Written question WQ82597

We are fully supportive of the project and want to see it delivered in partnership. We have been actively working with key stakeholders, including the Rhondda Tunnel Society and Neath Port Talbot and Rhondda Cynon Taf councils to find a sustainable way forward for this project.

Negotiations with the Department of Transport for the transfer of the Rhondda and Abernant tunnels have reached an advanced stage. The legal transfer of ownership could be completed in a matter of weeks.

Once there are robust figures for the capital and revenue costs of the project, bids can confidently be made to funding bodies, such as the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

With capital costs alone currently estimated to be as high as £17m, significantly above the level of any previous award made by the Heritage Lottery Fund in Wales, it will be extremely challenging, but the Welsh Government will do all it can to support bids.

The tunnel is currently the liability of the UK Government as part of its legacy of infrastructure associated with old railways. We want it to transfer this to a partnership, but the £60K it is currently willing to pass as a dowry is completely inadequate. We will continue to work with it to agree a transfer that not only recognises the cost of keeping the tunnel in its current state but the costs of opening it up to benefit the communities we serve.