- On the 7th February, Ted Hand and I attended Monmouthshire County Council’s Strategic Transport Group (STG). We reported on the progress made during January and were congratulated on how the Group continues to gain support from the relevant authorities and the advances made towards completing GRIP 3.
- On the 6th, 8th and 10th February, members of the MAGOR group supported the Magor and Undy Community Hub group (MUCH) in their public engagement sessions where people viewed and discussed the provisional designs for the proposed community centre at the Three Fields Site.
Sessions were held at the Undy Football Club (see picture), St Mary’s Church Hall (Magor) and the Baptist Chapel Hall (Magor). Around 100 people attended over the 3 days and provided valuable feedback that will help to shape the building and site plans. The MAGOR group explained how the Walkway station is seen as complementing and being an integral part of The Hub. - On the 15th February, Dr. Eurgane Powell and Abby Dickenson, officers from the Future Generations (Wales) Commission, visited Magor and Undy to discuss the Walkway Station concept and the linkage with the Community Hub.
We believe they were suitably impressed as they are now producing an article and short video to exemplify how the public can work with Public Sector bodies (in our case, Monmouthshire County Council) to show how the Active Travel (Wales) Act 2013 is being implemented in real terms. The picture shows Ted Hand pointing out the ‘relief lines’ and the likely site of the westbound platform. - The 23rd February saw Ted and I return to the Mott MacDonald offices, along with Christian Schmidt of MCC, to ensure that progress was being made towards completing GRIP 3. Because of some ‘uncertainties’ there had been little progress made for a few weeks but I am now pleased to say work is now underway again!
At our regular monthly meeting, also on the 15th February, Jessica Morden MP and associate member of the group attended and stayed for its full duration. Jessica has been a stalwart supporter and friend of the MAGOR group since the outset – often raising the campaign in the Houses of Parliament on our behalf (and the general poor state of rail services in south Monmothshire). She was impressed with the recent progress and particularly liked our new strap-line;
Railway + Walkway = Your Way! (Twitter #railwaywalkwayyourway).
Next month also looks like another busy one, with a site visit from James Price CEO Transport for Wales (who we met in January) and also coming out to see us is Gwyn Smith of Sustrans. Sustrans is a charity that “makes it easier for people to walk and cycle” and are clearly interested in what we are planning.
Keep watching this space!
Paul
