Observation 14: Comments by INNOMINATA Mountain Club, Stockport

We are a mountaineering and climbing club with approx. 60 members, based in Stockport, Cheshire, approx. 1½ - 2 hours driving time from Snowdonia.  The club organises monthly weekend meets, of which typically 3 - 4 a year are held in Snowdonia.  In addition, the club organises a number of one-day visits, and our members also make frequent private visits to the area.  These take place at all times of the year.

In a similar time it takes us to travel to Snowdonia we can also reach the Peak District, Lake District or the Yorkshire Dales National Parks, not to mention mid-Wales and other attractive climbing and walking locations.  We therefore have a range of venues available to us, besides Snowdonia.

Whilst we can only speak for our members, we believe that our usage of the area is fairly typical of walkers and climbers generally, and from observation we believe that similar conclusions can be drawn for other users of the outdoors e.g. mountain bikers and canoeists.

The Consultation Draft Strategy focuses mainly on sustainable rural development and on increasing visitor spend, and as a club we support these objectives.  However, as climbers and walkers we are concerned that the proposals to establish a Park & Ride service, together with reducing parking in the mountain areas, would present a significant obstacle to our access to the mountain areas.

VISITOR CATEGORIES

The Consultation Draft Strategy does not recognise that there are two distinct categories of visitors: “general visitors” and “users of the outdoors”.  Clearly, these overlap, and individuals may move from one category to the other, possibly during the same visit.  Nevertheless, these groupings serve to distinguish quite different requirements and patterns of use of the area and its amenities.

General visitors will tend to congregate in the Gateways and other principal towns/villages.  Their plans will often be loosely formulated and flexible, and they are likely to be attracted by the additional facilities proposed in Appendix 3.  They may travel through the mountain areas, either to sightsee or on their way to another Gateway Town.  However if they wish to stop in the mountain areas this is likely to be only short-stay, to picnic, take short walks or simply to admire the view.  This is most likely to take place in the middle part of the day, say 9am-4pm.  They are most likely to visit in the high and mid seasons.

Users of the outdoors, on the other hand, are more likely to have firm plans and identified destinations in the mountain areas.  They are likely to bypass the Gateway Towns, and the additional facilities are unlikely to be attractive to them. They may have travelled long distances to carry out their chosen activity, and will wish to devote as much time as possible to this.  They require long-stay access to the mountains, lakes and rivers, possibly from early in the morning until late at night, and at all times of the year.

It should be remembered that, whilst they may not participate in outdoor activities to the same extent, general visitors are nevertheless attracted to Snowdonia in the first place mainly because of the outstanding scenery, and anything which limits their enjoyment of this is likely to be detrimental to tourism in the long run.

ACCESS

As users of the outdoors, we are concerned that the proposed Park & Ride would make it more difficult for us to reach our chosen destinations at the times we require.  To meet our needs, the bus service would have to be very frequent and operate from early in the morning until late in the evening, at all times of the year.  We doubt whether it would prove economic to provide this level of service, particularly during the winter months.  Bus stops would have to be positioned at all the main points of access to the mountains, however too many stops would slow down the service.

In any event, Park & Ride would add considerably to our members’ journey time and would make one-day visits unattractive.

We are also concerned that Park & Ride and reduction in car parking would cause difficulties on weekend meets, when we stay in accommodation in the mountain areas.  Unless there will be access to the bus service near to where we are staying, it seems that we might have to drive out of the area (possibly passing our destination) to one of the Gateway Towns in order to get the bus back in again.  This effectively means that we would be limited to operating in the area around our base, rather than being able to go anywhere in the National Park, or face considerable inconvenience.

We believe the proposals would make it more difficult for our members to visit Snowdonia, who would therefore be more likely to go to other venues where they would not face the same restrictions.  This is particularly true for one-day visits, when the additional travel time and inconvenience of Park & Ride would be a particular disincentive.

There are also safety considerations.  Firstly, having to wait for a bus in severe weather conditions after a long day on the hills risks hypothermia, and secondly it will become impossible to evacuate casualties with only minor injuries without recourse to the ambulance service, whereas at present they can be taken to hospital more quickly by car.

ECONOMIC

On our way home, we usually stop at Capel Curig to visit the shops, followed by a drink and sometimes a meal in one of the pubs. If parking were to be restricted and charged for, or if we had to use the bus, then this practice would inevitably cease.  It is possible that some of this spending would be transferred to the Gateway Town, but is unlikely that all of it would – due to the additional travelling time we would be less inclined to stop there.  There would probably be a reduction in spending in the area, and this would be particularly damaging to the businesses in Capel Curig and similar towns and villages.

Our weekend meets are invariably self-catering, and regrettably it is often impractical to shop for provisions locally, since we arrive in the area after the shops have shut, and are then on the hills all day.  Charging for short-stay parking would be a further discouragement to shopping for provisions locally.

ENVIRONMENTAL

We recognise that excessive car use can cause environmental problems.  However we are concerned that in some situations we might have to drive further than would now be the case, in order to access the Park & Ride service to then travel back into the mountains

We do not believe that, outside the towns, traffic congestion is a serious problem, except at a few locations at a few times of the year.  However traffic congestion in the Gateway Towns would be likely to increase as a result of these proposals, as visitors who at present avoid them would be forced there to join the Park & Ride.

We recognise that roadside parking can be visually intrusive.  However, we believe that a line of parked cars beside a road is less of an eyesore when seen from the mountains than an expanse of cars in an off-road car park.  We believe that in most cases any visual problems could be addressed by landscaping.

We do not believe that turning existing kerbside parking areas into foot- and cycle-paths (4.7 and 4.8) would necessarily create an attractive environment for walkers and cyclists.  We are thinking for example of the Ogwen Valley, where the A5 will remain a busy road since it carries through traffic.  In this case, a sensitive repair of the old coach road using local materials would be far more attractive, since it would segregate users from road traffic.

We are not opposed in principal to paying for car parking, provided the charges are reasonable, but we do believe that careful thought has to be given to where it is introduced, so as not to discourage visitors from stopping at local facilities.  We believe that if charges are introduced for long-stay parking then these are more likely to be accepted if there is also some clear benefit to the visitor, over and above simply making a contribution to the local economy.

OTHER

We are also concerned that the proposals for additional signage (O3.8), together with the provision of bus-shelters etc, would be visually intrusive and result in the creeping urbanisation of a unique rural area.

Finally, we find it regrettable that the public meetings are taking place on weekdays, effectively excluding visitors from the discussions, and also that the strategy has only been published on the Internet in the last few days (despite being promised in the Strategy Officer’s letter dated November 2001), again to the exclusion of interested parties from outside the immediate area.

CONCLUSIONS

• We are not confident that a bus service could be provided at a level which would meet the needs of our members for access to the mountains of Snowdonia at all times of year

• We believe that the proposals would make Snowdonia less attractive to our members, compared with alternative venues which do not have similar restrictions on access

• We believe that the number of one-day visits in particular would be significantly reduced, since the impact of the additional travelling time and general inconvenience caused by Park & Ride would be greater

• We believe that the Park & Ride would be damaging to businesses in the mountain areas, e.g. at Capel Curig, who would effectively be by-passed.  We believe that only some of our current custom with these businesses (much of which is impulse buying or on non-essential items) would be transferred to the Gateway Towns

• The inescapable conclusion is that if these proposals were to be implemented then our members would visit Snowdonia less often, and would spend less per visit

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