Ramblers Cymru Powys Area

Annual General Meeting 30th November 2025

Chair’s Report
  
Many thanks to Dwr Cymru/Welsh Water for accommodating us this year. Thanks also to Alan Rugman for organising the agenda and distributing the papers.

I am conscious that some members may be reluctant to attend AGMs for fear of being railroaded into office. Please be assured this will not happen! The Elan Valley Visitor Centre is an ideal location for our AGM and we hope many of you will decide to come, and will also take advantage of the walk that has been organised as part of the meeting.  

I am pleased to report on my fifteenth year as Chair of Powys Area.

Area Council

The Area Council has met regularly during the year, and minutes are available on the web site. Meetings have been very well attended and it has been a pleasure to continue to work with a team of highly capable and motivated people. 

In August we were sad to learn of the death of our longstanding colleague, Chris Playford. Chris had been a valued member of Area Council for 25 years, and during this time he made a huge contribution as a walk leader, local footpath secretary and volunteer team leader on footpath work. He will be deeply missed. 

Richard Tyler, our Trails Officer, has let me know that he will be standing down at the AGM. Richard joined us 11 years ago and came straight in as Area Footpath Secretary, which was a real baptism of fire! After 7 years of excellent work, he handed over to Graham Taylor. Richard then volunteered to take on the role of Trails Officer, which was a natural fit with his work on the Cambrian Way and with the Cambrian Way Trust. We are very grateful to him for his excellent contribution.

Thanks to Dai Rees at Ramblers Cymru for participating in all our meetings and arranging the Teams connection.

Members who wish to understand more about Area Council are always welcome to attend any of the meetings. 
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What have we been doing?
In addition to the usual proceedings at Area Council, additional important work has been done by members, either individually or collectively:
•	Protection and improvement of rights of way is one of the main charitable aims of Ramblers, which drives much of our thinking and many of our actions. In Powys, much of the rights of way network is in poor condition and is threatened with further deterioration, which could result in many paths and bridleways being lost forever. As part of our campaigning work, we have continued to make representations to the Leader of Powys County Council, the appropriate Cabinet Member, the Professional Lead for Countryside Services, the Full Council, the Local Access Forum and the Countryside Volunteers Working Group. Also, to raise public awareness, in the recent past we have highlighted rights of way issues in Powys through coverage on BBC Wales TV, BBC Wales Radio and local press. In the cases of a few specific problems, legal notices have been issued. It’s difficult to know how much difference this makes. However, we can point to some actions that have resulted from these efforts, but they fall well short of the kind of transformational change that is needed. We know that resources allocated to rights of way are inadequate, but we continue to believe that more could be achieved through changes to organisation culture and working practices. We will continue to hold the County Council to account, while supporting the Countryside Volunteers Scheme, which is currently being revised, as well as other initiatives aimed at protecting and improving rights of way. 

•	Ramblers Cymru AGM was held this year in Llandrindod Wells and Graham Taylor lead a local walk for attendees, which provided an opportunity to show evidence on the ground, of some of the rights of way issues.
 
•	We have joined with Open Spaces Society to work closely on some rights of way issues that have legal implications.
•	Graham Taylor continued to serve as Chair of Powys Local Access Forum and has been very active in representing the interests of walkers. Graham serves as Co-Chair of Ramblers Cymru, and in this capacity he also serves as a trustee of Ramblers GB.
•	Path Orders and Planning Applications affecting ROWs have been checked and responded to by the Footpath Secretary and Local Footpath Secretaries
Ramblers Groups in Powys
One of the main activities of our groups, Welshpool and East Radnor, is to provide programmes of walks, which are also good social events. Thanks are due to those who have arranged the excellent programmes, and to the walk leaders who have taken on the responsibility of organising walks that have been safe as well as enjoyable.

Our President
I would like to thank John Jones for the interest he takes in our activities. He expresses his pride in being our President and talks about his love of walking, with its connection to folk music. This year John has continued to spend much of his time in his role as a performer on the road with Oysterband www.oysterband.co.uk in its final year of live performances. I had the pleasure of being at their last concert at Shrewsbury Folk Festival. Now he is entering a new phase of his musical career as part of a trio, and maybe he will have more time to indulge his passion for walking from his home on the Powys/Herefordshire border? 
Looking Forward
As mentioned last year, succession to key roles on Area Council is an issue we must address if we are to ensure that the important work of Ramblers in Powys is sustained and developed. At the same time, Ramblers GB has been reviewing its governance arrangements, including the structure of Areas and Groups. We have engaged in the consultations and we are hoping that the outcome will help us to establish the best way forward for Powys.

