P-05-759 Re-open the Cwmcarn Forest Drive at Easter 2018
This petition was submitted by The Friends of
Cwmcarn Forest Drive having collected 1450 signatures - 353 on paper and 1097
on-line.
Petition text:
We
call upon the National Assembly for Wales to urge the Welsh Government to
provide the necessary means to allow Natural Resources Wales to fully re-open
the Cwmcarn Forest Drive to private cars at Easter 2018.
Additional information:
In
the summer of 2014 Natural Resources Wales stated that the Cwmcarn Forest
Drive, also known as the Scenic Drive, would be closed for a minimum of two
years from November 2014 and that this was necessary because of the infection
of the Japanese larch in the Cwmcarn valley and surrounding hillsides. The
removal of the larch is now almost complete and NRW are beginning to reinstate
the cycle tracks and footpaths, however there does not appear to be a plan to
reinstate the scenic drive, even though the vast majority of the route is
undamaged. To single out private car users of the drive is unfair and
unnecessary when other users will face only temporary disruption. Many of those
who access the Drive via private car do so because they have limited mobility, some
are families with small children, many are elderly, disabled or from our ethnic
minority and immigrant communities. Failing to provide a facility for these
people is discriminatory especially when there are plans, and funds available,
to provide further facilities for other users. The lack of a fully accessible
scenic drive deprives those people who are our most culturally and materially
deprived of their main facility for health and well-being. Our organisation,
the Friends of Cwmcarn Forest Drive wants equality of access for all users of
the scenic drive and calls for the Welsh Government and Natural Resources Wales
to provide the means to make this possible.
A
woodland road
Status
This petition was
considered completed by the Petitions Committee at its meeting on 02/04/2019.
The Committee
considered further correspondence from Natural Resources Wales and the
petitioners and agreed to close the petition in light of NRW’s intention to
reopen the Forest Drive in spring 2020.
Full details of the
consideration of this petitions by the committee and related documents can be
seen on the Meetings tab above.
It was first
considered by the Petitions Committee on 13/06/2017.
Assembly
Constituency and Region.
·
Islwyn
·
South Wales East
Further information
Business type: Petition
Reason considered: Senedd Business;
First published: 05/06/2017