Wales' national park authorities must be merged into one, says Dafydd Elis Thomas - Wales Online

Wales' national park authorities must be merged into one, says Dafydd Elis Thomas - Wales Online:



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Dafydd, I think you have far more support than you might believe for a further reduction in the number of local authorities than the Report recommends. I also believe that NRW should take on the job of managing our landscape whether it is a Welsh National Park, an AONB or any other part of our beautiful country, the imaginary NP boundaries that suffocate communities need to be redrawn because the land is privately owned and the state should not interfere more than is necessary in the national interest, our nation, Wales.

BBC News - Snowdonia National Park's new chief warns of job cuts

BBC News - Snowdonia National Park's new chief warns of job cuts: "The chair of the park authority, Caerwyn Roberts, said: "These are challenging times for Wales' national parks and Emyr Williams's strong leadership will be a valuable asset to us as the authority faces the tough challenges ahead.""

The biggest challenge is abolition and they can't do anything about that now, they can only blame themselves.


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BBC News - Freak storm destroys trees at Llanbedr, Gwynedd

BBC News - Freak storm destroys trees at Llanbedr, Gwynedd:

God moves in mysterious ways.

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BBC News - National parks visitors spend £1bn according to report

BBC News - National parks visitors spend £1bn according to report: "However, he added: "People come to the national parks because of the landscape and the people who live there - they don't come because of the national park authorities."

The Authorities do nothing for the communities as far as social and economic wellbeing is concerned, the fact that people visit and spend in these areas is not directly attributable to the existence of a layer of local government, however the effect of a restrictive planning regime costs the regions many more £millions in lost business opportunities, Llanbedr airfield being a case in point!

Simon Hart is a breath of fresh air with regard to the elitist concept of national parks where the less affluent cannot afford to visit and the residents suffer from what international human rights observers describe as ‘soft eviction’ and ‘voluntary resettlement’, the problem with Wales is that well over 50% of the land area is a protected landscape, this is unsustainable and of no economic benefit to the indigenous population.

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Fear for future of tourist information centres as visitor numbers fall by 7,000 - North Wales Weekly News

Fear for future of tourist information centres as visitor numbers fall by 7,000 - North Wales Weekly News: " Although the future of the visitor centres had not yet reached the “critical point”, Mr Williams said their future was just one aspect that the SNPA was looking at in the way it assessed its effectiveness."

The whole concept of national parks needs to be revisited, can we Welsh afford them?

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Housing associations provide a major boost to the Welsh economy - Wales Online

Housing associations provide a major boost to the Welsh economy - Wales Online: "“In the past year we have pumped hundreds of millions of pounds into the Welsh economy "

Whose money is it?


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Language campaigners demand re-think of Welsh budget - Wales Online

Language campaigners demand re-think of Welsh budget - Wales Online: "According to the draft budget, spending on the language  will fall from £25,076,000 this year to £24,376,000 in 2014-15, falling further to £23,511,000 in 2015-16. That would be a cut of £700,000 next year and £856,000 in the following year."

How many affordable homes could we build every year for that sort of money?

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