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Administration, Privacy, Finance and Constitution

The "Small Print" of our web site, if you like!
Constitution - the TransWilts CRP

January 2012 The following is version 0.2 of our unratified (provisional) constitution.

A very great deal has already been achieved with informal co-operation between all the various groups, and many of us involved are of the opinion that the current time (early 2012) is the wrong time to formalise, taking into consideration the following issues:

a) We would have a large number of Train Operating Companies to involve, all but one for the shorter term, while the Greater Western Franchise re-award process is underway.
b) The incumbent Train Operator is concentrating on rebidding rather than longer term issues, and to have them on board could be seen as providing a bias in their favour in the bid process.
c) The consensus view of almost all of our informal members is that significant service changes are needed on the TransWilts for the next franchise, whereas conventional Community Rail Partnerships (and the Association of Community Rail Partnerships' board request for new members) is to predominantly make good use of existing services, with small adjustments and increments.

By continuing informally until the Franchise is awarded, we can build on what we have achieved without being overloaded with short term members, and we remain free to strongly state the case for what be believe (based on strong evidence) is the best service level and pattern based on the objective set out in the provisional constitution. Once the Franchise has been awarded, we will then be in a strong position to work with the train operating company/ies who will be providing services in the future, fully armed with a constitution that's ready to go, and to help the move to the new service. And by this point we will no longer be pressing the case for regaining a higher level of service - we'll be working as partners to retain the already specified service, helping tune it to make it even more effective, exactly in line with ACoRP membership. criteria.


Introduction

The TransWilts Community Rail Partnership (TWCRP) is a group of like-minded organisations seeking to achieve positive, sustainable and imaginative development of the TransWilts (Swindon to Salisbury) railway in ways which also benefit the places it serves, including enhancement of services to meet the current and future travel requirements of those places. It sees the line as an essential link for the local communities and businesses along the route, and as part of the projected strategic north - south rail link through an area experiencing major expansion. The TWCRP liaise with all interested parties to promote the social, economic and environmental prosperity of the local communities.

Aims and objectives

The aim of the Partnership shall be:

• To promote the growth and use of rail services on the "TransWilts" line which connects Swindon to Salisbury via Chippenham, Melksham, Trowbridge, Westbury, Dilton Marsh, Warminster and Salisbury
• To encourage and promote rail travel for all purposes, including progression of regeneration, tourism/leisure and community development projects;
• To promote the public profile of the line;
• To encourage community involvement along the line;
• To enable local communities to increase their economic, social and environmental welfare by making use of the railway line;
•To encourage the use of methods and materials which minimize the environmental impact of the railway and its use, i.e. sustainability
• To help ensure that the rail experience for users is both efficient and welcoming to all, for example through effective signposting, ticketing, lighting, decoration and information systems both on and off site;
• To increase accessibility for all to the trains, stations and the places they serve;
• To develop new appropriate uses for stations and their buildings;
• To improve integration with complementary forms of transport;
• To contribute to reducing traffic congestion, and to improving road safety and air quality;
• To identify sources of funding to carry out projects aimed at achieving the above.
• To create a forum to bring together the knowledge and aspirations of the local community with the skills and resources of the rail operator in order to produce a commonly supported, economically viable, welcoming and stable service in order to secure a passenger rail service on the line for the future;

In all of its activities, the Partnership will follow the principles of equal access and equal opportunity to all, and will try to ensure that the needs of people with disabilities and those without access to private transport are met.

The above aims and objectives can be changed at the Annual General Meeting or at specially-called Special General Meetings, with at least two thirds of the Partners present voting in favour of the change.

The partnership shall have no legal existence separate from the partners and all contracts, including contracts of employment, shall be made individually by the appropriate partner or partners. The partner designated as treasurer will hold any funds on behalf of the partnership and will provide an account of these to the satisfaction of the board/steering group and AGM.

How are we structured

The Partnership may comprise the following organisations and individuals (which will be known as Partners):

a. Unitary and County Councils
b. Local Economic Partnerships
c. Parish and town councils served by the line
d. Train operating companies providing or proposing to provide services on any part of the line
e. The owners, operators and maintainers of the rail infrastructure
f. Local Rail user and development groups
g. Local residents associations and interest and community groups.
h. Local businesses
i. Tourism organisations
j. The Community Rail Partnership Officer
k. Other bodies and individuals that support the project

The Partnership shall meet at least once per year, at its Annual General Meeting. The AGM will normally be held between 1 January and 31 March of each year.

The Partnership at the AGM will elect a Chairman and a Treasurer from its membership. If there is no Community Rail Partnership officer, then a secretary shall also be elected; if there is a Community Rail Partnership Officer, then that person shall take the secretarial role. A board shall comprise at the minimum a Chairman, Treasurer and one other partner in order to deal with the affairs of the partnership. Other roles may be delegated or elected - for example press officer, project manager, vice chairman.

Only the AGM, or a Special General Meeting has the power to amend the constitution. One month's notice should be given in writing to the secretary, Community Rail Partnership Officer or Chairman of any proposed amendments. An agenda (including any such notices) should be sent to all partnership members at least 2 weeks before the AGM.

A Special General Meeting will have all the powers of the AGM. If a special General meeting is called, the same notice period as an AGM is required. If a valid request for a special general meeting is made, it must be held within 2 months of the date of that request. A special general meeting will be called if any three members of of the board or the steering group call for it, or if two thirds of the partners call for it.

The Partnership may appoint a suitably qualified paid Community Rail Partnership Officer to lead the day-to-day functions of the Partnership.

