Madam,

What a lovely weekend it was on 7 and 8 September. Unfortunately the beautiful countryside of north Ceredigion was totally out of bounds.

Forty-five miles of public roads were closed, with no alternative routes. This created an exclusion zone of approximately 25 square miles and roughly 50 miles of footpaths, bridleways and byways. A similar area was inaccessible to the east and north of the exclusion zone.

Although the rally was on Sunday, the clearway restrictions basically banned all outdoor activity on Saturday also, with the threat of all vehicles being towed away.

The organisers stress the stunning scenery. Why? Drivers should watch the road, not the views. Narrow, twisting, dangerous single track lanes are now a challenging technical race track. Is this really how the Cambrian Mountains should be viewed? How much more dangerous will these lanes now become as boy racers try to emulate their heroes? I will fear to drive, let alone walk or cycle on them.

Organisers assumed that only those living on the closed roads were affected, with no information or consultation with small isolated communities in the vicinity.

I live within a mile of the closed roads and was negatively impacted all weekend.

After seeing warning notices pinned to gate posts, each showing about two miles of closed rights of way, I phoned the county council twice. Twice I was told they knew nothing of the rally, and highways would contact me. They didn’t. I was told road closures would be on the council website. They weren’t. I was told the information was on the rally website. It wasn’t until a few days before the event, and then the maps were illegible. Two organisers did eventually visit, and gave me a map, but with no information on the clearway restrictions.

There is obviously a lot of money in this “sport”. Bontgoch will get another defibrillator and Ystumteun will no doubt get a present. The university and council are laughing all the way to the bank. The council website has long sections devoted to ‘Active Travel (Wales) Act 2013’, promoting walking and cycling; ‘Green Travel’, supporting environmentally friendly travel; and ‘Eco Driving’, avoiding sharp acceleration, heavy braking, and reducing speed, everything the rally is not.

Apart from the environmental damage, on a personal level I resent my freedom of movement being curtailed for the entire weekend.

I detest the roaring, screeching, backfiring noise. I abhor the recklessness of it all given the carnage that occurs on roads. I resent the visible damage and wear and tear to roads we depend upon for essential travel. I am disgusted by the hypocrisy and lack of integrity of the council, university, NRW, the MP, etc.

Please never inflict this abomination upon us again.

Yours etc, Sarah Jane Morgan, Penbontrhydbeddau, Aberystwyth.

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