Cymdeithas Parc Bannau Brycheiniog
Brecon Beacons Park Society
www.breconbeaconsparksociety.org

The article shown below is from the Winter 2007 edition of
 THE BEACON

CHAIRMAN'S JOTTINGS

Halfway through the year, it might be a good idea to review progress and problems that the Society has encountered since its last Annual General Meeting. The expanded Executive has been kept busy and we have increased the frequency of our regular meeting to every six weeks, which places considerable demands on what is still a voluntary enterprise..

Membership

Our membership continues to grow. Since June 2006 we have welcomed 131 new members, an increase of 29%, with the grand total at the end of November standing at 578. Ben Sladen, our new Treasurer and Membership Secretary is having to put a considerable amount of time into just processing new membership applications, apart from his excellent work in reporting and analysing the Society's financial position.

 Communications

As a Society, we try and communicate with our members as much as our meagre finances and voluntary time will allow. However, we realise that we should try and do more, so we are in the process of setting up a procedure whereby members, who give their permission, can be contacted by e-mail, rather than the ever increasingly expensive postal service. This will enable news updates, alterations and information about walks and events programmes, canvassing of members opinions, and even relevant gossip from the National Park to be quickly disseminated amongst our membership. We will still continue with traditional mailing for those who prefer it. Ben Sladen is co-ordinating this venture so contact him if you are not already on our 'e' list.

 Constitution

A sub-committee of the Park Society Executive, led by Roger White has been reviewing our Constitution. They have already discovered a number of minor anomalies and have also been considering the 'Objects' of the Society, in the light of our current and likely anticipated activities. A revised document has now been prepared which will shortly be dispatched to the Charity Commissioners for scrutiny and any necessary amendments will be brought to our next AGM (on 2nd June 2007) for approval.

 Guided Walks and Special Events Programmes

Our new Walks Secretaries, Jim Wilson and Anne Pritchard have continued to produce our much respected Guided Walks programmes. It is generally accepted that the Society provides walkers with the most interesting and varied programme in the UK. and their recently published Winter Programme shows that standards are certainly being maintained. Numbers attending walks over the six months since June 2006 have fallen slightly (by 20%) compared with the same period in 2005, but this may be due to the fact the National Park is finally putting some effort into marketing its own guided walks programme, and we welcome some healthy competition. Our Walks Programme is the Park Society's flagship product and it is good to know that it is in safe hands. 
Clive Eiles has been responsible for the Society providing a regular monthly series of interesting and informative Special Events, with short walks, lectures and presentations throughout the year. These are becoming ever more popular with our members and friends.
We are appreciative of all the hard work that Jim, Anne and Clive put in on our behalf.   

The Newsletter and The Beacon Magazine

Since the 2006 AGM Miriam Griffiths has produced an excellent Autumn edition of our six-monthly Newsletter, which is intended to keep members up to date with issues of concern and to inform us of forthcoming attractions and developments within the National Park. Chris Barber has continued to edit and produce 'The Beacon', our house magazine, the impressive results of which you are now reading. Many thanks to Miriam and Chris for all the time and effort they commit to the Society.

 National Grid Pipeline

The Park Society has been invited to comment, as a non-statutory consultee, on the proposed 1220mm Diameter Natural Gas Pipeline from Felindre (North of Swansea) to Tirley (South-west of Tewksbury), which will enter the National Park south of Llandovery, run almost to Brecon and then re-enter the Park south of Hay-on-Wye for a short section. Our response to this invitation has been dealt with by Roger White and you can view the many hours of work that this has entailed by visiting the 'Society News' page of our web-site and then clicking-on 'National Grid Responses' . Our thanks to Roger and apologies for any sleepless nights that might have ensued!
Many of you will have seen and read the extensive local press and television coverage concerning the damage caused to Mynydd Bach Trecastle by archaeological contractors preparing preliminary excavations on behalf of National Grid. This was initiated by Park Society member Mary Lewis and we wish to thank her for highlighting this serious situation. We hope that by drawing attention to this devastation we might influence the DTI in London to insist on the route through the National Park being abandoned. Roger has written to Alistair Darling, the Secretary of State for Trade & Industry, to this effect.
We are also concerned at the apparent 'acceptance' by Park Officers and Members of the inevitability that the pipeline would be routed through a protected landscape, which is clearly contrary to the purposes of any National Park. Whilst we accept that they made statements opposing the pipeline, we wonder how much more could have been achieved by raising public awareness at an early planning stage. By the time the Park Society was consulted, the route of the pipeline had already been agreed in principle. 

Geopark

In October 2005, a large area within the west of the Brecon Beacons National Park was awarded membership of the prestigious European Geopark Network and given UNESCO Global Geopark recognition. The Brecon Beacons Park Society are represented on the Fforest Fawr Geopark Management Group, along with other local and regional organisations, academics and local community and business representatives. We have been concerned that the Geopark 'status' will be reviewed in October 2008 and that very little has been done so far to further the aims of 'cultural revitalization' or by encouraging 'geotourism'. The National Park is half -way into a supposed three year plan before the possibility of the Geopark status being rescinded and progress has been minimal, to the extent that some of the originators of the scheme are no longer involved! We are also concerned that the management structure cannot be seen to be independent of the National Park, which, we believe, would greatly enhance its credibility at the time of review.

