Senedd to debate NRW visitor centre closures

Emily Price

The Senedd will debate the closure of three Natural Resources Wales visitor centres later today after a petition calling for them to be saved reached over 10,000 signatures.

NRW announced earlier this year its plans to mothball the Bwlch Nant yr Arian, Coed y Brenin and Ynyslas centres – which attract over 750,000 visitors a year – in a bid to save money.

Whilst the buildings will remain open – the retail and catering facilities in all three buildings will be withdrawn.

The Welsh Government sponsored body has not held a public consultation on the proposals which will see the loss of 265 jobs.

NRW’s plans attracted criticism from 100 organisations including Cycling UK, Beicio Cymru and Disability Sport Wales who signed a letter to Deputy First Minister with responsibly for Climate Change, Huw Irranca-Davies.

‘Negative impact’

A Senedd petition launched by Gareth Jones was signed by 13,210 people calling for the sites to be saved.

The petitioner argued that the closures would “run contrary to the Wellbeing of Future Generations Act 2015” and have a far-reaching negative impact on the economy and environment.

The petitions committee met to discuss the issue in September when Tory MS Peter Fox and Plaid Cymru’s Luke Fletcher shared concerns and backed holding a Senedd debate.

‘Very tight’

In a letter to Petitions Committee Clark, Gareth Price, NRW’s Chief Executive, Clare Pillman, said public funding was “very tight” and that the body needed to “make a minimum saving of £13 million over the next two years”.

She wrote: “While we fully recognise how well loved and regarded our visitor centres are, the truth is that NRW is not best placed to operate catering and retail facilities.

“We have acknowledged that if we are to support visitor access and maintain the sites for future use, the centres themselves need to be run by organisations that have the skills, knowledge and financial capacity to operate in the retail and catering sector.”

Cost

NRW says the visitor sites will remain open for recreation access, such as walking and biking, and that play areas, car parking and toilets will still be available.

But the body said it would seek partners to operate catering and retail provision at its visitor centres separately.

Politicians from across all parties will discuss the closures during a 30 minute debate on Wednesday afternoon (October 9).

NRW, which is overseen at arm’s length by ministers, was formed in 2013 from a merger of Wales’ Countryside Council, Environment Agency and Forestry Commission.

In a note to staff, Ms Pillman, who was appointed chief executive in 2018, said: “The financial challenges we face are not of our own making, nor are they unique to us.

“In recent years our core grant in aid from Welsh Government has not increased, whilst our costs have risen in line with the high levels of inflation we have seen across the economy.”