Goats freely roaming streets of Llandudno ‘not sustainable’ says MS after fatal crash
Allowing goats to freely roam the streets of Llandudno is not “sustainable” says the local Senedd member. Llandudno’s Kashmiri goats have become world famous in recent years after taking over the seaside town during the pandemic lockdowns.
They still roam the streets of the town and while they are often entertaining there are also difficulties with them co-existing with residents and visitors in the busy resort. This was brought into sharp focus over the weekend as North Wales Live revealed four goats were killed when a vehicle struck a herd of the animals on the A470 at Wormhout Way.[1][2]
Police and members of the council highways team had to attend the incident on Sunday night. Wil Owen, who arrived at the scene shortly after the crash, said he saw three dead goats and two or three others had left the scene with injuries. Conwy council later confirmed four goats were killed.
Aberconwy MS Janet Finch Saunders now wants various organisations to come together to find a lasting solution that ensures the welfare of the goats and motorists as the current situation was “not sustainable”. She says the Senedd could bring in legislation to protect the goats and to formally lay out responsibilities for all the agencies involved.
The MS said: “It is extremely sad that some of our beloved goats have now been killed on the roads. I am extremely grateful to North Wales Police[5] and the Council highways team for attending and investigating, and I have asked them to keep me apprised of the outcome.
“This speaks to the wider issue of co-existing and how difficult it is to have them freely roaming the streets and highways. Clearly this is not sustainable, lest we find ourselves dealing with another fatal accident.
“This is why I have written to Conwy[6] County Borough Council, Llandudno[7] Town Council, Mostyn Estates Ltd, Natural Resources Wales , RSPCA (National & Aberconwy Branch), the National Trust and North Wales Police, to inform them that I will be writing to the Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs to seek solution that is sustainable and manageable for all parties.
“I know that this is a very contentious issue however, it is my duty as the member for Aberconwy to ensure that constituents and visitors are safe and that the goats can peacefully live in Llandudno. I will continue to search for a solution here as this is not an issue we can turn a blind eye to.”
North Wales Live has contacted Conwy council[8] and Welsh Government.
Wil Owen was driving on the A470 with friends on Sunday when they came across a car with its hazard lights on. He said: “After a few seconds we realised there were two goats badly injured goats in the middle of the road. We then realised that something bad had happened so we parked the car to the side of the road.
“As we started to walk to the car that had hit the goats we then realised how bad this actually was. There were three goats that were unfortunately dead and possibly two or three more that were injured and had ran off. The car had sustained very bad damage, it looked like a write off.”
A local resident who contacted North Wales Live over the incident said: “I understand a number of the goats were killed sadly. I hope the driver is ok, it must have been a terrible shock.
“The goats have been hanging around that area for a while and it can be a fast road, it’s a horrible thing to happen.”
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References
- ^ when a vehicle struck a herd of the animals on the A470 at (www.dailypost.co.uk)
- ^ . (www.dailypost.co.uk)
- ^ Spike in Welsh drivers caught breaking 20mph limit as enforcement steps up (www.dailypost.co.uk)
- ^ Goats killed after herd of Llandudno’s famous four legged beasts hit by vehicle on A470 (www.dailypost.co.uk)
- ^ North Wales Police (www.dailypost.co.uk)
- ^ Conwy (www.dailypost.co.uk)
- ^ Llandudno (www.dailypost.co.uk)
- ^ Conwy council (www.dailypost.co.uk)
- ^ Sign up now for the latest news on the North Wales Live Whatsapp community (www.dailypost.co.uk)