The Snowdonia Green Key Strategy
On Wednesday 30th January 2002, my wife and I attended a public meeting on the above mentioned scheme.
The chairman of the meeting was Councillor Dafydd
Iwan.
The scheme majors on the proposal to cut the use of the motor car in Snowdonia National Park by persons walking on the mountains and to force them to pay to use special large car parks and ride on buses to enter the Park.
The use of the word force is correct, as all the car parks in the Park will be short stay up to two hours in high season and lay-bys will be sealed to prevent use.
Councillor Iwan directed his comments to the Community in Betws y Coed. The scheme we were told required the support of the Community or it would not go ahead and Snowdonia would lose the Objective One Funding and that would be that. The majority of local people were totally against the Park and Ride Scheme. To them, Councillor Iwan directed the remark, 'This is a process of consultation, if you want to throw it out OK'
The Community Leaders asked if they could have the scheme without the Park and Ride but with an improved bus service and Councillor Iwan kept using verbal imagery to try to get people to agree that they already have park and ride with the Sherpa bus. This was shouted down as untrue by the Community of Betws y Coed and in any case it is clearly untrue.
He also went out of his way to assure those present that it was not necessary for the car parks and lay-bys to be affected for the scheme to be a success. This proposition is at odds with the report as the basic idea of the scheme is to increase visitor spend for the improvement of the local area in terms of jobs and to improve tourist amenities to give them something to spend their money on. The report which some of us had seen is explicit in its recommendations for charges which are to be levied and the short stay car parking in the inner Park. It is also explicit that any parking anywhere within the inner area will be prevented by a variety of means.
The sheer numbers of people travelling into Snowdonia to climb mountains makes the whole idea of enforcement questionable right from the start. There would be peak times and no amount of buses could cope in the environment we are talking about. Similarly, the type of walking for which Snowdonia is renowned is not able to be done within the constraints of a bus timetable. The worst scenario that I can foresee if this comes to fruition is that climbers, walkers, canoeists, cyclists and other similar user groups will go elsewhere. This is a gamble and one which those that propose the scheme seem to be willing to take, to get Objective One Funding.
I prepared a handout to take with me to the meeting and I enclose a copy for you which cryptically outlines my ideas on the subject. I spoke at the meeting and so did others and basically everyone broadly agreed that the scheme as it is proposed with mandatory Park and Ride is unworkable for the good of the various Snowdonia Communities.
That does not mean that the meeting was negative, people supported improved bus services which would enable people to have a reliable and quality choice. It was obvious that such local improvements were not on the agenda. The scheme exists to obtain Objective One Funding and The Climber and The Tourist are seen by the report as a purse to be exploited and not in my opinion as people with needs and aspirations of their own. They are to be made to fit, into a scheme in an area which will be made into a theme park, if the National Park and its many partners in the scheme have their way.
I write to ask that you remain vigilant about this scheme and do not allow it to become reality by default unless it proves itself as workable for all the user groups who use the National Park and have done so for years. They all have transport needs and their timetables do not fit into neat packages on the desk of the manager of a bus company, or in the imagination of politicians like Councillor
Iwan.
The bus company has not even been approached yet; the project appears to be a giant leap of faith without any real meaningful research.
Much was made of the issue of fly-parking in the Park; the pictures used to illustrate this particular issue were of unlawful parking on the footway, which should be dealt with strictly by the police. There is much support for increased parking and I believe that the vast majority of people would happily pay realistic whole day parking charges if the car parks were available. They can be made and they can be screened, all it takes is a political will.
In drawing to a conclusion, I honestly believe that the draconian measures outlined in The Snowdonia Green Key Strategy Statement Consultation Draft, when examined carefully, would be to the detriment of the National Park as a living area.
PS The draft document referred to can be obtained from
gwenllianowens@gwynedd.gov.uk
Some idea of the strength of local feeling can be gauged by examining www.snowdonia2002.fsnet.co.uk , the organiser of which was present at the meeting.
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