Nightmare parking issues in beauty spot could be tackled by free tourist buses

A free shuttle bus around one of Wales' most popular beauty spots could stop the area being blighted by nightmare parking issues, according to a local councillor.

Almost four million people visit Eryri, or Snowdonia, each year and around 98% of those arrive by car.

Parking problems have seen vehicles towed away in peak seasons, and even in January, police warned visitors not to leave cars in "ridiculous" locations as they went on walks to take "Instagram photos".

But instead of clamping down with more double yellow lines and fines, Conwy councillor Paul Luckock believes the solution is a free shuttle bus, similar to those operated in Alpine areas of continental Europe.

A Bangor University economist said this could be funded through a tourism tax.

But a Gwynedd councillor is unsure if the idea could work, with people often visiting through the night to watch the sun rise.

He believes a better solution to traffic issues is allowing farmers to offer parking in their fields.

The Eryri National Park Authority said it encourages visitors to leave their vehicles in nearby towns and villages and to travel by public transport to beauty spots where possible.

But Mr Luckock wants this taken a step further, and said: "Visitor numbers are definitely rising and so far the answer seems to have been to clamp down, increase parking costs, more double yellow lines but this just causes frustration for both visitors and residents.

"What you find in places like the Dolomites in Italy is when you arrive at your hotel or campsite you're handed a little wodge of free bus tickets and then you can travel up and down the valley for free from early morning to late at night.

"It's a brilliant system and we should be seriously considering for Eryri."

The issue of parking at one of Wales' most popular beauty spots has proved a thorny one with residents and visitors.

Police regularly put out appeals over Easter and other holiday periods for motorists to park sensibly.

There have even been complaints of emergency vehicles being blocked due to people parking on the side of the road in some areas.

To try and tackle these issues, local councils have introduced stricter parking restrictions and digital parking systems.

The Snowdon Sherpa and T10 bus services also run and serve some of the most popular spots.

"I have noticed that there have been cars parked on the side of the road and it creates congestion which does seem a trifle bit weird and annoying," said visitor Philip Johnson.

He travelled to the area from the US with his mother Gloria, and described parking issues with their hire car as "kind of a pain".

Mr Johnson added: "If there was a free bus we definitely would use it, my mom prefers public transit and we were back and forth for a while on whether we should rent a car or not."

There is a free bus service taking people to historical sites in Gloria's hometown of Washington DC, and she said: "It's really popular where we are, and so I can definitely see it working here."

Not everyone agrees though.

One local who owns a holiday let said he doesn't think it would make a big difference, adding: "Not many people who stay with me complain about parking.

"And also, who's going to finance this plan?"

One suggestion offered to fund such a scheme is to use the money raised from a tourism levy.

Both Gwynedd and Conwy council are currently holding a public consultation on charging a local visitor levy, which would apply an additional fee to paid overnight stays in eligible accommodation types such as campsites and hotels.

"The parking problems are seriously bad - obviously around Pen y Pass, but throughout the national park," said Rhys ap Gwilym, an economist at Bangor University who has done research on the topic.

"We see the same kind of problems in destinations around the world - places like the Dolomites [where] there are dire problems with parking.

"One of the answers could be a bus service. We see in other areas that a tourism tax is used specifically to fund that."

Farmer John Pughe Roberts, a Gwynedd councillor and member of the Eryri National Park Authority, is not convinced free buses would work.

He said many people liked to visit the mountains at all times of day – including at night to watch the sun rise.

Mr Roberts also questioned whether people on buses would spend money locally.

He believes granting farmers temporary planning permission for a period of five years to allow parking in their fields would help solve the problem.

"People then could walk from the car, any time, up the mountain and come down," he said.

"They [farmers] could charge £10 a day, maybe £8 for themselves and £2 back to Parc Eryri… so that would bring income in, not just for farmers but also for Parc Eryri."

He added that if parking was provided, people might be more inclined to spend money with local businesses before returning home, so everyone "gets a bit of the cake".

He said he believed the national park has "the power, but I don't think they've got the will to do it".

In a statement, Gwynedd council and Eryri National Park Authority said they are working with partners to "develop a convenient, reliable and reasonably priced public transport network and that they encourage visitors to use public transport where possible".

Conwy council said it had nothing to add.