PORTHMADOG councillors have accused the Welsh Government of favouring south Wales over rural Gwynedd, after the town missed out on getting the headquarters of the new Welsh Revenue Authority.

A campaign to see Porthmadog identified as the site for the WRA had been backed by Porthmadog Town Council, who insisted that the necessary expertise was available in the town and that it would provide good-quality employment in a rural area.

But after Mark Drakeford, the Welsh Government’s Cabinet secretary for finance and local government, announced that the WRA headquarters would be based at Treforest near Cardiff, there was an angry reaction from town councillors.

Cllr Simon Brooks said: “It’s very disappointing news. Nothing for us, and yet more good public sector jobs to be located in and around Cardiff.

“We have a charade of half-promises from Welsh Government ministers about creating jobs in Gwynedd or rural Wales, but it’s always the same. The jobs always go to the M4 corridor.

“The Welsh Government should be ashamed. Rural Gwynedd is the poorest part of the whole UK, yet, time and time again, when given the chance to help, they do nothing.

“With our tax office in the town already, bringing the tax authority here would have created a tax hub. People could have stayed here, lived here, brought up kids here, had careers. I’m really disappointed.”

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