Rugby: I have been visiting Snowdonia, from childhood. It doesn't feel any busier now, than it ever did. However, the restrictions on camping, seem tighter than ever. It seems to be directed at getting fewer tourists, to spend more money, in the chosen places. Those who come to enjoy the very wildness the Park was set up for, are becoming less, and less, welcome. Surely, this is AGAINST the National Park's charter?

Liverpool: I have spent relatively little time in Snowdonia but the walking and climbing I have done there leaves me convinced that the Green Key scheme is a disastrous idea. Park and Ride is a useful option sometimes, but it must remain precisely that-an option. The environmental tag is a feeble excuse-do they not plan to use diesel in their buses? I fully support Freedom to choose.

Keynsham: I used the Park and Ride on the opening weekend of Snowdon last year, and although it work well for me it was very quiet that w/end. In the high of summer there wouldn't be enough buses running to cope with the numbers. During the summer it's also nice to get early starts before the buses would be running. I've never had any problems with traffic or parking in the past, so why the proposed change. Who's going to benefit from this? Not the public or the locals.

Houghton le Spring: I'm afraid that if the scheme was implemented then I would avoid the area altogether and visit other areas like the Lake District or South West

Stevenage: There seems to have been little thought on the fact that people choose where to go. If things become difficult for them they simply will go elsewhere for their recreation. The local economy would then get zero benefit.

Durham: I have regularly travelled to Snowdonia to go climbing & hill walking over the last 10 years or so. Firstly I have never encountered any congestion problems in the Ogwen & Llanberis passes. Secondly a Park & Ride scheme would be very impractical for climbers & hill walkers. I would certainly consider going elsewhere if such a scheme was introduced.

Altrincham: As someone who has walked & climbed in Snowdonia for 30 years, I wholeheartedly agree with your conclusions and support your aims. I live in Manchester, and visit Snowdonia for days trips, weekends, and occasionally longer. Snowdonia is wonderful and in many ways unique, but so are other areas within easy reach ( e.g. the Peak District, Lake District, Yorkshire Dales and Mid Wales among others) and if the authorities make it too difficult to visit Snowdonia in order to do what I want, then I will go elsewhere. I would greatly miss my visits, but there would be no point in coming if I wasn't able to do the days I wanted to!

Peterborough: These proposals will have number of effects: 
1) It will reduce the number of visitors who want to come to the area and therefore local trade will suffer; 
2) It will restrict access to the mountains for thousands of people; 
3) It is dangerous as people coming off the hills late will have no transport leading to more be-nightments and Mountain Rescue calls; 
4) People will not be able to carry equipment into the mountains and this will eliminate sports such as hangliding, paragliding and restrict mountaineering, ice climbing, etc. These proposals are clearly ridiculous.

Leeds: I'm concerned that climbers wishing to start early and finish late in the winter will be unable to do so. What about night hikes and unexpected delays. I only ever find the Ogwen and Llanberis valleys busy in the peak summer months, when there might be some justification for a park and ride, but not at all times of the year - ridiculous!

Nottigham: I have found this website most informative and convincing, especially as climber and walker in Wales

Stanwick: As a rock climber I spend around 14 weekends and 1 or 2 weeks each year in North Wales - many of these in the Llanberis Pass. These proposals will make access to many of these areas time consuming and inflexible and make journeys to N Wales less attractive than other areas where maximum use can be made of precious leisure weekend time. In any year I would estimate I inject well over £1000 into the Deniolen and LLanberis economies. If I now find our ability to move around these areas and in effect access to the cliffs, hills and other amenities is being obstructed I can see us spending more time in other competing areas of the country. I would be in support of earthworks to render parking impossible on some of the spots used by irresponsible drivers at certain parts of the Pass - but these are very few and any limitations on use of the laybys and pull offs around the Cromlech Boulders would be a mistake. I've read you paper and still have to ask you what is the problem that you are actually trying to solve?

Orton Southgate: Possibly the most, ill conceived, badly thought out planning idea I've ever heard. Implementing a scheme to increase the amount spent in the area that would actually drive many people away is just too ridiculous for words.

West Deeping, Lincs: This is a diabolical scheme with only commerce in mind by people who share no affinity with the mountaineering fraternity.

Coventry: If due to this I stop coming to Wales, then others are also likely to stop. This will effect Wales in the very pocket it can't afford, tourism. Wales and the wonderful mountaines will become an area of sheep and a few long-term holiday makers. I will go to the Lakes or the Dales to have a walk that can last all day. This is folly to everyone apart from sheep!

