Town votes for a 25-year loan to pay for wall repair that closed Cliff Railway

Bridgnorth Cliff Railway is set to reopen later this month following a 14-month shutdown.

It was closed in December 2022 after after a damaged retaining wall belonging to the Town Council posed a health and safety risk.

More than 65 metres of the wall have now been repaired by Bridgnorth Town Council at an estimated cost of £750,000, and while a small section of wall is still to be repaired, the Cliff Railway has been giving the all-clear to reopen.

However, last year, Bridgnorth Town Council identified a a shortfall of between £400,000 to £500,000 to fund the retaining wall project in full.

To pay for the repairs, the council proposed in November to borrow £500,000 over 25 years from the government's Public Loans Works Board (PWLB).

The proposal would mean Council Tax-payers in the town would see the local precept in their annual bills rise by £8 a year (5.1 per cent) for the next quarter of a century.

The alternative would see resident asked to pay the entire sum in their next council tax bill, which would rise by more than £107 for one year only in April.

To approve the loan, the council needed to ask local taxpayers what they wanted to do, so it began a public consultation at the end of last year.

The consultation closed last month and the Town Council has now published the results.

A total of 734 electors voted in the consultation, with an overwhelming 95 per cent (688 electors), giving the council approval to proceed with the retaining wall project.

Of these, 85 per cent (582 electors) voted to approve the loan from the PWLB with just 106 electors voting not to borrow the money.

Bridgnorth Town Council is now expected to proceed to proceed with the PWLB loan, which will see a total repayment, including interest, of around £200 per resident over the next 25 years.