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Park Plan will be the goose
that lays golden eggs by increasing chances of taking money off visitors.
CARWYN Jones' report (Weekly
News, Jan 31) rightly points to the likely effects of the Green Key .
Strategy for northern Snowdonia.
However, I would question
the impression that this is actually a "green" initiative.
It is not solely a
Snowdonia National Park document but the product of a consortium including
the Welsh Development Agency, Wales Tourist Board, Gwynedd and Conwy
Councils and others.
It is driven by an
economic agenda expressed clearly in the document to ensure that tourism
helps sustain local communities" and "to harness the
opportunities that management of tourism can provide".
It aims to
exploit the tourism that a national park attracts, claiming, "the
scheme would open up opportunities to increase visitor expenditure".
Perhaps
"Golden Key" Strategy would be a better description, with the
national park as the goose that lays golden eggs!
The aim to develop frequent all-day bus services across the
core area is ambitious but deserves support so that the option of
park-and-ride, would be available for an inclusive charge.
By
providing long-stay car parks at "gateway" towns with new
improved visitor facilities (security, toilets, shelter, etc) people would
be more likely to use them.
The sting
in the tail of the plan is to "reduce opportunities for unofficial
and informal car parking" in the countryside without providing any
off-road parking to compensate. Worse
still is the idea of restricting parking time to a maximum of two hours in
official sites in the core area. (high season).
This policy
discriminates against family picnic and the all-day walker, etc and in
favour of casual visitors
who prefer shopping and sightseeing. Their short-stay parking will be
unaffected.
It favours those who spend
money in the course of their leisure time, so you could always drive to
eat at pubs or hotels with private parking without the penalty of charges.
In contrast
people who seek only fresh air, scenic beauty and freedom to roam do not
spend significant money on such visits. Their access to the remoter areas
will be limited by new parking regimes. Better bus services may be useful
on linear walks but the journey-time taken to return to base must deter
visitors who have then to drive home maybe 50 miles or more.
The whole strategy is an
exercise in social manipulation; it fails because it is not based
primarily on the needs of national park visitors.
Put their requirements
first and local benefits will surely follow. Off-road cycle routes are
just waiting to be developed within the park along disused quarry tram
track-beds. Parking and services can be provided by landscaping slate
waste areas where only eyesores still exist. The possibilities are endless
and they are being missed.
DR BRIAN SEDDON,
Penrhos Drive, Penrhyn Bay.
Village 'wars' to grab the last penny
THERE are several points being made
regarding a perceived "traffic problem" in and around Snowdonia.
The solving of this "problem" appears to be the
basis for the removal of all parking along the valleys of Snowdonia, thus
replacing car travel with park and ride schemes from gateway towns.
I would like to make the following observations:
Cars parked along the roadside in the Ogwen Valley and in
other car parks in Snowdonia are not emitting fumes and are therefore no
threat to the environment.
Improving and increasing these parking places would attract
even more people to Snowdonia, thus boosting the local economy. The visual
effect of more parking can easily be screened with
environmentally-friendly planting.
Landowners and farmers in the area have offered to provide
seasonal parking during very busy times. This would give them increased
business opportunities, benefiting the local economy.
If parking is limited around the mountains, visitors will
tour the area rather than park in the "gateway" towns, thus
spending more time in their car's. This coupled with the proposed increase
in bus traffic would therefore cause more pollution and congestion
As a resident of the Valley, I regularly travel to the coast
for supplies which are unavailable locally, and as a mountaineer rely on
access to the mountains at all times
of the day and night
I care passionately about the environment and if
this scheme held any promise to help care for our beautiful Snowdonia, I
would back it to the hilt.
However, it seems only to pitch village against village in an
attempt to grab the last penny out of visitors who have come here for what
should be a taste of hospitality.
Business people should look to see if they are offering what
both visitors and locals need rather than jumping on this particularly
rickety bandwagon.
PHIL BLAIN, Capel Curig. |