‘Taking Forward Wales Sustainable Management of Natural Resources’, a title which seems innocuous enough, but hides more than fifty proposals, many of which are highly contentious for a broad range of stakeholders, were discussed with Pembrokeshire Assembly Members recently.
Discussing the consultation at Pembrokeshire county show, FUW Deputy President Brian Thomas said: “The consultation covers areas as diverse as forestry, public access to land and waterways, fishing, drainage, agriculture and wildlife - to name just some, with specific proposals including allowing mountain bikes on all public footpaths, allowing people to camp and play games wherever they want on open access land, reducing the circumstances in which public safety can be protected when trees become rotten and dangerous, and on-the-spot fines for the drivers of cars from which litter is thrown.
And if one of these four doesn’t cause concern or bewilderment for an individual, there are another fifty-one to choose from, with plenty of scope to raise concerns amongst almost every stakeholder, from farmers to naturalists, through fishermen to foresters.”
Mr Thomas added that in previous years, many, if not all of the fifty five proposals, would have been discussed in detail and over time with stakeholders, before issuing a consultation - particularly given the highly contentious nature of many of the proposals, and the controversy similar proposals have caused in the past.
By contrast, stakeholders were given no indication whatsoever that such a wide-reaching consultation was to be issued.
“And for similar reasons, many of the individual proposals would previously have been dealt with in individual consultations, rather than being ‘packaged’ in a single massive collection of proposals with such an innocent title.
“After all, changing every footpath in Wales into a mountain bike track would represent a massive change to centuries of established law regarding rights of way: Surely, such a proposal should at the very least demand its own document, rather than being buried as ‘Proposal 10’ on page 44 of a 98 page document,” said Mr Thomas