Carmarthenshire’s landscape campaigners have launched a campaign to designate the Towy Valley an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). The campaign seeks to build on the emerging political consensus regarding the importance of the Towy Valley and also Natural Resources Wales existing description of the landscape.
National Resources Wales the body which designates AONBs has described the Towy Valley as an outstanding landscape of national importance. Much of the Towy Valley is also a registered historic landscape with its world famous chain of castles. The Towy Valley is scenically and ecologically outstanding. It has ancient prehistoric and Roman links as well as attracting artists and poets through the centuries including Turner.
Campaigners are seeking an AONB designation for the Towy Valley from its source in the Cambrian Mountains to the sea at Carmarthen Bay. The Dyffryn Tywi AONB would conserve and enhance the natural beauty of the landscape along the course of the Towy River, from source to sea, protecting and promoting Carmarthenshire’s key tourism areas from the Llyn Brianne reservoir in the northeast of the county to the estuary at Llansteffan in the south. The Carmarthenshire Residents Action Group (CRAiG Sir Gar) has written to Carmarthenshire’s political representatives at Council, Senedd and Parliamentary level asking for their backing for the Dyffryn Tywi AONB. The Carmarthenshire Residents Action Group (CRAiG) is appealing for members of the public to get involved with the campaign. All those who value the special landscape of Dyffryn Tywi are invited to get involved so that it is safeguarded for current and future generations.
Landscape Campaigner Havard Hughes commented:
“Having challenged Carmarthenshire County Council on their deletion of the Special Landscape areas and following the motion condemning the plan to erect pylons, we’re seeking cross party support for a Dyffryn Tywi AONB.
Our political representatives from Adam Price MS to Cllr Darren Price and from Westminster to County Hall have all come out opposing development of the Towy Valley. We are therefore seeking to build on this consensus to have Dyffryn Tywi designated an AONB by Natural Resources Wales giving the special historic landscape of the Towy Valley the status it deserves.”
Conservationist and Towy Valley resident Tara-Jane Sutcliffe commented:
“Given the rich natural and historic environment of the Towy Valley, it is remarkable that it has not yet been afforded recognition and protected status as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Protected landscapes play a valuable role in tackling some of our most pressing challenges: halting habitat degradation, promoting biodiversity and supporting action on climate change. They provide multiple public benefits, including for health and wellbeing, and contribute significant economic value. The National Association for AONBs, for example, estimates that protected landscapes contribute some £24 billion per year to the UK economy.
Designation of the Towy Valley as a protected landscape would present a win all round: benefitting nature, as well as all those who visit, live and work in the area.”
Notes to editors:
- An AONB is land protected by the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000. It protects the land to conserve and enhance its natural beauty. Criteria for ‘natural beauty’ include:
- landscape quality, where natural or man-made landscape is good quality,
- scenic quality, such as striking coastal landforms,
- relative wildness, such as distance from housing or having few roads,
- relative tranquillity, where natural sounds, such as streams or birdsong are predominant,
- natural heritage features, such as distinctive geology or species and habitat,
- cultural heritage, which can include the built environment that makes the area unique, such as archaeological remains or historic parkland.
- Elsewhere in Wales, AONBs have been designated in the Llŷn Peninsula (Gwynedd), Anglesey, the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley (across Denbighshire, Flintshire, Wrexham), the Wye Valley (in Monmouthshire) and the Gower Peninsula (Swansea): the latter as early as 1956.
- The Towy Valley AONB is detailed in the attached map based on Natural Resources Wales LANDMAP criteria
- The boundaries of the new AONB fall outside the wind industrial zone designated by the Welsh Government in Wales 2040 which covers much of North Carmarthenshire from Pembrokeshire to Llandovery.
- According to research from the County Council, 2.32million visitors came to Carmarthenshire in 2021, generating £412 million for the local economy. https://www.carmarthenshire.gov.wales/home/business/tourism/research-trends-development/#.ZCwYHHbMJPY
- The Towy Valley is at the very heart of Discover Carmarthenshire’s tourism offer from the county. The river provides a wealth of attractions. The 16-mile Towy Valley Cycle Path linking Carmarthen to Llandeilo – a project sponsored by Carmarthenshire County Council and awarded £16.7m of UK Government funding in 2021 – demonstrates the strength of cross-party recognition of the scenic beauty and amenity value of the Towy Valley.