SWOAPG Members will already be aware of various messages in the last 3 months relating to issues with gorge-walking groups in Waterfall Country – particularly in the Sychryd / Dinas Rock area: we have reported problems with litter (including within the changing areas); with group behaviour; with parking and changing; and with trespass on the Sychryd river-left bank. We have also received reports recently of providers operating with groups exceeding the maximum 25 clients.
Members will also be aware from our Chair’s recent letter that our finances are currently very tight and we’re not therefore able to deploy someone specifically to enforce ‘the rules’ so we need to rely – as we always have – on providers acting responsibly in accordance with our Environmental Charter and the NRW Concordat; and being able to ‘nip in the bud’ any issues reported to us by residents, landowners and other users. However, this system of self-policing’ does not currently seem to be working well enough!
We are extremely fortunate in having this arrangement in the gorges – and the positive relationships we’ve cultivated over the years with NRW, BBNPA and local residents – and we are very keen to promote this as a template for other access arrangements; particularly at a time when adventurous activities are facing bans and the imposition of licensing elsewhere in Wales. If we want to keep this arrangement, we need to make it work – and we’d hate to see the behaviour of a few spoiling things for the many…
One of the problems we face with ‘enforcement’ is the ‘burden of proof’ which we’ve imposed on ourselves – insofar as we generally only report issues to NRW for enforcement action when we have incontrovertible evidence that a particular provider has committed a transgression on a specific date – when ‘hard’ evidence can be hard to come by (and is more-often-than-not denied by the accused party).
From now on we are therefore proposing to place the ‘burden of proof’ on any ‘accused’ provider – that is, we will be asking them to offer evidence that they did not commit the alleged transgression which, where evidence is disputed or conflicts of interest arise, will be investigated and considered by a panel of at least three Steering Group members (none of whom would be directly involved in the case) – although our Coordinator alone may still deal with ‘simple’ cases (e.g. where a provider has made a genuine mistake or where there is indisputable evidence). We will log all reported transgressions and ‘repeat offenders’ will be subject to appropriate sanctions (either by NRW for breaches of the Concordat or by the SWOAPG Steering Group for breaches of our Environmental Charter – including failure to “respect the guidance of SWOAPG for vulnerable or sensitive sites where there are specific issues or problems” – such as trespass on the Sychryd left bank) – with the ultimate sanction of ‘3 strikes’ leading to a provider no longer being deemed to be signed-up to the arrangement.
We haven’t made this change of emphasis lightly, but we trust that our members will understand and appreciate the reasoning behind it so that we can protect and maintain this valuable arrangement in the face of increasing pressure to ‘prove that it works’.
And just by way of a reminder, here are a few key points for all gorge users to take particular care around:
- Park and change only in designated places
- Respect the local community and landowners
- Take all your litter with you – and anyone else’s if you’re the last group in the car park
- Stay within maximum numbers
- Stick to designated routes; stay off the river-left side of the Sychryd upstream of the stone bridges (including Bwa Maen / the Wormhole; and jumping from anywhere left-of-centre of the waterfalls; unless you have explicit permission from the landowner).
Thank you!