VILLAGERS have been warned their Victorian railway station will be demolished by the end of the year - unless a community use is found for it quickly.A preservation order was placed on the building at Trimley St Mary which temporarily “listed” it for six months.
VILLAGERS have been warned their Victorian railway station will be demolished by the end of the year - unless a community use is found for it quickly.
A preservation order was placed on the building at Trimley St Mary which temporarily “listed” it for six months.
However, after examining the property, government officials have now decided it will not be protected by permanent listing.
Owners Network Rail have now told Suffolk Coastal they intend to bulldoze the station, which they say is too dangerous to leave standing, in the next six months.
Hundreds of leaflets have been delivered to homes in the twin Trimley villages telling them that the only hope of saving the station now is to come up with a community use and a team of people to run the project.
Several potential ideas have been put forward - including using the building for a community arts workshop, premises for the parish council and various meetings and events, a headquarters for the Safer Neighbourhood Team, or a youth project.
Parish and district councillor Richard Kerry said: “We have been told the station could be demolished by the end of this year so we do not have much time to get a project up and running.
“We need to find out what the public would like done with the building and we need people willing to help.”
Funding for a project could be available via the Felixstowe and Trimley Futures Project to regenerate the area.
Network Rail has said previously that it would cost �100,000 to repair the station - built in 1891 and the only surviving country station from the old Great Eastern Railway - but this figure is now thought to be much higher.
What should be done with Trimley Station? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN, or e-mail EveningStarLetters@eveningstar.co.uk
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