Luton: This scheme would seriously effect tourism, generally, in Snowdonia, and particularly walkers and climbers.

Stockport: Good luck in your campaign. The proposed parking restrictions will be very bad news to all bar those with narrow hidden agendas.

Northants: These sort of plans are typical of government and especially planners which are completely out of touch with what the people, who pay their wages, really want. This is obviously designed at maximising profit and throughput of the parks rather than enhancing the pleasure people get from the parks.

Wolverhampton: I totally object to making access to the Snowdonia NP by Park & Ride compulsory. Park & Ride should be encouraged BUT NOT made compulsory. (this w/e I plan to walk up Snowdon from Llanberis & descend to Pen Y Pass & return using the Sherpa Bus, at other times I "want access to the hills at the times of my choosing without restraint")

Northants: As a climber and regular visitor to the area, I'm quite happy to spend more money in the national park and further support the local economy, as long as it is on things that I want (such as food, equipment, petrol, maintenance of our club hut etc). I'm also quite happy for alternative methods of transport to be encouraged and promoted. But the draconian measures proposed would result in Snowdonia becoming an unusable venue for myself and most other climbers, and I would rather simply go elsewhere rather than try and struggle with the system.

Bentley: I find it hard to believe that they would provide sufficient transport the winter climber that wishes to be at the foot of the climb before sunrise.

Trefriw, Conwy: I have attended some of the meetings of the Group and attended the public meeting at Llanrwst. The SNPs intention to use Llanrwst as a Gateway to the Gwydir Forest is a nonsense as there is so much free parking within the Forest and around Nant BH that no-one will use Llanrwst. I support the idea of making more people use the Plas y Dre car park by creating riverside activities, developments. If Llanrwst had a decent camping/climbing shop that would solve a lot of their problems!!

Wrexham: As a regular hill goer in Snowdonia I am horrified by this proposal. Except for a small number of weekends in the summer months there is no problem with parking or traffic in Snowdonia. This policy is a solution to a non existent problem and will cause massive difficulties to people like myself who travel to Snowdonia and only make up our minds about what we are doing when we arrive. It will remove much of the spontaneity from my hill going. I am greatly opposed to this proposal.

Christchurch, New Zealand: I had a mare in the Pass a few years ago, reaching the road way into the night and without roadside parking I would have been dead by morning. I'm English living in NZ and compare the local mountains here to the mountains surrounding the Llanberis Pass. Stopping roadside parking in Snowdonia is going to stop me coming home.

Staines: If I wanted to start a climb within the national park at 3 in the morning would the proposed park and ride scheme be able to cope with my needs, especially if I planned to walk for 3 days before returning to my car? If not it will stop me visiting the park, and many other mountaineers like me who do not like timetables and will take our money else where like the lake district.

Coventry: A good idea in principle, but in practise it will only cause havoc, chaos and confusion, as well as seriously inconveniencing those of us with large/heavy/bulky kit. I know that parking in the area has many problematic implications at the moment but this is too large a step in the wrong direction.

Cardiff: I have no objections to green schemes (inc park and ride) if thought through, but this scheme is ridiculous. As an additional option for people it could potentially be worth trying, but to prevent people from parking in existing car parks will only make things worse for visitors and locals, and will probably cause an adverse environmental effect in the areas people have to park. I can think of all sorts of implications of doing this, such as the effect of traffic and congestion in places where the car parks will be, mountain rescue issues, cost to local businesses of tourism going elsewhere, an inability to provide enough buses throughout the day /night, summer / winter. Also, what happens to groups such as paddlers who will no longer be able to get their kayaks to the rivers, etc.

Southed-on-Sea: Although I only visit Snowdonia a couple of times a year I have experienced park and ride schemes in other areas and in general have found them to be very inconvenient and would consider going elsewhere to avoid it.

Wellingborough, Northamptonshire: I support your campaign to reject the ill-considered Green Key plan and call for flexible parking and public transport arrangements which meet the needs of visitors of all types and residents.

Abingdon, Oxon: No reason other than the gross commercialisation of the Snowdonia National Park exists. These measures would remove the choice of visitors to the park to visit areas at times and in the manner in which they choose, also hindering access for walkers, climbers and canoeists who constitute the main body of people who use the areas which will be affected by these measures. This in turn may well have the adverse affect of turning these visitors away to other areas. I also resent being treated like cattle and being told on what to spend my hard earned money. As it happens when I visit the Park I stay locally and spend my money in local shops and cafes already. Any environmental argument for adopting this plan is fundamentally flawed as the roads which run though the proposed routes are already main through roads and there will be no reduction in local traffic associated with this scheme.

