Petition launched for national park authority to ditch Snowdon name for Yr Wyddfa

A petition has been launched for a national park authority to ditch the name Snowdon in favour of its Welsh language one – Yr Wyddfa.

It follows a motion by Cllr John Pughe Roberts that Wales’ highest mountain, at 3,560ft, should only be referred to by its Welsh name, which was rejected by Snowdonia National Park Authority.

The petition, which it has had over 700 signatures, also calls for the authority only refer to itself by its Welsh name, Parc Cenedlaethol Eryri.

It states: “Attacks towards the Welsh Language have become very consistent in recent years, with house and area names changed from Welsh.

“Using the name of Yr Wyddfa instead of Wyddfa  / Snodwon and Eryri instead of Eryri / Snowdonia gives the Welsh language its respect and status.

“Using the name of Yr Wyddfa and Eryri alone shows the importance of the Welsh language to the people of Wales, changing people’s view of the language and making it more visible to people who come here on holiday, and for people who live here now.”

Roberts, who represents Corris and Mawddwy, accused the councillors who opposed his motion, of not having “any confidence in the Welsh language” and of “kicking the can down the road”.

Its Chair, Wyn Ellis Jones said its members had decided there was “no need to consider the motion” that day, because a Welsh Place Names Task and Finish Group has already been appointed to look into the issue.

‘Never’ 

The motion said: “That the authority hereafter uses only the authority’s Welsh name for the authority and that this becomes relevant in any language i.e. ‘Parc Cenedlaethol Eryri’ and never uses ‘Snowdonia National Park’ again.

“The same should apply to ‘Yr Wyddfa’ – never to use the name ‘Snowdon’ for it again.”

Following the decision to reject the motion, Cllr John Pughe Roberts told Nation.Cymru: “I’m disappointed that they don’t have any confidence in the Welsh language. For me, we need to have confidence in the Welsh language, and there’s no point talking about independence if we haven’t got any confidence in the language.

“It’s gone to another committee – kicking the can down the road. I’m not happy of course. It’s a bureaucratic way of doing it.

“They’ve decided to put it to a committee and see what the committee says. They rejected this motion.

“To tell the truth Cllr Edgar Owen from Waunfawr, he opposed the motion, and he didn’t want to speak about the motion to be honest.

“They didn’t talk about it a lot. I was pretty disappointed that every Plaid Cymru member apart from one voted to oppose the motion.”

SNPA Chair Wyn Ellis Jones said: “Authority members decided that there was no need to consider the motion today as a Welsh Place Names Task and Finish Group has already been appointed.

“This follows previous consideration by the Members in a Working Group which recommended to establish and adopt guidelines to guide the use of place names by the SNPA. Members will consider these issues once the Task and Finish group is able to make recommendations.

“The Authority is committed to protect and promote the use of native place names for everyday use and future generations.”