Climbers may have to pay £1 to reach the summit of Mount Snowdon – with funds going to facilities for tourists
- Councillor Glyn Daniels says the fee would bring in an annual six-figure sum
- The levy will be imposed on those scaling the 3,560ft mountain by rail or on foot
- Wales’s highest peak Mount Snowdon attracts around 475,000 tourists a year
Visitors to Mount Snowdon may have to pay a £1 toll to reach the summit of Wales’s highest peak.
Councillors are proposing the levy on those scaling the 3,560ft mountain by rail or on foot.
The peak attracts around 475,000 tourists a year. The funds raised will be invested in facilities for tourists and local communities.
Councillor Glyn Daniels said it would bring in an annual six-figure sum. He has submitted a motion to be discussed during a Gwynedd Council meeting in October.
Visitors to Mount Snowdon may have to pay a £1 toll to reach the summit of Wales’s highest peak. The Pen-y-Pass car park on the mountain filled up on July 11, the first weekend since Snowdonia National Park reopened for visitors
Mr Daniels said: ‘This would not only raise revenue for both the council and the park, but could also contribute to building new car parks, therefore lessening the number of vehicles illegally parking on the roads on certain days.
‘It should be remembered that several countries pursue these kinds of policies, I refer to Switzerland, Canada and New Zealand – to name a few.’
He stressed: ‘When tens of thousands of tourists flock to our beauty spots, surely we should be able to benefit a little more financially?
‘We’re not asking for gold nuggets, but then again we deserve more than peanuts.’
The peak attracts around 475,000 tourists a year. The funds raised will be invested in facilities for tourists and local communities
Gwynedd Council’s deputy leader, Dafydd Meurig, said: ‘A successful tourism industry needs a thriving local community as its core.’
Around £250,000 a year is spent on maintaining of Snowdonia National Park’s pathways.
However, the park authority said last night the idea of a toll on the mountain would be illegal due to it being access land – giving walkers free right of passage – and footpaths being rights of way.
A spokesman said: ‘Currently it would not be legal or enforceable to charge a toll.’