Plaid Cymru will hold a public rally over Crown Estate
Plaid Cymru will hold a public rally calling for the “end of Wales’ ‘asset stripping’ by Westminster”, amid calls for devolution of the Crown Estate.
Earlier this month, Plaid argued that the Crown Estate should be devolved to Wales in the House of Commons, saying “Welsh communities should benefit from Welsh wealth”.
The rally will take place in Ceredigion – the seventh county in Wales to pass a motion calling for the devolution of the Crown Estate.
Push for devolution
Wales’ Crown Estate – which includes Welsh beaches, riverbeds and over 50,000 acres of land – is worth over £853 million.
Currently, the profits of the Crown Estate are not retained in Wales, but flow directly to the UK Treasury and to the Royal Family.
Plaid Cymru are calling for the devolution of the Crown Estate to the Welsh Government, suggesting that doing so could result in Wales receiving an additional £50 million annually.
Motion in Ceredigion
On 12 December, a motion calling for the devolution of the Crown Estate to Wales was passed by Ceredigion County Council “to support the social needs of the Welsh people” as a “matter of urgency”.
Ceredigion became the seventh county council in Wales to pass a motion calling for the devolution of the Crown Estate within Wales.
Plaid MP for Ceredigion Preseli, Ben Lake, said: “We are all aware of the challenges faced by our communities in rural Wales. Significant investment is desperately needed to support our people and our future.”
He added: “The revenue from the Crown Estate could make a real difference, filling the financial gaps in our budgets and putting more money in the pocket of the working person to help them manage with rising costs.”
Ceredigion councillor Alun Williams said: “Devolving the Crown Estate to Wales is not just a matter of fairer funding; it’s about promoting sustainability, economic regeneration, and addressing our profound social care challenges.”
Elin Jones MS stated: “It is unjust that profits from Wales’ natural assets flow to the UK Treasury and the Royal Family, while our communities struggle to make ends meet.
She added: “It’s time to bring our wealth home – to Wales and to our people.”
Ben Lake MP, Elin Jones MS and Cllr. Alun Williams will all be speaking at the event, making a strong case in favour of the devolution of the Crown Estate to Wales.
The event will take place at 12pm on 1 February, at Glyndŵr Square, Aberystwyth.
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For God sake Ceredigion? Why can’t it be more central to everyone in Wales?
Wonderful to see all those Labour MS’s and party members campaigning for devolution of the Crown Estate. The Deputy Leader, an Aberystwyth Labour Councillor, Jeremy Miles etc. Can’t see any of the nationalists then mentioned in the article 🤔
Well done Plaid- the ONLY ones campaigning for it. Where is the joking labour party?
The problem is the Labour Party is a top-down centralised party, just the same as the Tories and Reform UK.
Westminster reuse to say how much Dwr Cymru is paying into the Crown Estate so it suggests quite a lot.
https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2024-10-08/HL1434/
The Crown Estate in the United Kingdom reported a record net revenue profit of £1.1 billion for the financial year 2023–2024. Wonder how much Wales contributed to that!!!!!
Why don’t they hold it on Ynys Mon where the council hasn’t yet supported the campaign, despite Plaid being the biggest party and having the MS and MP.
I’d rather dissolve the Senedd
Why would you want to get rid of a countries right to its own democracy?
Having a separate country running anothers affairs is something so awful it should have been outlawed 200 years ago.
Or are you one of those racists?