Newport railway station footbridge permission granted

The bridge for pedestrians and cyclists will be fully accessible to wheelchairs

Plans for a long-awaited footbridge to serve Newport railway station have been given the green light.

It has been designed as "a convenient, safe and attractive route" to replace a vandalised subway linking Devon Place and Queensway.

The bridge for pedestrians and cyclists will also be accessible to wheelchairs.

Plans for the project date back to 2014 when the Welsh Government pledged to invest £4m to build the bridge, but it has been hit by delays.

Councillor David Fouweather told the city's planning committee: "Many residents will be absolutely delighted that we are now, at long last, having this footbridge.

"They will not have to use that dreadful subway, full of drugs and urine and whatever nonsense goes on down there."

The existing subway has been repeatedly vandalised

Another member raised concerns that anti-social behaviour would just relocate to the bridge, but planning officers said it was designed to limit the risk and Network Rail had not raised such issues.

The ramps, steps and bridge deck are planned to have an orange, non-slip surface to provide a "vibrant" route across the station's four platforms.

In August, the council suggested the work could be completed by the end of 2020, according the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

However, the authority said it was still in the process of appointing contractors and the timescale would also depend on the availability of steel and whether any further work was needed on electrification of the railway line.