Welsh government does not want new northern national park, minister says

Plans for a new national park in north Wales are likely to be shelved after a government minister told the Senedd he did not want it to go ahead.

Constitutional Minister Dafydd Trystan Davies said the Welsh government could achieve its environmental objectives through other means, without the estimated £11m cost of establishing the proposed Glyndŵr National Park.

The national park had been proposed to cover the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley and would have been the first new national park in Wales since 1957.

The decision was welcomed by Reform UK Wales and the Welsh Conservatives, but a Welsh Labour Member of the Senedd (MS) accused Davies of a "lack of ambition" in axing the scheme.

Davies told the Senedd on Tuesday that the "objectives" identified through the process to create the park authority "may be delivered through alternative mechanisms, without establishing a new National Park Authority and without incurring the financial commitments that the designation would require".

He said he would not proceed with the public local inquiry into creating the park, as had been promised by the previous Welsh Labour government, but said he wanted to hear views of others over a four-week period before making a final decision.

Davies noted the plan to create the park had been opposed by all councils in the areas the park would stretch across.

His announcement in the Senedd was criticised by Labour MS Vikki Howells, who accused Davies of a "lack of ambition".

"Plaid Cymru, a party that says it wants to tackle the nature emergency, is not progressive when it comes to the environment or improving access to nature," she said.

Howells accused the minister of choosing to "duck his responsibility with what is effectively half a decision".

National Parks in the UK aim to conserve the natural beauty, wildlife and cultural heritage of the area they cover, and promote their sustainable use.

Three exist in Wales, each administered by their own park authority that also oversees planning applications in their areas.

Davies made the decision as the park would have been in the Senedd constituency of Rural Resilience Minister Llyr Gruffydd, who had also publicly opposed the park.

The decision follows an exercise by Natural Resources Wales (NRW), which concluded that the area satisfied the test for establishing a park.

Davies said a "significant volume of evidence" had been gathered since NRW conducted the exercise, with "strong feelings in favour and strong feelings against".

He said potential benefits had been highlighted, such as enhancing nature recovery, strengthening climate resilience, and supporting recreation and sustainable tourism.

But important questions had also been raised about affordability, value for money, and "potential impacts on local communities, infrastructure, energy developments, housing and the Welsh language".

He said he had given a "provisional view" and he encouraged interested individuals and organisations to submit views via e-mail or through the post.

Reacting to the news, Llangollen business owner Leanne Robinson said if the proposal increased tourism and footfall in the area then "it would benefit a lot of the local businesses".

She added: "I suppose with a lot of things there are always pros and cons but purely from a business point of view I do think it would benefit the town."

Fellow business owner Julie Davies said they were "already struggling to cope with the amount of tourists" they get in the area.

"Toilets, parking, accommodation, building, planning, if we become a national park there are going to be so many more rules and regulations involved in developing," she said.

"We are a very beautiful area and we're really really busy, but we can't cope. We lose customers because they can't park here. We let people use our toilets because they haven't got a pound to pay for the toilet. Where's the money coming from?

"We're hanging on to our public toilets by the skin of our teeth, and they expect the local businesses to let them use our toilets. We're very happy for them to use our toilets but we need their business as well."

Trevor Bates, Wrexham county councillor for Dyffryn Ceiriog, said there were "certainly possible pros" for the proposal.

"We will get more visitors in the area which is what we as a business thrive off," he said.

"However, as someone who also lives here and has grown up here, I know there are concerns and some cons that people have put forward that also need very close consideration... an influx of traffic, road systems and infrastructure."

Reform's Adrian Mason, who represents Clwyd, welcomed Davies' statement, and said he applauded the recognition "that there remain too many unanswered questions to confirm the designation order or to conduct a public inquiry at the moment".

Welsh Conservative leader in the Senedd, Darren Millar - who represents the same constituency - said NRW had seemed "to have gone bonkers with the felt-tip pen, drawing a huge area into the new proposed national park".

"What we've really got to do is to make sure that the beauty that we're all able to enjoy... in a way that is well managed," he said, and "did not hinder responsible landowners from continuing to be able to manage their land".

He said if the park was so important to Labour they could have asked for it as a part of its deal on Plaid's mini-budget.

Rose O'Neill, chief executive of Campaign for National Parks, said the Welsh government had "failed to show the leadership required", and demonstrated "a telling lack of faith in the power and potential of Welsh national parks from the new government".

On Radio Wales Breakfast ahead of the announcement, former First Minister Mark Drakeford said not going ahead with the park would be "another blow to the good name of this new government in the environment field".

"I'm afraid there are already signs that it is not he government that was promised when it comes to protecting the environment," he said.