Snowdonia 'open by May'

Snowdonia National Park would only be open by May

Snowdonia National Park could be reopened by next month after the government agreed to reduce the foot-and-mouth zone in north Wales.

The Ministry for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food will push back the designated boundary to the Menai strait, freeing most of the park and almost 800 farms of the infected status.

Sue Essex called for a timetable to reopening

The park has been closed for seven weeks during the foot-and-mouth outbreak.

The decision will be good news for the tourism industry. Four paths on mount Snowdon could now be reopened, with walkers required to disinfect boots and stay on permitted routes.

But park authority Chief Executive Ian Huws said the park would not be reopened until at least the beginning of May.

He said: "Since February 27, Snowdonia has been part of the infected area due to the Anglesey outbreaks, but we are extremely happy that is no longer the case.

"This makes it much easier to examine the possibility of reopening the most important paths up the mountain without endangering the spread of foot-and-mouth to Snowdonia."

Careful planning

He has said the interests of walkers, farmers and tourism operators could be safeguarded with thorough planning and careful management.

Meanwhile, Environment Minister Sue Essex has called on Gwynedd County Council and Snowdonia National Park to prepare a plan for the area that would have the paths open by the peak summer season.

She said: "What we need to do now is work in partnership with the Park Authority and Gwynedd Council to produce an indicative programme for reopening footpaths.

"It is vital that the public is kept fully updated on which footpaths and areas are being reopened to walkers and climbers as the restrictions are lifted."

"Such a well-publicised programme of reopenings is the best way to ensure the strongest possible public support for the beleaguered tourism industry. It will be a significant boost."