After three years of the project being discussed, the plans to turn the historic signal box next to Chorleywood station into a museum resource have been shelved.
The new museum was originally planned to open this year, with the educational resource covering the history of how the development of the railway impacted the growth of Chorleywood and the surrounding areas.
Despite continual conversations between Transport for London (TfL) and the Friends of Chorleywood Signal Box (FCSB) committee faced multiple obstacles to getting plans off the ground.
Owen Edis, secretary of FCSB, said: “This is a shame for the future of this listed building, as it would have been restored and maintained for TfL at no cost to them and would have given the box a useful future benefiting the community.
“We have insufficient funds to proceed primarily because of unanticipated TfL charges to our team in order to draw up a legal 10-year lease which has to be in place in order for formal fundraising to begin.
“This required a survey within TfL’s organisation estimated to cost us £2000, plus their legal fees of £3000 minimum.
“Furthermore, obtaining grant funding for contractors work to provide safe access from the platform, and internal refurbishment to make the building suitable for museum use was uncertain.”
The committee was also recently advised that the lower level of the building would not be available for use in the foreseeable future and had realised that the longevity of the project would be in doubt without an infusion of younger people getting involved.
FCSB have now stated they will focus on producing the previously announced book on the history of the signal box, originally designed to complement the museum. This book will be made available to all those signed up to the organisation for free and will be sold locally later this year.
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