By William Coleman
Wales MP Chris Davies swapped Parliament for a park in his constituency this summer to meet its family owners and hear about their recent shortlisting for a major award.
Rockbridge Residential and Holiday Park has now reached the finals of the Rural Business Awards, and could be crowned as Britain’s top countryside enterprise.
Mr Davies, who is MP for Brecon and Radnorshire, congratulated park owners Glenn and Hannah Jones on their success so far in the prestigious awards scheme.
The couple own three top-rated parks in the Welsh borders and Herefordshire under the business title of Discover Parks, including five-star Rockbridge.
Based in Presteigne in Powys, it provides both residential park homes as well as holiday lodges and pitches for touring caravans, motorhomes and tents.
During his visit, Mr Davies took the opportunity to tour the landscaped grounds of the park and to learn more about how it attracts thousands of visitors to the region each year.
The spending of holiday guests, Glenn Jones told the MP, provides a substantial boost to the area’s tourism economy, and helps to support many other local businesses.
Mr Davies said he was also keen to learn more about what the impact would be on residential and holiday parks of proposed new legislation from the Welsh Assembly.
Mr Jones said that the Welsh Government’s policies needed very careful analysis, and he hoped that parks would not be fettered from continuing to develop and help sustain local employment.
Mr Davies said he recognised that tourism plays an extremely valuable role in his constituency, and that thriving businesses such as Rockbridge park deserved encouragement and support.
Meanwhile, Glenn and Hannah and their staff team are crossing their fingers for success in the regional finals of the Rural Business Awards which take place in October this year.
They could then be fast-tracked into next February’s national final of the competition whose sponsors include Amazon and the Country Land and Business Association.
