The doors to a popular visitor centre are now closed, with a portable toilet placed across a disabled parking bay.

Politicians over the last year have been keen to point out that visitor centres at Bwlch Nant yr Arian, Ynyslas and Coed y Brenin were not closing but that Natural Resources Wales were removing catering and retail from the three sites.

The doors were however shut on Monday, 31 March and now in Bwlch Nant yr Arian, a portable toilet has been placed across disabled parking bays near the closed centre.

Since the intention to remove these services was announced, politicians in Cardiff Bay and NRW have been keen to emphasise that the centres were not closing.

In October, Huw Irranca-Davies, Wales’ climate change secretary told the Senedd: “Natural Resources Wales have made clear and have assured me directly that it is not their intention to close their visitor centres.

“They’ve made it clear throughout the ‘case for change’ that it is indeed seeking partners which are better placed to provide the retail and the catering services in these centres.”

However, with Easter holidays approaching and the sun shining, the doors at all three sites are closed.

At Nant yr Arian, there are posters in the windows of the centre stating that the red kites are still being fed at 2pm daily, but no information on why the doors are closed.

Alun Davies from the Cliff Railway, which is a registered charity, who are keen to take over the running of the centre at Nant yr Arian, told the Cambrian News that they had this week been granted permission to place a concession van on the site, near the temporary toilets.

Mr Davies said: “We will have the concession van on the Nant yr Arian site by the weekend, selling tea, coffee, sandwiches, cakes and ice cream.

“We only found out this week that we had been granted the licence.

“We have stated our interest in running the visitor centre.”

NRW has confirmed that car parking at Ynyslas will be run by local company Diogel, who have been awarded a one year contract, with a possible extension of up to three years, to provide full-time site management for the beach car park at Ynyslas Visitor Centre.

“There are no changes to the free parking for residents who live within the qualifying area.”

The centres were closed by NRW in a bid to save

On the future of the centres, NRW said: “We are currently finalising, via our governance processes, how and when we will go to market for opportunities to help run these services.

“We expect, subject to everything running smoothly, to be able to communicate more information in early April.

“As stated during our public meetings late last year, we want to make sure we get it right to avoid confusion and any potential issues in the future and we believe it is important to take the necessary time now for a smooth process later on.”