Tunnel society in £90k grant boost
PLANS to reopen the Rhondda Tunnel have received a huge boost with the award of a five-figure grant.
The Rhondda Tunnel Society, which is campaigning to have the historic Victorian tunnel reopened as a walking and cycle route, is to receive a grant of more than £90,000.
The grant from Pen y Cymoedd Wind Farm Community Fund will pay for a detailed examination of the abandoned 3,443-yard (3,148m) tunnel, that runs between Blaencwm in the Rhondda and Blaengwynfi in the Afan Valley.
“The funds will pay for three surveys,” said Rhondda Tunnel Society chairman Stephen Mackey. “The main survey will see a team of skilled tunnelling engineers carry out a thorough inspection to find every defect and estimate a cost to remedy them.
“The Rhondda Tunnel Society’s technical subcommittee drew up a specification for this, received tenders and is recommending Balfour Beatty’s team to do the work.”
He added: “There will also be a geotechnical survey of the material that was used to bury the approach cuttings at both ends of the tunnel at Blaencwm and Blaengwynfi.
“The third survey is to examine the land earmarked to receive the excavated spoil, which will be used to create level well-drained ground suitable for visitors’ centres, car parks and camping and caravanning sites at both ends of the tunnel.
“The tunnel will undoubtedly be a major tourist attraction and will need space to host large events of all kinds.”
The Rhondda Tunnel is currently owned by Highways England, who have said they are willing to hand it over to either the Welsh Government or the two local authorities – Neath Port Talbot and Rhondda Cynon Taf.
“The report and costings for the whole project will be a key step in persuading a Welsh Government body to take ownership,” said Stephen. “This will enable the Rhondda Tunnel Society to secure the resources to restore it.”
The independent Aberdare-based Pen y Cymoedd Wind Farm Community Fund CIC is responsible for managing a £1.8m-a-year fund set up by Swedish energy company Vattenfall, the operator of the wind farm.
“They feel that the potential benefits to the communities either side of the tunnel and to the people of Wales as a whole are so great that the investment is worth making,” said Mr Mackey. “Recent surveys have reported that the tunnel is in remarkably good condition considering that it has been buried and largely forgotten for almost 50 years.”
The tunnel used to carry coal trains under the mountains from the mines of the Rhondda to the ports of Swansea Bay until it closed in 1968. The entrances at both ends have long been buried.
The Rhondda Tunnel Society’s goal is to reopen it as a walking and cycling route, the longest such tunnel in Europe and the second-longest in the world at just under two miles long.
“The Rhondda Tunnel is very special, partly because of its great length, but more importantly because of the huge support that there is to reopen it from both communities,” said Mr Mackey. “The society itself has more than 500 members and more than 4,000 people follow the progress of its campaign on Facebook.
“No other tunnel project in Britain enjoys such overwhelming support and politicians from all the main political parties in the area have given their backing to it.”
Rhondda AM Leanne Wood, a member of the Rhondda Tunnel Society, said: “This is fantastic news for this landmark project. The results of the survey will determine whether the tunnel is safe and, if the news is positive, allow matters to progress to the next stage, which will be the Welsh Government finally taking ownership.”
Find out more at www.rhonddatunnelsociety.co.uk