A frustrated farmer is demanding a booking system to curb the growing number of visitors trampling across his land when heading up Wales’ highest mountain.
Dafydd Morris is also insisting on a complete ban on dogs to ease the problem of sheep worrying at Cefn Coch, his 1,200-acre farm on the slopes of Snowdon.
Earlier this month the veteran landowner launched a claim for substantial damages from Snowdonia National Park Authority (SNPA) amid allegations that work to repave Snowdon’s Llanberis Path resulted in the erosion of parts of his farmland.
In the past three years walker numbers on Snowdon have risen sharply to almost half-a-million a year, with a further 130,000 arriving on the Snowdon Railway. In contrast, the 2013 total for Ben Nevis was 118,713.
Mr Morris, 78, was responding to a SNPA consultation exercise, “The Future of Snowdon – Have Your Say”, on the management of Wales’ most iconic mountain.
He claims to be representing a number of national park farmers who believe they are being side-lined by a debate in favour of “outside interests”.
“As a family, we are very concerned about what is going on the mountain,” he said.
“No one at the authority is concerned about the condition of the mountain or about the troubles and losses of the owners who are trying to make a living amid the chaos.
“We depend wholly on the income we make from livestock but the unreasonable number of people on the mountain is eroding the landscape and it would not be a surprise to me to learn there are more dogs than people visiting Snowdon by now.”
As well as livestock worrying, Mr Morris is concerned at potential liability issues: he was forced to sell a cow after it attacked a dog that had been allowed to run amongst his herd.
He added: “Dogs excrement is a health hazard to adults, children and animals. With so much emphasis on animal health and food hygiene, dogs must be banned completely from the mountain immediately.”
For full story see - http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/farmer-calls-snowdon-booking-system-10320512
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