DROP-IN sessions are being held this month to discuss the future of three visitor centres that are due to close later this year.

Retail and catering provision is to be removed from Bwlch Nant yr Arian, Ynyslas and Coed y Brenin from 31 March, with local groups expressing interest in taking over the running of the sites from Natural Resources Wales.

NRW has decided to remove these services from the three sites as it looks to plug a £13 million budget deficit.

Public meetings were held in November and now drop-in sessions will be held, which are aimed at smaller groups interested in being part of the future of the three sites.

The first will take place on Wednesday, 8 January between 10am and 3pm at the Welsh Government offices in Aberystwyth, before a session at Coed y Brenin on Monday, 13 January and a final session on Monday, 20 January, again at the Welsh Government offices in Aberystwyth.

To attend you can book a slot by emailing [email protected]

Giving an update on the situation in Coed y Brenin, and Nant yr Arian, NRW says bike trails will continue to be maintained ‘for the next financial year’.

Toilet facilities will remain open at all three sites and the environmental body says it expects to have a interim concession service in place at Coed y Brenin Nant yr Arian when catering services cease on 1 April.

NRW land staff will ‘be a presence on site’ in a bid to tackle anti-social behaviour, along with CCTV cameras and an automated parking system.

Responding to a question, asking if the impact on local communities and tourism had been considered, NRW said it was ‘not a tourism organisation’.

NRW adds that red kite feeding at Bwlch Nant yr Arian would ‘continue as normal for the foreseeable future’.

At Ynyslas, NRW says: “Ynyslas is unique as it forms part of the Dyfi National Nature Reserve (NNR).

“The estuary has vast areas of internationally important mudflats, sandbanks and saltmarsh that provide feeding and roosting areas for wetland birds.

“As such, Ynyslas has specific statutory needs and requirements of which protecting the NNR is priority.

“This will include retaining an onsite office for land management staff.

“Ynyslas’ Visitor Centre is different to both Bwlch Nant yr Arian and Coed y Brenin in that there is no catering and retail provision to replace.

“Ynyslas Visitor Centre will therefore not be offered commercially and will be put forward for community use.”

Campaigners fighting to keep the three sites open pointed to the fact NRW is to receive an extra £7.6 million from the Welsh Government, to which it said: “NRW has an important role to play in tackling the intrinsically linked nature and climate emergencies.

“This settlement does not alter our agreed decisions to cease or scale back certain activities under the Case for Change, the funding will be strategically directed toward the identified investment areas.

“This approach ensures we remain focused on achieving the ambitions.”