Brecon Beacons National Park is changing its name.
The park, which lies in mid Wales, will now officially be known only as Bannau Brycheiniog (its Welsh name – which means the peaks of Brychan’s kingdom).
As of Monday 17 April, the park will informally be known as the Bannau.
The change is an “organisational” one which is said to “better reflect the park and the world we live in today”, the park says.
Catherine Mealing-Jones, the park’s chief executive, told Sky News that it was important to have a name that “meant something to the people of the area”.
“As we went through the process of looking at the brand and thinking about the kind of park and organisation that we wanted to be, the old logo didn’t seem to make a lot of sense, we’re an environmental organisation so a giant, carbon-burning brazier isn’t really a good look,” she said.
“If you look at our old logo, it’s always had the bilingual on it so we’re just really emphasising the Welsh side of that because we’re much more coterminous with the old kingdom of Brychan and hopefully it fits with our duty to and our wish to promote Welsh language and culture.
“We’re a landscape which is shaped by people as much as anything, so we wanted something that meant something to the people of the area.”
While Bannau Brycheiniog National Park says it is committed to promoting the Welsh language, it adds that it does not expect the public to use the official name and that they can “choose what they prefer”.
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“Using the new name isn’t compulsory. It’s something that we as an organisation are going to put the emphasis on and we hope people will use it and that they’ll use it as a gateway into learning a little bit more about the area,” Ms Mealing-Jones added.
Image: Catherine Mealing-Jones, chief executive of Bannau Brycheiniog National Park. Pic: Bannau Brycheiniog
‘Absolutely fundamental’
The name change is part of the park’s new management plan in response to the climateand biodiversity emergency.
The plan in based around five key aims which include reaching net-zero greenhouse gas emissions in the park by 2035 and ensuring clean and safe water environments by 2030.
Judith Harvey is a warden manager who has worked at the park for more than 30 years.
Ms Harvey told Sky News that “the achievements we’ve [the park] made throughout the years” keep her work fresh and exciting.
Image: The view from Y Garn Goch in Bannau Brycheiniog National Park. Pic: Anthony Pease
“As climate and biodiversity loss becomes more urgent for us to tackle, through my working life I’ve seen things swing around from being quite low priority as a subject to something that now everybody talks about and most people are committed to stopping biodiversity loss. A lot of people are committed to stopping climate change,” she said.
“It’s fundamental to us all. Absolutely fundamental.”
A 76-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of administering poison at a summer camp which led to eight children being taken to hospital, police said.
Police received reports of children feeling unwell at a summer camp in Canal Lane, Stathern, Leicestershire, on Monday.
Paramedics assessed eight children, who were taken to hospital as a precaution and have all now been discharged.
The suspect was arrested at the camp and remains in custody on suspicion of administering poison with intent to injure/aggrieve/annoy.
Detective Inspector Neil Holden said: “We understand the concern this incident will have caused to parents, guardians and the surrounding community.
“We are in contact with the parents and guardians of all children concerned.
“Please be reassured that we have several dedicated resources deployed and are working with partner agencies including children’s services to ensure full safeguarding is provided to the children involved.
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“We also remain at the scene to carry out enquiries into the circumstances of what has happened and to continue to provide advice and support in the area.
“This is a complex and sensitive investigation and we will continue to provide updates to both parents and guardians and the public as and when we can.”
The force said it has referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) over what it said was the “circumstances of the initial police response”.
There is no evidence that malign activity was responsible for yesterday’s outage of air traffic control systems, the transport secretary has said.
Heidi Alexander said she has spoken with the chief executive of National Air Traffic Service (NATS), Martin Rolfe, and added that what happened was an isolated incident.
NATS has apologised for the IT problems after thousands of passengers suffered extensive travel disruption during one of the busiest times of the year.
The technical glitch led to more than 150 flight cancellations, leaving airlines reacting furiously.
Image: Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander
Ms Alexander wrote on X: “I have spoken with NATS CEO Martin Rolfe who provided further detail on yesterday’s technical fault.
“This was an isolated event and there is no evidence of malign activity.
“I know that any disruption is frustrating for passengers.
“Flights are now resumed and I am grateful to airlines who are working hard to get people to where they need to be.
