Observation 4 - A Strategy for Snowdonia

Prime Policy.

The prime thrust of this short paper is that Northern Snowdonia should be managed with job creation and prosperity as the prime policy objective, it being accepted that destroying the special qualities of the area would destroy this prime policy objective. It is submitted that any other management policy will lead to economic stagnation and decline with eventual depopulation and erosion of the finance stream needed to operate any policy at all.

The problem.

On Bank Holidays in Summer, and to a less extent at Christmas and New Year, cars are parked in small numbers in al fresco fashion in gaps in the roadside wall in the Llanberis Pass, in modest numbers on the roadside at Pen y Gwryd, Beddgelert and Capel Curig, and in larger numbers on the hard shoulders made for the purpose in the Ogwen Valley. The cars appear to be parked by climbers and walkers intending to walk and climb the mountains in the area.

The local authorities claim that there is a traffic problem but their own traffic figures and consultant's reports do not support this claim. The available traffic figures are acknowledged by the authorities to be unreliable and detailed examination of the figures shows extensive internal inconsistencies, which throws further doubt on their reliability. For what they are worth, the short period peak daily visitor traffic flows have been extracted from the consultant's "Northern Snowdonia Study". In interpreting these figures it should be borne in mind that heavy traffic flows would be of the order of 5,000 vehicles per hour or 60,000 vehicles per day.

One detailed examination will suffice. Rhyd Ddu is situated on the A4085 midway between Caernarfon and Beddgelert. It has a narrow branch road down the Nantlle Valley which takes very little traffic indeed, and a car park with approximately 100 places. Yet it is stated to have daily traffic flows of 1,700 on its southern road and 4,400 on its northern road. It is inconceivable that 2,700 cars per day could park in 100 spaces since this would imply 27 cars per day per car parking space.

However, notwithstanding the very poor quality of the traffic figures one fact stands out. The average daily high season tourist traffic flow on roads in Central Snowdonia is stated by the authorities to be 3,400 when heavy traffic congestion would involve 60,000 vehicles per day.

What is even worse is that the detailed figures show a year on year fall in traffic when the local authorities have made exactly the contrary claim.

The conclusion is inescapable. On the authorities' own figures there is no traffic problem in Central Snowdonia. On the contrary traffic is falling and this has important employment considerations. It is the car parking problem which must be addressed.

Car parking in Central Snowdonia is very meagre. It is possible to estimate the required amount of car parking by calculating that a percentage of the daily traffic flow will want to park for a period of time between one hour and all day. In the absence of firm information, the estimate of 15% of traffic flow wishing to park given in the report "Economic Impact Analysis of the Northern Snowdonia Study" has been accepted and a multiplier of 0.75 has been applied to this daily number of people wishing to park has been used to calculate the number of car parking spaces required.

This is an overall deficit of 1632 car parking spaces in Central Snowdonia, a figure well able to explain the decline in traffic and the area's poverty.

It cannot be stressed too strongly that extensive easy car parking is essential for economic prosperity today. One only has to compare the prosperous supermarkets and 'big tin sheds’ with the financial difficulties suffered by almost all town centres. It is obvious that efforts must be made to reverse the decline in traffic and prosperity which Central Snowdonia is suffering.

The report 'Economic Impact etc.' points out that increasing visitor numbers will lead to increasing daily visitor expenditure and gives the following estimates

And goes on to point out that in a best case scenario, if visitor numbers increased by 10% and individual visitor spend increased by 20% then the total increase in visitor spending in Central Snowdonia would be £18,217,000. The precision of this figure is perhaps almost as impressive as its size but this is the figure as given by the consultants. It is estimated that an increase in visitor spend of £2,000,000 per annum will generate 63 new jobs. This surely is a prize worth pursuing by all means which will not damage the special qualities of the Park (and such damage would vitiate all efforts to increase visitor numbers and spend).

