Council Report - 11 December 2004

The December meeting was notable for being held in the new Wharf building. The meeting was also the first attended by Garry Mumford who has now been formally appointed as Assistant Treasurer to the TRPS as well as Assistant Accountant to Talyllyn Holdings Ltd and the Talyllyn Railway Company.

The date of the first Council meeting of 2006 has been changed to 4 March 2006.

Graham Thomas has been appointed as a locomotive inspector and the Board has accepted the recommendation of the Drivers' meeting that Phil Higginson and Andy Young be promoted to Passed Fireman.

The Managing Director commented that, unlike 2003, in general 2004 has not been a good year with passenger bookings down by 3.6%, expected traffic revenue down by 0.7%, public catering takings down by 2.3% (but there has been an increase in volunteer catering takings of 8.8%) and shop takings down by 10%. However, traffic on some other Welsh railways seems to have declined by a similar amount. We have received a legacy of £4000 from the estate of the late David Ratcliffe, and will also be receiving a 1950s model railway showing the area around Dolgoch station (known as the "aquarium layout" because of its glass case).

Gwynedd Council has commenced a programme of closing Tourist Information Centres, starting with that at Corris Craft Centre. Tywyn TIC is on the closure list for 2005 or 6. Whilst recognising the pressures on local government finance, this seems very short-sighted given the importance of tourism to the area. Council agreed that a letter should be sent protesting at the closures. A letter is also being sent objecting to an application to close the public footpath from Ysguboriau to Fach Goch Halt. A letter has been sent to the farmer at Brynglas asking him to keep a certain bad-tempered sheepdog under control.

Representatives attended a recent Heritage Railways Association meeting in Birmingham at which HM Railway Inspectorate gave a presentation on the proposed new railway safety regime. It is intended that "low risk" railways such as the Talyllyn should be covered by a general exemption from the full application of the proposed new regime, subject to a requirement for a documented safety management system. Also covered were proposals for revised accident reporting procedures when the new Railway Accident Investigation Branch is set up next April.

It was recalled that at some point in the past Council voted not to allow the serving of chips in Wharf cafe. With the need to derive maximum benefit from the new building, Council agreed to rescind this ban.

The 2005 budget was adopted providing for capital/exceptional expenditure on items other than Wharf redevelopment of £32K - the largest item is for a computerised accounting system/network to meet our future needs in this area. However, a need is foreseen for interest free loans to meet an expected deficit of £120K during the financial "trough" in the first part of 2005, and to a lesser extent in the following few years - until a few years ago a deficit was a regular occurrence so is nothing new.

There was a brief discussion of how we might celebrate the Society's Diamond Jubilee in 2010/11 and the Railway Company's 150th anniversary in 2015; however this far ahead there were no volunteers for a working group, so we intend to return to the subject in a year's time. An e-mail from a Society member with suggestions about Victorian Week was referred to Marketing Committee, making it clear that the Victorian Festival Committee needed to be kept clearly in the picture. Whilst on events, Council agreed to underwrite the Tom Rolt Vintage Rally next Spring Bank Holiday weekend, subject to Finance & General Purposes Committee approving a detailed budget.

Preliminary analysis of the results of the membership travel survey carried out during this season has indicated that generally the level of membership travel was acceptable but that there was a spectacular level of use by about 50-100 card numbers. The full analysis should be available for the F&GP meeting in February.

Concern was expressed about the amount of glass found in the remains of the bonfire at Tynllwyn after the firework display at the end of October. Steps are to be taken, with the agreement of the owner of the site, to steward the event more effectively. There was concern that the "no alcohol on trains" rule for such events was not being strictly observed - a string of Carling Black Label cans down Cynfal bank is not the best way to improve our lineside environment. There was also discussion of how supervision and safety of Tracksiders could be improved whilst continuing to encourage this vital part of our activities.

The next Council meeting on 5 March 2005 will be the first at which observers may be present (Council agreed a welcome and guidance note for observers to explain what would be happening and to encourage appropriate behaviour). Members wishing to apply for a ticket should see Don Newing's article on page 4 of the December News.

Philip Sayers
15 December 2004