Residents’ group backs trespass order against adventure firm

Martin Shipton

A group of residents has backed the National Trust’s decision to issue a trespass notice against a long established “coasteering” company that operates on the Wales Coast Path in north Pembrokeshire.

Adventure Beyond argues that the charity cannot ban it from land it owns at Ceibwr Bay because there the coast path has to be open to all.

But a community statement sent to Nation.Cymru by well-known children’s author Gill Lewis said: “Residents of Moylegrove and Ceibwr have long been concerned about the impact of coasteering on this protected coastal site, which is designated as both a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and a Special Area of Conservation (SAC).

“The 2024 Natural Resources Wales (NRW) Ceibwr Bird Report confirmed disturbance to nesting seabirds and identified coasteering activities that could reduce breeding success. As a result, NRW advised a restricted area to help protect vulnerable wildlife during the breeding season.

“The community understands that Adventure Beyond is not participating in the Coasteering Concordat, the agreement that providers sign to gain permission to use National Trust land, access agreed coasteering routes and follow conservation measures. We are concerned that Adventure Beyond has accessed the restricted area on multiple occasions and that these actions may be causing further disturbance to nesting birds during the breeding season.

“We understand that the Wales Coast Path remains open and that the National Trust is not restricting access to the general public but only to one provider, to maintain responsible access and protect the site for the wildlife and for everyone, forever.”

Dagmarr Cullen, another local resident who is critical of Adventure Beyond, said: “On the question of trespass, I think it is important to distinguish between public access and commercial use.

“My understanding is that the National Trust has not closed the Wales Coast Path to the public. Members of the public remain able to use the path.

“The issue concerns an organised commercial activity provider accessing a particularly sensitive stretch of coastline, without permission, as it is believed that Adventure Beyond are not currently signed up to an agreement known as the Concordat.

“This is a voluntary agreement that all coasteering providers in Pembrokeshire sign up to and it involves an agreed code of good practice.

“The coasteering route at Ceibwr currently involves restricted access to Carreg Wylan Bay at this time of year, due to the sensitive cliff nesting seabird sites. It is understood that the company has continued to access the restricted sensitive wildlife nesting area, despite this restriction and despite not being signed up to the Concordat agreement.

“Whether Adventure Beyond has used the route for many years is not, in itself, the determining factor. The relevant question is whether the landowner considers the current level and nature of commercial activity to be appropriate and compatible with the conservation interests of the site.

“The National Trust is responsible for managing some of the most environmentally sensitive coastline in Wales. If it has concluded that restrictions are necessary to protect the site, then that is a matter for the Trust as landowner and conservation body.

“The fact that an activity may have taken place previously, without challenge, does not automatically create a right for it to continue indefinitely.

“More broadly, our concern has never been about preventing people from enjoying the coast. It is about the cumulative impact of intensive commercial adventure activities on a highly sensitive stretch of coastline that includes protected habitats and species.

“The National Trust’s action appears to reflect those same concerns.”

Public right of way

A spokesperson for Adventure Beyond responded: “The National Trust has no power to regulate access to a public right of way, for commercial operators or anyone else. The Trust’s own spokesperson confirmed that the public’s legal rights to use the Wales Coast Path across the land at Ceibwr Bay are unrestricted. NRW confirmed the same.

“There is no provision in law by which that right can be made conditional on signing a private agreement. The Concordat began as a practical industry code of good practice, developed with operator input – Jet Moore [managing director of Adventure Beyond] was a key contributor to its original development. What it became, under pressure from those who wanted a part of the national park kept for their own exclusive use, was something different: a mechanism for the National Trust to impose conditions it had no legal power to impose. The Concordat, whatever its origins, cannot override a public right of way. The National Trust has not attempted to explain how it could, and we do not expect it to try.

“There is no restricted area. There are good practice guidelines which Jet Moore helped to create and has applied with professional judgement for 30 years. He has been operating at Ceibwr Bay much longer than most of his critics have lived there. NRW Evidence Report No. 800 – the only peer-reviewed scientific assessment of coasteering’s impact on wildlife at Ceibwr, commissioned by the statutory regulator – concluded that there was no evidence that the breeding success of seabirds was affected by coasteering activities. The relevant test is harm at population level. NRW found none.

“Jet Moore knows this coastline, its wildlife and its seasonal patterns in a way that Dagmarr Moore and Gill Lewis, whatever their agenda, do not. Thirty years of responsible operation and a clean finding from the statutory regulator speak for themselves.

“Adventure Beyond will continue to cross the coast path to reach the sea, as it has done for 30 years, helping people experience one of the finest stretches of coastline in Wales.”