"Greedy" councils are pushing the poor out of Wales and making some of its top tourist attractions like Snowdon places "only the rich can afford". That's according to one walker who was incensed at the £40 cost to park his car at Pen-y-Pass car park at the base of Snowdon.
The man, posting on a Snowdonia National Park forum, a visitor contrasted his recent experiences in England and Scotland with those in Wales. He accused “greedy” councils of using Snowdon to rake in money and insisted the peak should be affordable for all following the National Trust’s 1998 appeal to buy 4,000 acres on the mountain, which raised more than £4 million in public donations. Last weekend, long queues form at the summit of Snowdon in "one of the busiest" ever weekends.
Motorists are charged a premium for staying at Pen-y-Pass, where charges are £18 for eight hours, £25 for 12 hours and £40 for a 24 hours. The disgruntled man said this was a "bit over the top" and added: “After all it is a National Park and not a private car park.”
The effect was to "push the poor away from the mountain," said the visitor, who suspects an anti-tourism agenda. "Then the Welsh Government wants to charge tourists to come into Wales. They will next be rebuilding the Offa’s Dyke and rebuilding their castles and forts."
His enraged post prompted locals to wade in on the debate which subsequently developed into more than just car parking charges. There was a fierce backlash by local people affected by the arrival of mass tourism in Snowdonia while others rued the region’s popularity with second homeowners and the subsequent impact on Welsh culture and house prices.
Parking charges at Pen-y-Pass were hiked two years ago after the staycation boom sparked a rash of illicit and often dangerous parking. As many other people pointed out, Snowdonia National Park Authority (SNPA) wanted to push visitors away from a honeypot area with limited parking and to encourage them to use park-and-ride services instead.
One person said: “It’s not a case of pushing the poor away, it’s more to do with pushing people to park away from the mountain and to travel in. A measly 30-space parking (sic) can’t serve 700k visitors a year.”
Another commented: “It’s to stop people thinking that they can turn up to the smallest mountain car park in the area and just park on the road and verges when it’s inevitably full. There is not enough parking infrastructure. They need to keep people down the valley and pay £3 for the bus.”
Yet compared to other car parks across the UK, Pen-y-Pass is on the pricier side. One posted: “Compare the other two biggest mountains in the UK: Ben Nevis visitor centre £4 all day, Scafell Pike all-day National Trust car park £7. Quite a rip-off by the Snowdonia park authority.”
The Snowdonia National Park Authority said its primary focus was to promote a system of sustainable transport for visitors. Pre-booking at Pen-y-Pass, and higher charges, was part of a strategy to “alleviate pressures at honeypot sites”, it said.
Illegal parking at the pass has now “drastically reduced”, said a spokesperson. They added: “No instances of illegal and irresponsible parking were reported in the period from April – November 2021 whilst the pre-booking system was in place.”
Using the Sherpa bus service to Pen-y-Pass, to access the PYG and Miners tracks, is a “cheaper and environmentally-friendly way” to access these routes, said the spokesperson. Sensors have been placed at the many other car parks around Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa) so that visitors can make informed decisions about where to visit.
“The strategies we are putting in place means that a greater range of people can visit Yr Wyddfa,” said the spokesperson. “People who are facing transport poverty and are perhaps without vehicles are now able to reach the iconic mountain.”
