Select Committee said a new system from 2015 would encourage private-sector funding, and that could disadvantage regions with less private sector money, said the report. The South West already receives the lowest spend on transport in the country.

Using records from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), it can be noted that in 2011-12 £184 was spent per head of population on transport in the region, representing the lowest level in the UK and less than a third of the level in London where £644 was spent, according to the ONS. The transport committee recommended local transport spending be less concentrated on London.

Devon County Council leader, John Hart, said he recognised the imbalance. "That's why we've been lobbying the government," he said. "We lobbied hard on Dawlish [railway line]. We've been arguing for quite a while now on the need for money to be spent on improving the A303.

"We don't mind being competitive as long as we've got an equal shout. We're confident we can make these cases, but what we need is for the money to be available."

John Pollard, leader of Cornwall Council, said he wanted Cornwall to get its "fair share". "We're fighting hard to make sure the projects we've got in train, like the dualling of the A30, do gain equal traction with high profile stuff like HS2," said Mr Pollard. "We need to be convincing government that we need the packages of money that our community needs. It's always a competition."

Labour MP Louise Ellman, who is the chair of the committee, said inequality between London and the regions had gone on for too long. She also said the new regime, in which local authorities submit competing bids for central funding, would lead to money being wasted on failed bids.

The Institute for Public Policy Research told the committee its research suggested spending in London was £2,596 per head and as low as £5 per head in the north east of England.

At Last! Ladies And Gentlemen, Please Welcome The Edinburgh Tram Service

Following six years of disruption and problems, including a bitter dispute between the council and its contractor, the Edinburgh tram service linking the 8.7 miles (14 kilometres) from the New Town to Edinburgh Airport has taken its first paying customers.

All dressed up and ready to go! - at last!

The cost of £776 million was approximately double the original estimate, and the network is in the range of half what was originally planned – apart from that and the fact that it took twice as long to complete, the undertaking has been a roaring success.

Tram enthusiasts Marjory Broom, 59, her husband George, 63, and son Christopher, 31, were on the first tram Mrs Broom said: "It was chock-a-block, and it was a real carnival atmosphere on board, with people cheering as the tram set off.  She added: "We've been on trams all over the world and the tram in Edinburgh today was really, really smooth.

"It was the first tram and it was standing room only, it was very, very busy. I'm really excited we managed to get on - there would have been no buzz being on the second tram."
Also to be found on the first tram was Edinburgh City Council transport convener Lesley Hinds, who conceded the transport project had been "hugely challenging" but said there was now "growing positivity" about the trams.

"Two years ago, I pledged to do everything in my power to ensure we brought this project in on the revised budget and revised schedule," she said. "It was never going to be straightforward, but with an incredible team effort and a focus on results, it now feels fantastic to be where we are today."

The tram project was almost abandoned just weeks before the construction began in 2007, while later on,  work ground to a halt for several months when the company in charge of the trams fell into a bitter dispute with the main contractor.

Residents of Scotland’s capital city suffered six years of disruption as roads were closed for construction and businesses have also complained it caused them to lose trade.

Edinburgh City Council chief executive Sue Bruce accepted the project had been a "shambles". "It's not a day for jubilation," she said.  "I think the whole of Edinburgh is relieved that the programme is now in place and the city can move on." She said there were "big questions to be asked over the original due diligence of the programme" and the council had to be "held to account" over what had gone wrong.

Edinburgh has 27 trams in its fleet, although only about half of these will be in service at any one time. Tram vehicles, each costing about £2m, can take 250 passengers - 78 seated, 170 standing and two dedicated wheelchair spaces.

The full journey from the airport to York Place in the city centre should take about 35 minutes. The route has 15 stops, three of which connect with rail and bus services. The tram services will run seven days a week, with a reduced timetable on Sundays.

Tickets cost £1.50 for a single in the city zone and £5 for a single to or from the airport. Operators warned passengers should get a ticket before getting on the tram as there will be a £10 fine for anyone travelling without a ticket. It had been hoped the tram fleet would offer free wi-fi, but it is understood most carriages will be installed with internet access in the weeks and months following the launch date.

Edinburgh City Council transport convener Lesley Hinds said: "You can't underestimate the amount of money over-budget and the time it's been over as well. Obviously that has been extremely frustrating and I think it's been damaging to the city of Edinburgh. Our purpose over the last two years has been to get passengers on the tram from the airport to York Place.

"We do have enough trams to go down Leith and we have the rails because that was all bought before.  There will be a report at the end of the year to see how people are taking to the system and it will suggest how we might want to further invest in public transport and the trams come under that."
There have been calls for a public inquiry into the trams fiasco but Scottish Transport Minister Keith Brown said there are no immediate plans for one.

"We've said let's wait until the system is up and running and then look at lessons to be learned," Mr Brown said. "I've spoken to the council already about this and will speak to them in future because the council has a number of legal actions ongoing and we can't have inquiries which cut across that.

"A total of £776m has now been spent on the system so let's make as much money as we can and get people on as many trams as we can to help repay that cost."


                                                  All about the new Edinburgh Tram Service