A public meeting will be held to hear more about the future of Coed y Brenin, and people from Meirionnydd and beyond are being asked to attend to show their support for the UK’s first purpose-built mountain bike centre.

The visitor centre in Ganllwyd near Dolgellau opened in 1996 and has established itself as a fantastic base, providing services to help locals and visitors make the most of their time enjoying the world-class mountain bike trails located in the forest.

Local councillor Delyth Lloyd Griffiths said: “Hearing the news that Natural Resource Wales (NRW) is currently reviewing the future of three of its visitor centres across north and mid Wales has sent shockwaves through this community. We know 100,000 visitors come to Coed y Brenin every year - economically, how on earth could a rural, sparsely populated area like Meirionnydd dream of welcoming those numbers of visitors to the area, in any other capacity? The centre employs 20 people making Coed y Brenin a fundamentally important employer to Gwynedd.”

NRW is also reviewing visitor centres at Bwlch Nant yr Arian, Aberystwyth and Ynyslas in Borth, with an announcement expected at the end of March.

Cllr Lloyd Griffiths added: “People need to understand that a rural area has few and far employment opportunities, with most people self-employed and working hard in very small run businesses. Having a resource like this open throughout the year offering an important service to compliment the natural surroundings that this mountain bike, walking and running trail provides is crucial to this area. We are urging local people to attend this public meeting at Neuadd y Pentref in Ganllwyd on Thursday, 1 February at 6.30pm to make their voices heard.”

Joining Cllr Lloyd Griffiths at the meeting are MS Mabon ap Gwynfor, Dafydd Caradog Davies MBE, founder of Coed y Brenin bike tracks, biker Rhys Llywelyn and NRW Head of Sustainable Commercial Development, Elsie Grace.