LABOUR has been accused of treating rural Wales as a ‘mere afterthought’ after a motion to try and get NRW to proactively engage with local groups who want to keep visitor centres open was rejected.

Plaid Cymru’s Mabon ap Gwynfor led a Senedd debate on a cross-party motion co-submitted by the Liberal Democrats’ Jane Dodds and the Conservatives’ Sam Rowlands.

He urged Natural Resources Wales (NRW) to speed up the process of ensuring the preservation of the visitor centres at Coed y Brenin, Nant yr Arian and Ynyslas.

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.

Accusing the Welsh Government of dragging its feet, Mr ap Gwynfor told the Senedd that Labour promised nine years ago to create a first-refusal right to buy community assets.

He said people are keen to take control of the centres because they see their value, with around 500,000 visitors attracted each year and about £40m contributed to the economy.

Mr ap Gwynfor, who represents Dwyfor Meirionnydd, claimed NRW and the Welsh Government see the visitor centres as liabilities rather than assets.

He told the Senedd: “They are part of our national wealth…. To justify closure of the centres, NRW and the government choose to hide behind criticism of the Conservative bogeyman, blaming austerity and rejecting any accountability for their own failures.”

Warning the visitor centres have been run down for years, Mr ap Gwynfor said Coed y Brenin was among the best mountain biking centres in Europe when it opened.

He said the trails have seen less and less investment since NRW was formed in a 2013 merger of Wales’ Countryside Council, Environment Agency and Forestry Commission.

Mr ap Gwynfor stressed the economic value of the visitor centres to the region, which he suggested has not received a fair share of spending from the Welsh nor UK Governments.

Janet Finch-Saunders described a decision to reduce services as deeply worrying – with NRW seeking to make £12m in cuts, including £11m by April.

The Tory warned NRW is under-resourced and understaffed, with the arm’s-length body struggling to fill vacant posts and the loss of more than 200 jobs hardly helping.

Ms Finch-Saunders criticised NRW representatives for “not being bothered” to attend a Senedd climate change committee scrutiny session in person.

Labour’s Jenny Rathbone told the chamber NRW has been inadequately funded for the huge task asked of it due to 14 years of austerity under a Conservative UK Government.

She said: “I think NRW does a fantastic job overall, with a huge level of responsibilities as the regulator and enforcer of our land, rivers and seas in the face of both the climate and nature emergency. And I think it’s an entirely sensible decision to only do what they can do.”

Huw Irranca-Davies, Wales’ climate change secretary, stressed that no public body has been immune to the impacts of the economic challenges the UK has faced in recent years.

“It is the inconvenient truth that some choose to ignore,” said Mr Irranca-Davies. “But it is the hard reality that Jenny rightly highlighted. This has meant that there have been very tough and real decisions NRW has had to make.”

Accepting services could be impacted, he said NRW’s “taxing” proposals were introduced to reshape the organisation and address a substantial funding gap for the coming year.

He said current retail and catering functions have been extended to 31 March after which interim arrangements will remain in place until alternative providers are appointed.

Following the debate on January 22, the Senedd voted 24-22 against the motion, with the Welsh Government’s amended version agreed by the same margin.

The blocking of the motion has been met with anger by local groups wanting to keep the doors open.

Save Our Centre - Ynyslas said: “So the Labour MSs were all whipped to vote in line with government, despite this being a cross party vote!

“ NRW are supposed to be accountable to Welsh government and to us the taxpayer! Appalling behaviour and a complete disregard for the people they are supposed to represent!”

Save Bwlch Nant yr Arian group was equally disappointed, saying: “I can’t believe that they are so shortsighted and in the NRW’s pocket .

“It is really disappointing but I’m really not surprised, they seem to be a law unto themselves.”

Among the options being considered at Nant yr Arian and Coed y Brenin are external catering providers, such as burger vans and coffee vendors, along with parking cameras.

Local groups such as Caru Coed y Brenin and Aberystwyth’s Cliff Railway has voiced interest in taking over the visitor centres, but there are fears that the doors at all three sites will close on 1 April.

The process of tendering through the Sell2Wales website has also been criticised.

Reacting to the motion being voted down, Mabon ap Gwynfor said: “Bitterly disappointed that my cross-party backed Motion was rejected despite passionate contributions by those who share my views that these important visitor centres should be community-run.

“Aggrieved but not surprised that Labour instructed their Members to vote down my Motion.

“This is proof - if any were needed - that for Labour - the future and economic prosperity of rural communities such as those is mid and north west Wales is a mere afterthought.

“If NRW and the Welsh government aren’t willing to properly invest time and effort in ensuring that these centres remain community assets then they should step aside and transfer responsibility to local community groups with the expertise, willingness and ambition to step in.”

NRW has been holding drop in sessions throughout January on the three sites.

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).

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

Announcing the end of retail and catering at the three sites, Elsie Grace, NRW’s Head of Sustainable Commercial Development at NRW, said: “We understand how important our sites are to local communities and visitors and we know the decision to stop providing catering and retail services is disappointing to many people.

“Our board made the decision in response to the extremely tight funding situation we and other public bodies face.”