Comments on: Land grabs are continuing long after Tryweryn

By: Geoff Horton-jones

Geoff Horton-jones — Mon, 08 Oct 2012 18:44:37 +0000

Mary Jones has made a very valid point.
There is evidence that there has been a specific land acquisition in Pembrokeshire to effect the transfer of land from one person to another using the pretext of highway realignment.
Regarding Tryweryn absolutely nothing has been done to remedy this injustice and in my experience approaches to the County Council, The Welsh Office, The High Sherriff aka the Crown, The Land Registry, and Dyfed Powys Police have all met with a blank refusal to address the problem referred to.

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By: Sion GW Jones

Sion GW Jones — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 10:15:32 +0000

Just to be clear, the Savills figure relates to agricultural land available for sale rather than the total stock of agricultural land in Wales…

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By: Celticus

Celticus — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 21:29:02 +0000

That 2012 figure is very shocking. Such a dramatic decline brings to mind the Welsh Government’s policy of reclassifying agricultural land to make room for all the houses being imposed under Local Development Plans.

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By: Tredwyn

Tredwyn — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 18:30:49 +0000

Low pay seasonal work beats no-pay no work at all. And Rhyl’s problems are not the consequence of tourism but stem from the collapse of its tourist trade and its boarding houses becoming parking places for social security recipients.

Those deserted and derelict smallholding dwellings scattered across Wales were there long before tourism became a feature. Wales is marginal for most forms of farming and Welsh farmers are inevitably poor unless heavily subsidised. Isn’t this just a question of economics? If tourist businesses on a piece of land make more money than a farm on that land why would you want everyone to be poorer by keeping the farm?

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By: Mary Jones

Mary Jones — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 09:09:20 +0000

According to Savill’s 2012 Rural Agricultural Land Review, there is a mere 7,100 acres of available agricultural land in Wales, down 50% on the previous year. Research leads me to conclude that tourism contributes significantly to this problem. In the first instance tourism has devoured much of our coastline, defacing the landscape, creating low pay seasonal work, and bringing with it many social and economic problems to coastal areas such as Rhyl. Not satisfied with the desacration of our coastline, the industry has now turned its attention to the hinterland, where the now unfashionable ‘caravan development’ has morphed into the more socially fashionable ‘chalet development’. Government’s slavish commitment to ‘Tourism at any price’ continues to deplete our finite land resorces, agricultural heritage and community viability.

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