Editor

Amidst the insuperable difficulties you report regarding second homes locally, might there be another angle, a partial solution, to explore?

I find it sad that the Welsh countryside is scattered with just so many old stone buildings that are falling down, often to be replaced with ugly steel-framed buildings; yet holidaymakers tend to love these old rural properties.

Could not the 200 per cent council tax on second homes be used to subsidise those willing to convert disused properties into viable dwellings in traditional style, with their 200 per cent not being applicable for, say, the first 10 years?

It would also bring a lot of work to local tradespeople. Some of these properties would be barn conversions, but not a few are actual farmhouses that have been superseded by later buildings nearby.

How it could enhance our countryside, creating extra dwellings which, who knows, might go into local hands one day?

Food for serious thought?

Bob Rainbow,Penmorfa

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