The Welsh Government has been warned that some businesses across Wales could be forced to close as an unintended consequence of proposed radical new taxation rules which are planned to be introduced next year.
MWT Cymru, which represents more than 600 tourism and hospitality businesses across Powys, Ceredigion and Southern Snowdonia, has surveyed self-catering businesses across Wales to discover how they will be impacted by proposed taxation rules, which are linked to the ownership of second homes. From April next year, Welsh county councils will be given the power to increase council tax on second homes to 300%. In addition, the Welsh Government is making the rules a lot stricter on self-catering accommodation qualifying for business rates rather than council tax. Currently, self-catering properties in Wales must be available to let for a minimum of 140 days in any 12-month period, and actually let for at least 70 days to qualify for business rates rather than council tax. Under the proposed new rules, properties must be available to let for at least 252 days and actually let for at least 182 days to qualify for business rates. MWT Cymru received 137 responses to its survey, with 66% of businesses saying they would be unable to meet the new rule of letting their properties for 182 days due to the short tourism season in Wales. Several businesses said they would be forced to consider closing as they could not afford to pay 300% council tax if their local authority decides to impose that rule. Val Hawkins, MWT Cymru’s chief executive, is calling on the Welsh Government to reconsider the radical taxation rules and she wants holiday let businesses to lobby councillors and Members of the Senedd on the issue. She believes the new rules on holiday lets will disproportionately impact businesses in rural Wales, particularly farmers who have diversified into tourism. She fears that all rural businesses, such as shops and pubs, will suffer the knock on effect if holiday let businesses close. She warned that if holiday let properties are sold, they will not necessarily boost the housing stock for local people for a variety of reasons, including being too expensive, having commercial conditions attached or being too large, small or remote. Mrs Hawkins says the severity of the new taxation rules has caught the tourism industry by complete surprise and self-catering accommodation might be the unintended victim of a clamp down on second home ownership in Wales. “From the responses to our survey, we know that many businesses would have to consider closing if the new taxation rules are introduced,” she said. “We hope the Welsh Government has already modelled that into their economic impact assessment. “There is deep concern about the proposed taxation rules from all types of holiday let businesses, from single to multiple let units. We fear that these rules will discourage new entrants from coming into the sector. “They will be unable to register for business rates until they have made their property available for at least 252 days and actually let it for at least 182 days. Then, there’s a possibility they could end up paying triple council tax at the end of the year if they fail to meet the threshold. “These new taxation rules will put pressure on the tourism economy at a time when local communities across Wales are struggling to recover from the impact of the pandemic and the increased cost of living crisis. The last thing we need is a reduction in the contribution that tourism businesses make to these communities. “The holiday let sector is being swept away with the rhetoric of second home ownership without any serious consideration being given to how the new taxation rules are going to impact communities in real terms. “We are urging the Welsh Government to urgently reconsider the threshold for letting holiday accommodation which is completely out of step with other parts of the UK. “It will be at the discretion of individual local authorities across Wales whether or not they impose the proposed new taxation rules. Surely, these local authorities don’t want to reduce tourism in their local economy as an unintended consequence of these rules? “The importance of the tourism sector to the Welsh economy, particularly in rural areas, cannot be overstated in terms of jobs supported and investment.” Picture caption: MWT Cymru chief executive Val Hawkins.
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More than 130 competitors have signed up to contest the opening round of this year's Pirelli Ravenol Motorsport UK Welsh Rally Championship.
The seven-round gravel series begins on March 26 with the WKD Trained Dogs Rally North Wales based in Dolgellau. Other Mid Wales rounds include the Rallynuts Stages Rally on April 9 and the Nicky Grist Stages on July 9, both based in Builth Wells. A strong entry is reported in all 14 classes. Some of the leading driver registrations include the 2019 champion Matthew Hirst, who has swapped his Mitsubishi Evo IX for a new Delta Salvage-backed Ford Fiesta R5+. The 2018 drivers' champion Dylan Davies has registered in his Skoda Fabia R5+, Roland Llewellin has swapped his Mitsubishi Evo X for a Hyundai i20 R5, while the 2019 Welsh junior champion Tom Llewellin returns in his Brace's Bakery Mitsubishi Mirage. The 2019 championship runner-up Russ Thompson is back in his GPM / PD Extinguishers backed Mitsubishi Evo 9, while Bob Morgan (Skoda Fabia R5+). Dave Evison, championship secretary, said the level of interest in this year’s championship underlined the demand for gravel rallying in Wales. "There are so many positives, with younger drivers looking to challenge for top honours whilst the more mature drivers will be looking to put them in their place in equally powerful machinery,” he added. "The number of latest specification four-wheel drive cars benefits the sport all around, whilst the historic category is very well supported, adding a strength in depth to the championship. There is excellent support from the clubmen as well.” Further details on the 2022 Pirelli Ravenol Motorsport UK Welsh Rally Championship can be found online at: https://wnrc.wamc.org.uk/. Picture caption: Tom Llewellin in a Mitsubishi Mirage, 2019 Welsh Junior champion. Image: Chris Huish, RallySport Media. A popular Mid Wales steam railway has kicked off its new running season with a record breaking half term week.
