Moorland field officer role to help tackle gorse blazes

A NEW job is to be created to stop another fire like the Llantysilio Mountain blaze from happening again.

Last summer gorse and heather on the hills around the Horseshoe Pass burned for three months.

But councillors have heard that spending cuts meant a staff member who could have stopped the fire from spreading was not in place.

The fire which started during last year’s record breaking summer lasted from July 19 until September 25.

290 hectares of land on the Horseshoe Pass was damaged by the fire.

Members of Denbighshire’s communities scrutiny committee meeting heard that a lack of land management made the fire worse than it should have been.

The report prepared by the committee highlighted practices like small controlled fires and regular mowing that could help prevent future blazes.

As part of its recommendations the committee called for a moorland field officer to be appointed to work with farmers to carry out land management in the area.

The report noted that there had been a moorland field officer who identified overgrown areas and had vegetation that was a fire risk removed.

However funding for this job ended in 2012 and no replacement was found.

Llandrillo/Cynwyd county councillor, Mabon ap Gwynfor, welcomed the idea of bringing back the officer.

He said: “It’s obvious that there are cuts that have happened over the years.

“One of those cut was the moorland field officer that we had previously.

“Because of these cuts is one of the reasons we had the fire.

“Accepting that we need such an officer I am keen that authorities commit to developing such a role.”