This article appeared on 1999-04-08 and expired on 2001-04-08.

Prescott Minded To Approve Powers To Rebuild Welsh Highland Railway<br/> - The text of the DETR Press Release in full

Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, today announced that he is minded to approve the proposal to rebuild the former Welsh Highland Railway through the Snowdonia National Park.

Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, today announced that he is minded to approve the proposal to rebuild the former Welsh Highland Railway through the Snowdonia National Park.

Mr Prescott said:

"I have given much thought to the complex issues surrounding this finely balanced case. Having weighed all of the evidence, I am minded to grant the powers which would allow the Festiniog Railway Company to reconstruct the Welsh Highland Railway.

"I am, however, very aware of the particular sensitivity of the Snowdonia National Park through which the railway would run. This is why I have asked the Company to undertake a detailed survey of the rock faces in the vicinity of the Aberglaslyn tunnels. This will identify whether any remedial measures are necessary to enable the railway to be reinstated in this location, and if so, how they can be undertaken in an acceptable way.

"It is essential that we know the full implications of the reconstruction of the railway at Aberglaslyn before a final decision is made on the scheme as a whole."

Following a public inquiry which closed in January 1998 the Inspector recommended in his Report to the Secretary of State that the powers applied for by way of an Order under the Transport and Works Act 1992 should not be granted.

After careful consideration the Deputy Prime Minister is minded not to accept that recommendation but to approve the scheme, for reasons which are set out in detail in a letter sent today to the applicant and to the other parties. The reasons mentioned in that letter include the economic and wider public benefits of the proposed scheme, including its potential contribution to traffic reduction in the National Park. Mr Prescott also believes that the proposed railway would not compromise the general policies controlling major developments within national parks.

Before a final decision is taken, however, the Deputy Prime Minister wants to establish that satisfactory works can be implemented to avoid the risk of rock falls in the vicinity of the Aberglaslyn tunnels in the National Park without causing undue harm to the environment. He is therefore inviting the Festiniog Railway Company to undertake a detailed survey of the rock faces and to prepare a scheme for any necessary remedial works, in consultation with the Snowdonia National Park Authority. It would then be for the Deputy Prime Minister - or the Welsh Assembly if it is by then operational - to decide whether or not to approve this scheme and make the Order.

Notes

1. The proposed restoration of the Welsh Highland Railway was the subject of an application for an Order under the Transport and Works Act 1992 by the Festiniog Railway Company (FRC) on 27 March 1997.

2. The proposed Order would authorise the FRC to construct, maintain and operate a 35 km (21.5 miles) long narrow gauge railway in Gwynedd from Dinas (south of Caernarfon) through the Snowdonia National Park, to Porthmadog. This would restore the former Welsh Highland Railway which was closed in 1937. At the northern end at Dinas, the railway would join FRC's existing 3 mile railway to Caernarfon. At Porthmadog, the railway would connect with the existing Festiniog Railway to Blaenau Ffestiniog.

3. A public inquiry into the TWA application was held at the former Arfon Borough Council offices in Caernarfon between 9 December 1997 and 28 January 1998. In his Report the Inspector, Mr W B Thrush, recommended that the Order should not be made, primarily on the basis that, having regard to the stringent criteria which apply to major developments in a national park, there were insufficient benefits to the Snowdonia National Park and its economy to outweigh the adverse effects of the scheme.

4. The Secretary of State is minded not to accept the Inspector's recommendation. However, in view of uncertainty about the condition of rock faces in the vicinity of the Aberglaslyn tunnels, and the need to ensure that the full route of the railway can be completed through the Park safely and in an environmentally acceptable way, the Secretary of State considers that it would be premature to take a final decision on the scheme. The results of the investigation of the rock faces which the Secretary of State is asking the FRC to carry out will have to be referred to him - or to the Welsh Assembly if by then it is operational - before a final decision can be made.

5. The letter conveying the full reasons why the Secretary of State is minded to approve the scheme, and explaining what the next steps are, is being copied to all parties who submitted objections and other representations to the TWA Order.

6. Details of the projects can be obtained from the Festiniog Railway Company, Harbour Station, Porthmadog, Gwynedd, LL49 9NF or from their Parliamentary Agents, Messrs Sharpe Pritchard, Elizabeth House, Fulwood Place, London WC1V 6HG.