FEARS FOR TOWN’S ROAMING GOATS
ALLOWING goats to freely roam the streets of a Welsh seaside town is not “sustainable”, a politician has said. Llandudno’s Kashmiri goats have become world famous after taking over the town during the pandemic lockdowns.
They still roam the streets and while they are often entertaining, there are also difficulties with them co-existing with residents and visitors in the busy resort.
This was brought into sharp focus last weekend after four goats were killed when a vehicle struck a herd on the A470 at Wormhout Way.
Wil Owen, who arrived at the scene shortly after the crash last Sunday, said he saw three dead goats and two or three others had injuries. Conwy council later confirmed four goats died.
Aberconwy MS Janet Finch Saunders now wants organisations to come together to find a lasting solution that ensures the welfare of the goats and motorists.
She suggested the Senedd could bring in legislation to protect the goats and to formally lay out responsibilities for all the agencies involved.
The MS said: “It is extremely sad that some of our beloved goats have now been killed on the roads.”
She added: “This speaks to the wider issue of co-existing and how difficult it is to have them freely roaming the streets and highways. Clearly this is not sustainable, lest we find ourselves dealing with another fatal accident.
“This is why I have written to Conwy County Borough Council, Llandudno Town Council, Mostyn Estates Ltd, Natural Resources Wales, RSPCA, the National Trust and North Wales Police to inform them that I will be writing to the Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs to seek a solution that is sustainable and manageable for all parties.
“I know that this is a very contentious issue; however, it is my duty as the member for Aberconwy to ensure that constituents and visitors are safe and that the goats can peacefully live in Llandudno. I will continue to search for a solution here as this is not an issue we can turn a blind eye to.”
Mr Owen was driving on the A470 with friends when they came across a car with its hazard lights on.
He said: “After a few seconds we realised there were two badly injured goats in the middle of the road.
“We then realised that something bad had happened so we parked the car to the side of the road.
“As we started to walk to the car that had hit the goats we then realised how bad this actually was.
“There were three goats that were unfortunately dead and possibly two or three more that were injured and had run off.
“The car had sustained very bad damage, it looked like a write-off.”
Conwy council and the Welsh Government were asked to comment.