The brilliant Sam Dumitriu, points us to the lunacy that is the Bristol and Portishead rail link. from a brilliant piece by Ben Hopkinson.
The project would reopen 3 miles of line closed by Beeching. So lots of material is already there. Note only 3 miles of line.
He writes:
"The joint local transport plan reserved £1m to study the project in the late 2000s, and Network rail announced a feasibility study on re-opening the line in 2009.
Public consultation took place in 2015, and Chris Grayling, then Transport Secretary, announced £31m of funding for the line in April 2019 (when the line was meant to open by 2021).
With this funding confirmed, the North Somerset Council began work on its planning application.
In total, the application and all the associated documents come out to 79,187 pages.
- If you printed that out, end to end, there’s 14.6 miles of paperwork, more than 4 ½ times the length of the line that is to be reinstated.
- Within those nearly 80,000 pages, there are 17,912 devoted to the environmental statement. That’s 3.3 miles of paper trying to determine if rail transport is good for the environment.
- There’s 1,174 pages devoted to bat technical appendices, 215 to newts, and 1,810 to vegetation management.
- It then took three years for the transport secretary to approve the planning application. This is all to replace the existing, derelict tracks with new rails and add two stations in communities that are desperate to have a rail link. "
This is what I could find on this: here.
Here are some highlights , on a quick search
6.25 - ES Volume 4 - Appendix 9.4 and 9.5 - Great Crested Newt Survey Report and Reptiles (PDF, 5MB)
From the Bat technical appendix:
I have emboldened some of the findings.
1. Notice there are no bats living on the line, but they might want to live in nearby trees.
2. Notice in particular that bats might want to travel on the line. So it's bats above people.
Bat activity surveys recorded 13 species on the disused railway line with
notable species being lesser and greater horseshoe bats (Rhinolophus
hipposideros and R. ferrumequinum). The disused railway line is a prominent
feature within the landscape between Portishead and Pill and provides a link
between semi-natural habitats and foraging areas for bats. The study
confirms that it provides an important corridor for movement by bats and a
radio-tracking study of one male and one female greater horseshoe bat to
Brockley Hall Stables Site of Special Scientific Interest (“SSSI”) identified use of
the railway line by the North Somerset and Mendip Bats SAC bat population.
Statistical analysis of greater horseshoe bat activity shows that activity was
highest at the western end of the disused railway line in the Portbury Wharf
area and activity peaked in June. The disused railway line is an integral part of
a permeable landscape for lesser and greater horseshoe bats and provides a
corridor for movement west of the Avon Gorge Woodlands SAC that is
evaluated as being Regionally important.
There are no large communal roosts on the disused railway line, but three day
roosts of low conservation importance for local bat populations were
confirmed because low numbers of common and soprano pipistrelle bats
(Pipistrellus pipistrellus and P. pygmaeus) roost in bridge structures. There
are no confirmed tree roosts on the disused railway line, but evaluation of the
tree roost resource identified four trees of high bat roost potential and seven
trees with moderate bat roost potential.
6. Four tunnels on the Portbury Freight Line, three of which are within the Avon
Gorge Woodlands SAC, have been assessed for summer, autumn and winter
roost activity. Three of the tunnels have been confirmed as being used by low
numbers of bats as summer day roosts and for winter hibernation, with lesser
horseshoe, common pipistrelle, serotine (Eptesicus serotinus), Daubenton’s
(Myotis daubentonii), brown long-eared (Plecotus auritus) and (probable)
natterer’s (Myotis nattereri) recorded. Although not confirmed roosting,
barbastelle bat (Barbastella barbastellus) was regularly recorded in one tunnel
(Sandstone) during winter 2018, which indicates possible hibernation in, or
close to the tunnel. The tunnels are not considered to be important swarming
sites, but surveys in autumn recorded social activity and bats appear to use
the shelter of the tunnels whilst socialising. Clifton tunnel no. 2 and
Sandstone tunnel are the most important roost sites and are assessed as
being local (district) value. There are also small lesser horseshoe bat roosts at
Pill Station on the Portbury Freight Line that have been evaluated as local
value
