Book in to park following ‘overwhelming demand’
A COUNTRY park has introduced a car park booking system after an “overwhelming” amount of visitors in recent days.
Margam Country Park, in Neath Port Talbot, has told people to book a car parking space before their visit due to large numbers making the journey so far this week.
Hoards of people headed out to beauty spots across Wales on Tuesday as the country enjoyed the highest temperature of the year so far, with a reading of 21.6C recorded at Cardiff’s Bute Park and Gogerddan, Ceredigion.
Crowds gathered at popular spots, including Mumbles, Cardiff Bay and Barry Island to make the most of the sunshine.
Those heading towards Margam Park were met with a long line of traffic to get into the car park, with one driver claiming to have waited for 45 minutes.
And on Wednesday morning, Marc White, from Briton Ferry, visited The Orangery to receive his coronavirus vaccination and explained that on his way out the line of traffic was “getting bigger and bigger”.
He said: “Luckily for me my jab was at 9.50am and I queued for about three minutes in the car as there were only three cars in front of me. I could see the queue to enter the park was about 30 people and
‘‘ I drove past the massive queue and it was already all the way from the car park to outside Margam Park, onto the main road and was queuing all the way to the roundabout off the M4 and was just getting bigger and bigger
- Marc White
the car park had quite a few cars parked already.
“As I left at about 10.20am I drove past the massive queue and it was already all the way from the car park to outside Margam Park, onto the main road and was queuing all the way to the roundabout off the M4 and was just getting bigger and bigger.
“It was a close call for me and I was thinking of
all those people with vaccination appointments waiting to get in.”
The country park, which was recently named among the top 10 popular parks in the UK, has explained that it will be using a booking system for the car park from tomorrow (Good Friday) until Sunday, April 11, as a result of the “overwhelming” number of visitors.
Park memberships have been suspended for the period as visitors are urged to book their slots before 4pm on the day before they wish to visit.
A statement read: “Due to the overwhelming visitor numbers we’ve experienced this week we’ll be using a booking system for our car park from Friday, April 2 through to Sunday, April 11.
“There will be 400 car park spaces available per day and they will be available on a first come, first serve basis. Our car park can only be booked online, in advance of visiting the park. Bookings must be made before 4pm the day before your visit.
“We’ll need to temporarily suspend park memberships for this period – all of our park members will have an extra month added onto their membership expiry date.
“Thank you as always for your continued support! Please note this does not affect anyone attending The Orangery for their vaccination appointment.”
Swansea Bay University Health Board has also urged people travelling to the mass vaccination centre at The Orangery, within the grounds of the country park, that they do not need to book a parking space for their appointments. A statement from the health board read: “You don’t need to book a parking space for your appointment at our mass vaccination centre in The Orangery at Margam Country Park.
“You will still be able to park when you arrive – but make sure you leave a bit of extra time to get there, as traffic can be busy in the area throughout the day.”