A PUBLIC meeting was held in Poole to discuss the future of the town’s miniature railway since its lease was put out for tender.

Current owner of Poole Park Railway Chris Bullen led the meeting at the New Inn pub yesterday.

Supporters of the railway gathered to ask questions and share their ideas and concerns about the railway’s future.

Last week, it was announced the attraction would close while the council invites bids from new operators.

Mr Bullen said he was initially asked to remove the track to ensure the tender process was unbiased, but after launching a petition, which raised nearly 10,000 signatures, the council, in an apparent U-turn, said the track could remain in place while this was ongoing.

Addressing the group at yesterday’s meeting, Mr Bullen said: “Almost 10,000 people signed the petition to save the track, which is around half the people who’ve objected to car parking charges in the borough. It just shows us, and the council, how important this little railway is.

“My fight is to make sure the railway continues, whether I run it or not. If that track gets lifted, it may not get replaced, and certainly not for at least two years.”

Mr Bullen stressed at the meeting that he was committed to adhering to current health and safety standards if he wins the tender, but argues it would be more time and cost-effective to replace the track in stages.

He told those at the meeting he would need to raise £68,000 to replace the 65,000 inches of track and is asking interested members of the public to “pledge £1 to save an inch of track”.

“If we don’t win the tender, we’ll give whatever we’ve raised to charity,” he added.

In order to “heighten the railway’s cause”, Mr Bullen is also planning a sponsored walk.

He invited questions from those in attendance at the meeting. Dawn Cope expressed concern over possible new fencing erected around the railway when it is replaced.

“I can’t see how that’s going to look anything other than intrusive and a danger to everyone else. It’s going to be near the water or on the path, and you’re going to get birds trapped in the middle.”

Mr Bullen said he had been “as confused as everybody” about the potential requirement.

“I’ve spoken to health and safety at the council, and they’ve said where there is ‘significant risk’, it would be good practice to fence it, for example near the children’s playing area. But where the tack goes over the pathway, it wouldn’t be feasible to fence there.”

Asked whether the railway had ever been sued for an accident, he said: “In my ownership, we’ve never had a public liability claim. There was an incident last year where a carriage derailed, but an investigation found this to be a malicious act.”

One gentlemen at the meeting said: “What we want with the railway is continuity, whoever takes it on.”