Welsh slate Unesco for ‘attracting too many English’
CAMPAIGNERS fear Wales’s newest Unesco landmark site will attract too many English tourists.
The slate landscape of north-west Wales, known for its historic quarrying, has been accredited as the UK’S latest World Heritage site.
But campaigners in Gwynedd have warned that this could cause an influx of tourists to the area and turn Welsh communities into “ghost towns”.
Incoming English-speakers could buy more second homes and turn the area into a “playground” for holidaymakers at the expense of residents, according to Cylch Yr Iaith, a Welsh language campaign group.
Howard Huws, of Cylch Yr Iaith, said: “We’re facing the perfect storm.
“We’ve got rocketing house prices that are turning our Welsh-speaking communities into ghost towns because of people being priced out.
“Now we have this additional effect of a World Heritage site, which is going to bring people, buying holiday homes and second homes.
Some people might be rejoicing, but I’m afraid all that is a house built on sand.
“The cultural and community basis of our culture is being eroded away further and further.
“It may be a great boost to the heritage industry, as they call it, but it has a dire effect.
“We can’t survive as a playground or a holiday park. We need what tourism can’t give us.”
Slate has been quarried in the hills of Gwynedd for almost 2,000 years, but production boomed in the 19th century, and eventually the region serviced the growing demand for roofing created by the industrial revolution.
Extensive quarrying left behind a transformed landscape and distinctive architecture, as well as technical contributions to extraction and advancements in mountain railways.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson backed the bid for Unesco listing – which was also welcomed by Mark Drakeford, Wales’s First Minister – but Mr Huws believes that the new accreditation leaves the area “at risk of over-tourism”.
He added: “The slate industry boomed for about 200 years, but the community has been here for 2,000 years.”
The slate region’s accreditation comes after Liverpool lost its World Heritage status due to the development of its historic waterfront.