Language pressure group Cylch yr Iaith has criticised a decision to open up some council-run car parks for overnight motorhome parking, calling it a “mistake” likely to “promote more over-tourism”.

Gwynedd Council’s cabinet has backed establishing up to six pilot sites which will offer the most basic of waste disposal and water facilities and based on European-style ‘aires’.

The authority is looking to spend £100,000 with users expected to pay a fee for their overnight stay, which councillors hope will drive up trade in some of the county’s villages and towns by diverting campers away from secluded areas with no toilet or water facilities.

But Cylch yr Iaith say the implications haven’t been fully thought out.

The group’s Howard Huws said: “The new car parks will be created in communities outside the Snowdonia National Park limits, which has stricter rules. This will mean an overflow from the park to those communities bordering on its boundaries, areas that have recently been designated parts of a World Heritage Site.

“The provision of overnight parking spaces for camping vans will in turn contribute to their promotion as tourist destinations, and the disadvantages will outweigh the benefits in those areas as has happened in many of our communities.

Cabinet members stressed that the needs of motorhome and campervan owners differed to more traditional holidaymakers.

“The high numbers of people visiting has been a cause of concern for some areas with some deciding to stay in motorhomes in locations where there is no legal right to sleep in a vehicle overnight,” said Cllr Gareth Thomas, who holds the economic development portfolio.

“That is why we are keen to consider what steps can be considered to improve the management of the field due to the volume of interest and local capacity issues in some of our destinations.”

Cllr Gareth Griffith added: “This would allow us to see if this arrangement better manages the situation, and to consider whether it would help us to have better management in the county in the future.

“It is clear that national legislation going back to the 1960s needs to take account of this developing field.

“It is necessary to question whether the legislation is now fit for purpose, and we will therefore be sending the findings of our research to the Welsh Government and call on them to urgently review the legislation.”