Commercial coasteering activities in Pembrokeshire’s National Park will need to be licensed at a cost of £100 from May following a decision by park members.

At the March 25 meeting of the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority, members were recommended to agree the delegation of the introduction of a licensing scheme in relation to commercial coasteering operations on land owned or leased by the National Park Authority, subject to the satisfactory completion of associated environmental assessments for specific routes.

A report for members said: “The Authority has historically relied on a combination of voluntary codes of behaviour to guide the operation of a range of recreational activities in Pembrokeshire, including on land in which the Authority has an interest.

“This has operated successfully for many years, however changes in the number of providers operating over time and complaints raised in the last two years have highlighted the benefits of moving to a more formal arrangement through the issuing of licences for coasteering activity.

“The intention is to move to a system of licensing following the completion of environmental assessments for existing coasteering routes from May 1. Should any routes not pass the environmental assessments, they would not be included in such licensed arrangements.”

It added: “The change to licensing agreements between PCNPA directly with coasteering providers is a significant change in the proposed management of coasteering. The majority of coasteering in Pembrokeshire takes place on land owned or managed either by PCNPA or by the National Trust. Both organisations have historically worked historically together on this issue and the move to issuing licenses is supported by the National Trust as well as PCNPA Officers.”

It went on to say: “There is a recognised difference between general public access and commercial activity. Licensing will give a legal basis to the permission for providers to use Authority-owned/managed land which will ensure that the public benefit (special qualities, wildlife and conservation features) is not compromised by commercial activity. Coasteering with commercial groups has the potential for much greater risk of disturbance/environmental impact than individual public access on foot on public rights of way or beaches which is why it needs to be dealt with differently.”

It added: “A fee of £100 as a cost for the PCNPA Licence is being assigned for this year, which does not cover the costs of the environmental assessment work but is a contribution towards costs whilst the Authority transitions to these arrangements. Over the next few years, the intention is for the Authority to move towards a position of full cost recovery for this work.”

Members, by 10 votes to one against, and one abstention, backed the introduction of the licensing scheme for national park lands.