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When Cwmcarn Forest Drive closed to the public back in November 2014, no-one knew if the popular attraction would ever reopen.

The forest road was closed to fell around 160,000 larch trees diseased with the highly infectious and untreatable Phytophthora ramorum.

At the time Natural Resources Wales, which has responsibility for the forest, said it was an indefinite closure and that a “significant investment” would be needed because of the felling, haulage and replanting operation.

But on Monday, June 21, the drive will welcome its first visitors for almost seven years after a campaign led by community groups, officials, and politicians to secure the money needed.

Dav Letellier, NRW’s operations manager for the Gwent area, said a total of around £2 million has been invested redeveloping the drive – with a renewed focus on making it one of the top visitor attractions in Wales.

Around 8,000 vehicles a year visited the drive before it closed (with the visitor centre attracting around 250,000) and it is hoped to get that figure up to around 10,000 a year.

Dav said: “What we are working on is an offer. The drive itself is the Crown Jewel and we are working with the council to improve the overall experience.”

The drive has been completely resurfaced and new car parking areas have been added to the seven-mile road in addition to three new adventure playgrounds, a woodland sculpture trail, and barbecue spots.

The emphasis, according to Mr Letellier is on accessibility and reconnecting with nature.

He said: “This is a massive part of the health and active agenda. However, there are people who have difficulty walking and the only way for them to come here is by vehicle.”

Outdoor education spaces for school pupils have been added as well as a host of information boards for people to lean about the area’s history.

This has been done thanks to a major community engagement drive by NRW project manager Geminie Drinkwater.

She said: “Of paramount importance to us as NRW was engaging the local community in the design and the implementation of those ideas.”

She continued: “It has been a tremendous privilege to work on this project and for me I’ve really enjoyed working with the public.

“Capturing those ideas has been fundemental to the success we’ve managed to achieve.”

The visitor centre and camping facilities at Cwmcarn Forest, located at the bottom of the valley, are owned and operated by Caerphilly County Borough Council with the drive being the responsibility of NRW.

However, a two-year agreement has been struck so that the council takes on the operational management of the drive. The idea is that the attraction can be operated as one.

General manager Mike Owen told Caerphilly Observer that the focus is definitly on the future with more developments on the way.

Mr Owen said that over the last five years around £2 million has also been invested in facilities operated by the council – bringing the total investment to around £4m.

He said harvesting teams removed everything from the drive and that it had been in a “mess”.

He said: “We didn’t even know if it was going to reopen.

“It was down to Caerphilly Council, NRW, local community groups, and the support of [Islwyn Senedd Member] Rhiannon Passmore that got the Welsh Government to look at it and get the funding through.”

Ms Passmore said reopning the drive had been one of her key priorities since being first elected in 2016.

She said: “As a child, I was a pupil at Cwmcarn Primary School. So, when I was elected to the Welsh Parliament to represent Islwyn – two of my first visits were to my former school and to Cwmcarn Forest Scenic Drive.

“There I met with Robert Southall, Chair of the Friends of Cwmcarn Forest Drive Group. And, I stated on that visit, that I would do all that I could to ensure the drive was reopened.

“Now, five years later, representatives of NRW have facilitated a tour, for me to see the fantastic work which has occurred to transform the site.

“It is amazing to think that 160,000 diseased trees have been felled, new trees planted, the seven-mile forest drive restored, new all ability trails created to open access to the forest – as well as three new play areas created.

“The Ministerial Taskforce for the South Wales Valleys was set up by the Welsh Labour Government in July 2016. I was determined that Islwyn and Cwmcarn Forest would be key on the Valleys Taskforce’s agenda. The Taskforce was a cross-governmental body that was set up to co-ordinate policy and interventions in the South Wales Valleys.

As the Member of the Senedd for Islwyn I had an important role in ensuring in the chamber of the Senedd, in meetings with Welsh Government Ministers, in the media and working with campaign groups that I could help to articulate why the restoration of Cwmcarn Forest Drive was integral to the future of Islwyn.

