Brecon and Radnorshire’s Conservative team have pressed decision-makers to swiftly restore canoe launching on the River Wye at Glasbury.
On Friday, James Evans MS and Fay Jones MP met with officials from Powys County Council and Natural Resources Wales to discuss the current ban on launching at The Bont in Glasbury. Launching was prohibited by the local authority after it became clear that previous consent granted by NRW had expired. This forced the Council to conduct a Habitats Regulation Assessment which is a detailed ecological survey to assess the potential impacts of canoe launching on the river, as a Special Area of Conservation.
Miss Jones and Mr Evans took up the issue after hearing the concerns of many local businesses and river users. They set up the meeting in order to hear explanations from both sides and to urge them to prioritise these small businesses who are already struggling in the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic.
Speaking after the meeting, Miss Jones and Mr Evans said:
“Our message was very simple – get on with it. It is deeply unfair that small, local businesses are losing out to over-zealous environmental regulation.
“We are so lucky to have the River Wye on our doorstep. While it needs robust protection, a number of small businesses have used the river responsibly for many years. It is unacceptable that these businesses should be prevented from operating. It is only going to create more problems further downstream – particularly with parking in Hay-on-Wye.
“Some of these businesses are down to their bare bones – we need to give them every chance of making back some of their losses this summer. The local authority and Natural Resources Wales assured us they would move with all possible speed to get this resolved this summer and we will be holding them to that commitment.”
