Coastal path opens on 5 May
3 May 2012
Vale residents and visitors will be able to take full advantage
of the area's stunning coastline, thanks to the completion of
the Wales Coast Path on May 5.
The continuous linear Wales Coast Path will stretch for some
1400km (870 miles) around the whole coast of Wales, linking to
Offas Dyke National Trail, running along the English border to
provide a complete circuit.
It includes two new paths at Lavernock and Heritage Coast, which
were officially launched in March.
Funded by the Welsh Government and delivered through local
authorities from 2007 to 2013, the Coastal Access Improvement
Programme has made physical improvements to existing paths along
the coast, developing new routes, providing information and
improving opportunities for access.
And the programme has allowed the Vale of Glamorgan Council to
undertake considerable improvements along its stretch of the coast
path, which extends for 45km from Bridgend at Ogmore in the west to
Cardiff Bay Barrage in the east and incorporates most of the
Heritage Coast, which is 14 miles in total.
In St Mary’s Well Bay, Lavernock, the council has worked with
the Welsh Government, South and West Wales Wildlife Trust and St
Mary's Well Bay Caravan Park to provide an alternative route,
following collapse of the previous footpath due to erosion.
Within the Heritage Coast, the council has worked with Dunraven
Estates to dedicate 7.5km of access as a public path. This
represents a sizeable addition to the public footpath network and
in turn has allowed major works to be undertaken, significantly
improving the path through the valley at Cwm Mawr as well as
upgrading gates and signing along the rest of the route.
One of the three official openings of the Wales Coast Path will
take place in Cardiff on Saturday, on the Roald Dahl Plass.
Environment Minister John Griffiths, said: "The Wales Coast Path
is already ensuring world wide recognition for our beautiful coast.
Indeed, Lonely Planet has named Wales’ coast the greatest region on
Earth to visit in 2012.
"We expect the Wales Coast Path to attract an extra 100,000 new
visitors to our coast each year. This is great news for coastal
businesses, great news for our tourism industry and great news for
Wales’ economy as a whole, particularly at this economically
challenging time.
"The fact that the Wales Coast Path will be open ahead of the
London 2012 Olympics, when the eyes of the world will be on the UK
is another real plus point. However the path is not just for
tourists, and I really hope it will encourage people in the Vale of
Glamorgan and across Wales to get out and about and enjoy their
local coast line and countryside."