NUCLEAR Restoration Services (NRS), formerly Magnox, have awarded a grant of £36,725 to the Bala Lake Railway Trust to achieve a vital stage of the major project to extend the railway into Bala town centre. The generous NRS funding provided the final sum required to complete the revised planning application to the Snowdonia National Park Authority for permission to build the extension.
NRS had showed their belief in supporting the community of Bala on two previous occasions, so it was with trepidation that the Bala Lake Railway Trust applied again as their last hope of raising the necessary funds within the remaining time available.
BLRT chairman, Julian Birley, said: “This support from NRS really cannot be underestimated. Our supporters had given their all but still additional surveys and reports had to be done and the costs were not inconsiderable. Without this final grant the whole project really was close to foundering and ten years work and a huge amount of generously donated money would be completely wasted.”
A revised application will go before the planning committee in the early Spring but with the deadline for re-application looming, there remained a shortfall to cover the costs of the final specialist reports which in turn would put the whole application in jeopardy. After a nail biting few weeks the news that the application had been successful came as a huge relief .
Julian added: “While nothing is ever certain until the ink is dry on the paper we are cautiously hopeful that this time we will succeed. We have given it our all!”
Having had the first application refused in April 2023, largely over concern that extra visitors to the town would overload the phosphate capacity of Bala Waste Water Treatment Works, work immediately commenced on addressing this and other issues of concern.
The cost of these additional works required the railway to raise approximately £120,000 and thanks to the generosity of various supporters a large proportion of this sum was raised through private donations. However, raising money for what many see as a piece of paper is challenging at the best of times and to do it twice was a very big ask.
The application is about to be submitted with determination by late spring.
