Plans to create a new Welsh national park stretching from the dunes of north-east Wales to the wild Berwyn mountains and the peaceful, wooded slopes of Lake Vyrnwy further south have captured the imagination of many ramblers, cyclists and other outdoor lovers.
But the Welsh government’s proposals to improve access to nature have been dismissed by an opposition group as creating “a play area for townies”, sparking a furious debate about who the countryside is for.
Elwyn Vaughan, leader of the Plaid Cymru group on Powys county council, who has become a figurehead for the campaign against the park, claims the plan would lead to more “honey pot” beauty spots, which are easily accessible from large cities such as Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool. “There would be huge pressures from the number of visitors … it would lead to the proliferation of holiday homes and Airbnbs. It would lead to litter pollution and parking problems, which we see in places like Snowdonia,” said Vaughan.
People who attended a packed public meeting in the Rhaeadr Valley, where visitors flock to see the highest waterfall in Wales, expressed fears that a national park designation would bring even more visitors to the area. “It is a lovely place but it gets drowned by people in summer,” added Vaughan. “Roads are blocked [with traffic]. Day trippers go to the waterfalls and eat picnics brought from supermarkets. The local expenditure is not fantastic. The butcher in the village doesn’t even open at the weekends because locals cannot get in … so takings are down.
“There was a show of hands and it was more or less unanimous against the national park.”
Vaughan’s views are, however, controversial with other people in Powys. One local man who grew up in a city posted on the councillor’s Facebook page that he found his comments “offensive” as they suggested “people born in industrial or built-up areas don’t deserve the pleasure of enjoying the countryside”.
Walkers, who adore the area’s rugged mountains, wildlife and intimate valleys, are excited by the prospect of a new national park. Michelle Barrett, 38, who grew up in a council house in Liverpool with views of the Clwydian mountain range, which will be part of the park, said the countryside was for everyone. “The news of a national park is absolutely amazing and will open up the landscape for us,” said Barrett, who regularly gets on the train to go hiking in north-east Wales. “Who gets to stipulate who is welcome and who is not? Being able to leave where you live and go to a place where you can breathe a bit of fresh air … that’s a right for everybody.”
Whereas Britain’s original national parks were established in the 1950s to give working people opportunities for open-air recreation and to preserve natural beauty, the new park will also aim to restore the area’s biodiversity and mitigate against the climate crisis. These goals appeal to long-term visitors such as Barrett, who is a supporter of the Right to Roam campaign. The countryside, she said, “is beautiful and you get to see big, wide horizons, which does something for your psyche. But in terms of biodiversity, sometimes I have better experiences with wildlife in my back garden … if [the national park] is going to improve biodiversity, river health and the climate crisis, then that’s exciting.”
Farmers inside the proposed boundaries, however, are concerned that the national park would hold back development, which could imperil their businesses. Sarah Lewis, who runs a sheep and cattle farm near Llanrhaeadr-ym-Mochnant, claims farmers could be stopped from putting up additional buildings or diversifying into haulage or light manufacturing. “Any future development will be stifled because of more stringent planning regulations,” said Lewis. “We will become a museum and a tourist attraction, as opposed to a food production industry … We are canvassing support to ensure [the national park] is stopped in its tracks.”
Lewis fears her daughter would not be able to afford a home in the area. “When you’re in a national park … affluent people from London and places like that think ‘we want a piece of that beautiful countryside’, which is all well and good, but then they buy [homes] at the cost of a young family wanting to remain in the area.”
The cost of running a new national park is also driving local opposition. Powys, which would be expected to contribute 25% of the new park’s budget, needs to make at least £50.9m worth of cuts over the next four years.
Existing national parks have also had their budgets shrink by 40% in the past decade and Natural Resources Wales, which is running the consultation, is closing shops and cafes at its visitor centres and making redundancies. Lewis said: “Surely it would be better to spend it on the essential services, not some pipe dream of another national park?”
Supporters of the plan point out that the first national parks were established by a country emerging from the ravages of the second world war, when national debt peaked at around 270% of GDP.
John Roberts, who chairs The Clwydian Range and Dee Valley National Landscape access committee, which covers part of the proposed new park, said all the national parks should be properly funded: “When national parks were set up … life was very difficult in this country but resources were made available for very significant improvements to people’s access to the countryside.”
He believes national parks could be a crucial part of the country’s efforts to avoid runaway climate change.
The current consultation on a new national park states it would have the secure funding and planning to address problems such as nature restoration and the climate crisis. “The climate is changing … and unless we give national parks the opportunity to address this crisis we’re all going to be in trouble,” said Roberts.
