A local beauty spot has a new, safe and spacious public car park thanks to the National Trust, with the support of Monmouthshire County Council and Llantilio Pertholey Community Council.

Located at the foot of the Skirrid mountain just north of Abergavenny, the car park has capacity for 50 vehicles, along with an additional 25 grass overflow spaces. It’s been created on a strip of land adjoining the small layby formerly used by visiting motorists.

Parking at the Skirrid has been an issue raised by the community council, police and highways department for at least the last 20 years.

The lay-by held a maximum of 15 cars and was situated on the crest of a hill. During busy periods of the year parked cars often encroached onto the main road, making the location extremely dangerous. There were also complaints about blocked access to neighbouring land.

In autumn 2013 MCC painted double yellow lines on the road in a bid to stop people parking there and the National Trust, which owns the mountain and Skirrid Wood, took the decision to ask the owner of the adjacent land if it could purchase a narrow strip on which to build a new car park.

Having acquired the land, planning permission was granted just before Christmas and construction, carried out by MCC highways department, began in March and was completed last week.

MCC Cabinet member with responsibility for highways, Councillor Bryan Jones said, “Having listened to concerns from the local community we have acted to avoid accidents caused by inappropriate and potentially dangerous parking.

“We are pleased that further discussions with the national park authority and the National Trust have resulted in increased parking spaces so that people can visit the county and enjoy the Skirrid in a safe manner supporting local tourism enterprises.”

The new car park is pay and display, costing £3 for cars and £6 for camper vans and minibuses, but will be free to National Trust members. The money will go towards maintaining the car park, footpaths and woodlands around the Skirrid, which cost the charity thousands of pounds every year to maintain.

The National Trust’s countryside manager for the Brecon Beacons and Monmouthshire, Joe Daggett, said, “We are delighted the new car park at the Skirrid is now fully open and so many people are using it.

“This will allow everyone who enjoys this beautiful location to do so without the concern of finding a safe place to park. Revenue created from the car park will enable us as a charity to continue looking after the site, footpaths and woodland around the Skirrid and keep this part of the countryside special for everyone.”