A café in Snowdonia National Park has announced that they are temporarily shutting their doors over the upcoming bank holiday weekend due to the fact that the council has introduced parking restrictions in the area. The valley of Nant Gwynant, which is only a stone's throw away from Yr Wyddfa, attracts thousands of visitors every summer.
Over the last few years, parking in various beauty spots in the national park during weekends and peak seasons has caused chaos, which at times has led to congestion and blocked roads. As a result, for August's bank holiday weekend Gwynedd Council has implemented cones in Nant Gwynant.
Although the council has said they have received complaints about the parking issues in the area, Caffi Gwynant has said that the council's decision is "frustrating". They decided to shut their doors for the bank holiday due to concerns that they will be unable to take bookings if there is no parking for customers.
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In a Facebook post this week, they wrote: "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 café over the bank holiday. 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!"
Speaking to WalesOnline, the owner of the café, Paula Williams explained her decision. She said: "It's very busy here during peak times, we have people that come here from everywhere not just to walk up Snowdon but to go to the waterfall. We get a lot of people booking tables, especially for families. We've been here for 14 years and we've created a name for ourselves as a place to visit."
According to Paula, parking in the area has been a point of discussion for many months. "Parking is an issue in Nant Gwynant since they stopped letting people parking in Pen-y-Pass and Pen-y-Gwryd, and then it pushed some of the traffic down to Nant Gwynant," she explained.
"I know there's a parking issue here, it is a massive problem - parking for us in the morning before heading into work is an issue. And it's not just us complaining, it's local residents as well who can't find parking spaces in the area. We understand, as a community, that something needs to be done."
A representative for Gwynedd Council explained that a traffic management company was hired to asses the situation and introduce temporary measures on behalf of the council. Measures included placing cones in particularly dangerous areas of the road.
It's been claimed that such restrictions however, have had a detrimental impact on Paula's business. She said: "They brought the cones in and I thought this might cause more of an issue, people are now going to park in even worse places.
"Last week, the cones went from Llyn Gwynant to the copper mines, which is by Beddgelert. We had a terrible weekend - take-ins on Saturday was 78% down, and then take-ins on Sunday was 80% down, so we were making a loss.
"We had to throw away our food and that never happens. People that did turn up for bookings would come in angry due to the fact that they had been driving for 20 minutes looking for parking."
When talking about her decision to temporarily close the cafe during the bank holiday weekend, Paula said: "It just wouldn't be fair to take bookings and the same thing would happen again over the bank holiday weekend. It's an incredibly frustrating situation and it's a decision I didn't really want to make, it feels like we are being punished here.
"The only solution to this is that we simply had better parking in the area, or a park and ride closer to the area so that people don't have to travel from Porthmadog or Pen-Y-Pass to come here."
In response, a spokesperson for Gwynedd Council 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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