Partnership Membership criteria

The TransWilts Community Rail Partnership is a non-party political organisation. Political parties and their representatives are therefore not eligible for membership. Elected councillors and local government officers are eligible for membership as representatives of local authorities or other groups.

Membership of the Partnership is not limited to one particular representative per Partner, but it is desirable to have the same representative regularly attending meetings.

Though the Partnership wishes to encourage local business development, it would be contrary to the spirit of the Partnership for one business to seek advantage over another through membership of the Partnership.

The Partnership may call upon assistance from other organisations such as ACoRP and the DfT Community Rail section in carrying out its normal activities.

Media Relations

All external CRP communications with the media must be with the agreement of the at least three of the board or steering group. A consensus may be reached by this group to delegate.

Winding up

A decision to suspend or disband the Partnership will be taken only at an AGM or a Special General Meeting. Unless decided otherwise at the AGM, any assets remaining on dissolution will be allocated to another organisation or other organisations having as nearly as possible similar aims to or interests as the Partnership, provided no condition was placed on those assets which forbid this course of action.


Previous text:

Up to this point, the TWCRP has been an informal grouping involving interested parties such as rail passengers, businesses who have an interest in rail travel for their employees or customers, local, regional and national political and government organisations, our current train operating company and railway infrastructure provider, and other railway interest groups with interests within, overlapping and adjoining "our" line and service.

In a fast-moving situation, where extra service are being actively sought by TransWilts Rail, of which we are a member, and other operators such as the Go Cooperative are considering providing services too, it has been felt that a formal constitution could turn out to be the wrong structure to support what could be a number of very different results.

• Should the service on the TransWilts be improved by the addition of a train or two running up and down the line all day, every day, then it'll be logical for the CRP to fund a part time officer to ensure really good use is made of a quite extensive service, and we would need a much more formal board, etc

• Should the service remain at its current level, the metrics of promoting its use are much different, and pure volunteer based.

The TransWilts Community Rail Partnership is not at present a member of the Association of Community Rail Partnerships, nor have we ever been a member. Our joining was given consideration in March 2011, but did not progress to membership. ACoRP state: "ACoRP's primary purpose is to promote existing train services and work co-operatively with the TOC and other members of the rail industry. Our remit does not extend to re-openings or major train service development ..." and we feel that we are better placed outwith the straightjacket that being an associate could put us into, at least until the current discussions on future service levels are concluded in such a way that the CRP members are happy that the service provided is one that is marketable and running in the customer's best interest.

Privacy

Any personal details which you supply to the TransWilts CRP will not be used / circulated outside the partnership without your permission. At present, we only maintain an ad-hoc list of email addresses for people who have signed up to support us, through which we send out very occasional briefings, which are always accompanied by a friendly note asking you to let us know if you would like to be taken off the list for any reason.

Some parts of our website may use cookies, and we may store details about your current and past sessions on our servers in order to link up your pages / actions - this is need on forums, for example, so that we can report your status and posts, and allow you admin / moderator / working group member / frequent poster / member rights secure in the knowledge that you've specifically agreed to our terms and conditions of membership.

Administration - how the CRP is run

Community Elements met a number of times in 2010 and 2011 (and indeed have already met in January 2012 - this is being written late that month), but predominantly we co-ordinate online via email and various forums.

The draft constitution (version 0.2) was produced by representatives of / with major inputs from:
• Chambers of Commerce
• Railway Development Group (Melksham)
• Current service user
• Train Operating Company
• Members of neighbouring Community Rail Partnerships
• Wiltshire Council
We are fortunate to have a strong team of informal partners, willing to provide help / advise and each with skills in multiple areas.

Finance - the TransWilts CPR

Update needed to fully describe - Grant funding element, work with TransWilts Rail, and sponsorships of summer service - now within the unfunded group, but all working together using funding sources to pay the costs of progressing our aims.

Previous text:

Until the date of writing this article (February 2011), The Community Rail Partnership has been funded by the individual members, who have given of their time and paid their costs in getting to meetings where appropriate. There has been an element of sponsorship from the Melksham Railway Development Group which financed a room hire in Trowbridge, from Wiltshire Council who funded and printed the first Dilton Marsh timetable leaflet, and from Well House Consultants who have provided meeting rooms, hotel accommodation where members are unable to travel on the day to / from meetings, and who provide the web space and bandwidth for this site.

We have come to realise that - much as we like the unfunded principle and the simpler operation that it brings, we do need to have a funding stream to cover such items as:
• Travel costs for member attending meetings
• Printing and production costs
• Hire of rooms, professional service where not available from within, etc
• Advertising and publicity where appropriate
• Membership fees for organisations such as ACoRP should we join at some future date
• Taxes, fees and other ancilliaries associated with the above

It is also very noticable that almost all of the organisations involved, or to be involved in, an expanded partnership that goes with the efficient support of revitalised services will be staffed by employees on a Monday to Friday working week, and meetings are scheduled during those hours. These people are committed to their organisations for their work hours and have the time to follow through and keep paperwork and contacts rolling. Our own organisation, however, tends to meet in the evenings and at weekends, and the members who run it do so in their spare time. Meetings during the working week are very hard to attend, and there are never enough hours in the day for follow through and paperwork at the level that it's becoming apparent will be necessary should there be a strong service to support in 2012. These members are just as enthusiastic (often much more so), just as committed - but underresourced and unfinanced, and we should look to providing an element of financing (as described above) plus support resources in the form of a part time Partnership Officer, looking perhaps at the Heart of Wessex CRP and the Three Rivers CRP - both of which adjoin us - as models.

 
TransWilts Community Rail Partnership - http://www.twcrp.org.uk - info@twcrp.org.uk
 

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