Madam,

Through your pages, can I commend and thank the organisers of the excellent Ceredigion Lifeboat Campaign public meeting held in New Quay, and their quest, our quest, to retain an all-weather lifeboat in New Quay post 2020.

They make a compelling case. The fact that what is suggested post 2020, an Atlantic 85 vessel, cannot be launched in conditions in excess of Force 7 by day, and Force 6 by night, means a huge vulnerability for those who live along much of the Ceredigion coastline, those who work the seas, and those who visit us, along an 80-mile stretch of coastline, necessarily and alarmingly nicknamed the Drowning Gap.

Barmouth and Fishguard will be our nearest all-weather boats. No small wonder that the communities of New Quay and Aberaeron, 90 minutes away from those places in an emergency, are so concerned, and rightly so.

I hugely respect the work of the RNLI which has served Ceredigion communities for 150 years, but it was alarming to hear of a lack of transparency and clarity from the RNLI as to why this decision was taken, and its justification.

Our elected representatives and Ceredigion County Council have all voiced their opposition and so, post the public meeting, have the local community. I would urge everyone to get involved in this campaign.

The RNLI should listen.

Yours etc,

Mark Williams, Ceredigion MP 2005-17.

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