Tirwedd y Comin
This was a two-year pilot project which worked with the local community and key stakeholders to tackle priority issues on the Common such as:
- Fly tipping and littering,
- Fly grazing and abandonment of horses & ponies
- Illegal off roading of vehicles
- General anti-social behaviour problems
The main aim of the project was to restore, maintain and protect the Common Landscape to ensure that the custodianship of it can be passed to future generations.
The Gelligaer & Merthyr Common is a CADW designated Historic Landscape and is unique in its value to the rural communities which surround it, from an environmental, social and economic perspective. However, the quality of habitat, biodiversity and grazing upon the Common was being degraded due to several issues which ultimately have their basis in negative human interaction with the landscape
The project was very much a pilot project and allowed a safe space to trial new approaches on the common. It also allowed project staff to create a long-term plan for the common, ensuring it is managed in line with the principles of the Sustainable Management of Natural Resources (Introducing Sustainable Management of Natural Resources). A summary of the project can be downloaded here.
The Tirwedd y Comin project has received a grant from the Welsh Government Rural Communities – Rural Development Programme 2014 – 2020, which is funded by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development and the Welsh Government.
