Welsh Govt looks to shelve £11m North Wales national park
Having looked at the cost to establish Glyndŵr National Park and the level of opposition around it – including the objections and concerns from all five local authorities in the region – cabinet minister Dafydd Trystan Davies has said he is not minded to pursue the project any further.
Glyndŵr National Park had been pitched for around 230,000 acres of land in Denbighshire, Flintshire, Gwynedd, Powys, and Wrexham counties. Its development had been part of a 2021 campaign promise from the Labour Party.
Labour lost its majority in the Senedd in May, with Plaid Cymru claiming the most seats and forming a minority administration.
Addressing the Senedd this week, Davies stressed that this is not a final decision and that he would listen to further representations before delivering a formal verdict.
However, it does not look optimistic for fans of creating a new national park.
Opponents to the scheme had cited issues around funding, governance, infrastructure needs, development, and the Welsh language.
Protecting biodiversity, driving sustainable tourism, bolstering economies had all been touted as benefits of establishing the park, which would have been the first new national park in Wales since 1957.
Davies pointed to work already being done to support sustainable farming, restore hedgerows, and improve woodland management to create a connected and resilient landscape in Wales.
He told the Senedd: “It therefore appears to me that the objectives identified through the designation process may be delivered through alternative mechanisms, without establishing a new national park authority and without incurring the ongoing financial commitments that the designation would require.”
Those costs would be to the tune of more than £11m, according to Davies.
Work has been ongoing since 2024 on the park, when Gillespies was appointed to work with Countryscape and Fiona Fyfe Associates to assist Natural Resource Wales in forming a location for Glyndŵr National Park.
