Online row as some Eryri visitors slam parking clampdown
TOURISTS DIVIDED BUT SOME SAY NEW RULES ARE ‘BITING THE HAND THAT FEEDS’
SCENES of cars being towed from roads in Eryri (Snowdonia) have angered walkers and climbers who say they would happily pay for better parking and signage.
Seasoned visitors have mixed feelings about the national park’s soaring popularity but many feel current management approaches are too one-sided.
Eryri National Park is determined to deal with illegally and dangerously parked vehicles on roads in honeypot areas and this year it has implemented a zero-tolerance policy.
The number of parking tickets and vehicle impoundments is falling as the message gets through, but for those caught out, the penalties have left a sour taste.
Walkers say most visitors are wellintentioned but they have been unnerved by the local approach to a “tourist area”.
In an online debate this week, scores of people decried the lack of “constructive management” of a problem that is pitching locals versus visitors.
A blogger accused rural communities of being too quick to condemn anyone who wants to visit the countryside.
He said: “The root cause of the parking issues is not hundreds of insensitive louts being lazy or ignorant - the vast majority are decent people stuck with nowhere to park and poor alternative provision.
“It should not be beyond the national park and local authority capability to anticipate peak crowds and make appropriate provision that make’s visitors welcome and well catered for.
“Instead we are presented with a self-righteous, insular, let’s-tow-awaytheir-cars-and-that’ll-show-em type attitude, which is counterproductive and, most of all, ungenerous.
“Let’s see more constructive and generous proposals rather than this biting of the hand that feeds.”
People have been visiting Eryri for two centuries but mass tourism is more recent as car ownership has grown.
Numbers surged from 2017 and peaked before the Covid pandemic. Figures for 2022, the first full postlockdown year, have yet to be published but there is a sense that numbers have surged again as people discover a taste for adventure and develop a need to share experiences online.
Local people are bearing the brunt, with problems reported across the national park.
As well as indiscriminate parking and littering, disposable barbecues are posing fire risks and off-lead dogs are harassing livestock.
Tensions appear to be rising. For regular visitors, there is some sympathy for locals.
Writing on Facebook, one man said “99% of the people .... are friendly and welcoming”.
But he added: “I’ve been climbing and hiking in North Wales for nearly 20 years and whilst ascending the Llanberis path (on Yr Wyddfa) recently, I was told by a local in Llanberis to “go back to where I belong”. Wherever that is!
“Inconsiderate parking and littering infuriates me as it does most other people.
“Unfortunately, the minority once again ruin it for the majority.”
A view commonly held is that getting exercise and enjoying nature should be free to everyone.
For some visitors, there is also confusion over the approach adopted by the Welsh Government. On Facebook, one person noted that Visit Wales encourages people to travel to Wales only to find some areas are “gatekeeped” when they get there.
He added: “Rural areas usually depend on tourist money, yet hate tourism it seems.”
Over Easter, almost 40 vehicles were towed from Pen-y-Pass on Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) and the A5 in the Ogwen Valley. Eryri National Park has a long-term goal of greater sustainability, chiming with Welsh Government ambitions, and a key plank is reducing reliance on cars.
The national park is now ringed with park-and-ride sites and an app has been launched to guide visitors to car parks with free spaces.
Shuttle buses run continuously to places like Yr Wyddfa and Llyn Ogwen.
There is a suspicion the policy isn’t working.
A visitor said: “So far, increasing parking charges, making the entire Llanberis Pass a no-parking area and adding a few buses appears to have
had the opposite effect on reducing numbers - if that’s the intention?” Some suspect it’s a “revenue-earning” opportunity.
For locals blighted by inconsiderate parking it’s a bitter pill to swallow. In April, the A5 was closed for several hours as police battled to clear double-parked vehicles.
Locals were stuck at home and farm livestock went untended.
Heading into the summer season, when visitor numbers traditionally peak, there are fears of more to come. Snowdon Mountain Railway is this month resuming summit services and reopening its long-closed Hafod Eryri cafe - a move expected to bring more people to the to already crowded peak of Wales’ highest mountain.
Vehicles causing a hazard should be removed, insisted one local. “I wouldn’t expect anything else if I parked up on Manchester ring road and went shopping for the afternoon,” he said.
Another questioned: “So people will
risk being towed and putting others lives at risk for the sake of £20 per car? Unbelievable!”
A local woman accused some visitors of a lack of consideration for the communities into which they enter. “There seems to be a post-Covid attitude of entitlement that they can do what they like, when they like and how they like,” she said.
“Abuse by some visitors is on the increase - not all, but the numbers are rising.”
The preference by some visitors to park at the foot of mountains, rather than use park-and-ride facilities, is a challenge facing the park authorities. Walkers complain that, after a tiring day on the mountains, the last thing they want is to “wait an hour for a bus”.
However, Eryri National Park believes its approach is bearing fruit. “Only a small minority of visitors are not following the guidelines, said a spokesperson. “We are very grateful for everyone’s cooperation in this regard.”
Inevitably, the old argument of more parking is often raised.
Debating the issue, one man said: “I am sure there is plenty of land in the area.” Others suspect temporary peaktime parking in fields might be a welcome opportunity for farmers.
The idea always infuriates local communities.
“Most of the land in Eryri is farmland,” said a resident. “Farmed by families for centuries, it is their livelihood.
“Not only has Eryri become overrun with visitors with many examples of bad behaviour, and evidence of the disrespect shown to our countryside, you now want it to be turned into a car park!”
Llanberis has also come in for criticism by some visitors, who bemoan the lack of facilities – in contrast with “improving” tourist towns like Llangollen and Caernarfon. Shops, cafes are restaurants in the village were labelled “unappealing”.
“So much more could be done to improve and raise revenue to protect the magnet that pulls in so many people,” said a visitor.
The region’s increasing popularity is said to be disrupting the “delicate balance of the environment and local communities”.
As a result, Eryri National Park Authority has developed a transport and parking policy which aims to “greatly reduce traffic, pollution and noise in the inner area during high season”.
If followed, this will “vastly improve the visitor experience and promote sustainable tourism”, said a spokesperson.
They added: “To ensure the preservation of this remarkable area, it is crucial that visitors adopt sustainable practices and adhere to the guidance provided, especially during peak times as we head in to the busy summer months.”
Aware of the benefits the visitor economy can bring, some locals insist they are not anti-tourism.
All they want is a little consideration. “Eryri is much busier now than it’s ever been,” said one woman. “We Welsh have to accept that. All I ask for is respect for our countryside and culture. Diolch.”