Update
NRW has just sent us this revised version of their original statement:
We know our visitor centres are a much-loved resource among locals and visitors from further afield and the staff who operate them are rightly considered to be the face of NRW.
However, public funding is exceptionally tight across the whole of the UK. As such, we are having to look across all of our remit and critically review what we can and must continue do, what we stop, and what we slow or do differently to fulfil our Corporate Plan ambitions. This is no different to any other public sector body at the moment.
Over the coming months we’ll be drawing up options and recommendations for their future. We are currently talking to other public sector organisations, and others, about how we can deliver the visitor model differently. NRW is attending a public meeting at Ganllwyd Community Council on 1 February and will attend a similar one in Borth, date to be confirmed. The information provided at these forums, as well as correspondence received, will be used in our review and form part of our Board discussion in March.
Here’s the original article:
Coed-y-Brenin was the UK’s first purpose built trail centre, and paved the way for the growth of the mountain biking scene all over the UK. Now it seems the visitor centre there – and others across Wales – are under threat, as budgets are reviewed. However, looking into it creates more questions than answers – what is Natural Resources Wales (NRW) actually considering?
Reports that visitor centres across Wales were under review and threat of closure first surfaced in local press reports in December. Having talked to locals, it appears that the news filtered out via staff, rather than through a formal ‘We’re doing a review’ public announcement or consultation process. We’ve asked NRW to provide us with details of where the announcement was made, or the relevant board meeting where the review was initiated, but as yet we’ve had no answer and the NRW staffer we spoke to was unable to locate the information on their website. We do however have this statement from the press office:
Elsie Grace, Head of Sustainable Commercial Development for NRW, said:
“We know our visitor centres are a much-loved resource among locals and visitors from further afield and the staff who operate them are rightly considered to be the face of NRW.
However, public funding is exceptionally tight across the whole of the UK. As such, we are having to look across all of our remit and critically review what we can and must continue do, what we stop, and what we slow or do differently to fulfil our Corporate Plan ambitions. This is no different to any other public sector body at the moment.
Our visitor centres are part of this review, but no decision has yet been made on how they will operate in the future. Our review focuses on the offer at our visitor centre buildings and their curtilage – car parks, for example.
The National Nature Reserves and Forests around visitor centres are key sites for us. There is no question that we want to conserve and protect these sites so that nature can recover, and we are unequivocal that public access to these sites will be maintained. We will continue to carry out all statutory duties, and will consider the indirect effects of any recommendations.
Over the coming months we’ll be drawing up options and recommendations for their future, based on our evidence collated and also feedback from users such as yourself. The final decisions for 2024/25 will be made by our Board before the end of March.”
So, NRW has confirmed that a review is underway, but hasn’t told us where this was decided or announced. We have also asked repeatedly to be told how people can provide ‘feedback from users’ in order to inform their decision making process, but again, no response so far. Usually we’d expect these to be fairly simple questions to answer for any public body.
Frustrated and worried by the rumours, local residents and politicians in the Coed-y-Brenin have arranged a public meeting, at which they hope an NRW representative will be able to provide more clarity. One of the organisers told us they submitted an FOI request to NRW requesting financial information about the running costs and profits from the centres, but told us they were referred to the corporate accounts and informed no breakdown of profit/loss by visitor centre was available.
The residents hope that the meeting will allow them not only to find out what NRW is planning, but also to set out a vision for what they think the Coed-y-Brenin visitor centre and wider forest attractions should look like for the future. Many of these residents have invested heavily in providing accommodation for tourists attracted to the trails, and are worried that the closure of the centre will result in a drop in visitor numbers. We were told that there is a feeling among the community that NRW is the custodian of the land, but that it belongs to the community and the people of Wales, so NRW should be managing it in line with their interests and needs.
Ahead of any NRW Board decision, the community hopes this meeting will allow them discuss what they want Coed-y-Brenin to look like in future. Let’s hope this isn’t the end of the trail for this origin story. We’ll provide more information on what’s under review and how you can provide your views if or when we get it.
Join in the Forum chat on this topic here.
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