“Cwmcarn Forest Drive was to become part of the Taskforce’s Valleys Regional Park concept. The idea behind the Valleys Regional Park was to unlock and maximise the potential of the natural and cultural heritage of the Valleys, generating social, economic, and environmental benefits.

“Cwmcarn Forest next, became identified – as one of 12 Discovery Gateways that formed the Valleys Regional Park. The Valleys Taskforce programme ended in March 2021, but the Valleys Regional Park will continue after 2021, as it has secured the remaining, European Social Fund (ESF) and Rural Development Programme (RDP) funding until 2023.”

She added: “I very much want to pay testimony to the hard work also of the Friends of Cwmcarn Forest Drive, the Twmbarlwn Society and Oxford House Industrial History Society (Risca) and everyone who has played a part. Petitions to the Welsh Parliament and consistent campaigning have got us all – to this wonderful moment in time.

“In a year where we are being advised to holiday in Wales the Cwmcarn Forest Drive offers wonderful opportunities for any staycation with glamping pods, camping pitches, caravan, motorhome pitches and luxury lodges. I hope to stay there shortly too once again after years of camping there as a child with my family with such happy memories.”

One of the key groups involved in the reopening has been the Friends of Cwmcarn Forest Drive, who kept the pressure on the authorities to deliver.

Chair Robert Southall said: “I feel that now is a good time to thank everyone who has been involved in the Friends of Cwmcarn Forest Drive’s campaign since our very first meeting at the Cwmcarn Institute on Wednesday, September 10, 2014.

“Firstly, I would like to thank our committee, members and supporters who have stuck with us through thick and thin. There was never a likelihood of the scenic drive reopening when we started our campaign back in the autumn of 2014.

“NRW’s plan was to decommission and close the drive permanently due to the effects of larch disease.

“NRW have now admitted that there was no contingency for a reopening until Derek Stephen was appointed by NRW to lead on a possible reopening at the end of 2017. This was achieved by FoCFD because of our two petitions to the National Assembly and the constant political pressure put on NRW by our local Assembly/Senedd Members.

“So, I would like to thank these for their help in our campaign: former Assembly members Jocelyn Davies, Gwyn Price, William Graham, David Rowlands, the late Stefan Lewis and most of all our current Senedd Member Rhianon Passmore MS.

“Secondly, I would like to thank those local councillors who have supported our campaign over the last few years and we would like to express our gratitude to Cllr Sean Morgan and Paul Hudson of Caerphilly County Borough Council for the role they have played in support for the reopening. Our thanks also to Chris Evans MP for his support.

“A huge thank you to the Cwmcarn Club and Institute for allowing us to hold committee meetings and several public meetings there between 2015 and 2019 and also a huge round of applause for all of those people who attended those meetings.

“Lastly there are a few members of NRW’s staff who deserve a mention. Firstly, to Derek Stephen who put a reopening back on the agenda and sourced the finance to get the job started. Current senior managers Clare Pillman, Steve Morgan and Dav Letellier all deserve our thanks for the part they have played in planning the reopening and John Hogg and Sally Tansey for keeping things ticking over before a reopening was really on the cards.

“Thanks to Andy Hobbs NRW’s local ranger for his sterling work too. Lastly and I think most importantly of all we would like to thank NRW’s Geminie Drinkwater who has been a superb project manager leading on the forest drive’s reopening for the last two years.

“Geminie deserves a commendation for her exemplary management of the project, as do NRW contractors for their brilliantly executed work around the Cwmcarn Forest.

“We can assure you that our society is here to stay and we will continue to support all those who use the Cwmcarn Forest Drive and to fight tirelessly for improvements to the facilities so that everyone young and old, active or disabled, can enjoy them.”

Cwmcarn Forest Drive reopens on Monday, June 21.

While car parking is free at the visitor centre, to use the drive there is a charge of £8 per car, £11 for minibuses and £25 for coaches.