What New Wales Tourism Insanity Is This?
I must say that 2025 will see Wales Outdoors give up. We’ll not give up providing five-star guided hikes and tours, we’ll continue to do that, but we’ll give up being concerned and engaged with tourism issues in Wales. Why? We are faced with authority castle building, profligacy, malfeasance and unwanted policy development, all on a grand scale, which stride hand in hand with levels of mismanagement that Basil Fawlty would find it difficult to achieve. All of this combined, we feel, can only be by design, and designed to destroy SMEs in tourism in Wales. And no matter who or how loud the complainants or complaining, the authority machinery keeps on grinding its cogs, with SMEs caught between the teeth. The voices of the people, the providers, the operators, these voices are not heard. And if these voices are of no consequence to the authorities then, quite honestly, what is the point in the raising of them?
We’ll keep this brief so that it can be posted in the final days of 2024, and then that’s it—no more complaining or campaigning. We therefore, now, ask you to compare the actions at the following two locations…
Llancaiach Fawr - We think that Llancaiach Fawr is the finest of all tourist attractions in Wales! It offered a unique tour of ‘the 1645 house’, in costume and dialect from that period. Llancaiach Fawr closed its doors for the final time on the 22nd of December as Caerphilly County Borough Council could not turn a profit from this hidden gem. And yes, it was a hidden gem as Caerphilly CBC were woeful at promoting it. Despite this, it saw large numbers of school group visits and locals loved it, some visiting numerous times in each year. It was a wedding venue and hosted meetings and even occasional ghost tours. But Caerphilly CBC says it was losing £500,000 a year.
A sorrye example of mismanagement at this location is the inability to service customers - On one occasion in September I took a group there hoping to have lunch. On that day the fully equipped professional kitchen had no food available…
Llancaiach Fawr is a little out of the way and Caerphilly CBC made no effort to encourage tourists accommodated in Cardiff to visit by running a bus service or by linking county attractions with a discount card. Indeed, Caerphilly does not promote the major attractions in the CBC area to visitors resident in Cardiff, you know, the city where most visitors to Wales decide to be accommodated. It is this mismanagement, such as not encouraging visits and not having food available in a cafe that suggests to us that local authorities should not be managing attractions or indeed any tourist services…
In the week that saw Llancaich Fawr close, another local authority, Neath Port Talbot Council, passed plans to develop a new tourist facility at Pontneddfechan.
Pontneddfechan Waterfalls - Wales Outdoors walk in the waterfalls area of the Brecon Beacons National Park more than anyone else. More than National Park wardens, more than Natural Resources Wales management, more than the locals who live in this wonderful area. Wales Outdoors has worked in the area for over thirty years, has delivered gorge walking, mine exploration, guided walks and team building. We have filmed here with the Foreign Office, selling Wales to the Chinese market, with BBC 1, BBC 2, ITV and with S4C, making a range of programmes featuring both Wales Outdoors and Wales and the Waterfalls Area in particular. We are THE experts on the rivers, the trails, the users and the access issues.
Neath Port Talbot Council have decided to spend 7.7 million pounds of public money on a scheme that the locals do not want, that is not needed and is in opposition to the policies for the area as espoused by the Brecon Beacons National Park and Natural Resources Wales. Read All About It HERE.
Given that Wales Outdoors works the trails in the area more than anyone else we can say with authority that we have not encountered any issues regarding parking at Pontneddfechan over the past couple of years. We don’t work weekends, a decision as a responsible and sustainable provider we took a few years back, but we have been in the area on some busy weekend dates and have noted that there remained plenty of parking and chaos was not the order of the day. Wales Outdoors also work with limited group sizes, usually no more than about eight clients.
Of concern and likely to cause chaos every now and again are the charity fundraising events and adventure activity businesses that bring in large stag and hen parties, coach loads of school groups and management and team development groups. The authorities can do something about these vicarious and inconsiderate events and provisions, but the authorities chose not to. Indeed the authorities encourage overuse of the area by setting quotas for gorge walking, for example, too high. One adventure activity business, and there are very many, can have up to 75 clients in the rivers of the waterfalls area at any one time… Just do the maths on that, especially as there is climbing and caving also available in the area…
However, on all but a small handful of dates across the year the village of Pontneddfechan copes well enough with the visitors who choose to come and enjoy the three pubs, the trails and of course the waterfalls. It is not the starting point for adventure activities in the area and is the less popular of the two four waterfall trails.
Both the Brecon Beacons National Park and Natural Resources Wales are actively looking to reduce parking and so visitor numbers to the area. These authorities have proven to be unable to manage the waterfalls area, as Wales Outdoors has clearly demonstrated on several occasions, and these authorities mismanagement has put visitors at risk with poor path maintenance, poor signage and the closure of a popular path without any plan to manage visitors post closure.
