In reply to Pete Potter:
> I feel it only fair to point out that I live right in the middle of Snowdonia, in fact Snowdon is my back garden. I am also a house owner who pays Council Tax.
as do I, but mine back garden's the Carneddau
I agree when you say that
> I think a large percentage of people feel that once money goes into the local council it is not easy to see what its spent on.
Paying for footpath repair is only a small part of visitor management. If there was a declaration on your carpark ticket "The money you spend will be used on footpath repair " then you may be encouraged to think, erroneously, that you have paid in full for your consumption of the mountain experience. You might then, as the original poster seems to have done, question funding of other schemes which are part of mountain visitor management. I have made reference to the bigger picture upthread.
Theoretically, the Gwynedd Car Park fee can be less than the cost of maintaining the car parking, equal to, or more than that cost.
If you go for a piss in a public lavatory you are generally paying less than the cost of facility maintenance. Perhaps the carparking is making good the shortfall. Would you feel parking charges were 'fair' only if you paid no more than the cost of facility maintenance? Babika seems to take this approach, which appears devoid of any notion of fairness or social conscience. Some things tend to subsidise others, you can argue the point as to how much it is due to 'captive audience' or redress of inequity. The phrase 'cash cow' does not attempt such distinction.
Vehicle parking, particularly in the scenic areas is at a premium. You pay or you don't. You can always park further away and walk/cycle/ share a lift/use public transport to avoid the charge.
It is strange that people bridle at car parking charges in scenic areas, citing the 'we don't known where the money is going' as the reason. But many of the same people will happily shell out for charities which give only a nominal amount to good works, will not for one moment consider buying ethically- cost and imagined quality are all- and will meekly pay their taxes without a quibble. But come to a day out in the mountains and they become champions for fairness.