Shrewsbury: being a outdoor pursuit instructor i would be very sorry to see Snowdonia closed to the public because that is what it boils down to . you can not take away peoples freedom to use their motor cars. when Snowdonia is made a motor vehicle free area the lake district and other areas will be thanking the local council for all the revenue it has generated for them because have no doubts about it the likes of myself as well as other individual walkers and other people who use Snowdonia for recreational purposes will find somewhere else to enjoy ourselves this proposed move will make foot & mouth look like a drop in the pan . the likes of Betws - y - Coed and CapelCurig will become ghost towns with very little tourist income. it is also very surprising how under handed the local council are being by already starting the project at pen - y - pass and how difficult they are making it to get information on their plans & proposals please please please do not let these mindless bureaucrats ruin Snowdonia for everyone.

Welwyn Garden City: There is no traffic or parking problem at present. What problem is this Green Key trying to solve? The park belongs to all of us. I will resist any move to restrict freedom to Snowdonia.

Rochford, Essex: As a member of the mountain walking club at a university i feel we have a right to have access to all parts of the countryside. It is not up to bureaucrats to decide where we may go, when we may go there, and even what we do when we get there. It would be ridiculous to let these proposals, made by people only interested in profit, pass by. We need to save Snowdonia for the benefit of the many. I support development in the area which will increase the enjoyment of visitors and those who live in the area as they have a right to be free in their own area. Trying to 'manage' people will ruin the enjoyment for those who visit and lead to tourists going away and eventual poverty in the area. If profit is the only interest surely encouraging visitors, rather than scaring them off is the only way to go about this. I know that most people will support the opposal to this scheme and aim to get as many people interested as possible for the good of one of the few areas left in Britain with real beauty.

Coalville, Leicestershire: I have walked and climbed in Snowdonia since the age of 15. I have come by Moped, hitchhiked and driven at various times due to circumstances. Now aged 42 and disabled by severe Psoriatic Arthritis I am unable to travel at all without my car. Does the proposed park and ride system allow for full wheelchair access, along with the facility for me to stop the vehicle and rest due to severe pain and sudden nausea which I suffer from regularly? If not, then It seems I will be unable to even view from a distance, places I have enjoyed for many years. Thank goodness Scotland has a much more helpful attitude.

Hope Valley, Derbyshire: Park and Ride schemes of this nature do not work. Climbers must have freedom to come and go at any time, there is so little time available to go on the rock e.g. Weather conditions etc.

Bolton: The no parking policy is the product of overly anal obsessive. Snowdonia is a sanctuary for freedom, not a case study for control freaks.

Llamgwm, Haverfordwest: I am concerned that the proposed scheme will cause unjustifiable disruption to the interests of Climbers, Walkers & Canoeists and result in damaging the economy of Snowdonia National Park

Bangor: Should have consulted local people first. Totally misunderstood the purpose of the National Park - it is there for people to use it as and when they desire not when there's a convenient bus!

Bangor: The park and ride is not environmentally friendly. Sustainable development means that society chooses not that they are forced. Explain the legislation and reasoning for the scheme and let the communities decide and develop their future.

High Wycombe: I am part of a venture scout group in bucks which regularly take advantage of the park camping at the bottom of Tryfan. the proposed system would interrupt the times at which we could set out and come down off the mountains it would mean the decrease in our use of the local caffs at breakfast which at the moment we use as they are convenient and good value.

Ponciau, Wrexham: I am 14 and me and my father enjoy hill walking in Snowdonia very much, I and my father think that this idea would stop us going to Snowdonia as often as we do now. We both think that it is a stupid idea and would ruin businesses in and around Capel Curig, It would also stop tourists and regular hill walkers visiting the beautiful mountains of Snowdonia.

Llanrwst: Not to be able to stop in one of the many and unobtrusive laybys to take in the gorgeous scenery, picnic away from the milling crowds, climb on remote outcrops, follow one's sport, etc. will be a crime against the ordinary person's liberty and must never be allowed. Freedom to choose must remain paramount.

Reading: I often visit from the midlands for only one day. Which is a 2.5 hour drive each way, then go walking in the mountains for 5 or 6 hours. If I had to use park and ride the added time on the day would make a trip to Snowdonia unfeasible in one day and I would likely go to another mountain area.

