Snowdon: Have your say

Posted by Elfyn Jones on 28/06/2017
Yr Wyddfa at its finest: a sunny winter day with hardly a soul in sight!

Yr Wyddfa (or Snowdon to most visitors) is possibly the most visited mountain in the world. With nearly half a million climbers and walkers a year visiting its slopes and a tourist train carrying another two hundred thousand visitors to the summit, there are significant management challenges. Snowdonia National Park wants your views on its plans to manage this iconic peak.

About three years ago the BMC raised concerns about the management of Snowdon and the impact that the sheer volume of visitors and land managment was having on this supposedly protected and designated Special Area of Conservation. In a slightly controversial article “Snowdon isn't working” the BMC were concerned that the authorities were not doing enough to manage the mountain and that not enough resources were being allocated to look after one of Wales', if not the UK's top natural tourist attraction.

Since then, Snowdonia National Park Authority, despite having a 20% cut in funding from Welsh Government, have taken up the challenge and established a Snowdon Partnership Group, involving key stakeholders, conservation bodies and land owners to come up with a plan to look at a long term solution to the issues identified in the initial consultation. That group, co-ordinated by the National Park's Partnerships Manager, Helen Pye have now produced a draft Snowdon Partnership Plan and are seeking your views on its content and proposals.

At a series of well-attended drop-in sessions and a seminar in the autumn of 2015  respondents raised concerns about issues as diverse as car parking, footpath erosion, litter, over-grazing, fences, hydro-schemes, livestock disturbance, climate change, challenge events, avoidable mountain rescue call-outs and a myriad of other issues that impact on this popular mountain.

These have now all been collated and included in a report and you have until Friday 7 July to make your views on the plan and the proposals for the future managment of Snowdon known.

In addition, there is also a public drop-in event during the consultation period so that you can share your feedback face to face:

The BMC will also be attending a seminar at a later date to discuss the responses and will be submitting its own response on behalf of its members.


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Anonymous User
04/07/2017
Comments by the 7th on a 65 page document distributed on the 4th. Not much time
Anonymous User
04/07/2017
The litter problem is worse than I've ever seen. In fact its probably the worst mountain for litter that I've ever been on.
On a trip up and down the Pyg Track in February my friend and I cleared almost a full bin bag of rubbish. The worst area was at the summit. Piles of rubbish around the building. Bizarrely there are no signs or bins. I understand that bins would fill up fairly quickly but if a real effort was made to regularly empty them it would go some way to solving this problem.
There could also be 'tasteful' signs dotted along the track (for example at the stiles at the bifurcation of the Pyg and Crib Goch) asking people to be mindful of littering.
Anonymous User
06/07/2017
I didn't spot the BMC on the list of partners. None of the partners appeared to be representing the ordinary hill walker or climber, rather than than those with commercial interests in outdoor activities.
Anonymous User
06/07/2017
I Tried to do the survey could not get past the first page saying I had heard about it on the BMC newsletter !!
Anonymous User
07/07/2017
Incredible that the BMC distributed this on the day before the closure of this consultation.
I responded to the 2015 consultation, including giving apologies for absence from meetings which I would have liked to attend. I was greatly dispirited by the lack of acknowledgement or any subsequent follow through from the Park in terms of newsletters, announcements of future consultation etc. On receiving the BMC newsletter yesterday, I did stop what I was doing in order to attempt a response within the time, because I think what the Park partners are doing is important. Please, more communication!

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