Thank You 

Finally, as always, I would like to make special mention of valued members who, for a variety of reasons, don’t walk with us or participate in other ways, but continue to support us through their membership. You are much appreciated.

Thanks to all members for their contributions, which are vital to Ramblers in pursuing the aims of promoting walking and protecting and expanding the places everyone can walk.

Alan Austin, October 2025

Report by Footpath Secretary

Condition of Rights of Way in Powys
Much of our work liaising with the Council is in relation to their failure to discharge their responsibilities to maintain rights of way in the area. This continues to be a very difficult task. We do not have the latest figures for the number of outstanding problems reported by the public but understand that it is still well over 10,000.
It would be reasonable to say that our relationship with Council officers can get somewhat strained from time to time and it is necessary to involve Senior Council Members when things get stuck.

Shared Prosperity funding
I reported last year that Council Officers were still in discussion with the UK Government about getting final approval for the £7M provisionally awarded for rights of way capital improvements in Powys (primarily bridges). Progress has been slow, and approval has only been given to only one bridge in Ystradgynlais so far.
It continues to be a great struggle to get further information from the Council, and they continue to say that this is because the issue is commercially confidential and involves private negotiations with 3rd parties.
The controversial issue about the potential works to the Monk’s Trod to make it suitable for motorcycle use, remains unresolved. As things stand, we are waiting for a round table stakeholder meeting facilitated by the Cabinet member and the local MP.
Council’s Local Development Plan
We are continuing to be involved in the preparation of the Council’s new local development plan.

Sustainable farming scheme
The final version of the sustainable farming scheme has now been published, and it is pleasing to note that cross compliance has been included. This means that to be eligible for payments farmers need to comply with their responsibilities for looking after rights of way on their land. Further discussions are necessary to work out the detail of how this will be implemented.
There is also scope for farmers to attract discretionary funding for improving rights away on their land and generally improving access to the countryside.

Fold Farm DMMO
After a very long delay the Council approved a DMMO in relation to a local path in Presteigne. This was very good news. However, the landowner has objected, and all the paperwork will now be sent to the Welsh Government to make the final decision.

Open Spaces Society
Our joint work with the Open Spaces Society continues and the have served legal notices on the Council about obstructions in Rhayader and dilapidated stiles in Llanyre.

Planning applications
The Council abruptly stopped sending planning applications earlier this year. I was told that Officers did not have time to do this anymore. I made a fuss, and it was necessary to involve the Leader of the Council in the end. Thankfully he agreed with me that this should continue as minimal Officer effort was required and applications are coming through again. Unfortunately, though we are short of local members to look at applications and flag up any possible negative implications for rights of way. Volunteers would be most welcome.

National Park
NRW are running the final consultation exercise on the proposed new National Park. There have been changes to the areas proposed for inclusion and there is now a much smaller part of northern Powys included. 

Brilliant Basics
The Council has been successful again in attracting funding from the Brilliant Basics scheme, a Welsh Government pool of funding to boost tourism. This funding is going to be used over the next couple of years to develop local walking routes in 3 parts of Powys - Carreghofa, Llanwrtyd and Llansilin. 

Public reporting of problems
The Council has introduced its new system for the public to report rights of way problems they find, using an online map to accurately pinpoint the issue. The following link will take you to it - Report a concern with a right of way - Powys County Council

Volunteer Strategy
The Council is pressing ahead with its strategy make better use of volunteers in improving the 
network. It is early days yet, but progress does seem to be rather slow.

Rights of Way near schools
Following an inspection of the local authority’s Education Department, safeguarding issues were highlighted at some schools where there are rights of way in the school grounds or nearby. I have been in contact with the Council to say that we would be happy to help find solutions to these issues and that they should have early conversations with us about what they are proposing. I have made it clear that we are likely to object to any extinguishments but will look sensibly at potential diversions.

Don’t lose your way
As part of the Ramblers GB Scheme to put forward DMMOs for paths that are not on the definitive map, Chris Smith from England has done an extensive amount of research and submitted over 40 applications in Radnorshire following discussions with us about priorities. As the Council already has a long waiting list of applications, it will take a very long time before these are determined

Tourism Tax
It is likely that the local authority will not implement the tourism tax in Powys. We have informed them though that if they change their mind, they should identify maintaining rights of way as something to be funded through this tax.

Graham Taylor
Footpath Secretary
29 October 2025

              			Trails Officer’s Report

This is my final report as I am standing down from the Area Committee.   I have very much enjoyed involvement over the quite a few years, the most challenging of which was seven years as Footpath Secretary.  The most rewarding work I have done has been the involvement through Ramblers in the Cambrian Way and I make no apology of majoring on that trail in my report.

