Editor

More anti-English rhetoric from our local MS and MP. This time over the sale of Bethania Chapel for twice the guide price. In a joint statement the pair stated: “Despite the tireless efforts of local campaigners, it is very disappointing that yet another historic building, rooted in the traditions of life in Pen Ll?n has been prised from the grasp of the community and sold to the highest bidder.”

If they had looked at the planning application submitted to Gwynedd Council in 2017 for the conversation of the chapel into accommodation, they would have noticed that:

1. The chapel is a semi-derelict and much of the building unsafe.If it was of such value to the community why was it allowed to fall into dereliction?

2. It was Gwynedd Council, not the developer, that stipulated in the planning decision that the building “shall not be occupied as a person’s sole or main place of residence” and it can only be used for “holiday purposes”.

3. Gwynedd Council also stated in their reasoning for granting permission to the planning application that the proposal “safeguarded the visual amenities of the area” and “ensured the holiday use only of the unit”.

Our Plaid Cymru politicians should be congratulating the seller on his or her commercial acumen and the purchaser on bringing much-needed business to local builders, suppliers, and the tourist industry. Instead they continue their denigration of second-home owners whose initiative and money has and will continue to bring derelict farm buildings, chapels and run-down housing back into use.

If there is a shortage of rental accommodation and affordable housing in North Wales then it is the responsibility of the Welsh Government and local councils to fund their construction and allocation. This is not the burden of Welsh second-home owners and English taxpayers.

John Rees Moss Bala

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