SPECIAL STATUS FOR CAMBRIAN MOUNTAINS
Glyn Davies, Welsh Conservative AM for Mid and West Wales has met with leaders of the Cambrian Mountains Society to discuss ways of giving greater protection to the landscapes of Central Wales. The meeting took place at the Elan Valley Visitors Centre under the shadow of the famous Elan Valley Dam.
Following the meeting Glyn Davies, who is Chair of the Assembly's environment, Planning and Countryside Committee and who also became a member of the Cambrian Mountains Society soon after it was established said:
"The Cambrian Mountains offer us a wondrous landscape which merits designation as a very special place - and we need to remember that farmers have played a major part in maintaining these mountains in all their glory. We need to find a way of making sure that the farming which has maintained the Cambrian Mountains is itself maintained into the future by payments within the reformed Common Agriculture Policy (CAP). Designation of the Cambrian Mountains as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) could create the backdrop for some form of agri-environment payment. I hope that local Councils, AM's and MP's will consider the case for special designation over the next few weeks. Also, I have not the slightest doubt the name, 'The Cambrian Mountains' evoke an image with the potential to greatly strengthen the local economy through tourism." However, Welsh Republicans have argued that tourism is a major factor in the colonisation of the Heartlands by England.
The AM continues "Special designations have to be very carefully considered. I would not support creating a new National Park with its inevitable bureaucracy and inflexible control of development - but it may be that farmers and councils will welcome designation as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The Cambrian Mountains give us landscapes of such splendour that I would support serious consideration and formal consultation by the Assembly Government on the establishment of a Cambrian Mountains AONB. Let us find out what the people who live and work in the Cambrian Mountains think."
Welsh Republicans are calling for a designated special status for the Welsh Heartlands which would offer protection against the rigorous exploitation of tourism; a local Land Act which would prohibit the sale of second holiday homes to English settlers and a financial committment to farming and homesteads as the bedrock of the Heartlands economy through an improved CAP.
