CLOSED Wales's New National Park Proposal - Public Consultation 2024

Overview

Visit the Cynnig Parc Cenedlaethol Newydd Cymru - Ymghynghoriad Cyhoeddus 2024 page to view this page in Welsh or return to Wales's New National Park Proposal  information page. 

Following  the public engagement period on the Area of Search in late 2023, and a period of evidence gathering, the 2024 public consultation focused on consulting the public on the emerging proposal.

We ran a 10-week public consultation period from Monday 7 October until Monday 16 December 2024 and held a series of online and in-person events. The public consultation events were an opportunity to learn more about the project and evidence gathered to date, ask questions of the team and share feedback on the draft boundary map, referred to as the Candidate Area Map.

The Candidate Area map identifies areas that, after detailed evaluation by an independent and experienced landscape consultant, are found to meet the statutory criteria for a National Park. Download the Candidate Area map in high resolution (200 mb).

For more detail, please see the Evaluation Report and Appendix A: Evaluation Area Figures which informs the Candidate Area map.

Download the detailed maps of the Candidate Area boundary, and view the progression maps showing how the area under assessment has evolved from the Area of Search through to the Candidate Area below. These maps include:

• Area of Search 
• Additional Areas 
• Evaluated Area
• Areas Removed
• Candidate Area

Download the Area of Search map in high resolution (111 mb).

Download the Additional Areas map in high resolution (110 mb).

Download the Evaluation Area map in high resolution (110 mb).

Download the Areas Removed map in high resolution (108 mb).

A short summary of all of the evidence to date can be found in the Summary of Evidence Report. As mentioned above, we encourage you to view this document before completing the questionnaire.  

If interested in the finer details, the full reports below are background documents prepared as part of the designation process to help inform the final decision on the designation of a proposed new National Park:

• Area of Search Report 
• Special Qualities Report 
• Forces For Change Report 
• Management Options (Forces For Change) Report

View a series of Candidate Area photos to give you a taste of the landscape within the Candidate Area. 

View the Engagement Period 2023 Report to see a summary of all the feedback, themes and key points captured following our engagement with you in the autumn and winter of last year.  

Ash Pearce, Programme Manager said:

“While we have a statutory procedure to follow, we want to ensure that this is an inclusive process and that people have the opportunity to share their views on the proposals.

“Early engagement has given us a much clearer picture of the issues, hopes and concerns of the local people and stakeholders. We have identified eleven themes that underline both risks and opportunities for the area. These reflect concerns about over tourism and the impact on housing, but also the hopes for better management, responsible access, conservation and nature’s recovery.

“If a new National Park is established, then it must be able to manage the risks and take advantage of the opportunities available, for the betterment of nature, people, and communities.”

“We have amended the study area in response to local feedback and in the past year, appointed three separate independent consultants to help us develop the evidence that will inform our recommendation. As a result of this work, we now have Candidate Area map that we want to share with the public. We encourage anyone interested, to attend one of the events listed below and complete our questionnaire after viewing the summary of the evidence.”

Similarly to the Engagement Period, people were encouraged to either drop by at an in-person event or email the project team at designated.landscapes.programme@naturalresourceswales.gov.uk to sign up to an online event. People only needed to attend one event as the information shared was the same for each.

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

Public Consultation Drop-in Events 2024:

Public Consultation Online Events 2024:

Public Consultation Targeted Group Events 2024:

Careful analysis of all of the comments, feedback and questionnaire submissions sent to us in response to the 2024 Public Consultation has now been completed. The findings are presented in the 2024 Public Consultation Report.