Moel Famau visitor hub approved despite concerns

A new visitor hub will be built at Moel Famau after proposals were approved by councillors.

Denbighshire Council’s planning committee today approved the council’s own application for the hub.

It was approved despite concerns about litter and the building being in the open countryside.

The new visitor hub will now be built with information and restroom facilities, ranger space and associated works at the highest summit in the Clwydian range.

The plans at the upper Bwlch Pen Barras car park will also include a café and office space – although some members objected to the term “café”.

Speaker David Shiel, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) officer, spoke in favour of the plans and told councillors the number of visitors to the site had increased in recent years from 200,000 to 300,000 annually.

“With that number of visitors, we have got additional challenges: dogs and livestock, litter, overnight parking, etc, all the challenges you would expect with those numbers of visitors,” he said.

“We used to be busy in the summer and quiet in the winter, but now we are busy all year round. It is clear we need a greater presence at Moel Famau.”

Mr Shiel explained the team looking after Moel Famau were working out of a “shepherd hut” that was impractical and didn’t serve the needs.

Cllr Huw Williams, though, had concerns but stressed he didn’t believe the hub should be described as a café.

“I think there’s been a lot of false information,” he said. “It’s not a café, and it makes me cross when people say ‘cafe’. It’s a tea hub.

“You can’t have sausage, egg, and chips there. It’s coffee and a cake.”

Cllr Williams then said many of his concerns had been put to the AONB team, and he had been reassured.

But he added: “What concerns me is the lack of bins.

“Three-hundred thousand visitors, the bins we’ve got in place there now absolutely they’re not worth having, so litter is a big problem, and the wardens are picking litter up all the time.”

Cllr Williams also had highway safety concerns about the road to the car park as it could be “lethal” in the winter.

He suggested Denbighshire Council should look at a system to close the road at times in the winter.

Cllr Merfyn Parry proposed councillors rejected the plans.

“We’ve been asked to approve a permanent structure in one of the most sensitive landscapes in Denbighshire, the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley, now designated a national landscape,” he said.

“That carries significant weight in planning terms, and I think we need to be cautious.

“We’ve heard that this is meant to improve visitor facilities and give staff a better base on site, and I understand the intentions, but in my view, this proposal doesn’t justify a permanent new building in the open countryside, especially not there.”

Cllr Parry then pointed to public concerns around traffic, litter, and the visual impact of putting a building “in such a scenic spot”, feeling it would harm the character of the landscape.

But council officers advised the committee backed the plans, and other councillors supported the recommendation.

Cllr Gareth Sandilands proposed councillors voted in favour of the hub.

He said: “I think it will help with managing and policing this activity.

“We have 300,000 people (visiting), which is not insignificant, so this will manage those 300,000 people.

“The behaviour has also been mentioned by officers, and hopefully that will be addressed more.

“I think this can only be a plus, and I would like to propose we go ahead with the vote.”

Cllr Sandilands’ proposal was seconded by Cllr Terry Mendies, and the vote was won 13-three.

The decision follows dozens of objection letters regarding the plans, raising issues such as the impact on highway safety and congestion, the impact on the character of an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), as well as the effects on biodiversity and the open countryside.

Officers will add several conditions to the plans, including one stipulating that the building should be removed if it falls into disuse.

By Richard Evans – Local Democracy Reporter