As lockdown rules have started to ease, I've been able to get back out into the Constituency and start to think again about local projects and priorities. One of these is the ambition to open a new train station to serve Devizes and the surrounding areas, and on Friday I met with members of the Devizes Development Partnership to visit the proposed site for the new parkway, in Lydeway.
Last month we got the good news that the proposal for the Lydeway station had been successful in the first round of funding under the Department for Transport's Restoring Your Railway fund. This means money will soon be made available to investigate the realities of opening the station and create a detailed business plan - which is the next step in the process.
On Friday we discussed the overall vision for the station, what it could eventually look like and how it can best serve local people. It's very exciting to discuss these things and I hope they will soon be a reality, but this is very much the beginning of the process. As well as the business case development, there will also be a full programme of community engagement for residents and potential users of the station to make their voices heard, and a plan to raise the capital funding needed for the works.
