A new 136-space car park is now open at Pontneddfechan, with Neath Port Talbot Council saying it made “considerable efforts” to open the facility ahead of schedule to help manage the impact of peak summer visitor traffic on the village.
The car park is the first part of a wider suite of visitor facilities at the gateway to Waterfall Country, with a children’s play park, an eight-bedroom visitor accommodation building and a farm/community shop all due to open later this year. The project is funded by the UK Government.
The council said the development is “purposely designed for better management of existing visitor numbers and is not designed to stimulate further trips”, offering what it called a safer, more organised arrival point for visitors and easing congestion in the village and surrounding areas.
The car park operates seven days a week from 8am to 10pm, with gates locked at 10pm and no overnight parking permitted. Parking is charged at a flat rate of £6 a day, payable at the on-site machine by coins or card, or through the MiPermit app.
The council said the price had been “deliberately set to reflect existing provision across the region”, adding: “Setting a lower charge could lead to an increase in visitor numbers, which would risk adding further pressure to the village and undermine the overall aims of the development.”
New toilet facilities on the site are also now open daily between 8am and 7pm.
Waterfall Country — the stretch of the Bannau Brycheiniog National Park between Pontneddfechan and Ystradfellte that is home to more than a dozen waterfalls — has seen years of pressure from visitor traffic, with residents left unable to cope with the number of cars attempting to park in the village. A free park and ride service was first piloted in 2021 in an attempt to ease the congestion. The scheme returned in later summers as pressure on the village continued.
The council consulted on £7.7m of development plans for the village in 2023. Construction started last summer.
But the scheme’s operating model is facing questions. In a letter seen by Swansea Bay News, David Chadwick, the Liberal Democrat MP for neighbouring Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe, wrote to the council’s chief executive Frances O’Brien on 16 June raising concerns passed to him by constituents about “the sequencing of decisions, the procurement model being adopted and the long-term implications for residents and local businesses”.
Mr Chadwick said he understood the council had begun procurement for a long-term operating lease of the visitor hub — including the accommodation, retail facilities, public toilets and the car park — before the outcome of the current Traffic Regulation Order consultation is known, and asked how prospective operators were expected to assess the commercial value of the opportunity before parking restrictions in the village are finalised.
He also questioned why no Preliminary Market Engagement exercise was carried out before procurement began, and asked whether alternatives had been considered — including keeping the car park under direct public management while leasing only the commercial elements of the development.
“Several constituents have questioned whether a publicly funded parking facility, developed primarily to address visitor management challenges, should form part of a private commercial lease rather than remaining under public control with any surplus revenue being reinvested into local infrastructure, visitor management and community benefit,” he wrote.
The MP also raised the question of capacity. A visitor traffic study commissioned by the national park authority identified substantial excess parking demand during peak periods, including significant pressure within Pontneddfechan itself, and Mr Chadwick asked whether the new 136-space car park is sufficient to meet that demand — and what happens when it fills up, including any assessment of parking displacing into surrounding areas.
Noting that earlier studies around Waterfall Country had emphasised community-led solutions and tangible local benefit from tourism, he asked what opportunities local businesses, community organisations and residents would have to influence how the facility is run.
“Given the scale of public investment involved and the importance of maintaining public confidence in the project, I would be grateful for a detailed response to these matters,” he wrote.
The council’s announcement notes that the accommodation and shop will open “once an operator has been appointed” — the appointment at the heart of the MP’s questions.
