Bala Lake Railway Economic Impact Assessment Final Report
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JOP CONSULTING LTD Bala Lake Railway Economic Impact Assessment Final Report John Pritchard 6/12/2021 This is an economic impact assessment of the proposals to extend the rail route into the town of Bala Contents Introduction ....................................................................................................................................... 2 Background ................................................................................................................................... 2 Context .......................................................................................................................................... 3 The BLR Project ............................................................................................................................... 6 Method .............................................................................................................................................. 7 Survey Results................................................................................................................................... 8 Baseline......................................................................................................................................... 8 Visitor Impression ....................................................................................................................... 11 Project Additionality.................................................................................................................... 15 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................................... 16 Impact Assessment .......................................................................................................................... 17 Construction stage ....................................................................................................................... 17 Forecast Operational Stage .............................................................................................................. 19 Conclusions ..................................................................................................................................... 20 Appendix 1 – BLR Project Design ................................................................................................... 22 Appendix 2 – Questionnaire and Pro Forma ..................................................................................... 25 BLR Business Focus Group – pro forma ......................................................................................... 33 1 Introduction JOP Consulting Ltd was commissioned to undertake an economic impact assessment of proposals to improve the rail access to Bala town on behalf of the Bala Lake Railway Trust (“BLR” hereon in). The original work was undertaken during the year November 2015 -16 and followed Green Book guidelines for undertaking such studies. The report was updated in June 2021 to take account of the likely impact of Covid-19 on both the local area and the scheme. JOP Consulting Ltd would like to acknowledge the support and contribution of the BLR to this study which has been material in generating a robust impact assessment. This report details the key results of the economic impact assessment and continues with the following sections: - Background - Context - The BLR Project - Methodology - Survey Results - Impact Assessment - Conclusions Background Bala (& Penllyn) is a key market town destination located towards the south east of Snowdonia. The town has a population of around 1,900 and is an important gateway for south Gwynedd / Meirionnydd tourism and outdoor activities, providing a vibrant retail, hospitality and accommodation offering within a high quality natural and built environment within the Snowdonia National Park. Bala forms part of the Welsh Lake District. The main lakes include Bala Lake (Llyn Tegid – largest natural lake in Wales), Lake Vyrnwy (Llyn Efyrnwy), Llyn Celyn and Llyn Brenig. The fast-flowing rivers of Tryweryn and Dee provide opportunities for fishing, canoeing and white water rafting (eg National Whitewater Rafting Centre). There are paths for walkers and mountain bikers to explore (eg Penllyn Forest). The proximate mountains rival those of other parts of Snowdonia with the main mountain ranges of Aran, Arenig and Berwyn with Cader Idris and the Rhinogs (Rhinogydd) also proximate to the town. One of the town’s key attractions is Bala Lake Railway. Opened on the 13th August 1972 this is a narrow-gauge railway that runs along the old Ruabon – Barmouth GWR line which closed in 1965. The line runs to just over 7km starting / passing through 6 ‘stations’ along the eastern edges of Llyn Tegid including: • Llanuwchlyn which includes the main buildings, workshops and railway offices and is the effective primary station on the line; • Pentrepiod Halt - an operational request stop and the original ‘end of the journey’ when it was first opened in the mid-70s; • Glan Llyn Halt - a limited-use station, open only during the Halloween and Santa Special train services; 2 • Llangower - principal intermediate station that all trains stop at. It has a passing loop for two-train services; • Bryn Hynod Halt - a request stop that closed in 2011 (platform demolished in February 2012); and • Penybont - terminus located near to the town of Bala to the far north eastern corner of the lake. The idea of a north westerly extension of the railway into the town of Bala was part of the original plan back in the mid-70s and which was scheduled to be completed in 1981 but this was abandoned. In 2014, the plans were revived by the Trust to extend the rail line a further 1.2km into the town and thus establish a more formal and logical link for the train journey (into the town). Four key objectives appear to underpin this aspiration: Access – despite the presence of Penybont terminus the reality is that the train currently runs to an effective ‘no-man’s land’. There are no amenities (apart from a shelter) at Penybont as it stops short of the town making access to those infirm and able both tedious and at times perhaps even dangerous. At the same time it would appear that this particular part of Bala is seriously under-utilised and in part, blighted by run-down buildings etc. Critically the growing number of visitors to BLR are having major parking problems at the Penybont end of the of the track (ie where they wish to travel from the Bala end to Llanuwchlyn). Visual amenity – the current line whilst quaint and perhaps moderately interesting falls short of expectations in terms of its visual amenity. There are natural barriers along the eastern apron of the lake which prevent full and uninhibited views of the lake. These natural barriers are also ‘protected’ and are therefore difficult to remove. The extension of the Bala line from Penybont into the town could provide one of the most spectacular views in the UK from a narrow gauge train back across the lake. Economic benefits – evidence from other pragmatic rail extensions (eg Llangollen line to Corwen) provided undeniable economic benefits for the rail operator, recipient location and of course patrons of the service. The proposed extension of the Bala line would seem to coincide precisely with delivering economic benefits currently lost to all three potential beneficiaries. It is also worth noting that a recent All Party Parliamentary Report states that on average for every £1 spent on the railway £2.70 is spent in the community which implies that enhancing the link to the town is likely to induce significant additional community / business benefits which this report goes on to consider. Covid 19 – the impact of the recent pandemic is clear for all to see. As it happens Wales has responded admirably towards both managing and vaccinating against the effects of this terribly destructive disease. As noted above, Bala and the surrounding areas have two main sectors underpinning their economies – agriculture and tourism. The effects of the pandemic have been particularly serious for the tourism industry – with forced widespread closures of centres and lockdown combining to effectively throw the industry into a paralysis from which it is just about emerging. There have been many fatal ‘casualties’ during this period (eg pubs etc). The importance therefore of this project in terms of its contribution as a direct investment and its direct / indirect benefits to the town of Bala and indeed the wider sub-region cannot be underestimated or over-emphasised. The development proposals under consideration by BLR would directly address all these issues and thereby enhancing the tourism offering of the town and indeed wider area more generally. Context The Bala area was until recently designated as a ‘dependence district’ as part of the UDP Regeneration Framework - it therefore had its own regeneration area plan for the 2007-13 period. It remains unclear how critical this strategy document remains for the area’s development given that the timeframe has now lapsed and there appears to be no prospect of continuity in this regard. Equally it 3 is unclear to what extent the Employment Plan for Meirionnydd draws any currency and this notwithstanding the fact that Penllyn being highlighted at the time as an area facing “significant challenges” to support the adequacy of its population to fulfil local employment opportunities. Albeit the area as a whole seemed to demonstrate a major weakness more generally