Council takes miniature train into public hands

A MINIATURE railway has been “nationalised” by the council after workers went on strike.

Poole council is to take direct control of Poole Park Railway after months of controversy, during which the entire volunteer workforce went out on strike.

The dispute surrounding the railway began after it suffered several derailments. At the beginning of last year it was threatened with closure, but was reopened under the charity Friends of Poole Park, which refurbished the station, engine shed and track. But in May the council said the railway had to be suspended for safety reasons, while more than 40 volunteer workers walked out in protest over how they claimed the service was being managed.

Several volunteers accused Michael Collins, chairman of the charity, of bullying and he is now being investigated by the Charity Commission.

Members of Poole council’s place overview and scrutiny committee will now be asked to back a £350,000 investment in the popular 69-year-old attraction, with a view to getting it up and running again by next summer.

Anthony Rodgers, the council’s recreation and community manager, said: “The safe operation of the Poole Park Miniature Railway has always been the council’s main concern.

“We have been careful to consider a wide range of options and feel this approach will deliver a reliable and sustainable miniature railway in the future, keeping this much-loved attraction in Poole Park.”