June 19, 2020 - 1269 views
The Welsh Mountain Zoo, a much loved part of Colwyn's community quickly seized on the opportunity to share some very good news this afternoon.
Following the announcement that outdoor tourist attractions in Wales are able to safely re-open and travel restrictions will be lifted on 6th July, the zoo has announced that they will responsibily open their gates at the earliest opportunity.
Ahead of that date, careful and thoughtful planning will be given to ensure visitors can practise social distancing and measures will be introduced to facilitate this. An official reopening date will be announced next week.
Jen Jesse, Director of Operations & Administration, commented: “This is fantastic news for us. The past three months have been incredibly challenging and we now feel that there is finally some light at the end of the tunnel.”
“We made the decision on 22nd March to close our gates, in order to be socially responsible, and to support efforts to minimise the spread of the Coronavirus as much as we possibly could. It’s now great to see that the R rate has been dropping in recent weeks.”
“The 5-mile travel restrictions set in place and the advice to stay local have meant that it would not be financially viable for the Zoo to reopen. However, with these restrictions shortly being lifted, this will allow visitors from a wider catchment to visit once we reopen.”
“Whist this news is great for ourselves, we also want to extend our sympathies to our friends with indoor attractions, such as Angelsey Sea Zoo and Rhyl SeaQuarium, for whom the wait on reopening continues. We hope that they will soon will also be given some positive news to allow them to open their doors once again.”
“Over the coming weeks we will be finalising our preparations for reopening and we’ll be announcing our official reopening date to our friends and supporters next week.”
“There is no getting away from the fact that we have suffered extreme financial damage since closing and the road to recovery will be long and uncertain. However, we now at least have the ability to create a plan for the future.”
“We’d like to take this opportunity to thank our supporters once again for the great lengths they have gone to over the past 3 months to support the Zoo charity.
"The help they have provided us with is not going unnoticed - we are truly humbled by what each and every one of our supporters have done, and we hope will continue, in support of the National Zoo of Wales.”
