Cabinet agrees not to write off idea of west-side station

The council is to go ahead with its bid for a new station on the east side of the main line because it cannot afford to put it on the west side.

The local authority offered £35,000 for a possible site for the station and car park on the west of the line but the three landowners wanted £500,000.

Cllr Ron Hussey, Cabinet member for environmental sustainability, told The Gazette: "Our offer fell way short of the mark the landowners were looking for £500,000.

"We are only looking at spending around £700,000 on the whole railway station.

"Half-a-million is more like the residential value of the two-and-a-third-acre site and we were offering a figure based a little higher than the agricultural value."

Negotiations are still proceeding with Thames Trains, the Strategic Rail Authority and Railtrack, and it is hoped that a case for approval of the station will be put forward in January or February next year.

In his report to last Wednesday's Cabinet meeting, which gave approval for concentrating on the east side site, Cllr Hussey said: "The provision of the railway station at Chineham will contribute substantially to reducing car use within the local area and in the wider A33 corridor.

"This will have environmental benefits in terms of reductions in emissions, noise and the use of non-renewable resources."

But Chineham independent councillor Martin Biermann appealed to the Cabinet not to close the door to the possibility of a western-side station because it would be away from the residential area and would allow room for future expansion.

As a result of Cllr Biermann's plea not to close the door on a west side station, Cllr Hussey said he would amend his decision to read: "Negotiations on acquisition of land for the west side be ceased unless a significantly reduced asking price is put forward by the land-owners."

But he added: "At this point in time there is only one side we can proceed with and that is the eastern side."