This page covers issues specific to the county of Gwynedd only. For issues pertaining to all of North Wales, for example North Wales Police and Arrive Alive, please see our North Wales page.
 
 ABD Local co-ordinator: Email  

The North Wales Police helicopter is a Eurocopter EC-135 painted black with a yellow roof. Note the enclosed tail rotor. The registration G-NWPS is shown on the tail, with 'HEDDLU' on the port side and 'POLICE' on the starboard side. Based at Ruddlan near Rhyl. Police callsign: NW01 ATC callsign: "Police (number unknown)" More police helicopters…

Watch The Skies!
When driving on remote roads in Snowdonia, it's not just sheep with no road sense that you need to watch out for.
We've had a report that a driver travelling on the isolated B4391 mountain road near Ffestiniog was flagged down by a man in a black jump suit who stepped out of a helicopter that landed beside the road. Thinking the helicopter had landed due to a technical problem and the man needed help, the driver stopped.
It was just as well he did — the man turned out to be a policeman and informed the driver he was being prosecuted for 'speeding'.
Quite how much that petty little exercise cost the police, and thus ratepayers, was not revealed. However, other sources suggest such a helicopter has a lifetime cost equivalent to around £2000 per day, and an operating cost of around £900 per hour.
Meanwhile, outside the school in Ffestiniog, not a policeman was to be seen...
 
 
Gated Roads
There are still a surprising number of minor roads in Gwynedd which have gates. Now admittedly these are unclassified roads which see comparitively little use, but Gwynedd Council seem to have no policy of replacing them with cattle grids, and a total apathy towards warning signs.
The minor road between Bronaber on the A470 south of Trawsfynydd, and Llanuwchllyn at the southern end of Lake Bala, has four gates — one of which is concealed by a bend. There are no warning signs about the presence of these gates at either end of the road, and no specific warning signs at the locations. The concealed gate is so dangerous that someone with a lot more more sense than the council has put up some home-made warning signs.
The lack of advance warning signs about gated roads seems commonplace, and most gates don't have any reflective markings and could be a real hazard at night or in poor visibility. We advise drivers who like to 'get off the beaten track' to expect gates on all minor rural roads in Gwynedd.
Some roads have an absurd number of gates, not one per farm boundary which is understandable, but one every field boundary — even though both fields contain sheep. We've even had gates reported at both ends of a 100 yard long lane bordered by stone walls.
 
 
Snowdonia Green Key — Take 2
The Snowdonia Green Key Strategy, discredited by massive public opposition just 3 years ago, has been re-launched. The original proposals were to impose blatant anti-car measures across huge swathes of Snowdonia which would have had a seriously detrimental effect on tourism.
The new proposals reject the absurd compulsory park and ride scheme, and look in detail at parking 'problems' and possible solutions, though the obvious solution of providing sufficient parking doesn't seem to be on the agenda. Of significant concern is the plan to introduce the decriminalised parking scam that already infects much of the country.
See the links below for full details.

• Freedom to Choose — Snowdonia
• Gwynedd County Council — Snowdonia Green Key Strategy   [pdf 2.9Mb]

Elsewhere on the ABD website:

• Richard Brunstrom
• North Wales Speed Cameras
• PR411 — We Are Not Amused
• PR295 — Drivers Demand Speed Camera Tyrant Surrender His Driving Licence
• PR295 — Gyrrwyr Ceir Yn Mynnu Bod Gormeswr Y Camerau Cyflymder Yn Thoi Ei Drwydded Gyrru I Fyny
• PR334 — Brunstrom Prefers Robots to Cops

External Links:

• A55 Penmaenbach roadworks
• A55 webcams
  North Wales Traffic Control Centre
• Freedom to Choose — Snowdonia
  Fighting the anti-car and anti-tourist 'Snowdonia Green Key Strategy'
• Gwynedd Council
  • Report Highway Defects
  • Roadworks Bulletin
    Nice idea — except it's a PDF file rather than a web page. Clueless.
• Snowdonia Green Key Report
  The pathetic message on this site makes it only too clear that they were given a good kicking over this, though they don't have the integrity to admit it. Their stupid and obnoxious plan to stop people driving into Snowdonia failed at the first hurdle, thanks to a massive wave of public protest, but don't think the arrogant control freaks won't try again. The fools being this fiasco should be voted out of office or sacked — the project officer has already gone.
• Snowdonia National Park Authority's perspective on roads
  Not heartening reading, but there is the odd word of sense amongst all the PC claptrap.

Media Links

• BBC — Dozens fight 'speeding' tickets   2007-03-07
  Drivers fall victim to yet another artificially lowered speed limit.
• The Sun — Bride's 2 speed cam fines   2006-07-28
  Penmaenmawr school teacher Carrie-Anne Karaivanov was snapped by the same speed camera twice on her wedding day. This was on the A547 in Colwyn Bay. It's reassuring to see North Wales Police doing such a great job of dealing with hardened criminals isn't it?
• Caernarfon Herald — Pwllheli has too little parking   2006-06-22
• Daily Post — Councils plan parking blitz   2005-11-07
  'Decriminalised' parking comes to Gwynedd.

  Adjacent local areas

• Daily Post — Two tickets in two hours doing 36mph   2005-03-14
• Daily Post — Fined £30 for Number Plate   2004-01-30
  Brunstrom's Bully Boys target another hardened criminal — a 24 year old female care worker.
• Caernarfon Herald — Bypass extension plea   2004-01-22
• BBC — Vital work continues on A55   2003-09-04
  Like the Thelwall Viaduct, this is another case of not doing the job properly in the first place.
• Western Mail — Paramedic booked for speeding   2003-08-04
• BBC — Improvement plan for road artery   2003-02-27

See also our North Wales page.
 
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