On 25th October 2005, sixty members attended the official launch
of the Cambrian Mountains Society, which was set up six months earlier
to secure better protection and recognition for the area.
TV naturalist Iolo Williams was acclaimed as the Society's first
president, and told the group's launch meeting: "This is the
last wilderness in Wales, and it's where I come to escape. Parts
of north Wales are lovely, but there are people everywhere - they're
like ants.
"This is the most overlooked part of Wales and maybe the nicest,
so you'd think it would be better valued. Yet it has faced threats
from reservoirs, inappropriate forestry and windfarms.
"It is a real shame that the National Park proposals in the
1970s didn't go ahead, because the Cambrian Mountains need to be
valued and protected for future generations."
The packed meeting, held in the Elan Valley Visitor Centre near
Rhayader, also heard from CMS chair David Bateman, who echoed Iolo's
views but warned that future plans for the mountains depended on
the consent and involvement of the farming community.
"But at the moment farming is in trouble, and when farming
is in trouble then we are all in trouble. Because this is when other
things like inappropriate forestry and wind turbines step in to
fill the void - and create problems for the rest of us," he
said.
However, new European policies designed to support farming included
the idea of "bottom-up development strategies", and this
meant that a group like CMS could have a major influence on the
future of its area provided it worked in conjunction with local
farmers and other residents.
He added that when the National Park proposal for the Cambrians
failed, one reason given was that the designation of Area of Outstanding
Natural Beauty might have been more appropriate, and so the group
would campaign for AONB status.
In the first CMS elections, the meeting voted in Prof Bateman as
chair, Rhys Davies as secretary and Richard Wilson as treasurer.
The meeting also elected five trustees to the CMS committee: Dave
Bradney, Roger Bray, Pete Jennings, Anne Wilson and Martin Wright.
Elections were followed by a lively question and answer session,
in which the issues discussed included member involvement in decision-taking
and how to root the group firmly in both linguistic communities.
Prof Bateman commented: "We want as much member involvement
as we can get."
After the formalities, members and guests stayed on for a scintillating
slide-show talk by Iolo Williams on "Birds of the Cambrian
Mountains", and in the afternoon there were guided walks exploring
the wildlife, archaeology and geology of the area. |
Iolo Williams welcomes members to the Society's
first General Meeting
Iolo enthuses about the Birds of the Cambrian Mountains
Society president Iolo Williams, and chairman David
Bateman
Society trustee Pete Jennings (right) leads his
party off on a wildlife walk
Click any image to enlarge
Images Copyright
Robert
Parker-Munn |
