MORE than a quarter of a million people climb it every year - and from this week visitors to South Wales’ tallest peak must pay £7.50 to park for the privilege.
On Monday, June 5, The National Trust introduced charges for motorists to park at its busy Pont ar Daf car park, at the foot of Pen-y-Fan.
The jewel in the crown of the Bannau Brycheiniog (Brecon Beacons) National Park, 350,000 people ascend Pen-y-Fan’s 886-metre summit – the highest in South Wales and highest British peak south of Cadair Idris – each year and park trustees say the charges will help pay for the upkeep of the stunning terrain and landscape.
“From today, Monday, June 5, parking charges will be introduced at Pont ar Daf car park,” said National Trust Brecon Beacons and Monmouthshire in a statement.
“National Trust members will be able to park for free as you can do in all other National Trust car parks in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
“Non-members will be charged a flat fee of £7.50 per vehicle to park, payable via cash at a pay and display machine or by Pay By Phone. The option to pay by card is available seven days a week between 8am and 4pm when staff are on site.
“The introduction of a parking charge will enable us to raise the vital funds we need to maintain facilities and carry out important conservation work in the Brecon Beacons.
“The project has been made possible thanks to part funding by the Welsh Government through the Visit Wales tourism investment support scheme.”
The announcement attracted mixed reactions, with many people content to pay to visit the popular Powys beauty spot. Some even think parking charges are long overdue, but other disagree with the move.
“About time, they should have been charging years ago like all the car parks in England. Ridiculous to be free for so long,” said Robin Pitcher.
Patrick Lewis believes £7.50 is too cheap, adding: “Should be more.”
David Pulman, however, said: “Park elsewhere. That price is disgusting”, with Nathan Spokes adding: “You'd think they'd at least finish doing the work before charging.”
The flat charge was first mentioned when National Trust Cymru announced a year ago that it would be improving car parking and facilities at the popular Pont ar Daf site.
They announced a car park would be created, including visitor facilities, with 200 new parking spaces. it gives visitors a total of nearly 260 spaces away from the A470 road – which runs adjacent to the site and is often packed on both sides of the road with vehicles.
“Until the verge on the A470 is blocked everyone will park there as it's free, which is risking people’s lives,” said Dai Powell.
“It (the car park) should be an hourly rate not one payment for all day. I'm not against paying for parking but people will park on the verge now instead of paying which they only did before when the car park was full.
“The verges should be fenced off as I have seen people running across the road carrying children in front of traffic. An hourly payment would be fairest because someone parking for two hours shouldn't pay the same as someone there for the day.”
Disabled parking spaces will also be provided alongside parking provision for minibuses, coaches and cyclists and an area for the emergency services and other similarly related users of the Beacons.
Planned new visitor facilities will include toilets with disabled access, a changing places toilet and baby changing facilities, some of which will be available 24 hours a day. Improvements to signage, footpaths and information will also allow people to better plan their day.
There will also be electric vehicle charging points and more trees will be planted.
The majority of the new car park at Pont ar Daf is now open, with over 180 parking spaces available.
Work is still ongoing in some parts of the car park including the electric vehicle charging bays and new visitor facilities.
The parking charge of £7.50 per vehicle is payable via cash at a pay and display machine or by Pay By Phone. The option to pay by card is available seven days a week between 8am and 4pm, which is when the site will be staffed.
Find everything you need to know about the car park and planning a visit at https://bit.ly/3m7qJyK.
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