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Environmental Tourism Briefing PDF 789 KB
Cllr Robert Francis-Davies, Cabinet Member
for Investment, Regeneration, Events and Tourism
Steve Hopkins, Tourism and Marketing Manager
Additional documents:
Minutes:
Robert Francis-Davies, Cabinet Member for Investment, Regeneration,
Events and Tourism and Steve Hopkins, Tourism and Marketing Manager attended to
brief the Panel and answer questions.
Discussion Points:
- Panel feels there are not enough public
facilities available, for example, toilets, drinking water taps, cycle
racks etc along the more tourist areas of Swansea and the Gower, including
the sea front, and queried if there are plans to increase these types of
facilities. Panel
informed there are public toilets close to all major beaches between
Mumbles and Rhossili. Heard the Council is currently investigating options
of increasing cycle parking facilities at strategic locations across the
active travel network which may capture visitors who engage in
recreational cycling.
- Panel feels Welsh Government Active Travel
schemes are based more around commuters rather than going to leisure
points. Members queried if there is
any potential for adding short links from the active travel routes to the
tourist destination, as they believe many people would then use these
routes. Full response to be provided by the appropriate Cabinet Member
following the meeting.
- Panel asked about the Wales Coastal Path and
queried if any feedback the Council gets on any sections of the Path is
communicated to Countryside Access for Wales. Full response to be provided
by the appropriate Cabinet Member following the meeting.
- Panel discussed the cycle map of the area, and
how previously in Scrutiny, Members talked about a ski-style map with red,
blue, black and green lines showing the difficulty. Panel queried if this had been
implemented in the map and how this is going to link up with rural Gower. Full
response to be provided by the appropriate Cabinet Member following the
meeting.
- Panel stated that Swansea is not registered on
the Dark Skies website. Heard the
Council does not have Dark Skies status yet but is working towards it.
- Panel discussed how people come to beaches in
Swansea to experience ‘dipping’ in the sea at all times of the year but
especially in Winter, and queried if this is worth looking into as a
campaign for the Winter as it is extremely popular. Heard this has been discussed with the
Beaches Management Group from a safety point of view, as it often takes
place at times when the Council is not lifeguarding the beaches.
- Panel noted there are areas cycle path cannot
go through due to legal issues as opposition from certain groups. Panel queried if there are rights of way
going through these areas for people to walk etc, and if so, can these rights
of way be promoted more to encourage more walkers/cyclists to use
them. Panel also asked if cycle
racks can be located in these places. Panel heard there are public rights
of way recorded across the whole of the county which are promoted by means
of the website: www.visitswanseabay –and the majority are also available
as downloadable PDF’s. Panel informed that legally, cyclists do not have
the right to use public footpaths, whereas they are entitled to use public
bridleways.
- Panel asked if the Council anticipates recent
changes to bus services will have a big effect on green tourism, and if
there are any plans to try and overcome this. Panel heard Bus services on Gower are covered by
Adventure Travel (not First Cymru) so not affected by these changes. Most tourist routes in Swansea are still
operating Monday to Sunday but the frequency of service has reduced. One
of the issues with bus services is Swansea has two providers – Adventure
Travel and First Cymru and they do not operate a through ticket system.
Informed that research in 2022 showed the majority of people are still
arriving by car and the ongoing rail dispute is discouraging people using
this option.
Actions:
·
Information to be
provided on potential for adding short links between active travel routes and
leisure destinations.
·
Information to be
provided on communication with Countryside Access for Wales regarding feedback
in relation to Wales Coastal Path, upgrading and funding.
·
Information to be provided on implementation of
a ‘ski-style’ cycle map.
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