Counties in south-west Wales paying over £100,000 a year to Crown Estate for access to land

Emily Price 

Counties in south-west Wales are paying over £100,000 a year in fees to the Crown Estate to allow public access to their land, according to new data.

The figure was revealed via freedom of information (FOI) requests to Ceredigion, Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire councils.

The requests were submitted by the office of Plaid Cymru’s mid and west Wales MS Cefin Campbell.

They showed that the three local authorities collectively pay £105,589.29 in Crown Estate fees every year.

Mr Campbell says the new information reinforces his party’s call to devolve responsibility for the Crown Estate within Wales’ borders to the Welsh Government.

Assets

The Crown Estate is a huge collection of assets owned by the British monarchy, which includes vast swathes of urban, coastal and maritime land worth £16 billion.

It is run as a business, independent of government, but its profits are delivered to the UK Treasury each year.

An annual payment is also made to the monarch in the form of the Sovereign Grant, currently set at 12% of the total.

The estate also owns the UK seabed out to 12 nautical miles and has jurisdiction over new offshore wind farms.

In 2016, Scotland secured devolution of its Crown Estate, allowing its revenues to be reinvested directly in Scottish communities.

Plaid Cymru says Wales has been treated unfairly by the Crown Estate because whilst struggling councils are forced to fork out for access to coastline and public footpaths, Crown Estate profits skyrocket amid investment in renewable energy projects.

Deficit

Ceredigion Council is currently facing a deficit of around £5 million.

In order to balance the books, it is considering hiking council tax by 14% and closing schools in Welsh-speaking communities.

Figures show that Ceredigion pays the Crown Estate over £46,000 a year in fees.

This includes £27,000 for public access to the River Teifi and coastline and over £18,000 for public access to the River Rheidol at Aberystwyth Marina.

The FOI figures showed that Pembrokeshire Council pays over £59,000 a year to the Crown Estate.

This includes over £8,000 for access to Haverfordwest’s riverside market and over £12,000 for access to a sailing centre and car park near the Cosheston Pill river.

The council, which has just approved a council tax increase of almost 10 per cent, also pays over £800 a year for access to a footbridge over the River Cleddau and almost £2000 a year for a landing stage and car park at Neyland.

Carmarthenshire Council pays the Crown Estate almost £300 a year for access to the foreshore at Machynys in Llanelli.

Devolving Crown Estate powers has been the official stance of Labour ministers in Wales for some time.

But Labour MPs in Westminster recently voted down an amendment to the Crown Estate Bill which would have seen power over Crown Estate assets in Wales handed over to the Welsh Government.

Responsibility

Mr Campbell revealed the new figures in the Senedd on Wednesday (February 19) in a question to the Cabinet Secretary for Local Government and Housing, Jayne Bryant.

He asked: “Do you agree with me and my colleagues in Plaid Cymru, therefore, that it is impossible to justify the fact that councils in south-west Wales send over £100,000 over the border to the UK Treasury and the royal family every year, and that the process of transferring responsibility over the Crown Estate to Wales should start as soon as possible?”

Ms Bryant said the Welsh Government’s position is that the management of the Crown Estate should be devolved to Wales.

Speaking in the Chamber, she said: Taking control of the management of Crown Estate assets in Wales would allow the Welsh Government to have greater autonomy over the speed and direction of the development of Welsh sited Crown Estate property.

“And we would have access to the opportunity to better aline the management of Crown Estates in Wales with the needs of Welsh citizens.

“The management of crown assets also generates significant revenue to the UK Exchequer – so devolution of the crown Estate would better align those revenues with the income available for the Welsh Government to deliver on our priorities for Welsh citizens.

“We also realise the importance of creating a stable environment to ensure we capture the opportunities for offshore wind for example in Wales.”

Plaid Cymru will make a final bid to amend the Bill when it debated in the House of Commons next week.