An appeal by the Ffestiniog Railway Company against the Snowdonia National Park Authority’s refusal of a new station building for Beddgelert has been allowed, with the authority also required to pay costs.

In a decision handed down on 21 May by RH Duggan, a planning inspector appointed by the Welsh Ministers, it was decreed that the railway organisation may proceed with the development on a concrete slab already put in place when the project was initially put forward in the 2000s.

Costs were also awarded, with the inspector recording that in its refusal the planning committee had not applied the local development plan 2016-2031, and that “the application was decided on the grounds of unsupported local opinion and opposition to any station building,” causing the appellant unnecessary costs.

The applicant is now invited to submit to the national park authority details of its costs, with a view to reaching agreement on the amount to be paid.

Consent was given in 2006 by the authority for a facility including ticket office, waiting room, toilets and café, with the slab developed at the existing Beddgelert station, a stop on the Welsh Highland Railway.

Even at that point the issue was contentious, with conditions attached on trading – conditions that were defeated in an earlier appeal. Since that time, the station has operated with small shelters on platforms, portaloos and temporary cafe provision in place, as financial priorities elsewhere saw the Beddgelert project put on hold.

A  refreshed application was submitted in 2023, looking to deliver a slightly smaller version of the approved 2006 plan.

This went to the parks authority’s planning and access committee in May 2023 with a recommendation to approve, but was refused, leading the heritage group to seek recourse through Planning & Environment Decisions Wales.