Proposed work on the historic Monks Trod in the Cambrian Mountains is to be the subject of public consultation.
Powys County Council is consulting a range of stakeholders about a draft environmental assessment, in relation to proposed work on the historic route. The byway crosses the Cambrian Mountains between Pont ar Elan in Powys and the Strata Florida Abbey in Ceredigion.
The Council has been looking at ways to carry out work on the unsurfaced byway, which runs over naturally boggy and difficult ground and has become badly damaged leading to legal restrictions.
The Monks Trod byway runs over an area of the Cambrian Mountains that is highly protected because of its fragile habitats. Before carrying out any work, the Council must carry out a complex environmental assessment – known as a Habitat Regulations Assessment – to consider what effect the work might have on the whole of the area, which has been designated as a Special Area for Conservation.
Officers have worked closely with path user groups, Natural Resources Wales, independent ecological specialists and others to prepare a draft assessment. Feedback is now being sought from representatives of byway user groups, landowners, the Community Council and others about the findings of the draft assessment. There is opportunity to supply further evidence for consideration, with a deadline of Sunday 13th December 2020; after that, any new evidence will be reviewed and a conclusion can be reached. For more information, please contact; rights.of.way@powys.gov.uk
Image © Copyright Richard Law and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence
Monks Trod is a byway open to all traffic in Wales, developed originally by Cistercian monks between the twelfth century abbeys of Cwm-Hir, near Llandrindod Wells, and Strata Florida, near Tregaron, Ceredigion.
Monk’s Trod runs for more than 5 miles (8.0 km) in Powys as a byway across the Cambrian mountains, and then crosses into Ceredigion, becoming a 1 mile (1.6 km) stretch of unclassified road. The 6 miles (9.7 km) section between Pont ar Elan beside the Craig Goch Dam reservoir, and Strata Florida passes over a natural peat moorland, designated as a National Nature Reserve Claerwen (NNR)), Site of Special Scientific Interest (Elenydd SSSI), Special Protection Area (Elenydd – Mallaen), and a Special Area of Conservation.
