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We will continue to lobby the government and look at every grant opportunity for sufficient funding to take forward this muchneeded rail and highway infrastructure.

Councillor Elfan

Ap Rees

designed to minimise and mitigate the risks often associated with huge infrastructural changes.

In order to reopen the railway from Portishead to Pill, North Somerset Council also requires a Development Consent Order ( DCO) under the Planning Act 2008.

The DCO application needs to be submitted to the Planning Inspectorate, subject to formal approval by the WoE Joint Committee and North Somerset Council.

According to the council, completing these milestones would demonstrate the authority’s “continued commitment to Government by maintaining the timetable to commence construction in spring 2020.”

The line was originally supposed to reopen in 2019 but last year North Somerset said work would not begin until 2020 at the earliest.

Part of the reason for pushing ahead with the project, despite the funding issues and increased cost, is that the level of support for the scheme is “exceptionally high”.

North Somerset Council said it received more than 1,000 responses to the consultation at the end of last year and 95 per cent of consultees “entirely or mainly support the scheme”.

The report also said: “The scheme is also highly supported by the rail industry, including Network Rail and Great Western Railways.”

There is also the estimated positive impact to the economy in Portishead, as well as the belief that it will help reduce congestion in the area.

TravelWest – the umbrella organisation for Bristol City Council, South Gloucestershire Council, North Somerset Council and B&NES – estimate the reopened line will provide a £264million boost to the local economy over the next decade.