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Café at the foot of Snowdon to close over bank holiday due to parking chaos

23 Aug 2022 3 minute read
Caffi Gwynant

The owner of a café at the foot of Wales’ tallest peak has said that she will close over the bank holiday due to parking chaos caused by measures to control where tourists to the area park.

Gwynedd Council have been placing cones along the side of the road in Nant Gwynant to the south of yr Wyddfa in order to prevent hundreds of people from leaving their cars there.

It means that there is a lack of places for customers who have booked places at Caffi Gwynant to park when they arrive for their meal.

“Unfortunately due to lack of parking in Nant Gwynant as a result of Cyngor Gwynedd Highways department coning off most of the valley, we have made the difficult decision to close the cafe in over the bank holiday,” the owner Paula Williams said in a Facebook post.

“We feel it would be unfair to take bookings if there is no parking for customers. We hope to be open as usual next week and apologise for any inconvenience caused!”

‘Worried’

A Gwynedd Council spokesperson said: “The Council has a responsibility to ensure that all roads within the county are safe for motorists, cyclists and walkers. We also ensure there are no obstructions, especially so for drivers of emergency services vehicles.

“In the case of Nant Gwynant, we received numerous complaints from residents, motorists and walkers who were very worried about the parking situation in the area. The Council arranged for a traffic management company to assess the situation and introduce temporary measures on behalf of the Council.

“The measures introduced included placing cones on particularly dangerous parts of the road, as we are expecting heavy traffic over the bank holiday weekend.

“These measures have not been introduced in front of Caffi Gwynant. Council Officers will be monitoring the situation adjusting as appropriate. The Council is also looking to introduce long-term measures aimed at both tackling the parking problems and satisfying the wishes of all of the community.”

‘Supporting’

Paula Williams told Golwg360 that Gwynedd Council have said that the arrangement is an experimental arrangement and that they will assess the situation over the weekend.

“We felt as a business that we couldn’t ask people to book tables and come and eat in the cafe because there were no parking spaces,” she said.

“If people book a table, turn up for their food, and can’t find somewhere to park, in the future they will think twice before booking with us again.

“After last weekend, we can’t afford to open and not be busy – we have full-time staff to pay. We can’t afford to throw food away.

“We have worked tirelessly for 14 years. We feel that we have come out of Covid and all, and now we have to cope with this too, and with the cost of living and all, we may go into recession. We feel like the Council is doing this at the wrong time.

“We get a lot of local customers supporting us throughout the year, but we are terribly dependent on tourism.”


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Rhufawn Jones
Rhufawn Jones
1 year ago

Da iawn. Great to see a local café taking the initiative to combat over tourism

Mab Meirion
Mab Meirion
1 year ago

I thought they were closing because Gwynedd Highways had messed up the parking…

Mab Meirion
Mab Meirion
1 year ago
Reply to  Mab Meirion

Surely a farmer could have spared a field and made a fair few quid, given how hard the ground is at the moment, for a park and ride/walk scheme. Lack of initiative, effort or consideration for tax payers on the part of Gwynedd Council. Maybe paying time and a half was to much or working on a bank holiday…have a word with a lawyer… outsourcing a traffic management company, what’s that all about !?

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