NEW JOURNEY

■ Work starts on bold £250m Newtown film studios scheme ■ ... as another former railway works faces demolition

Demolition of a former railway depot which has stood empty for six years has begun.

Contractors have moved in on the disused Chart Leacon works next to Matalan in Beaver Lane.

The site, which opened in 1961, was owned by Bombardier when it closed in 2014, ending the town’s only surviving link with its railway heritage.

Last July, councillors approved plans in principle for a new light maintenance train depot at the spot, submitted by Network Rail.

The rail operator applied for permission for demolition of the existing structures, as well as building a two-storey workers accommodation block and 36 parking spaces.

Southeastern trains displaced from the town’s Hitachi depot as a result of the £7 billion Thameslink programme are expected to be housed at the new stabling yard – in short, a place to park trains between uses.

But only the sidings are earmarked for development, with the rest of the site - pictured left during construction in 1960 - earmarked for demolition.

In a letter sent out last Thursday to residents living nearby, Network Rail’s Gabrielle Kearns said contractors are

“now in the process of demolishing the depot”.

She said: “The railway depot has been largely unused for several years and many of the buildings and utilities have aged to the point that repairing them would be largely inefficient.

“To put the land to better use, it has been decided that the depot shall be demolished and the ground levelled in preparation for future utilization.

“There will be three excavators on the site which will be used to grab and crunch the components of the depot, beginning with the roof.

“Water will be sprayed during this process to suppress any dust.

“As the arisings start to build up, they will be crushed and distributed to level the ground.”

Ms Kearns says some disruption as a result of the works “may be unavoidable”.

She added: “We understand the effect our activities may have and we can assure you that our teams are briefed on working responsibly in the community.”

Network Rail says works will continue until Friday, October 30. Contractors will be on the site from Monday to Friday between 8am and 6pm.

How the Newtown scheme could look from above