Talyllyn Railway, based in Tywyn, Southern Snowdonia, reported its busiest ever half term, exceeding the pre-pandemic 2020 half term by more than 50%. Steam trains continue to run every weekend in March, before starting daily services on April 2 which continue through until November 6. The railway has returned to its popular ‘hop on – hop off’ explorer tickets which allows passengers to alight the train and explore the amazing valley with highlights such as Dolgoch Falls or a walk to the remains of Bryn Eglwys quarry. General manager, Stuart Williams, said: “We are delighted to be returning to a ‘pre pandemic’ service allowing our passengers to make the most of their journey and explore the local area. “We had to shut our intermediate stations and restrict travel curing COVID, but all restrictions are now removed, other than mask wearing in public transport areas. We still offer visitors the ability to book a compartment if they feel they wish to travel in their own private space for the trip.” The railway is also introducing some special trains to celebrate becoming part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Northwest Wales slate landscape. The ‘Quarryman’ and ‘Pioneer’ trains run during May, June and September and offer passengers a guided trip of the line as well as behind the scenes tours of the railway and the rich history of the area. Later in the season, the ‘Awdry Extravaganza’ returns after being hugely popular for the railway in 2021. Popular TV and railway personality Tim Dunn will be back in Tywyn with a weekend dedicated to the author of ‘Thomas the Tank Engine’, the Rev W. Awdry. Details of all the timetables and fares as well as the special events are on the Talyllyn website www.talyllyn.co.uk . Picture caption: Talyllyn Railway’s locomotive No. 6 'Douglas’ steaming into spring. Photograph: Nathan Spence. The market town of Machynlleth will sing along with legendary Welsh folk singer Dafydd Iwan when the Amdani, Fachynlleth! Literature & Travel Festival returns from April 1-3. The bilingual festival, translated to Let’s Go! Machynlleth, will yet again be hosting artists, poets, travel writers and musicians across the weekend for a series of events on stage at the Wynnstay Hotel and the Senedd-dy, Glyndŵr Centre. With events costing just £5 per event, there will be something for everyone, from the unveiling of a new portrait by Dan Llywelyn Hall to Rhys Mwyn discussing the psychogeography of Gwynedd. Travel writer Tharik Hussain will be talking about his new book ‘Minarets in the Mountains’ and Rebecca Thomas will speak in Welsh about the link between identity and the landscape, plus many more speakers. Events in Welsh will have simultaneous translation provided. With a career spanning more than 60 years, Welsh folk singer/songwriter Dafydd Iwan has enjoyed success with hits including Carlo and Yma O Hyd, which reached number one in the iTunes UK song chart in 2020. Yma O Hyd, which was originally recorded in 1981 and released in 1983, means “still here” in English. He will be on stage on the evening of Saturday, April 2 for an event focusing on Atgofion a Chaneuon gan Dafydd Iwan/ Songs and Anecdotes by Dafydd Iwan. Charles Dark, owner of The Wynnstay Hotel in Machynlleth and Diane Bailey of Penrallt Books, are managing the festival. “Our first event last November was thoroughly enjoyed, even if we did have to contend with Storm Arwen,” said Mr Dark. “We can’t wait to bring everyone together once again next month and hear from some of the UK’s most knowledgeable and acclaimed travel and literature experts and hear music from people as widely respected as Dafydd Iwan. “Along with our valued sponsors, Culture Colony, Penrallt Book shop and Creating Media, we can’t thank our speakers from across the UK enough for agreeing to take part, as they are the best of the best and we can’t wait to welcome them to the beautiful town of Machynlleth.” For more information about the speakers and the festival and to purchase tickets online visit https://www.amdanifachynlleth.wales or purchase directly from Penrallt and Literary Cat bookshops in Machynlleth. Welsh Government Minister for Health and Social Services Eluned Morgan, MS for Mid and West Wales, visited award-winning Welsh distillery In the Welsh Wind to taste a Gardd Dewi Sant/Saint David’s Garden cocktail created especially for St David’s Day
During the visit, she learned more about the work the distillery, which is located nea Cardigan, is doing to provide work and training opportunities for young people in the area and discussed the impact of both COVID and Brexit on the distillery. The Minister enjoyed a tour, during which she was able to see the distillery’s innovative green malting process in action. The distillery has developed this method to enable it to work with Welsh barley and keep every element of their whisky production in Wales. The Minister also learned more about how gin is made in the distillery’s stills, named Meredith and Afanc. Last but not least, before leaving, she tasted a Gardd Dewi Sant cocktail, specially created and incorporating Dewi Sant gin from the distillery’s ‘Eccentric Spirits’ range. Distillery owner and director Ellen Wakelam said: “We were delighted to be able to show the Minister around the distillery. It is always a pleasure to show people what we’re doing here. It’s a great opportunity for us here in West Wales to tell those in the Welsh Government more about what we’re doing.” Eluned Morgan said: “I am really inspired by the team at In the Welsh Wind. Establishing a business and growing it and their workforce through a pandemic is a real achievement. “Small, local businesses are the backbone of our communities in rural Wales and In the Welsh Wind is a perfect example of our ambition to grow our circular economy with a focus on local agriculture, local employment and skills and the production of a high quality product that adds real value to our Welsh economy.” Picture caption: Eluned Morgan enjoys a St David’s Day Cocktail at In the Welsh Wind Distillery watched by owner and director Ellen Wakelam. |
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