The busy summit of Snowdon
Residents and businesses around Wales’s highest mountain are to be asked their views on how to manage the peak.
Three drop-in meetings will be held before a conference on the future of Snowdon takes place in November.
Snowdonia National Park Authority said: “As the number of visitors to the area drops during the coming months, work on protecting Snowdon will increase.
“Between now and Christmas, there will be an opportunity for all those with an interest in Snowdon to express their views and share their ideas on matters as wide ranging as conservation, farming access and the countryside code, visitor facilities and local economic prosperity.”
Helen Pye
Helen Pye, the authority’s north Snowdonia senior warden, said: “Snowdon is a mountain which has a special place in all of our hearts and over the past year by talking to people, it has been clear to me that this is truly a mountain like no other.
“People genuinely care for and have strong and passionate views about how we should be managing it. To me this is fantastic. Yes it will be challenging to balance everyone’s views on how and what should be done, but I’m confident that by working together we can balance the demands of recreation, farming and conservation, whilst protecting and improving the mountain for the next generation.”
She said earlier this year, the authority brought together all the organisations and businesses that play a part in managing the mountain to form the Snowdon Partnership.
Members include representatives from Snowdonia National Park Authority, the National Trust, Snowdonia Society, Gwynedd and Conwy Councils, Snowdon Mountain Railway, Natural Resources Wales, the Northern Local Access Forum and Snowdonia Active as well as farming unions and local mountain rescue teams.
Work is carried out on one of Snowdon's paths
“These are all organisations that on a day-to-day basis are actively involved in some way in the management of the mountain, be it footpath repairs and maintenance, volunteer work, promoting tourism, sheep and cattle farming, conservation work or rescues,” Ms Pye said. “The purpose of the partnership is to not only to ensure that we have a co-ordinated approach to managing the mountain, but that we also, through widespread consultation, will have everybody’s agreement in how it is managed.”
Drop in sessions will take place this month:
- Monday, 5 October, Hebog tourist information centre, Beddgelert
- Monday, 12 October, Snowdonia Parc, Waunfawr
- Wednesday 14 October, Electric Mountain, Llanberis.
The events will be open from 2 to 7pm.
On 9 November a conference will take place at the Royal Victoria Hotel, Llanberis to discuss and evaluate the comments and suggestions given at the drop-in sessions, together with further discussions on the best way to manage the mountain in future.
More details are on the Snowdon Partnership website.
