Locals oppose plans for climbing attraction in seaside village

Richard Youle, Local Democracy Reporter

Residents are unhappy at plans for an 11m climbing frame attraction with a fence around it in a seaside village.

Swansea Council wants to install a “high ropes” attraction in Port Eynon in an overflow car park near the beach.

It would comprise a climbing frame with different climbing options – including a rope ladder and one described as a “Gladiator challenge” in reference to the sports entertainment television show – and be run by Port Eynon’s Ty Borfa activity centre on behalf of the council.

Initially the plan was for it to be 14m high but it’s been scaled down to 11m following a visual impact study. A consultation event has taken place at Ty Borfa.

Port Eynon Community Council has objected to the application on several grounds and has been running an online survey for residents and visitors.

Clerk Barry Stubbings said at least 95% of the circa 400 survey responses so far were not in favour of the plans.

“There’s a tremendous wellspring of negative views within the community,” he said. “It’s the wrong thing in that particular location. It’s totally out of place.”

Swansea Council isn’t commenting on what is a live application but said all comments received would be considered.

A design and access statement submitted on the council’s behalf said the proposed high ropes facility was part of wider plans by Ty Borfa activity centre and one in nearby Rhossili to offer activities like orienteering, archery and bushcraft – plus kayaking and paddle boarding sessions run by third party providers.

The statement said more than 50 people attended the consultation event at Ty Borfa, that 33 people filled in an accompanying questionnaire, and that responses were mixed.

Congestion

It said people were concerned that using the overflow car park for the development would exacerbate severe congestion in peak summer periods.

Other people were worried about potential noise, disruption and anti-social issues, said the statement, and that not many residents would benefit from the high ropes due to cost, age or physical ability.

It added: “One of the most frequently cited concerns relates to the visual and landscape concerns. Respondents consistently described the proposal as an eyesore, visually intrusive, and incompatible with the open coastal landscape.”

The statement said the wooden and steel structure would appear “simple and functional”, be surrounded by a 2m mesh fence and that the climbing ropes would be detached when not in use to prevent any unsupervised climbing.

A large chunk of Port Eynon is in a conservation area and the village is also part of the designated Gower national landscape. The proposed high ropes attraction, said the statement, aimed to “respond sensitively” to the location.

A landscape visual impact appraisal submitted as part of the application said the effects of the proposed installation from Port Eynon would be “minor-moderate adverse” and that its footprint within the overflow car park would be “very small”.

“The open frame design and use of natural and recessive materials and colours would help integrate the proposals into the landscape,” it said. The visual effects for people walking past, it added, would be “moderate adverse”.

Port Eynon Community Council’s objection is on visual, tourism, environmental and operational grounds.

“Contrary to the conclusions of the desk top study undertaken by the proposers the installation will be visible from the majority of the housing within the village and from the caravan/chalet sites which dominate the village,” said the objection letter.

“For visitors arriving at Port Eynon their first visual impression will be that of this stockade fencing and within it an artificial pleasure park.”

It claimed half the overflow car park would be taken up by the development and that the other half would be “actively managed grassland” as a compensatory measure, resulting in a loss of parking and loss of a space used in triathlon and other events.

Public toilets

The objection said nearby public toilets were already “severely overused” during busy visitor periods, and that the application wouldn’t benefit residents or tourism more generally. It added that the community council was unanimous in its view that the proposal “had been poorly thought through”.

Mr Stubbings told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that the overflow car park was “essential” at peak periods.

Asked about the reduction in height from 14m, he said: “It’s still 11m. That’s a very high structure – three times the height of a caravan.”

Mr Stubbings felt the proposed high ropes was “more of an urban attraction” and that people who wanted to use climbing frames should “go to Mumbles or somewhere else”.

A Swansea Council spokesman said: “All comments received in relation to the proposal will be considered in the determination of the planning application.”