CLOSED Wales's New National Park Proposal - Public Engagement Period 2023

Overview

Visit the Cynnig Parc Cenedlaethol Newydd Cymru – Ymgysylltu Cyhoeddus 2023 page to view this page in Welsh or return to Wales's New National Park Proposal information page. 

We ran a 7 week early public engagement period from Monday 9 October until Monday 27 November 2023.

We held a series of online and in-person engagement events which offered an opportunity to learn more about the project, ask questions of the team and share feedback on an early map of the area being assessed, referred to as the Area of Search.

The Area of Search Map

The Area of Search showed the geographical limits within which we would be evaluating if the statutory criteria for a National Park are satisfied. The area includes a number of landscapes that in combination with the existing Clwydian Range and Dee Valley AONB (now known as a ‘National Landscape’) have the potential to meet statutory landscape designation criteria. The Area of Search was not the boundary of a proposed National Park and further refinement was anticipated as we progressed through the process.

The Area of Search showed the geographical limits within which we would be evaluating if the statutory criteria for a National Park are satisfied. The area includes a number of landscapes that in combination with the existing Clwydian Range and Dee Valley AONB (now known as a ‘National Landscape’) have the potential to meet statutory landscape designation criteria. The Area of Search was not the boundary of a proposed National Park and further refinement was anticipated as we progressed through the process.

Ash Pearce, Project Manager, said:

“There will be a full consultation on a proposed boundary map in 2024 when we have completed our assessments and refined the map. At this stage the map simply defines the area to focus our assessment work, we are interested in listening to and understanding all stakeholders’ points of view. I would urge anyone interested in the project to visit one of our online or in-person drop-in events to find out more about the work we are doing and share your feedback with us by completing a questionnaire.”

The dates, times, and location of the events held are captured in the table below.

Engagement events – October and November 2023:

*Drop-in at any time between these times.

People were encouraged to drop by at the in-person events, there is no need to book a place. If interested in taking part in one of the online events, email the project team at designated.landscapes.programme@naturalresourceswales.gov.uk with your name, state your interest (e.g. resident, community leader, landowner, farmer, business owner, organisation representative, etc) and which event you are interested in (the date). These will be bilingual events with simultaneous translation provided.

The engagement period was publicised through our webpage, social media outlets plus local print and national news coverage on both the ITV and BBC evening news programmes.

We were delighted to speak to over seven hundred people (619 in person and 105 online). We also received 966 questionnaire responses. We carefully analysed all of the responses and presented the findings in a 2023 Engagement Report.