Shortcuts - updates and local knowledge

Rhodd Eryri

We are grateful for support from Rhodd Eryri, the pilot ‘visitor giving’ scheme, through which local businesses and their customers were able to give something back to the area. When the pilot scheme was taken over by Gwynedd Council we hoped it would flourish and generate lots of support for local projects. Sadly, it has vanished without trace – a pity given all the work that went into developing it. However, Rhodd Eryri will end on a positive note and with a positive legacy; the final contribution to the Society of £1,250 will be used to provide conservation skills practical training for young people in Snowdonia.

HSBC

You won’t often read a piece about a bank in these pages. However, we felt we should let you know that the Financial Ombudsman has again found in our favour in our long-running battle with HSBC over their failures in relation to our payments facilities. Judith and Debbie (and Frances before them) have done a sterling (!) job in trying to get our bank to rectify its mistakes. This has been going on since 2016. The compensation order of £750 in no way covers the staff time and stress costs, but it is a symbolic victory at least. Many thanks to those of you who had to resubmit direct debit mandates when your subscriptions weren’t taken – we really appreciate your patience and support.

Championing Nature

Sometimes it feels like Snowdon has become something of a sacrificial mountain. Through the filtered lens of the media (think parking! litter! crowds!) it is made to look a dirty and chaotic place. Meanwhile social media and selfies can magnify a ‘me vs the big mountain’ narrative right out of proportion. Both have an element of truth in them, of course. We expend a lot of staff and volunteer resources responding to the challenges that stem from hundreds of thousands of visitors per year. But it would be a shame to end up thinking of Snowdon as just a giant obstacle course on steroids. Unhappy with feeling sad about Snowdon, we decided to do something about it! We will shortly be revealing our new 'Snowdon - the Living Mountain' leaflet. We hope its purpose is clear – to inspire visitors to look again and see Snowdon differently, and to appreciate and respect it for the extraordinarily special mountain that it is. Specifically the leaflet, and the online resources to accompany it, draw attention to the remarkable wildlife for which Snowdon is home.

We are very grateful to Snowdonia National Park Authority whose CAE fund financed part of this work, and to the many knowledgeable partners and supporters who provided input.

Fresh thinking on transport

We’ve reported recently on our work as part of the Snowdon Partnership to get to grips with the transport and parking challenges which have become progressively more acute in a few ‘honeypot’ areas – most obviously Snowdon itself and Ogwen. Most of the options involve scaling up or redesign of public transport provision. Social distancing means that those options look more difficult

Pont Scethin, uwchben Dyffryn Ardudwy, haf 1974 ● Pont Scethin, above Dyffryn Ardudwy, in summer of 1974

right now, but this shouldn’t stop us applying fresh thinking to the problem. So we were pleased to hear from Ed Straw, who lives near a key traffic hotspot. Here’s what Ed has to say: “I live in Nant Peris, which is probably amongst the best places to be during a lockdown. Perhaps the most notable change in our ways of living during this time has been the absence of noise from vehicles. The silence, other than the wonderful sounds of nature, has been outstanding, along with the opportunity to just wander along the valley without having to watch out for or be distracted by cars. The Park is a very different experience without cars, far more so than perhaps anyone expected. This has got a few of us to thinking; now visitors are free to come again, could a car free day a month be trialled around Snowdon? And perhaps Ogwen too? Once visitors experience what we have been so fortunate to have for the past three months, would they appreciate just how much better in so many ways the area is without the noise, distraction, dangers and intrusion of cars? It really is a chalk and cheese difference. In time, visitors might demand more car free days, such would be the enhancement of their time here.

The logistics of this would take some organising, in terms of parking, park and ride schemes, responsive buses, integrated and regulated taxis, deterrent parking fines, trains and so on. Engagement with and reassurance of local businesses would be essential. Cities around the world are taking this opportunity to increase car free areas, so why not us?”

Planning Update: Llanbedr – watch this space

The breathtaking coastal scenery and rugged uplands rising above Llanbedr are one of the less well-known glories of the National Park. But this area is under threat from a complex set of interrelated development and 'air space' proposals.