The third reprint of the Cicerone Guide is being finalised which shows that the Cambrian Way retains popularity.  According to one key accommodation provider on the route at Barmouth there has been an increase in walkers of the route over the last year as well as more single women and Americans.   There has been quite a lot of activity in preserving the signage and maintenance of the route particularly by Trust Chair, Ollie Wicks. In addition, Trustees Matt Jones and Ellie Clelow have been walking the whole route again armed with replacement way signs.  There was great success in getting Tony Drake’s favourite stretch in the Dothie Valley cleared of thick bracken which was blocking the routes.  Carmarthenshire Council cleared the blockages within days of receiving the complaint.  I was pleased to have an article published in the Cambrian Way Annual magazine on the subject of Tony Drake’s efforts to establish and maintain the route.  The famous Star Inn at Dylife has reopened for accommodation for walkers on both the Cambrian Way and Glyndwr’s Way.

2025 has been a year of celebration of the 50th year of the Wye Valley Walk. Some of our members have been leading walks as part of this event.  The Offa’s Dyke Association has been fortunate to obtain substantial funding for repairs to the Dyke itself as only 8% is in reasonable condition.  

February of this year saw the first anniversary of the opening of the Dyfi Bridge which gives better access to the Powys section of the Wales Coast Path via a pedestrianised old bridge and good walking, cycling and horse riding over the new bridge in the case of flooding.   Powys Ramblers were involved in getting rights of way being given full recognition in this £46 million pound project.

Richard Tyler
27.10.25

Membership Secretary’s Report

Ramblers Central Office produces monthly membership data via the Insight Hub for Membership Secretaries. Nationally, membership numbers seem to be slowly increasing with 105,953 (up from 101,800 last year) with 267 (up from 264 last year) in Powys area. (Depending on the date the figures are uploaded and when standing order payments are taken.) The UK total figure might be due to more people taking exercise or holidays in the UK, coupled with the Ramblers increased marketing and image promotion initiatives. The figure of over 100,000 members is encouraging, as it means Ramblers can have more influence as a pressure group, however the average age of members is 68 nationally and 71 in Powys. This is clearly of concern for the future of the organisation unless younger members can be attracted to join and thus ensure a succession strategy. 
Over half of the membership both nationally and in Powys are aged between 60 and 80 and 55% are female. 

The number of members in Powys who have opted to be emailable for AGM papers is now 224 which is a great improvement on a few years ago when only around 50% of the membership consented to be contacted electronically. This makes the job of the Area Secretary considerably easier at AGM time. 

Membership of the two remaining Powys groups (following the closure of Four Wells group) is as follows. 
East Radnor 159 
Welshpool 78 
Powys Area 30 (Unallocated to groups) 

Powys Area receives funding from Ramblers Cymru on a per capita basis but only for members assigned to specific groups and not for those in the Powys Area unallocated group. Since there is no immediate need for the extra funding generated by the 30 unallocated members we have not previously made this an issue, however it is an anomaly and we have requested Ramblers Cymru look into rectifying this. 

Ramblers UK promotes digital campaigns, taster walks, gift membership and image enhancement generally and has a good online presence but anecdotal evidence points to a general decline in membership numbers of other organisations such as Rotary Clubs and the lack of succession planning is an ongoing concern to all membership organisations relying on volunteers to meet their objectives.

Geoff Beilby, Membership Secretary

Treasurer’s Report 2024/25

Powys Area Ramblers Year ending September 2025 

End of year accounts for the Powys Ramblers’ Area show assets totalling £2,393.57.  (see attached). This includes £7.90 restricted funds which remains from Welsh Water funding in respect of Elan Hill Walks leaflets.  (Please see attached)
East Radnor Group shows assets totalling £424.02.  (Please see attached)
Welshpool Group shows assets totalling £79.95. (Please see attached).  Welshpool Group also hold some £50 petty cash.
Peter Loughran has once again audited our accounts and given a clean bill of health.   Thanks go to him.
Returns have been completed in accordance with the above and forwarded to Area Group Finance.

Going forward 2025/26
We have received funding of £1,925 from Area Group Finance in relation to DLYW which represents the amount requested by Chris Smith.  An expense form has been sent to him and we will review request when submitted.

Both Welshpool and East Radnor groups have requested their full basic allowance for 2025/26.   These total £455.20 and will be funded from our existing reserves.  
Jacky Ellis will be giving up her Treasurer role for East Radnor in November.  Thanks go to her for all her work in the past.  She is being replaced by Tony Greasley and I look forward to working with him in the future.

Sue Havard
Treasurer
21.10.2025