The Peaks and Dales Line (MEMRAP) launch new community initiative

Over the last four months the team have been developing a range of new initiatives that they say will enable a wider level of community involvement and understanding of the reinstatement proposals, specifically linked to the current feasibility study development.

The MEMRAP team has been building on earlier public events to evolve their approach to ensure the team could react dynamically to changes and updates to the feasibility study and to reach significantly more of the 20 million people who live within an hour’s drive of the Peak District National Park.

“Over the last few months, we have been working hard as a team to research and develop more effective means of communicating with stakeholders and all the communities the line will serve,” says Nigel Kavanagh-Brown, one of the Directors at MEMRAP. “This initiative has evolved from canvassing opinions across various communities, learning from other successful rail reinstatement schemes and evaluating guidance provided by experienced marketing professionals. We have combined all these valuable insights to set up our new Community Teams who will drive engagement in their communities and provide opportunities to support the reinstatement proposals and to ensure communities can raise their questions or concerns.”

MEMRAP have said that this initiative is not part of the mandatory public consultation needed as part of the relevant business cases, but gives an early opportunity for individuals, multiple people, groups, and stakeholders to use their existing community networks as well as create new opportunities to talk and share ideas and thoughts.

Nigel continues, “We know that by finding connections, we discover others - we unlock doors and grow support for our proposals that will be a catalyst for positive change. These are exciting times for creating sustainable integrated transport solutions that will provide access for all. This strategically significant railway will connect the communities locally, regionally, and nationally.”

The MEMRAP team have launched the ‘Community Team’ initiative initially with their existing community contacts and will follow this first launch with a general release across all the communities the line will serve.

Anyone who is interested in being a part of the initiative can register their interest by emailing the MEMRAP team at [email protected]

The Peaks and Dales Line team prioritise communications with members and supporters, so if you would like to know more about the reinstatement, or even join the campaign, then please visit:

https://www.peaksanddalesline.co.uk