First, the good news: work is due to start in September to demolish one of the least loved edifices on any British mountain. The bad news is that they're going to build another one.

The Snowdon summit cafe, a monstrous carbuncle in any mountain lover's view, will be taken down and replaced by that scourge of modern tourism, a visitor centre.

Quite what the point is of despoiling Wales's highest mountain with this superfluous monstrosity is beyond grough's comprehension. The Snowdonia National Park Authority says, with no intentional irony, the centre will give visitors (ie summiteers) an insight into the mountain's unique environmental, cultural and recreational significance.

The visitor centre will also have information on descent routes, for those stupid enough to have climbed the mountain without a map and compass, weather information, in case it's not obvious whether it's cloudy or not and toilets and refreshments, ie a cafe.

The existing mountain top cafe was built by eccentric architect Sir Clough Williams-Ellis, creator of surreal Portmeirion, beloved of fans of The Prisoner. It is now owned by the national park authority and caters, during summer at least, for the 350,000 people a year who clamber up the peak or cheat and get the train. Planning permission for the new project was granted, in a nicely circular way, to the Snowdonia National Park Authority by the Snowdonia National Park Authority planning committee in January 2004.

Work on the new building should start in 2007, the authority says. Any wilderness lover with a sense of humour can still donate their hard-earned cash to the Snowdon Summit Appeal, which has the task of improving land around the building, a job grough would have though best left to nature.

If you want to see an impression of how the new building will look, check out the Snowdonia park authority's website in English or here for the sorry tale in Welsh. Then go get a stiff drink and plan your route up one of Snowdonia's unspoilt peaks.