I'm A Celebrity Gwrych Castle village green status row

The castle, near Abergele, was built in the early 19th Century

Giving the castle that hosted I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here village green status could end hopes of hosting other shows, supporters fear.

They also believe it will make restoring the Grade I-listed Gwrych Castle, near Abergele, Conwy, harder.

Village green status means an area is protected for people in the local area to use for sport and other pastimes, with restrictions on building work.

Abergele councillor Andrew Wood has applied for the status.

His application covers the castle and surrounding woodland, with Mr Wood saying he wants to protect access that locals have enjoyed to the area for decades.

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The Grade-I listed castle was derelict and abandoned for much of the 1990s and early 2000s until the Gwrych Castle Preservation Trust (GCPT) took on a lease of part of the site, eventually buying it outright in 2018.

Some people in Abergele used the woodland surrounding the castle for walking, horse riding and cycling while the buildings were closed.

Because of Covid restrictions, the show was moved from its usual venue in Australia in 2020 and 2021

But they are unhappy that some of the paths across land owned by the GCPT were closed off around 2020.

To register land as a town or village green, the applicant must prove that local residents have used the site for 20 years "without force, secrecy or permission".

Mr Wood believes this is the case, though GCPT disputes it.

"The wooded area is used by walkers, horse riders, cyclists, climbers, cavers and runners, as well as by children playing," he said.

"People have enjoyed unhindered and unrestricted access to this land for at least 50 years, until 2020-21 when the GCPT decided to fence and block off three access points."

The castle appeared regularly on television

He described the land as "priceless" in terms of the wellbeing of locals.

Included in the application are the castle buildings and 150 acres leased to Natural Resources Wales.

GCPT trustee Pauline Heap-Williams said the castle was a tourist attraction from 1948 to 1987, and reopened to paying visitors in 2014 - attracting 350,000 people in the past decade.

"Money from ticket sales goes towards restoring a building and historic landscape which still needs millions of pounds of work," she said.

"But even when the site was closed, there have been fences and signage warning people not to enter maintained by previous owners."

Village green

Ms Heap-Williams added restoration was still at an early stage, saying: "It has put the area on the map and is now a magnet for people from across Britain to enjoy our beautiful area."

She does not believe village green status will help the castle or community.

Volunteer Chris Keeting said: "The revenue gained by the visitor entrance fee and exclusive access for TV productions, which make the restoration of Gwrych Castle viable, and have created full-time jobs, will be lost."

The application will be considered by Conwy council, which says it has asked for people's views.

A spokesman for Natural Resources Wales (NRW) said: "NRW has made representations to Conwy County Borough Council in respect of that part of the application seeking to register NRW-managed Gwrych woodland as a village green.

"The representations are that the application does not meet the legal requirements for the land to be registered as a village green."

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