Visitor hub for peak car park gets go-ahead

A NEW visitor hub will be built at Moel Famau after Denbighshire Council's planning committee approved the council's own application for the hub.

- By RICHARD EVANS Local Democracy Reporter

It was approved despite concerns about litter and the building being in the open countryside. The new visitor hub will now be built with information and restroom facilities, ranger space and associated works at the highest summit in the Clwydian range.

The plans at the upper Bwlch Pen Barras car park will also include a cafe and office space although some members objected to the term "cafe". Speaker David Shiel, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) officer, spoke in favour of the plans and told councillors the number of visitors to the site had increased in recent years from 200,000 to 300,000 annually.

"With that number of visitors, we have got additional challenges: dogs and livestock, litter, overnight parking, etc, all the challenges you would expect with those numbers of visitors," he said. "We used to be busy in the summer and quiet in the winter, but now we are busy all year round. It is clear we need a greater presence at Moel Famau."