Mawr

Description

Mawr falls within the parliamentary constituency of Gower. It is bounded by the wards of Pontarddulais to the west; Llangyfelach and Morriston to the south; Clydach to the southeast; Pontardawe of Neath Port Talbot to the northeast; Betws to the north and Tycroes to the north west. For the purposes of local elections it is broken down into three polling districts: Garnswllt, Craigcefnparc and Felindre. Mawr returns one councillor to the City and County of Swansea council. It is currently represented by Ioan Richard (Independent).

Mawr consists of some or all of the following villages: Felindre, Bryntwood, Craigcefnparc, Garnswllt, Rhydypandy and rural uplands of Mawr. The area of the ward is one of the most sparsely populated in Swansea but it has the highest proportion of Welsh language speakers. Mawr is the second largest ward in Swansea by land area. Most of the ward comprises rural farmland and open moorland.

Local government

Mawr elects a community council of 12 members (including one vacancy in 2016), though in 2015 the council was found to be performing its duties inadequately and not addressing the problems identified in a 2011 report.

2012 local council elections

In the 2012 local council elections, the voter turnout for Mawr was 44.82%. The results were:

Lliw Reservoirs country park

There are two man made reservoirs near the village of Felindre, in the Lliw valley called the Lower Lliw Reservoir and the Upper Lliw Reservoir. The reservoirs are managed by Welsh Water. The countryside around the reservoir is open to the public for recreational purposes.

The Lower Lliw Reservoir (or Felindre Reservoir) was originally opened in 1863 to provide water for Swansea and the surrounding area costing £160,000 to create. The Upper Lliw Reservoir opened in 1892 and cost £116,000 to build.[1] Subsequently the Lower Lliw Reservoir was reconstructed between 1976-78 with inclusion of new rockfill dam, new overflow spillway and new pumping station.