Economy and Community

In addition to directly supporting businesses, the Department works with partners across the North and West Wales region to target resources to invest in a package of skills and infrastructure projects for businesses to prosper in the future.

There are 15,785 businesses, enterprises and community companies in Gwynedd. The Department provides information, advice and practical support to assist them to establish and develop in order to support and create jobs. The Department also provides 87 work units throughout the county to enable businesses to be competitive.

The tourist industry is a key employer in Gwynedd. With an economic value of nearly £1billion, over 15,000 people work in this sector. We assist the industry to attract people throughout the year who are likely to spend more locally, such as visitors who enjoy the outdoors and those who take an interest in the special history and culture of Gwynedd. We also support event organisers to create vibrancy within communities across the county.

As the Gwynedd landscape and natural environment is so important for the county's

prosperity, the Department tries to ensure quality and safe resources in our country parks, harbours, marinas and on the beaches of Gwynedd in order to create recreational attractions for local people and visitors. The Department manages 301km of the Gwynedd coastline, concentrating on 9 blue flag beaches, 4 harbours and 2 marinas, including Hafan Pwllheli that offers accommodation for 700 boats. The Department is also responsible for the management of country parks in Glynllifon and Padarn.

The Department is responsible for a network of 12 centres across Gwynedd which attracts 1.3 million visits every year. This provision enables Gwynedd residents to be active in safe locations and offer a range of activities for all ages. The management of the Centres was transferred to Byw’n Iach Ltd in April 2019, for further details www.bywniach.cymru/en/

The Department organises and supports a range of sports activities in schools, the community and outdoors to inspire children and young people to participate and enjoy sport. The Department is also supporting Gwynedd residents to improve their health condition through the Exercise Referral Team. This is a specialist service with a range of activities to help reduce the impact of conditions which prevent Gwynedd residents from exercising and improving their health.

The Council provides a service in 9 main libraries, 4 community libraries and 3 library links across the county. It is important for Gwynedd residents to be able to borrow books, e-books, audio books or a DVD of their choice. However, not all Gwynedd residents can reach their local library and therefore the Council also provides a mobile library that visits 150 villages, every school, and provides a home service for those who are confined to their dwellings.

Gwynedd residents use the library for so much more than just to borrow books. They are welcoming places for people to use for various activities - reading and learning, access to information about matters such as health and welfare, job seeking, local services as well as 'Gwynedd Ni' which has specific information for families about services and activities for children. Gwynedd residents can also use one of the 110 computers or Wi-Fi, in the libraries for free.

The Service runs two museums in Gwynedd and is responsible for looking after museum collections and creating exhibitions in both, namely Storiel and the Lloyd George Museum.

Much of our work in the field of community arts targets health, well-being, education and tackling loneliness projects. The Service is also responsible for allocating arts grants in order to support arts standards and opportunities for all.

Through Neuadd Dwyfor, Pwllheli and Neuadd Buddug, Bala the Service supports various arts programmes to ensure that the arts are alive in our communities and there is access to the arts in our rural areas. Our aim will be to continue to enrich the lives of Gwynedd residents by promoting an appreciation of our unique heritage and culture, however, we will have to work differently with partners to ensure that this succeeds.

The Council has a statutory responsibility to protect our public records and to ensure that people have access to them. We will do this through the two record offices we have in Gwynedd – Caernarfon Record Office and the Meirionnydd Record Office in Dolgellau.

Gwynedd Record Offices have a wide range of documents, photographs, maps and newspapers with the oldest document dating back to 1176. There is a range of public collections, official and private that reflect the culture and heritage of Gwynedd communities. The Record Offices provide taster sessions and family history courses and work with Gwynedd Primary Schools.