Representation by Dr Bob Langton
- Date submitted
- 11 February 2020
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
Whilst I am strongly in favour of the reopening of a passenger service on the Bristol-Portishead railway line I have severe reservations about the detailed plans for the necessary work in the Pill & Easton-in-Gordano area. My comments at this stage are bound to be provisional - the very nature of the detailed proposals provided by MetroWest make understanding them a lengthy and time-consuming process. However, my predominant concern relates to the work needed to modify the bridge the carries the line over the footpath between the end of Avon Road and Lodway Close in Pill. It appears that the plan for this work involves the creation of a large area of hard-standing to create a compound for the storage of materials and a hard-standing access road on the open area north-west of Lodway Close and The and an inevitable consequent loss of habitat for wildlife. It appears that the environmental impact assessment of this area judges it to be of limited habitat value when in fact it is well-known locally to provide key habitat for a variety of mammals (foxes, badgers and the endangered hedgehog) as well as key ponds that support a large number of amphibians. Seriosu damage to this habitat will lead to an inevitable and longterm loss of wildlife which is already in severe declime locally as well as nationally. A further concern is the extent of the movement of heavy goods vehicles through the villages of Pill and Easton-in-Gordano on roads that are totally unsuited to such traffic movement.