Plans for Wales’ first new national park in 60 years
Ella Groves
A Welsh walking charity has urged the public to get involved with the consultation process for a new national park as the deadline looms.
Ramblers Cymru have warned this is a crucial moment for countryside access in Wales, with time running out for the public to share their views.
The Ramblers have been campaigning to protect access to nature for 90 years, including for the 1949 law which led to the creation of the first national parks in Wales.
The law granted everyone the right of access to land mapped as “open access land” in England and Wales.
Glyndŵr National Park, located in north-east Wales, would be the country’s first new national park in 60 years.
Ramblers Cymru have described the move as “the biggest step forward for access in Wales since the Countryside and Rights of Way Act (CRoW), landmark legislation that transformed public access to the countryside 25 years ago.”
Rebecca Brough, Policy and Public Affairs Manager for Ramblers Cymru, said: “National parks are more than beautiful landscapes – they are vital for health, wellbeing and rural economies.
When funded and delivered well, national parks bring many benefits to the local area, including better support for paths and promoting responsible access, boosting rural economies, and easing pressures on local communities with facilities like expanded public transport, toilets, campsites and bins.”
National parks attract 12 million visitors each year and generate £1bn for the Welsh economy.
Ms Brough added: “More than half of people in Britain visit a national park each
year, and walking is by far the most popular activity. The Glyndŵr National Park
would be the first designated in Wales in over 60 years, and a vital step forward for
well-managed, good quality countryside access.”
Ramblers Cymru have urged the public to get involved and make their voices heard.
The consultation will run until the 8th of December, you can find the link here.
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Hope this goes ahead and this will bring in so much tourism. The Secondary spend is incredible and will trickle throughout Wales and bring in much needed jobs.
This is a great opportunity for Wales but it faces organised resistance from landowners. We’ve seen loads of misinformation being put forward. The public need to get behind this as it will generate more income and jobs
This is not going to happen with a bit of luck I haven’t met one person in our community in favour of it, turning us into a glorified playground for the English middle class, our community’s will be full of second homes destroying our community’s and language, that’s before the planning nonsense and a unelected board dictating how we live, our local doctors surgery is closing iet money can be found for this nonsense.