P-05-691 A Fair Deal for Forest Rallying in Wales

This petition was submitted by Rally4Wales, having collected 5,246 signatures.

Petition Wording

We call on the National Assembly for Wales to urge the Welsh Government to ensure that future cost increases for the use of forest roads for car rallying in Wales are fair and in line with costs in England and Scotland.

Natural Resources Wales’ proposed pricing structure from June 2016 onwards would double the current cost, and is completely at odds with new contracts in place for the same purposes with Forestry Commission's in England and Scotland.

Whilst NRW are seeking to double the current cost – England and Scotland are raising the cost (from the previous contract) by just 0.7%.

Rallying in Wales is a £15 million pound industry with huge tourism benefits to rural Wales. NRW's proposed costs would make future events unsustainable in Wales due to high costs. We request that this is investigated fully to find out why the proposed costs are so hugely inflated by comparison to other regions.

Additional information

#Rally4Wales is a campaign group set up by rally competitors, rally organisers and supporters to lobby the Assembly Government over these proposed cost increases from NRW which are completely at odds with counterparts in England and Scotland.

We have contacted a range of AM's with our concerns, including Ken Skates, Carl Sargeant, Leanne Wood, Llyr Gruffudd and we are aware that supporters of our group have lobbied other AM's in recent days. We also have support from Members of Parliament in Mid Wales.

We have also raised the issue with the Welsh Automotive Forum who support our stance fully.

NRW claim that they have been undercharging for road repairs caused by rallying for many years. However, this argument as a justification for a 100% price increase is impossible to understand due to the complete opposite price hike in England and Scotland. There is no technical difference in road preparation and repair in England, Wales or Scotland.

We cannot believe that these costs are a true reflection of the situation and we call upon the National Assembly to investigate why NRW is taking action that will ultimately close down a vital cog in the rural economy of Wales.

Petition handover outside the Senedd

Status

This petition was considered completed by the Petitions Committee at its meeting on 1/11/2016.

Janet Finch-Saunders declared the following relevant interest under Standing Order 17.24A:

She is in support of the petition and has signed it.

The Committee considered correspondence from the petitioner and Natural Resources Wales and agreed to congratulate the petitioners on the successful outcome of their campaign and close the petition.

It was first considered by the Petitions Committee on 12/07/2016

Assembly Constituency and Region

·         Wrexham

·         North Wales

Further information

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