WOLVERTON WORKS PLANS SUBMITTED

摘要

Property company St Modwen has submitted a planning application to Milton Keynes Council for the redevelopment of Wolverton works, which is set to be decided by the council on 5 November. Wolverton is the world's oldest continually open standard gauge railway works. News of the plans was reported last autumn (p12, October 2014 issue), but it has taken some time for the application to be submitted. St Modwen engaged CGMS consulting, a heritage specialist company, to assess the workshops, which with the exception of the 1989-built Royal Train shed are all over a century old. Its conclusion is that the buildings on the site are already far beyond their expected economic lifespan so should be demolished. The 50-page report states:'From our findings, it is considered that all of the railway-related buildings at the site have little architectural importance or considered to be of enough interest as to warrant listing at a national level'. The report fails to mention that the Royal Train has been based there for over 150 years, and the only heritage proposal is that one traverser will be retained as a historic artefact.