CONGESTION charging in Snowdonia? Seems like a good racket.

A small charge to motorists wouldn't deter tourists who have already paid a fair sum to reach the National Park in the first place.

Traffic in Snowdonia hardly matches London, except for the busiests of Bank Holiday Mondays. But a pounds 3 per vehicle charge would still represent considerable business for the National Park.

After all, 92pc of visitors arrive by car. And in the absence of extensive public transport, there is no real alternative.

Last week the Park Authority categorically denied congestion charges were being lined up for Snowdonia. A national newspaper, citing growing rural congestion, had mischieviously suggested otherwise. But Dafydd Iwan, chairman of Goriad Gwyrdd - the Snowdonia Green Key Partnership - laughed off the idea.

The lure for most visitors is the Park's relative remoteness and the majesty of its landscape. Numbers could well rise significantly once the countryside is opened up to Right to Roamers.

For the most part, this landscape, for all its faults, has been created by farmers and yet they, as asset owners, will not be able to capitalise commercially. So if not a congestion charge, what about an access charge for walkers?

I can hear the Ramblers Association choking on their Ready Breks.

It's true that farmers on Snowdon already receive an ``access fee'', though this is not inflation- proofed and in real terms will diminish just as walker numbers rise.

Some will say the ethics of access charges in Snowdonia sit uncomfortably with its ethos as a National Park. Surely the Park was created for the people? Access, if free, is democratic: it should not be limited to well-heeled second home owners who can afford the minor inconvenience of a five quid fee.

I don't go along with that. There is a price to pay for responsibility. Land management costs money and those who want access should be prepared to pay for the privilege. WHILE on the subject of congestion charging, attempts to curb traffic can be traced back, in small part, to the efforts of our own Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas who, in 1998,introduced the Road Traffic Reduction (National Targets) Bill to the Lords.

At the time, he told the Lords that he often returned to Snowdonia from London by train and bus.

He said the Bill attempted to stem the flow of car ownership at the expense of public transport, adding: "The Bill is not anti- car. All of us need to use cars, especially in rural areas.''

Exactly. But if rural congestion is such a problem, why is the Government dragging its feet on legislation to curb speeding on country roads?

It's three years since Tony Blair launched the Government's Road Safety Strategy, which proposed a 30mph speed limit for villages and promising action for country lanes.

Nothing's happened - and a new Government bill on safety makes no mention of rural speeding.

In 2001,1,641people were killed on countryside roads and speeding motorists intimidate walkers, cyclists and horse riders.

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