Work on the sculpture progressing

Together with East Midlands Railway, East Staffordshire Borough Council, The National Forest, and Burton and South Derbyshire College, Burton Rotary Club is working on improvements to Burton Railway Station, with members playing a leading role.  When complete, it is intended that the Rotary Club and wider community will adopt the station and maintain the improvements.

Work on the new sculpture is now underway

(The picture is a mock-up)

As part of the regeneration, students at Burton and South Derbyshire College were tasked to design a sculpture that not only represents the area’s four national centres - The National Arboretum, The National Brewery Centre, The National Forest and St. George’s Park - but is memorable and aesthetically pleasing.

The winning design by Kyle Nevitt is based on a series of words, chosen by competition and relating to the national centres located in or close to Burton.

Progress

• the jungle at the western end of the station has been cleared and the area landscaped by Bowmer & Kirkland;
• Burton Rotary Club has provided a number of planters with plants supplied by East Staffordshire Borough Council;
• students at Burton and South Derbyshire College drew up plans for and are now progressing a sculpture for the western end of the station;
• A suicide prevention fence will be installed shortly.

• In the longer term it is intended to improve waiting room areas, retail outlets and the station front.  The timetable for improvements to the bulding depends on the council, and for platform refurbishment on Network Rail;

In 2020 the Burton Railway Station Enhancement project was awarded a £33,000 grant from the government Neighbourhood Fund for 2019-2020, administered by East Staffordshire Borough Council, to move to the third and final stage.   This involved obtaining all the necessary approvals to carry out the work (such as planning approval, approval of Network Rail and East Midlands Trains), together with quotations for the various elements. 

Negotiations were complicated by a change of franchise in 2019, and the possible re-opening of the Ivanhoe line from Burton to Leicester.