Cambridge: I represent a climbing club of approx 100 members who regularly visit the Snowdonia area for walking, scrambling and climbing. If the Park & Ride scheme is implemented then we simply would not be able to come to Snowdonia and do our climbing (and gear shopping) with the degree of freedom and safety that we require. We *would* simply go elsewhere, which is tragic given the quality, beauty and resources of the Snowdonia National Park area. In addition, "installation art" is highly unlikely to enhance the experience of any visitors: they are there for the beauty of wilderness and the remoteness/freedom that these areas provide.

Birmigham: I agree with all you say and much more as well! The whole idea of mountaineering to a bus timetable is flawed. Mountain walking and climbing are very dependent on the whims of the weather and of the individual, both too unpredictable to plan a bus timetable for. For winter climbing, I frequently set off well before dawn, would green key scheme provide for this? In June, I sometimes climb till 9 or even 10 pm if the weather is good. No bus will drive me home that late. If the weather is good in the morning and gets worse later, I set off early and come down early. If its bad in the morning but improvong later, ..... how can a bus timetable cater for such an enigmatic demand. I could add another hundred points to these, but I'm sure you're not short of ammunition. I think our problem is not shortage of ammunition, rather a moving and very distant target. The bureaucrats who thought of the green key appear to have made up their mind, and wish to make a no more than a token gesture to consultation. Indeed, work seems already to have started in alterations to some car parks while the "consultation" is still going on. What do the local MEPs think of it all? What steps can be taken? Demonstrations at relevant national park and county offices. (dubious legality, but effects the right targets) Mass civil disobedience e.g. 5000 cars parked in Llanberis pass. Planned boycott of Snowdonia by all walkers and climbers. (Perfectly legal, but hits the wrong target i.e. local people who would lose the trade) Do nothing, just go to other areas (Lake district, Derbyshire etc). Also hurts the wrong people. Might I suggest that someone (e.g. yourselves) samples the opinion of North Wales local traders as to what visiting walkers/climbers should do to influence the green key advocates, without unduly hurting themselves or those traders. Sorry if this is a bit long, but I could have gone on twenty times as much and more.

Crewe: What would the effect on areas like Tryfan and the Glyders be where the Mountain rescue team look for left over cars at the end of the day to see if anyone is left up in the mountains? This scheme could inadvertently cause a lot more injuries and deaths in the mountains.

Warrington: I would agree that these proposals would put off many people (me included) leading to a reduction in the visitor numbers with an obvious detriment to the local economy. I have never experienced any traffic problems (including parking in the Pass, believe it or not, thanks to the campsite at Ynys Ettws) so I've no idea why this scheme has been thought up!

Bakewell: It would appear that the proposed traffic plan would cause far more problems of access than it would solve and should be scrapped while more appropriate measures are considered.

Northwich: I'm a rock climber and hill walker, and have been visiting Snowdonia for many years, usually about 25 weekends per year. I spend money on parking, petrol, food, accommodation, outdoor gear and entertainment, all within the National Park. If you remove my options for flexible transport (if you 'bus' me up the Llanberis Pass and it looks too wet to climb on The Cromlech, are you going to run me straight down to Tremadog?) I'll simply go somewhere else, perhaps Anglesey or the north coast around Llandudno. Or the Lake District. Why not build proper, sensitively sited car parks, shielded by trees, with good foot and cycle path access to the mountains? Why not get out from behind your desks and take a look at the real world?

Warrington: I use the National Park to climb and it would be impractical to use a bus service considering all the heavy gear and equipment you need! Also having to rush in a vast national park to meet the last bus in deteriorating weather could have safety implications. What do you do if you miss the last bus and your cold wet and in the fog and rain. What's wrong with keeping the existing parking arrangements, but not expanding them and punishing illegal parking with more assertiveness. I just think the whole idea is totally impractical. i.e. waiting for a bus in the freezing cold when you are piss wet thru!! or missing the last bus and having to walk 8 miles to your car in Betws in the fog or snow, wind rain etc after having a knackering 10 hour day in the park!!!!! totally impractical unless the service is regular goes on all night and is supplied by huge supper-jumbo-sized busses to take everyone's gear, mountain bikes, canoes, climbing gear etc etc etc. Going from one extreme to other obviously not been thought out properly, or thought out by some fat scunk who doesn't know what activities in a national park involve- a lack of appreciation I think.

Ilford: As a photographer and hiker I feel that this scheme would inhibit freedom of the visitor and would be detrimental to the economy of the area.

Llandudno: I feel that the park and ride scheme will be totally detrimental to tourism in N. Wales

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