An Introduction

GOV900. Trust Long Term Planning

This sub folder contains the current versions of the Trust’s rolling Ten & Five Year Plans plus supporting documentation and other planning documents.

The governing body of the Trust, Council, has a responsibility to plan for the long term survival and development of the Middleton Railway.

This responsibility is expressed in concrete terms by the development of rolling ten and five year plans. The former, which is based on the insurance cycle of a steam locomotive boiler, considers the longer term objectives and strategic direction of the Trust whereas the latter provides a much more detailed set of objective for the next five years together with the actions considered necessary to achieve these objectives.

Both plans are reviewed annually and are recalibrating for the next ten and five years. As part of the review process the objectives set for the Trust are reviewed and if felt to be no longer appropriate may be changed or deleted and at the same time new objectives may be set based on current realities and opportunities. Similarly progress towards meeting the objectives agreed during the previous review are considered. Some of the agreed actions may be signed off as complete, others may be adjusted in the light of experience and a further group may be deleted. At the same time based on the current realities and opportunities new actions may be added if these are considered to aid in achieving the agreed objectives.

The Five Year Plan is particular is intended to inform the annual budgeting process so that expenditure for the year is directed towards achieving the long term goals of the Trust as well as ensuring the immediate survival of the Railway.

The Ten and Five Year Plans are intended to be living documents kept under review and regularly updated. As such they may be less polished than traditional Ten and Five year plans but they are designed to be used, not put in a drawer and forgotten as is often the case with the more traditional layout.