Councillors asked to approve £1.4 million of funding for train station revamp
Twm Owen – Local democracy reporter
Redevelopment plans for a railway station in southeast Wales could require up to £1.4 million of funding which councillors will be asked to approve this week.
The UK Government has already agreed to make £5.2m available for an overhaul of Chepstow railway station, and other public transport improvements in the town, though that will not include accessibility improvements despite there being no disabled access to the westbound platform.
Monmouthshire County Council is being asked to provide “match funding” of 30 per cent towards the scheme.
Councillors were told last month plans for the revamp of the station were being developed and at their July meeting they will be asked to agree to press ahead with the project and enter into an agreement with the UK Government.
Funding
They will also be asked to underwrite capital match funding of £1,407,692 to be drawn down between the financial years 2025/26 and 2028/29 , however the council aims to use its “best endeavours” to find alternative funding to avoid having to dip into its capital budget.
The council will also be asked to delegate to its chief infrastructure officer responsibility for developing the project, in consultation with the cabinet member, and through engagement with local councillors, Chepstow Town Council and community stakeholders.
Council deputy leader, and Chepstow Castle and Larkfield member, Paul Griffiths told the June meeting he “unfortunately” couldn’t give a commitment the lack of disabled access would be addressed as that is the responsibility of Network Rail and it was unlikely to have plans in place during the timframe the council willl have to spend the funding from Westminster.
Lobbying
A report for the council’s Thursday, July 17 meeting states: “The proposals will not result directly in the provision of an accessible footbridge; however, we will continue to support Network Rail and other stakeholders in lobbying for the construction of this much needed footbridge.”
It oultines the planned improvements as refurbishment of the station building to include public toilets, which the council will maintain, and potentially a waiting room and the purchase of third party land to create a park and ride facility.
The original proposal was to replace car parking at the station forecourt to provide two bus stops and a turning circle, creating a bus / rail interchange.
Those plans have now been revised due to opposition to the loss of parking spaces which the council has said could have deterred commuters from using the station.
Other plans include new bus stops at Moor Street, Mount Pleasant, and Welsh Street and a new pedestrian crossing between the A48 and Tesco and a bus only access to Chepstow Community Hospital, though these are subject to a review.
Further consultation on new cycling and footpaths is also taking place.
The proposals were first submitted for UK Government support, from its Levelling Up Fund, in July 2022 which was rejected in January the following year however the £5.2m for creating the bus turning was announced by then Chancellor Jeremy Hunt in November, 2023.
The report states: “Without any prior contact with the Council, the then Chancellor announced in the Autumn Budget of 2023 that funding of £5,227,320 had been allocated to enable the project to be implemented.”
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Tha’s disgusting – UK government’s idea of pennies to shut up Welsh rail demands and still without ensuring disabled access westbound! So if you’re disabled and want to go to Newport or Cardiff, hard lines – but London’s ok
Hardly. You need to go Westbound to Severn Tunnel or Newport in order tochange train and go to London from Chepstow. Very poor not to have disabled access to the Westbound line though.
Network Rail should be paying to provide a basic modern station including appropriate accessibility, with the council paying to upgrade facilities beyond the minimum, such as the toilets, to create a first class gateway to their town. And there’s a council carpark right next to the station which could be decked to double capacity without losing the essential interchange or buying more land.
More impotant things to do.
Stop homelessness, end child poverty, end poverty much better ways than a better station.
Railways are economic infrastructure that attract, and enable access to, more jobs and opportunities which is the only way to properly solve the issues you highlight.
Why are the council tax payers paying for this ,
How about TFW or Theraileay company.
Yep it must be nice to own a company that gets given tax payer money for improvements they should be doing themselves. I’ve just put new toilets in on 3 floors of our office building wonder if the government will pay for them.