Despite the Society's detailed representations and concerns, a mile-long new bypass road was granted planning permission earlier this year. Though well designed to try to minimise harm, it would cause irreparable damage to the landscape, cultural heritage and wildlife west of Llanbedr village.

The most recent economic appraisal by consultants funded by Welsh Government concluded that it would be 'low value for money'. Welsh Government says it will only fund transport schemes that tick the boxes in a technical appraisal dubbed 'WelTAG'. An updated WelTAG for the Llanbedr road is yet to be done. Given the UK's deteriorating economic prospects, we will be

impressing on Welsh Government that only the best value for money and genuinely sustainable transport schemes should get the green light. Think railways,

buses and cycling. The Llanbedr bypass ticks few of these forward-looking boxes. This development is being promoted not because it would provide some environmental improvements in Llanbedr village itself, but primarily because it would give improved access for lorries to Llanbedr Airfield. This site is part of what Welsh Government has rather grandly labelled the 'Snowdonia Enterprise Zone' (SEZ). The Eryri Local Development Plan rightly requires that a masterplan is produced for development of the SEZ site at Llanbedr, to provide the information the National Park Authority needs to ensure that the area’s special qualities are conserved. There is no sign of this masterplan emerging yet. Despite this, the SEZ developers recently published proposals - that must be ratified by the Civil Aviation Authority - for how hundreds of square miles of airspace around the airfield will be used. We already knew that offshore segregated airspace over Cardigan Bay would be available for testing of drones and other 'experimental' aircraft being developed at the SEZ. The Society isn’t objecting to this. However, it has recently been announced that the RAF wants to use the airfield again, linked to consolidation of its pilot training at Valley Airfield on Anglesey. RAF pilot training flights are spread over North Wales and so the noise impacts are to some extent dispersed. We respect the RAF's training needs.

What is worrying is a separate and purely commercial proposal to use an area of inland airspace, just east of Llanbedr, for 'an extended area for upland/mountain operational testing’ of prototype drones and other 'experimental' aircraft - whether for civilian or military use.

The area in question is the heart of the Rhinogydd mountains. This is an upland expanse renowned for its wild remoteness and increasingly rare tranquillity above the noise and bustle of the coastlands and inland valleys. We have made it clear that the Snowdonia Society will vigorously oppose noisy commercial exploitation of the airspace that envelops this special place, the nearest that we have in Wales to wilderness. Such development would cause significant harm to public enjoyment of Snowdonia’s special qualities and therefore be incompatible with the National Park’s statutory purposes. Calling all Snowdonia Society members - please stand ready to support us in this work, should a campaign be necessary.

Events: daw eto haul ar fryn*

Penwythnos MaD weekend 2019

Looking back, and forward, at Snowdonia Society events 20192020

Last year saw a record number of attendees on Snowdonia Society events. From our Director’s packed talk on Rethinking Rewilding at Plas-y-Brenin in November to our annual three-day Make a Difference volunteer weekend in September, a busy programme of volunteer days, walks, workshops and talks attracted people from near and far to help support the National Park. 2020 could not be more different: the arrival of coronavirus and subsequent restrictions put all our events on hold, and our outreach limited to online activity. Fast forward to today and we’re preparing to resume a range of outdoor activities shortly – following from our work on the successful Snowdonia ‘Welcome Back’ volunteer scheme working with the National Park Authority and the Outdoor Partnership.

With appropriate safeguards in place some outdoor activities will be possible, and of course we’re also able to host events online, as evidenced by our Director’s popular ‘Mountain Pressure’ talk back in May, which was streamed as part of the Royal Geographical Society’s online programme, attracting over 200 attendees. We’re working hard to get things moving, safely, and the Snowdonia Society needs your support more than ever to get through this difficult time. So stay tuned, keep an eye on our website and social media channels, make sure you’ve subscribed to our ebulletins and be assured that we look forward to seeing some of you again soon – perhaps on the hill and in sunshine! *‘The sun will shine on the hill again’: these well-known words from a poem by J.T. Job of Bethesda were seen alongside countless hand-drawn rainbows at the height of lockdown in the Ogwen valley this spring.