Language campaigners will be marching for three days this week in support of people’s right to live in their local community.

Members of the Ceredigion Branch of Cymdeithas yr Iaith will be walking over 30 miles from Llanfihangel y Pennant to Capel Celyn over a three-day period.

Along the journey, campaigners will be calling for a Property Act to be introduced in order to make housing affordable for people on local wages to rent or buy.

The journey will culminate on Saturday, 10 July, with a ‘Nid yw Cymru ar Werth’ (‘Wales is not for sale’) rally, where Dafydd Iwan and Delyth Jewell MS will be among the speakers.

Jeff Smith, who will be participating in the march, explained: “We’re marching in order to highlight the desperate need for the government to act.

“Wales needs a Property Act that ensures the viability of our communities, where people can afford to stay in their local communities. Not only is this essential to the future of the Welsh language, it is also a matter of basic justice.

“The property system in its current form has led to a situation where people can’t afford to live in their own communities; yet, at the same time, landlords live luxurious lives in mansions on the profits made by ordinary people’s rents.

“Some people can afford a second or even third house, while many of the essential workers we’ve relied on during the pandemic, for example, can’t afford one home.

“This system is not working for the people of Wales. The government needs to intervene. It won’t be possible to rectify this injustice without serious government intervention.”

The march will start at around 10.30am on Thursday, 8 July in Llanfihangel y Pennant and will end at around 1pm on Saturday, 10 July in Capel Celyn.

Speaking to the Cambrian News this week, minister for rural affairs, Lesley Griffiths, MS, touched on the housing issue.

She said: “You always get concerns around housing in rural areas, so I’m working closely with my colleague and rural housing enablers who are helping us to identify issues.

“Lots of young people want to stay in the area in which they have been brought up.

“It’s about making sure the economy, those jobs, are right across Wales not just in our urban areas.

“On second homes generally, we’ve brought schemes in around council tax. So it’s about making sure that there are those homes.

“We have rural housing enablers who I think have been in post for several years now, identifying areas where we can perhaps build houses and look to support those communities.

“But you know it’s not just rural areas, a lot of the issues that face rural areas are facing urban areas, but sometimes their needs are very different, so it’s about having those bespoke schemes to make sure we help everyone.”