As Conservatives our vision is to fully utilise our heritage assets to support and grow our City’s £886 million tourism economy
This week at Council the Conservatives were able to put forward a package of five proposals to radically change the future of the world’s oldest operating electric railway – the Volk’s Electric Railway – to boost heritage and tourism in the City.
As Conservatives our vision for the City is not only to conserve our heritage but also to fully utilise our heritage assets to support and grow our City’s £886 million tourism economy.
That’s why the Conservative team worked to put the restoration of the Madeira Arches on the agenda and secured £11 million to kick-start restoration at the council budget.
The 137 year-old Volk’s Electric Railway is similarly an asset for our City which is underutilised.
During the summer in this column, I put forward the Conservatives’ vision for a tourism and heritage-focused Madeira Drive Upgrade Project to unite residents and restore pride to the city post Covid-19.
Along with calling for work to begin on the restoration of the arches I also called for an investigation of an extension to the Volk’s Electric Railway.
Following my column in The Argus, the Volk’s Electric Railway Association (VERA) got in touch to outline a proposal they had been working on to extend the VER line eastwards into the area the council is considering regenerating at Black Rock.
We arranged a Skype meeting with Peter Williams and Adrian Richards from VERA to share ideas and following this Cllr Lee Wares and Cllr Robert Nemeth undertook a site visit with VERA to collaborate further.
This week we presented the result of these discussions – a business case to Council, put together by VERA, outlining five financially viable proposals to better utilise the line:
- Improving signage, including installing illuminated signage, to make VER visible from the Pier to attract tourists to the heritage railway.
- Restoring the Aquarium Station North Siding to create a second platform, which will increase the line’s capacity by allowing a 3-car service to be run.
- Investing in a new accessible Railcar to make Volk’s Railway a tourist attraction accessible to everyone including people with a disability.
- Installing a Shelter at Halfway Station for the benefit of passengers waiting all-weather conditions
- Extending the railway at Black Rock to a new terminus to form part of the new Black Rock Development.
In this submission to the Council VERA explains how the heritage-designated Railway, which is an asset owned and operated by Brighton & Hove City Council, is currently an underutilised asset with a route configuration that severely limits its ability to raise meaningful revenue.
The proposals are exactly the sort of financially viable project that the council should be encouraging and helping deliver. VERA include engineers among their railway enthusiasts and these proposals are well-designed and thought out.
For example, in the business case VERA demonstrates how an investment of £25,000 for the restoration of the Aquarium Station North siding would open up a new platform which would immediately boost capacity on the line and with extra revenue generated could be repaid within a year.
It is also important to make the electric railway accessible for people with a disability and I welcome the proposals for a new accessible carriage, along with the installation of a Shelter will make the service more attractive for families visiting the kids areas.
The fifth proposal to extend the VER line is an idea that could be considered as part of forthcoming plans for Black Rock regeneration.
The vacant Black Rock site is the site of the old Black Rock Open Air Swimming Pool and has been a derelict site for many years and needs urgent attention, with regeneration currently being considered by a Council Task Force.
This proposal to extend the Volk’s Electric Railway could fit in with the vision of the Black Rock Task and Finish Group, creating a sense of destination for the line and boosting the regeneration of Black Rock.
We are a seaside town and the more people we can attract to spend money in the town through tourism the more it helps our local businesses.
Direct tourism accounts for around 14% of all employment, equivalent to 21,000 direct jobs in the local economy, and accounts for a spending injection of nearly £886 million in Brighton & Hove - more than Brighton & Hove City Council’s annual budget.
These five proposals have now been submitted to the Tourism, Equalities, Communities and Culture Committee for consideration by the Council. We hope the ideas are considered and acted upon for the benefit of our tourism industry.
