'Win-win' plan for pretty North Wales town 'gridlocked' by surging tourism

Wales Online

14-05-2025

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A picturesque Dee Valley town is to get almost 180 new parking spaces to cope with surging visitor numbers. In peak season Llangollen can struggle to accommodate the influx and there are fears the town centre squeeze will tighten if the town is included in a new national park.
Llangollen has six car parks, one of which is the most lucrative in Denbighshire. These include a site at Llangollen Pavilion, home to the town's International Musical Eisteddfod, which on Thursday, May 15, will open up a new parking area.
The Eisteddfod team, which now manages the Pavilion, said it took action because Llangollen town centre often suffers from a lack of car parking spaces. David Hennigan, Eisteddfod Board director, said the new facility was much needed.
'The other day I was speaking to someone from Ruthin who said they would like to visit Llangollen more often but they always found it a struggle to park," he said. 'Over the last Bank Holiday weekend, you could see cars driving around trying to find some where to park – the town centre was rammed! It's been a major issue in Llangollen for a while.
'It seemed such a shame that when Llangollen was gridlocked, we had all this space available on the Pavilion grounds just a few minutes walk away. As we're always trying to encourage town centre trade, we hope this provision will help - we see it as a win-win for everyone.'
Llangollen, next to the river Dee, is a gateway-to-Wales town that attracts thousands of tourists. Part of a World Heritage Site, thanks to its popular canal, the town's heritage railway is a major draw and the countless walkers are attracted by its scenic hills.
At the Pavilion, 80 new hard-surface parking spaces will be available in an area allocated for stalls during the Eisteddfod. The rest will be on grass and both areas will be open year-round. Join the North Wales Live Whatsapp community now
(Image: Ian Cooper/North Wales Live)
Costs for the main car park will be from 70p for 30 minutes, £6 for up to eight hours and £10 for 12 hours. The Pavilion field car park will have the same charges but with a maximum time limit of eight hours.
There will be a variety of ways to pay - but there will be no overnight parking. Parents dropping off and picking up Ysgol Dinas Bran pupils will not have to pay.
To monitor the car park and Eisteddfod grounds, Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras have been installed, operating round the clock. Organisers believes that by improving security, it will deter anti-social behaviour and reassure visitors wanting to spend the day in the Llangollen area.
The Pavilion already has an 80-space car park but, being 500 metres from the town centre, it is relatively under utilised. Denbighshire Council data shows that, in 2023/24, the Pavilion's existing car park generated a revenue of £3,484.73 – more than 50 times less than the 147-space council-run Market Street facility in the centre of Llangollen.
Parking pressures in the town are illustrated by the rising number of parking fines being issued at the long-stay Market Street car park. In 2023, 359 Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) were issued by the council, up 146 on the previous year. In the following year, this number had almost been matched by mid August 2024 (349 PCNs).
(Image: Stephen McKay/Wiki)
The new edge-of-town parking provision won't resolve all issues as it won't be available when there are no events on at the Pavilion or its grounds.
But John Gambles, chair of the Llangollen Eisteddfod, expects this will be infrequent and believes the new facility will boost the local economy. He said: 'For as long as I can remember, parking has been a huge issue in the centre of Llangollen.
'When we took over the Pavilion full-time in April, one of the first things we did was look if it was possible to open up our site for additional car parking. Any revenue raised will go towards running the Pavilion for the benefit of Llangollen and towards the running of the Llangollen Eisteddfod.'
The Dee Valley is earmarked for inclusion in Wales' newest national park, currently going through stages of designation. Research by property firm Purplebricks revealed that properties inside the proposed national park area are already up to £100,000 more expensive than equivalents outside.
Critics fear a further surge in popularity in places like Llangollen if the national park comes to fruition. Sign up for the North Wales Live newsletter sent twice daily to your inbox
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