Closing the existing surface level crossing would cut Wareham in half.

Hundreds of people use the crossing every day in order to visit friends and relatives and access the town's facilities - the shops, schools, play groups, nurseries, doctor's surgery, dentists and other facilities. These include cyclists, elderly and disabled people and parents with young children in prams and pushchairs who absolutely rely on this safe and convenient surface level crossing.

Any attempt to close it and replace it with a ramped bridge or pavement on the fly-over next to the main A351 Poole-Wareham road would add significantly to a journey between the north and south sides of the town up a steep gradient. It would simply be unpleasant, inconvenient and impractical for an able-bodied person and impossible for anyone with a disability or who is elderly.

These impractical and unacceptable routes would also be the only means of getting from one station platform to another for an ambulant disabled person, contrary to the Equality Act 2010.

In March 2023 Network Rail commissioned a report into the feasibility of automating the crossing, as the local community, Michael Tomlinson MP, and Dorset Council have consistently demanded. The retention of the pedestrian crossing in its current form is required by the Council's Development Plan. To date, a whole year since the report was commissioned, the report has still not been made public. 

Residents are understandably becoming anxious about the outcome of this report and reiterate their call for a permanent solution to be found to safeguard the surface level crossing in perpetuity, by linking the pedestrian gates to the railway signalling system, as is done elsewhere on Public Right of Way crossings in the country.

This needs to be done urgently because the Dorset Council lease of the crossing land expires in 2038. The lease only exists because Dorset County Council in 1980 mistakenly extinguished not only the vehicular Right of Way over the railway when the flyover was constructed, but also the pedestrian Right of Way. Dorset Council should reinstate the pedestrian Right of Way and Network Rail must find a way of linking the pedestrian gates to the railway signals to ensure the crossing is safe and can stay open in perpetuity.

www.warehamtowntrust.org.uk