STAKEHOLDER MANAGEMENT KEY
I was amazed that no-one responded to Ian Walmsley’s criticisms of the Varley report (‘Pan Up’, January issue). Perhaps everyone took Mr Walmsley’s article – which read like it had been dashed off over a lunchtime – as seriously as he took the report. But it is another symptom of something rotten at the heart of the rail industry that also surfaced in the Steventon Bridge cock-up.
The Varley report was set up after significant public criticism of vegetation management and damage to wildlife to consider if Network Rail could ‘through the way it manages lineside vegetation, ensure the safety and performance of the railway while improving the natural capital that it owns on behalf of the nation’. To me, this is a sensible question to ask. Most people value wildlife and biodiversity and as one of largest landowners in the UK, NR is in a unique position to either damage or help to improve the state of the environment on its land. NR also has legal duties to respect plants, animals and wildlife, but its attitude is often cavalier.
The review explicitly recognised that effective lineside management is also vital for the performance and safety of our railway and shows how this could…