One real surprise in Central Snowdonia is the sparseness and paucity of attempts to landscape the car parks. Pen y Pass, for example, in an extremely prominent position, has never in the 50 year life of the Park had any attempt made at landscaping. The Beddgelert car park is hidden behind municipal housing but is otherwise 'unlandscaped'. The small 'photographers' car parks at the head of Nant Gwynant appear to have been perversely designed for maximum visual impact, as does much of the lakeside car park in Llanberis.

Yet there is no reason why car parks should be obtrusive. The Forest Enterprise car parks in Beddgelert Forest, for example, are models of unobtrusiveness. All of the USA National Parks contain many car parks which universally exhibit good taste and visual good manners, and the same is true in countries as widespread as France, Switzeriand, and Australia.

There is no doubt that the obtrusive car parks in Central Snowdonia detract from the overall visitor experience, and no doubt, also, that a minimum of thought, cost, and effort could mitigate their impact on the landscape. Furthermore, development of expertise in this area could enable the necessary large expansion in car parking to take place in ways which would enhance rather than diminish the special qualities of the Park. If other countries can do this, then surely so can Wales.

An immediate short term measure to improve the economics of the area would be to make the car parks free with immediate effect. Since most are full already this could not result in extra cars coming into the area. However, the extra freedom resulting from no charges would mean that people would be more willing to move on to another Iocation and this would mean that more effective use was being made of the existing limited accommodation. Better economic use would be being made of the same number of visitors, the effect would be the same as an increase in visitor numbers. Furthermore, if people move on to another location, they may well encounter more opportunities to spend money, which is the immediate object of the exercise.

These two effects combined might put an extra £5,000,000 into the economy of central Snowdonia this year, with immediate effect. The Cost would be the present car parking revenues which are estimated at £200,000 per year less costs which might be about £50,000 per year. It is submitted that this would be a good bargain for the community at large since this increase in spend will generate an estimated 160 new jobs.

Looked at another way, the present car parking charges are costing 160 jobs. Their removal can only make sense.

1. Footpaths.
   In the Lake District and elsewhere, permissive footpaths have been created on the other side of the wall from the road in areas where there is no existing footpath. It is assumed that farmers are paid wayleaves for these paths which are essentially inexpensive since they are consist of little more than a two strand fence, a gravel surface, and some gaps in the wall. They are, however, a major benefit and greatly encourage visitors who are no longer intimidated by traffic.
   Much work also remains to be done on existing footpaths, both as regards maintenance and as regards waymarking. Both these inexpensive measures can be expected to reduce the damage which might be produced by the 'Right to Roam' legislation since most people will prefer to follow a well marked and maintained path rather than wander across open country.
2. Bridleways
   The development of horse riding and pony trekking in Snowdonia is being held back by the few and poor bridleways even though these activities have major growth potential. Linking the existing bridleways into a cohesive network would have major economic benefits and would also benefit those riders who live in the area.
   It is not by any means inconceivable that the present high accident rate for horses on roads will lead to their banning from made up highways and development of a bridleway network would then be seen to have been a farsighted investment. In any event, there are major economic benefits now from such a course.
3. Mountain Bike routes.
   Mountain biking is a fast growing activity which is by now well established and is obviously here to stay. The opportunities to generate employment for relatively small outlays is high. Forest Enterprise is leading the way in developing new routes on their land, but the potential in other parts of Snowdonia is much higher. There is particular potential for relatively long distance routes which actually feel to go somewhere. These should be separate from, but connected with, the Sustrans routes which tend to be for less rugged bicycles and riders.
   It is strongly suggested that discussions be held with the various mountain bike clubs and commercial organisations with a view to developing such a network.
4. Jeep trails
   In places as far apart as Madeira and Colorado there are well developed commercial operations in which visitors are taken into the high mountains in small groups in four wheel drive vehicles driven by experienced guides. These tours sell at a high price and the economic benefit is likewise high, while the disturbance to the environment is low because of the conditions of the necessary licenses. Only a relatively small number of routes is necessary and it is suggested that further investigation of potential in this area is warranted. The Navajo nation appear to be the world experts in this activity, which they practice with great economic success in some of the most sensitive environment on Earth.

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