REGIONAL MS Altaf Hussain has backed ambitious plans to restore the walled garden as well as create a new visitor centre and café at Penllergare Valley woods.
Dr Hussain, who is a Welsh Conservative, visited the site run by the Penllergare Trust since 2000. The project has been developed on land that formed part of the grounds of the old Penllergare House which was owned by the prominent Dillwyn-Llewelyn Family.
He met manager Lee Turner and local councillor Wendy Fitzgerald who sits on the board of the trust. They explained that they had received Heritage Lottery Funding to replace the existing coffee shop building with a new development which would have given them more indoor space as well as better facilities.
At the moment, the coffee shop is outdoors and income declines in winter as fewer people visit but the income from the café provides the trust with a large part of its revenue along with the small car parking charges they impose.
Sadly, the work was delayed by Covid and they now find that massive increases in building costs have doubled the £800,000 budget available.
Dr Hussain said: “The work that has been done on this estate is phenomenal. They have a team of a hundred volunteers who run the café and carry out a lot of the physical work under the guidance of the two full time and six part time staff that they employ.
“What has been achieved is breathtaking and I commend everyone for the clearance of the site which initially included taking away 70 burnt out cars!
“They also removed 16,000 tons of silt from the two lakes and the river and have got an Archimedes screw hydro-electric generator to provide the site with free electricity. They are able to sell the surplus into the grid.
“They are now embarking on a new project which entails restoring the walled garden into a visitor attraction. They have only recently been granted the lease for this and it includes the site of the famous orchid house which was one of the first of its kind in Europe.
“This project will convey the important work done here in the past by John Dillwyn Llewelyn who pioneered the growing of orchids, camellias and other exotic plants.
“They also intend to provide habitat for wild bees which often live singly rather than in hives but have a valuable role in our eco-system.
“I know the group has fund raising activities lined up and I would urge everyone to support them as much as possible. They have saved a valuable site for posterity and it is much loved by walkers and especially dog walkers who use it all year round. More than 120,000 visitors are attracted every year but the trust has large overheads including the £41,000 a year they pay in rent to the Dillwyn-Llewelyn Family which still owns the estate.”