So, a group of outdoor professionals wanted to gain a resource that would be educational and would help to protect the environment. They gave up much of their spare time to drive the project forward. After two years - nothing....... the bureaucrats got in the way!
I copy here some correspondence, names removed, between myself and the authority that was to assist with the development of the resources.......
FROM THE AUTHORITY
First off - apologies there has been no movement on this issue for over 3 months now, the reasons for this are explained below.
As some of you know, I have been working to produce a Code of Conduct for gorge walking that would apply equally to all gorges in the park and all the various activity providers.
The busiest gorge in the national park is the Sychryd at Dinas Rock, which is part of the Coed Nedd a Mellte Special Area of Conservation (SAC) a site of international importance. It is an offence under the Habitat Regulations 1996 to damage an SAC.
The Code of Conduct is required to ensure that damage from organised outdoor activities such as Gorge Walking is eliminated. However, it is now clear that we cannot simply produce a Code of Conduct and that we (meaning BBNPA, CCW and FCW) have to undertake a series of Appropriate Assessments as required by the Habitat Regulations. Therefore we have to follow this procedure before we can produce any guidance.
This means that it will likely be next year before we can provide you with an approved Code of Conduct for Gorge Walking within the SAC. The SAC is a very high level of protection and therefore any Code is likely to restrict gorge walking to a small area of the SAC, where BBNPA and CCW can justify it being allowed to continue.
I would like to stress that we will make every effort to accommodate gorge walking within this international important site, but that all activity providers should expect greatly increased restrictions on the use of the SAC.
Several people have raised concerns on how this will be policed, given that the site is open access land. We will be greatly relying on the good will and understanding of activity providers to follow any code that is produced. However, I would remind all activity providers that while groups may have a legal right to access the site, this does not mean that the legal protection of the habitat can be ignored.
I would also remind Local Authority run activity groups of their additional responsibilities in having regard to the National Park purposes (section 62, the Environment Act 1992) and the duty to conserve Biodiversity (section 40, Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006).
I would be interested in attending any group meetings of activity providers again in the near future to outline how we will be taking this issue forward. Please let me know of any dates and I will make every effort to attend.
I apologise if this seems like an officious approach to this issue and that the National Park are dictating what activity providers can and can't do. However, we have a responsibility to work with CCW to ensure that the SAC is not damaged and must therefore follow the procedures of the Habitat Regulations.
The European Union takes management of protected sites very seriously and is currently in the process of prosecuting the Portuguese Government - not for damaging a SAC but by failing to follow the correct procedure with regard to the protected site!
FROM ME
These are my personal reflections, not those of the group whose meetings you have attended. Copied to xxxx xxxx as I discussed some of these issues when I bumped into him at Dinas.
I think that you are very wrong in your approach to this issue.
There is only one gorge that is suitable for gorge walking in the BBNP and that is the Sychrydd, because it has already been trashed by industry. Those companies such as xxxx using the Mellte are going against best practice. It is in the Mellte and the Hepste and the Nedd that there are rare lower plant species living at the edges of waterfalls that can and have been destroyed. I say, stop those companies using these rivers.... now.
We approached you in December 2005 and gave you a list of all of the activity locations that we work in with the aim of developing an online educational resource and enabling activity suppliers to easily see if an area that they are working in is of SSI or similar. Codes of conduct for specific areas were to be looked at and to this effect we have offerred
time and resources.
You also said that you would post the old charter group info on the BBNP site for providers to link to.
Nothing......... as far as I am concerned its tumbleweed time.
You obviously have had your own agenda from the start, that being the Sychrydd and the waffle re the other locations has been just that. Your fixation with the Sychrydd is alarming but given that it will have taken (at least) over two years to get any info on it, how long do you think it will take you to offer a park wide service, as was originally discussed?
You say there are issues at the Sychrydd - well, waiting a year and a half to find out what is in danger is simply not good enough. Where is the remedial work promised by you? Where is any guidance re use of the site?
To date you have told us that some rare mosses exist on some trees. OK, fine, tell us where and we will ensure that we do not go near them. Witholding information is being negligent with regards to caring for the environment that we all wish to see preserved.
I rarely work in the gorge anymore but I do wish to see it remain as a resource for all centres. It offers a truly wonderful experience to young people and adults alike and if used carefully and maintained every now and then will not deteriorate.
I ought to apologise for the tone of this email but to be honest I don't want to. I think our group have been duped and the effort and time we have put into this has not achieved what we asked you to help us with and in fact looks likely, given your statement 'I have been working to produce a Code of Conduct for gorge walking that would apply equally to all gorges in the park' to actually damage the wider environments that we so wanted to
help to protect.
Andy Lamb
Wales Outdoors Limited
FROM THE AUTHORITY
Andy,
I am mindful of the frustration the lack of movement on this issue must be to you and other activity leaders. I had hoped to make much more progress, but it is now clear that the European designation, the SAC (Special Area of Conservation) requires both CCW and BBNPA to follow what is a very detailed procedure with regard to managing any operations
that may have potential to harm the SAC.
I agree with you that issues are not confined to the Sychryd, but given the frequency of use in this part of the SAC compared to other areas, it is necessarily a key focus area. I can re-assure you that while following the regulations, ALL parts of the SAC must be considered.
I have been unable to provide you with a more detailed assessment of the most sensitive areas, as the data we have is now 10 years old and does not contain enough detail to be able to inform you with any accuracy.
In regard to the Charter, neither BBNPA or CCW are able to produce any guidance or advice that is not backed up by following the correct procedure.
I can sympathise with your frustration but we really have no other option than to follow the legal mechanism of the Habitat Regulations.
I can assure you that recreational use of the waterfalls area is a priority for us and we will be working with CCW to move this process forward as swiftly as we can.
MY FINAL COMMENTS
I feel that an authority that is there to protect the environment but that cannot cooperate with local adventure providers and tell them what, if anything, is rare or is likely to be damaged by thier activities, that as a landowner has the ability to stop access to the fragile sites used by some providers but consistently does nothing, despite guidelines developed by thier own staff some 13 years ago stating that these fragile sites should not be used and finally, an authority that is developing a guideline that is likely to encourage a broader use of these fragile locations......
Well, I feel that such an authority needs to look very urgently at its mission statement.
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