Llyn Tegid has been part of this community’s life for as long as anyone can remember — kids learning to swim, dogs walked every evening, families meeting up on a summer night.
Since 13th July 2026, Eryri National Park Authority has put a price on it. Paid parking, run by a private company, with ANPR cameras clocking cars in and out of the car parks at Llyn Tegid.
Their own website calls this a “pilot,” not a permanent decision. It says feedback from residents and Community Councils will shape what happens next. This petition is that feedback, loud and clear.
And the one thing they’re calling a “local benefit”? One hour of free parking, and only if you happen to arrive between 2am and 8am, or 5:30pm and midnight. Nobody’s socialising by the lake at 3am. Calling that a benefit isn’t generous, it’s insulting.
This lake is where this community meets, not a place we should have to pay to stand in. We’re asking for one thing: free access to the car parks at Llyn Tegid for local residents, at all times. No discount, no permit, no fine print. Sign this petition and tell them we mean it.

Please also consider copying the below email template, and sending it to the following email address- parc@eryri.llyw.cymru to record the feedback for the program directly 

Dear Eryri National Park Authority,

I am writing as a local resident to object to the new ANPR parking charges and enforcement introduced at Bala Lake Car Park on 13th July 2026.

I will state my position clearly at the outset: I am asking for free access to this car park for local residents at all times. Not a discounted rate, not a wider concessionary window, not an annual permit. Free, full-time access for the people who live here. This car park and this lake have belonged to this community for generations, and no other outcome is acceptable to me.

I have read the FAQ published on your website, and I have to say the “local benefits” section did more to anger me than reassure me. You call this a benefit, but the free hour only falls somewhere between 2am and 8am, or somewhere between 5:30pm and midnight. That’s not a meaningful concession for anyone trying to visit after work, at the weekend, or with children, it’s a token window designed to let you say one exists.

We are constantly told, by government, by health bodies, by the outdoor sector itself, that people, and especially children, need more time outdoors, not less. A charge like this does not encourage that. It quietly discourages it, and it does so most for the people who already have the least room in their budget to absorb it.

I would also raise the enforcement model itself. This scheme is being managed on the Authority’s behalf by Initial Parking, a private company operating under the BPA Code of Practice. Whatever the safeguards, the practical effect for residents is that access to a public lake is now gated by a private firm whose income depends on charges and penalty notices being issued. That is a significant change to how this land is used, and it deserved real consultation with residents and Community Councils before it began, not after.

I understand this is currently a pilot, to be reviewed with feedback from users and Community Councils before any permanent decision. I would ask that my feedback be recorded clearly and without ambiguity: local residents must have free access to this car park at all times. Anything less, whether a wider free window, a discounted local rate, or a paid annual permit, does not resolve this issue and will not be accepted as a resolution by this resident.

I would be grateful for a direct response to the following:

 1. Will the Authority commit to free, all-hours access for verified local residents, and if not, why not?

 2. What consultation was carried out with local Community Councils and residents specifically, ahead of the pilot, and what did it find?

 3. As part of the pilot review, will the Authority be tracking and publishing the impact on local residents specifically, as distinct from visitor and tourist traffic?

Several UK authorities have introduced comparable charges at parks and beauty spots over the past year and have had to reverse or significantly soften them after resident opposition, including Kirklees Council, Runnymede Borough Council, West Northamptonshire Council, and Gedling Borough Council. I would ask the Authority to take that as a signal now, rather than as a lesson learned later.

I look forward to a considered response, and I would ask that this pilot be amended without delay to provide free, unrestricted access for local residents. I do not consider any partial measure to be a satisfactory outcome.

Yours sincerely,