New parking restrictions dubbed 'silly cone valley' by locals have meant a popular cafe will be closed on one of the busiest weekends of the year.
The busy Snowdonia cafe say it will be closed on one of the busiest weekends of the year due to new parking measures implemented by Gwynedd Council. Caffi Gwynant, which is located between Beddgelert and Betws y Coed, has announced it will not be taking bookings this weekend due to parking restrictions on the A498, which has been nicknamed "silly cone valley" by locals.
Paula Williams has run the cafe with her partner for the last 14 years, but says Gwynedd Council's decision to restrict parking along the A498 "without warning" has left them with no option but to close this weekend.
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The community-owned cafe in Nant Gwynant is popular with walkers as it's right next to Yr Wyddfa's Watkin Path, but Ms Williams said takings were down by more than 70 per cent last week due to the lack of parking.
Speaking to North Wales Live, she said: "There are cones all along the road from Llyn Gwynant towards Beddgelert to stop people parking but all they have done is pushed the problem down towards Nant Gwynant. There is a parking problem here, I'm not denying that at all, but this hasn't solved the problem. If anything, it has forced people to park more dangerously.
"The bank holiday is supposed to be one of the busiest weekends of the year but I can't afford to make a loss if people can't get here so we've made the decision to close over the Bank Holiday weekend. We have to think about the business long term and we can't invite people here when there's nowhere to park. It's just so frustrating that this has happened without warning.
"When I came into work last Saturday morning, there were cones plonked everywhere to stop people from parking but it was as if they hadn't thought about where they were putting them. There were cones on the grass verges which would be a perfectly safe place to park, which meant there was even less parking than usual.
"I know the council haven't done it with the intention of ruining people's businesses overnight, but I can't understand why they would make these cones at such an important time in the season. The drive down from Pen-y-Pass to Beddgelert is one of the most beautiful in the country but now local people are calling it 'silly cone valley' because there are so many ugly cones everywhere."
Gwynedd Council said the cones had been placed by a traffic management company on "particularly dangerous parts of the road" in response to residents' concerns about dangerous parking. A 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.”
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