Dear all

After careful thought we’ve concluded that it would be wiser not to escalate the matter to the Court of Appeal but instead to make a ‘tactical retreat’ and save our ammunition for another day. What I mean by that is that we have been advised by our legal team that we can’t afford to take the risk of losing at the Appeal Court – it would be disastrous for the other 10,000 Conservation Areas around the country. We haven’t given up on the Wolverton works by any means, but we think there is still hope for securing a better solution by other means than battling through the courts.

Because of the change of ownership of the business operating out of the railway works, we judge that it will be some time before any decisions are taken about the future of the railway buildings and that, by then, the situation will have changed, so it is unlikely that the permission that has been granted will ever be implemented. The Council has said that the only reason it was willing to see the buildings demolished was to keep railway use going, so we feel that they have backed themselves into a corner over any alternative use of the land. We therefore think that we will have the opportunity to make our case for conversion rather than demolition again at some point in the future. The main challenge ahead of us, therefore, is to keep up the pressure for a better outcome for Wolverton in the hope that the owners and MK Councillors will see the sense of a more conservation-led approach.

I shall continue to advocate for the railway works at all opportunities. Thank you for all the support you have given so far. I’ll be in touch again from time to time to report any progress at our end.

Best wishes

Andy