‘EVERY EFFORT’ MUST BE MADE TO SECURE NATURE RESERVE FUTURE
ENVIRONMENT minister Lesley Griffiths said Welsh Government officials have become involved in efforts to find a new body to look after the Kenfig National Nature Reserve.
On Tuesday, October 8 the Assembly Member for South Wales West, Suzy Davies, criticised the Kenfig Corporation Trust which owns the Kenfig National Nature Reserve near Porthcawl during a meeting at the Senedd.
Asking the environment minister about the role of Welsh Government in protecting privately-owned nature reserves of national importance, the Welsh Conservative AM said local residents and volunteers were naturally very concerned, adding the trust had been anything but communicative and transparent about their proposals.
In a written response to Mrs Davies the following day, the environment minister said: “Due to the importance of the site I agree that every effort should be made to secure its future management and my officials have had initial discussions with Natural Resources Wales to raise the issue.
“In recent years there has been a great deal of beneficial work done at both Kenfig and Merthyr Mawr under the EU-funded Sands of Life project.
“The benefits of that work need to be secured for the long term as both sites are covered by UK and EU designations, so any future management responsibilities would need to relate to future scenarios.”
At the end of December Bridgend County Borough Council’s (BCBC) lease expires for the reserve after several decades of site management by local government.
But there is still no news from the reserve’s owners on which organisation will take over the management. More than 3,000 people have signed a petition to raise awareness of the “threatened” nature reserve.
Earlier this week BCBC’s cabinet member for education and regeneration, Charles Smith, said that a meeting with NRW had revealed they were looking at linking with a major, nationally-recognised conservation body to manage the reserve.
The Kenfig National Nature Reserve comprises about 1,300 acres of managed coastal sand dunes and wetlands on the coastline between Porthcawl and Port Talbot and is regarded as one of the finest examples of a sand dune habitat in Europe.
The reserve is home to many rare species of plants, insects, birds and animals.
In a statement released last month the trust said it was “working hard to look into options”, adding that discussions were ongoing.