Community-Led Planning and Sustainable Tourism
Some projects were delivered across the entire CMI area. A notable example was the creation of a Cambrian Mountains food brand, supported by a logo personally designed and licensed to the project by HRH The Prince of Wales. This initiative strengthened local supply chains and added value to sustainable, place-based food production.
Other projects shared common objectives but evolved differently within each zone. Communities were supported to develop:
- A community-led action plan
- A zone-specific sustainable tourism strategy
While the CMI provided funding, planning templates, and professional facilitation—often chaired by NRW staff or consultants appointed by NRW—the guiding principle was clear:
The communities led the vision, priorities, and decisions for their own areas.
By the end of Phase 1, every zone had a completed action plan and tourism strategy, each containing “oven-ready” grant applications. These were designed to be taken forward flexibly as funding opportunities emerged, ensuring long-term usefulness beyond the life of the programme.
Each CMI zone appointed and funded a local organisation or individual to support:
- Public engagement and consultation
- Venue identification and event logistics
- Promotion of meetings and activities
- Ongoing maintenance of community plans
In the Brechfa Forest and Llanllwni Mountain zone recreational use of our forest and mountain was already at the heart of the local economy and way of life. The official definition of tourism covers recreational activities by residents, day trippers or those who stay in holiday accommodation overnight. Welsh Government Best practice for sustainable tourism is the establishment of a community level tourism cluster group where volunteers work on projects to support balancing the needs of residents with those of visitors and the local economy. With support from NRW staff, local volunteers came together to form a tourism cluster group known as Brechfa Forest and Llanllwni Mountain Tourism Cluster Group. ( BALM.) This group was awarded the delivery contract and worked collaboratively with NRW staff, Tourism Partnership Mid Wales, and appointed consultants and subsequently used the funding raised in the process as match funding for grant applications.