Facilities at visitor hotspots at Bala set for upgrades
The schemes both concern well-used car parking and toilet areas on opposite shores of Llyn Tegid - or Bala Lake - in Gwynedd.
The Eryri National Park Authority [ENPA] planning and access committee approved the applications with conditions, including pollution prevention advisories, at its meeting on Wednesday, June 25.
The first application concerned the ENPA warden centre and car park, on the northern shore of Llyn Tegid, close to Bala town.
They will see grey timber cladding and solar panels added to the two-storey warden building, which included toilets above, and a boat rental and watersports business below.
Car park recognition 'ANPR' cameras, plus CCTV and a new entrance gate, would also be included.
Revised plans would also see more cameras also attached to two sides of a small stone building near the entrance.
The large, 1.2 hectare site was described as 'a very popular stopping place for visitors to access Llyn Tegid '.
The plans said the work was considered to be 'non-intrusive' nor harmful to any species or site.
The second application concerned the Llangower car park on the eastern shore, on a long strip of land, where there were also toilets.
The plans would see the removal and upgrade of the existing toilets, installation of cladding, renewal work and creation of further car parking spaces, the installation of ANPR and CCTV cameras, and a new gate.
The car park is on a 0.4h acre site, between the B4403 and the heritage railway – Rheilfordd Llyn Tegid – or Bala Lake Railway. The Llangower stop is accessed from the car park.
Plans noted that the parking area was 'generally unregulated, with no marked parking bays, and with a tarmac track. It was also popular with visitors'.
The meeting heard that the work could see the park capacity increase from around 60 to 90 spaces by marking out specific bays. They would be surfaced with "porous interlocking demarcated blocks".
Following a public consultation no objections had been received for both the applications.
Brian Angell, a committee member appointed by the Welsh Government, called for advisory notes to be attached, over measures to prevent any pollution issues.
Planning case officer Richard Thomas told the meeting pollution pathways had been identified for Llyn Tegid, but a habitats regulation assessment had been carried out.
'They found that if developers or the authority employed pollution prevention measures during construction, those pathways could be secured and no pollution would ensue to Llyn Tegid,' he said.
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