WITH a potential 15.5 visitors within a two-hour catchment area from Pontycysyllte aqueduct identified, North Wales Assembly Member Mark Isherwood is concerned that although it has been eight years since the aqueduct was awarded World Heritage Site status, the Welsh Government has made little progress in driving forward plans for heritage-led regeneration in North-East Wales.
Mr Isherwood, who has championed the promotion of the Pontcysyllte World Heritage Site as a tourist attraction, challenged the Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Infrastructure, Ken Skates AM, in the Assembly Chamber this week over the matter.
He said:
“In the context of the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct World Heritage Site, it’s now, I think, eight years since that was awarded, and I think eight years since the then Welsh Government first established a regional partnership body to drive forward the regional industrial heritage offer, incorporating potentially Llangollen Railway, the canals, the Ceiriog Valley, Brymbo, as you’ve referred to, but stretching across to Flintshire’s heritage trails, Rhydymwyn Valley, Greenfield Valley Trust, and so very much more.
“But we still haven’t got that joined-up approach now. We haven’t got the through-ticketing, which bodies such as Llangollen Railway are proposing. And a concern raised with me has been that the bodies have had insufficient representation from tourism and heritage bodies in the region themselves.
“It’s good that Glandŵr Cymru are on board, but where are all the others? Do you agree with me that we therefore need to incorporate better those wider voices, so that, together, they can bring forward the proposals that can at last achieve, I think, the objectives that we both share?”
The Cabinet Secretary said he is “keen to encourage movement speedily, and with dynamism, in the direction that Mr Isherwood outlines.”
He said: “I’d like to see more through-ticketing for sure. I’d like to see greater co-ordination between and amongst the various organisations that are involved in the culture and heritage sector in industrial north-east Wales. And, for that reason, I think it would perhaps be very sensible to convene a culture and heritage summit during the summer, to bring together those organisations, including Glandŵr Cymru, who the Member rightly identifies as a lead partner in the Pontcysyllte world heritage site activity, and I think, in drawing together those various interests, we may be able to make progress.”