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Along the Line

Graham Farr

Journal 118 (WWW Edition)

Local Authority Changes

As from the beginning of April the new' Gwynedd Council' (in law the Caernarfonshire and Merionethshire County Council) takes over from the Arfon, Dwyfor and Meirioneth district councils and the Gwynedd county council. At the same time the Snowdonia (Eryri) National Park authority becomes independent.

This should greatly simplify local authority involvement in the development of the Welsh Highland Railway. The existing councils have become extremely supportive of our Porthmadog operation and of the development of the whole of the original railway and we very much hope that the new Council will carry this support forward.

Eryri Local Plan

The consultation draft of this plan, which covers the whole of the Snowdonia National Park, has recently been published. It includes policies supporting the rebuilding of the whole of the railway, and includes the following covenants:

the railway will eventually provide a valuable link in the county rail network between Porthmadog and Caernarfon and could be used as a visitor management tool to reduce demand for people to drive into the vicinity of Beddgelert and the Snowdon massif the railway developer will be expected to submit a comprehensive statement of how ancillary facilities such as station buildings, car parks, cafes etc will be provided along the length of the whole route the planning authority will resist the re-instatement of other (ie. except the Welsh Highland and Corris) tourist railway lines along disused railway trackbeds We have formally expressed our support.

Britannia Bridge

Refurbishment and alteration is almost complete.

Caernarfon

The new bridge carrying St Helens Road over the railway trackbed, making provision for the railway and the footpath/cycleway, is now in use for road traffic.

Work has started on the conversion of the former railway tunnel under Y Maes into a roadway to enable car traffic to avoid the old town.