 The Beacons Way

With the sad death of John Sansom in June 2006, much of the driving force behind the Beacons Way walk has been lost. However, the Society has formed a joint working Party with the National Park to try and co-ordinate and develop the route and deal with problems as and when they arise. We have been frustrated by a perceived lethargy from some Staff members of the Park, but we are optimistic that Ben Sladen and Chris Barber, who are the Society's representatives on the Beacons Way Steering Group, will be able to drive this most worthwhile project forward. The Park Society's annual guided walk along the Beacons Way route is already fully booked for the third year in succession. Our thanks to Anne Pritchard for organising this year's walk which is taking place on the first Sunday of each month when daylight permits.

 National Park Rights of Way Improvement Plan

The Park Society has been actively involved in responding to the Park Authority's Draft Rights of Way Improvement Plan, which seeks to identify a basis from which planned modifications and developments to the Rights of Way network can proceed. 
The plan was initially published in mid April 2006 and was given widespread circulation for comment. Roger White, who is dealing with this on behalf of the Society, also made comments on earlier consultation documents and we were very disappointed to find that the Draft RoWIP had not been sufficiently developed to provide a sound strategic base for planning. There are many apparent anomalies and a summary of our response can be viewed on the 'Campaigns and Issues' page of our web-site.

It is, perhaps, unfortunate that only six other organisations/individuals took the time to respond to the Draft RoWIP and we are further concerned at the length of time Park officials have taken in trying to resolve and respond to some of the deficiencies in the RoWIP pointed out by ourselves, and in the lengthy but articulate response from the Countryside Council for Wales.

 Council for National Parks

As a member of the Council for National Parks, representatives from the Park Society Executive regularly attend meetings and conferences throughout the UK.
During the last six months there has been: CNP 70th Anniversary conference in Buxton - June., Welsh National Park Societies meeting in Aberystwyth - July, National Parks Society conference in Kettlewell - October, Welsh Advisory Committee meeting in Cardiff - November and CNP Council meeting in Birmingham - November. There are also press launches, and a number of informal meetings/briefings with CNP staff and other Council members to attend, so we are kept busy!

 Schools Litter Prize

During 2006 The Brecon Beacons Park Society, in conjunction with the National Park Authority and Keep Wales Tidy, offered a number of prizes for school projects intended to raise awareness and engage young people, who live in or near the National Park, in thinking about litter and its impact on the environment. The response from Primary Schools was most encouraging and at an award ceremony on the 12th July 2006, Llangors Church in Wales Primary School was the £500 prize winner. The prizes were presented by Councillor Mrs Margaret Morris, former Chairman of the Brecon Beacons National Park Authority and the runners up, who all received £100, were Aberaeron Primary School, Gilwern Junior and Infants School, Llangynidr County Primary School, Sennybridge County Primary School and Ysgol Gymraeg Ryd y Grug.
This most important joint project had been created and masterminded by Park Society Executive member Elizabeth Gibbs and after enthusiastically advocating a repeat performance in 2007, we were disappointed to hear that the National Park Education Department was unable to allocate sufficient time to help with an improved Litter Prize Competition that was to have included Secondary Schools for the first time. We are hoping that it may come to fruition again during 2008, but it will not be possible without the support of the Park's Education Department. 

Web-site

The Society web-site: www.breconbeaconsparksociety.org is growing in scope and usage by the month, with the average number of visits per day having increased by 34% on the same period last year. We currently have on display pages about the Walks Programmes, Special Events, The Society, Campaigns and Issues, Society News, About the National Park, The Beacon, Trails and Treks, Membership Application and several pages on The Beacons Way. Many of our members and friends now appear to be using the web-site as an up to date means of keeping in touch with what the Society is doing.

 Navigation Courses

Throughout 2006, the Society has offered courses in basic and more advanced navigation for hill-walkers. These have proved to be extremely popular and a total of 69 walkers have now been trained, making a small financial surplus which will go towards Park Society funds. Such is the demand for navigation skills, that the next 'basic' course which has available places will be held in September 2007! You can get more details from the 'Navigation Courses' page on our web-site.

I am sure you will agree that your Executive have been extremely busy since the 2006 AGM and our thanks are due to them all. There are many more issues that we would have liked to engage with, but time and resources are limited. If any member would like to offer help to the Executive, at a time when the role of the Park Society within the National Park is probably becoming ever more important, then please contact me. In particular, we are in need of someone to review Planning Applications submitted to the National Park and recommend when your Executive should present a view to their planning and development control committees.

Best Wishes to you all for 2007

Nigel Phillips
Chairman