Did Neath Port Talbot Council chat to these authorities involved with the waterfalls area management? Building another car park in an area where these authorities are actively trying to reduce visitor numbers seems rather odd. Especially when the locals don’t want the development. Until you look at what is really going on.
It’s all about castle building and very likely a good few backhanders too…
Once again then we see democracy at work. The residents do not want it, the engaged providers do not want it, and the other authorities do not want it, but, because a pot of cash has been found, taxpayers’ cash remember, NPTC will build it. The farmer and the pubs in the village are the only businesses with skin in the game that are happy. And good for them, we wish them well, but we truly believe there are far better uses of 7.7 Million…
And what could this 7.7 Million have been better spent on? Here’s the Wales Outdoors suggestions:
Toilets at Clungwyn
Path maintenance throughout the area (the paths remain some of the worst in the Brecon Beacons)
Better signage and path markers throughout the area
Simple map based leaflets for both of the 4 waterfall walks being the definitive routes for casual visitors. Print on plastic paper and sell at, say, £2 with income going to path maintenance
Reinstatement of the road to Pont Melin Fach
Allowing parking at Pont Melin Fach during the summer months
Refresh of toilets at Pontneddfechan
And that’s it, likely no more than half a million and so a saving to the taxpayer of 7 Million!
Do remember that Sgwd Gwladys, the rather lovely cafe at Pontneddfechan, was once a Tourist Information Centre owned and operated by NPTC. They made a hash of running it and despite the area being the most popular location in the council area they decided to close this important information point. And now they want to spend 7.7 Million in building another on the same site!
What a bunch of absolute idiots NPTC staff are…
Here is the BBC article with my comments in italics:
£7m waterfall tourism plan backed despite protests
Plans to develop one of Wales' most spectacular tourist attractions and reduce the problems caused by visitors have been given the go-ahead.
Some local residents opposed the £7m proposals for Waterfall Country at Pontneddfechan in Bannau Brycheiniog, also known as the Brecon Beacons.
The objections included claims that it could turn a "country village" into a hotspot for tourists, the impact on wildlife, as well as extra pollution, noise and litter.
These will all be the outcome of this development for Pontneddfechan
But the scheme which will see a new car park, shop and holidaymaker accommodation was approved by councillors, and it will aim to provide a permanent parking solution for the area.
There is no issue with parking and local authorities have no business developing a tourist attraction. Further, if you build it people will come - look at the M25.
The plans were put forward by Neath Port Talbot council to "ease visitor pressures" in an area known for its stunning waterfalls, scenery and countryside.
They were approved unanimously by the council planning committee, and came after a successful funding application to the UK government's Levelling Up Fund worth more than £7m.
Councillors were told that as well as a 125-space car park with a new access point for vehicles, improvements would include a children's play park, eight bedrooms for tourists, a coffee kiosk and a road upgrade.
Existing buildings and a toilet block will be knocked down, and a farm track created to the west of the site.
The toilets ast Pontneddfechan were built at a cost of £150,000 in 2011. The contractor did a poor job and for a couple of years the toilets were a danger to the public. Despite the size of the block there are toilets for just two people at any one time…
The project will also try to tackle parking problems in the area, which has been known to face serious issues with traffic during busy summer months, with lines of cars often seen covering roads and pavements to the frustration of "overwhelmed" residents.
Apalling journalist and totally not true. And if true this would be on a handful of days each year and therefore is nothing a visible parking warden would not solve…
Councillor Simon Knoyle said he had campaigned for the project since he had become a member of the local authority.
And one wonders why? Simon has a quantity surveying business and it appears his main aim in being a councillor is to network for that business. Just look at this report by Glynneath residents on Simon’s involvement in corruption leading to their statement as follows: ‘Simon Knoyle was clearly working for his own personal interests and not those of the people he was elected to serve’
Planners were told that a total of 37 local people responded to the proposals, with a number opposed.
Hi BBC - it would have been useful for you to report the figures, right? Like how many were opposed, how many households in the village etc. Were users of the area consulted (they weren’t)…
Other objections included loss of privacy, the erosion of narrow footpaths, a fear that the approach to the village could change and become an area of buildings for tourists, as well as concerns for the livelihood of a local farmer.
But officers said they had been in talks with a farmer, there would not be a loss of privacy, and conditions would be in place to reduce noise.
Officers would say that, wouldn’t they…
Now that approval has been given the work is expected to begin in the coming months.
You can book our walks through the Wales Outdoors Website.
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