Natural Resources Wales has no intention of closing visitor centres at sites that contribute £37m to the economy and attract 750,000 people a year, Deputy First Minister Huw Irranca-Davies has told the Senedd.
He sought to clarify uncertainty surrounding the future of the Bwlch Nant yr Arian, Coed y Brenin and Ynyslas visitor centres.
Mr Irranca-Davies who is also Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs, told the Senedd: “Natural Resources Wales have made clear and have assured me directly that it is not their intention to close their visitor centres. They’ve made it clear throughout the ‘case for change’ that it is indeed seeking partners which are better placed to provide the retail and the catering services in these centres.”
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Mr Irranca-Davies said NRW’s board will be making a decision at its autumn meeting. However, Mabon ap Gwynfor warned the changes, to all intents and purposes, mean closing. The Plaid Cymru politician feared the visitor centre at Coed y Brenin in his Dwyfor Meirionnydd constituency could close by Christmas.
He said: “People know that it's going to be closing by April or May, so the workforce currently there are looking for alternative employment, and the place will have to close as a result.” He added: “It’ll be mothballed, in one way, but in reality will be closed.”
Mr ap Gwynfor warned of a “cliff edge” with a tender in May, saying: “The place will have to close before someone else can actually come to reopen it, possibly in two years' time.
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“That isn't good enough. Once the place has closed, it will be more difficult to reopen. The brand will have lost its value.”
He urged the Welsh Government to provide an extra £1.2m for NRW to retain the centres and provide an opportunity to transition to community ownership.
Carolyn Thomas led the Senedd debate after nearly 15,000 people signed petitions to save the three visitor centres near Aberystwyth and Dolgellau.
The Labour petitions committee chair raised comments from Clare Pillman, NRW’s chief executive, who warned of a £13m funding gap over the next two years.
Ms Thomas, who visited Ynyslas last weekend, said campaigners told her NRW has been defensive and closed to discussion about meaningful solutions.
“Mothballing could be devastating, no matter how long,” she warned. Ms Thomas explained that the visitor centre would still be used as an office for the warden but would not be open to the public “which makes no sense”.
The former councillor said: “There are many people parking on the beach, willing to pay the £4 charge but nobody was collecting it.”
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Janet Finch-Saunders, the Conservatives’ shadow climate secretary, was alarmed that NRW needs to make £13m in savings, with 260 jobs set to be lost as a result.
She said: “The focus should be on finding sustainable funding solutions and alternative staffing options, not making cuts that will diminish the value of these treasured spaces. The future of these centres must be secured for the benefit of all.”
Cefin Campbell said the three sites contribute about £37m a year to the Welsh economy.
The Plaid Cymru politician, who represents Mid and West Wales, said: “Let's think for a moment about the message and the optics of the decision to close these centres in respect of providing the warm Welsh welcome that we’re famous for.”
Mr Campbell raised concerns about “inflexible bureaucracy” potentially standing in the way of alternative options, such as cooperatives adopting the centres.
Labour’s Jenny Rathbone pointed out that NRW is responsible for vital conservation work, inspection and enforcement of pollution incidents and flood management.
She said: “We really don't need them to be operators of visitor centres, and it seems to me to be entirely sensible that they're thinking, 'What is it we don't need to do in order to concentrate on the things we must do?'.”
Ms Rathbone said tourism businesses told the economy committee NRW was not the best fit and it would be perfectly possible for another operator to run the centres profitably.
But the Cardiff Central MS raised concerns about NRW “refusing to talk” to local organisations that have expressed an interest in taking on the centres.
She said: “We really do want to ensure that they're taken over as a going concern, rather than closing them and then reopening them.”