Changes planned for Swansea’s Kilvey Hill

THOUSANDS of conifers on Swansea’s Kilvey Hill are set to be replaced with native broadleaf trees.
Natural Resources Wales (NRW) has published a 25-year management plan for the woodland, which includes upgrading the access road and developing footpaths.
An area of new hilltop heathland is also proposed.
A few miles to the north, the agency wants to continue converting the Ynys Mond wood, between Glais and Alltwen, into native woodland and also remove more invasive rhododendron.
The public is being asked for its views on the plans.
NRW said the proposal for Kilvey Hill is to create a predominantly native woodland, over time, through the removal of diseased pine and larch trees.
It will choose replacement broadleaf trees which can withstand diseases and pests as far as possible.
Andrew Hood, NRW’s senior officer in forest planning, said woodlands had multiple benefits and had proved especially important during the Covid pandemic.
“We know how valued our woodlands are, and we want to make sure the people who use them have the opportunity to feedback on the plans,” he said.
Swansea group Kilvey Woodland Volunteers, which carries out various projects on the hill, has posted details of the consultation on its Facebook page.
Chairman Trefor Davies said the 25-year plan seemed to chime with the group’s re-wilding efforts.
A broadleaf mix would, he said, be more diverse than the larch and pine which currently dominate and more resistant to climate change.
“It will change the look of the hill,” he said.
The woodland group has already planted 700 native trees and re-wilded a strip of land near the Pentrechwyth Road access.
The Lower Swansea Valley used to be an industrial wasteland where nothing green grew, but it was gradually regenerated from the 1960s onwards with tree planting part of the huge project.
Cllr Robert Francis-Davies said remembered the area resembling a “moonscape” before the council bought up the land and the regeneration work gathered pace.
“I think it’s a joy to see now,” he said.
Meanwhile there are proposals for a new gondola ride up to Kilvey Hill from land by the old Hafod Copperworks, complete with a hilltop restaurant, luge runs and a zip wire.
NRW’s consultation runs until August 16.