“I will continue to receive regular updates. Passengers should check with airlines before travelling.”
Officials said a “radar-related issue” caused the air traffic control failure.
A spokesperson for NATS said: “This was a radar-related issue which was resolved by quickly switching to the back-up system during which time we reduced traffic to ensure safety.
“There is no evidence that this was cyber related.”
The problem occurred at NATS’ control centre in Swanwick, Hampshire, and affected the vast majority of England and Wales.
Aviation analytics company Cirium said 84 departures and 71 arrivals were cancelled to or from UK airports up to 10pm on Wednesday, with several flights diverted to other European airports.
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5:06
Travel expert Paul Charles: This is a major outage
There was limited disruption on Thursday, with a handful of British Airways flights cancelled because aircraft and crew were out of position.
Heathrow and Gatwick airports said they had resumed normal operations.
Affected passengers are unlikely to be entitled to compensation as the disruption was outside of airlines’ control, but they will be able to claim expenses for a reasonable amount of food and drink, a means to communicate and overnight accommodation if required.
Image: Martin Rolfe in 2023. Pic: PA
Ryanair has called on Mr Rolfe to resign, claiming “no lessons have been learnt” since a similar systems outage in August 2023.
The airline’s chief operating officer Neal McMahon said: “It is outrageous that passengers are once again being hit with delays and disruption due to Martin Rolfe’s continued mismanagement of Nats.”
Airlines have reacted furiously after a technical glitch in air traffic control systems led to more than 150 flight cancellations.
The National Air Traffic Service (NATS) has apologised for the IT problems – and said systems were back up and running 20 minutes after the “radar-related issue” was detected at 4.05pm.
But with thousands of passengers suffering extensive travel disruption, during one of the busiest times of the year, airline executives have warned this isn’t good enough.
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Departures resume after ATC problem
Ryanair’s chief operating officer Neal McMahon has called for NATS chief executive Martin Rolfe to resign – and claimed Wednesday’s incident was “utterly unacceptable”.
He said: “It is outrageous that passengers are once again being hit with delays and disruption due to Martin Rolfe’s continued mismanagement of NATS.
“It is clear that no lessons have been learnt since the August 2023 NATS system outage, and passengers continue to suffer as a result of Martin Rolfe’s incompetence.”
Mr McMahon was referring to a glitch that affected more than 700,000 passengers two years ago – and said that, if Mr Rolfe refuses to step down, the government should intervene.
“Heidi Alexander must act without delay to remove Martin Rolfe and deliver urgent reform of NATS’ shambolic ATC service, so that airlines and passengers are no longer forced to endure these preventable delays caused by persistent NATS failures,” he added.
The Department for Transport says Ms Alexander does not have any direct control over NATS – and no powers over staffing decisions at the service.
Image: Martin Rolfe in 2023. Pic: PA
EasyJet’s chief operating officer David Morgan added: “It’s extremely disappointing to see an ATC failure once again causing disruption to our customers at this busy and important time of year for travel.
“While our priority today is supporting our customers, we will want to understand from NATS what steps they are taking to ensure issues don’t continue.”
NATS is yet to comment on the calls for Mr Rolfe’s resignation – but has stressed that the glitch is not believed to be “cyber related”.
“This was a radar-related issue which was resolved by quickly switching to the back-up system during which time we reduced traffic to ensure safety,” a spokesperson had said.
Departures at airports across the country have now resumed – but passengers are being urged to check with their airline before heading to terminals.
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5:06
Travel expert: This is a major outage
John Carr, from Stourbridge, was on his way from Heathrow to Norway to help arrange his brother’s wedding when he discovered his flight was cancelled after checking in.
“I’m pretty gutted,” he said. “We’ve got loads of stuff in the suitcases to set up the venue, because we’re obviously flying to Norway. We’ve got the wedding rehearsal to do. It’s quite stressful.”
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey called for an urgent investigation and also referred to the “utterly unacceptable” disruption two years earlier.
“With thousands of families preparing to go on a well-earned break, this just isn’t good enough. The public deserve to have full confidence in such a vital piece of national infrastructure.”
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Airlines may have to provide compensation, although there are exemptions for “extraordinary circumstances”, according to the UK’s Civil Aviation Authority.