Telling It Like It Is

What’s going on with level crossing?

By David Hollister One old chestnut that simply refuses to go away is the level crossing at Wareham. Dorset County Council seems to be spending a six-figure sum annually to fund a person in a hut armed with a timetable, binoculars and a switch.

Strange how Dorset Council can spend tens of thousands of pounds on a cycle pathway from the back of the station to the bypass, but still seems unable to agree on the best way to get pedestrians across the railway line.

Soon after the cycleway was constructed, it was autumn, and it was covered with leaves making it treacherous. More recently, it became even more dangerous with snow and ice.

One of our readers who travels regularly down the road from the bypass to Northmoor tells me he has never seen a single pedestrian, cyclist or mobility scooter on the pathway. What an expensive waste of money.

But cycle lanes appear to be the Government’s number one way of wasting our money – witness the useless havoc they have caused in Bournemouth.

As regards the crossing, all sorts of plans and schemes have been examined and turned down. Surely by now the prohibitive cost of installing electronic gates has been dwarfed by the cost of maintaining the man in the hut. Come on Dorset councillors, what is your next move?

Electronic gates work at Wool and at Holme Crossing – so why not Wareham? On the positive side, I’ve been told all the mechanisms that controlled the barriers are still in place and as the gate system seems excellent, perhaps the connection may be relatively simple?

It is clear the Government doesn’t want cars, but still wants our money in road taxes and fuel duty. It doesn’t want our pollution, but neither is it prepared to put in the sort of charging station infrastructure it will need after 2030.

Already, at Christmas, electric cars queued at motorway service stations waiting for the too few charging stations to become available. I’m glad I can’t afford a Tesla!

And not until each petrol or diesel pump in the country is matched by a proper fast-charge point will the electric scheme be anything other than a Green politician’s pipe-dream!

Apart from the ridiculous cost of installation and the ever-increasing price of electricity, no-one living in a terraced house or an upstairs flat can home-charge overnight.

I wonder whether, when it comes to the crunch, whichever government is in power at the time, will have the guts to go ahead with this preposterous scheme.

We country folk are already prevented by cost alone from going into London and other cities with their ‘exclusion zones’, which appear to exclude anyone who doesn’t have a deep pocket or a fuel-efficient vehicle.

They’ve thought very little about the tradespeople and low paid workers in their cheap old cars who by reason of their employment are obliged to go into those towns, and who, as I write, can’t even count on using the railways!

It looks like a potentially worrying issue for many of us out in the sticks. A friend has just had her fortnightly big supermarket shop delivered at home. The driver told her they were all worried about their jobs as the word is the big supermarkets are considering pulling out of home deliveries in the main, possibly just keeping the hyper-local deliveries close to the main supermarkets (Weymouth, Poole, Bournemouth).

He’d heard it was for economic reasons – there’s no real profit when the additional customers served require drivers and vans, with all the related costs. They consider it to be not worth the time and effort.

Makes sense, it’s purely a capitalist society, so you’re allowed to make as much profit as you possibly can, without any obligation to ‘give anything back’ whatsoever.

So – do you work for a supermarket? Do you know different? I can’t name the big supermarket, to protect the driver, but he said he’d heard from other supermarket drivers that they’d heard the same rumour about an upcoming withdrawal of delivery services for economic reasons. We’re very much hoping this is not true!

If this happens, everyone locally will have to drive to their chosen supermarket like the bad old days, thus piling tons more traffic onto the roads, causing more congestion, more pollution, adding yet more cost. Not to mention all the jobs that would be lost.

On the other hand, most of the towns and villages in Purbeck are served by small shops and supermarkets and it would be hoped they would benefit. But are they truly independent or are their prices dictated by their supplier group?

What about price comparison lists to publish in this magazine, proving that once the fuel costs of going to Poole have been considered, local shopping is not that much more expensive – or is it?

What an amazing sight – Swanage Beach lit up with candles to remember loved ones. The night sky was frosty and there was a backdrop of the moon rising over the sea.

Swanage’s first Candles on the Beach event, organised by Lewis-Manning Hospice Care, was emotional and poignant. I really hope this, along with the sponsored lighting-up of Swanage Pier, becomes an annual event.

On the subject of lights and spectacular events, don’t miss the Blue Pool, running until 5 March, bringing back ILLUMINATE for a second year.

After the success of 2022, this year will include new waterside lights to music as well as additional musical sections of woodland trail. Take time to reflect in the peaceful tranquillity of The Blue Pool at night. Professionally staged illuminations, lighting the meandering woodland trails.

You can glimpse the beautiful deep waters of the Pool and the ancient woodland while stopping at carefully selected positions along the way to relax and enjoy this unique setting. I do hope the ‘peaceful tranquillity’ is not spoiled by ubiquitous music. Give peace a chance!

The warm and welcoming art deco licensed tearooms will provide refreshments throughout the evening as well as fire pits on the terrace for toasting marshmallows.

We went last year and really enjoyed it. Hope you do, too!