Letter to the Editor: Reading the Cambrian News each week, I am amazed that Ceredigion County Council can continue to display such enduring strength in the face of so much written criticism and keep on making so many worthwhile decisions on our behalf.

Ceredigion County Council proudly promotes and supports the Rali Ceredigion motorsport event on its public roads. It does this on our behalf by demonstrating that it has the power, as authorised by Government, to close roads, suspend speed limits and associated traffic regulations and as a consequence this includes access to our own homes and surroundings.

Is this not a bizarre example of their power?

Surely, unless there has been local consultation, which there has not been, the choice and location of such an event, deliberately subjecting local people to unwelcome intrusion and restriction, invites condemnation?

Llandre is described as a place of beauty and tranquillity with some of the best wildlife in mid-Wales. ‘Peaceful Places’ describes it as being in a picturesque location, overlooked by a dramatic wooded hillside and surrounded by the riches of nature, with St Michael’s Church a haven of tranquillity, a place of inspiration and meditation.

Many people in the peaceful village of Llandre will have recently had to sign to acknowledge receipt of a flyer informing them that Rali Ceredigion will be held on their doorstep in September 2023, presented as a fait accompli.

We do not welcome the proposed use of the road through the old residential part of the village (U1018 from the level crossing to above St Michael’s Church) for access and egress.

Rali Ceredigion say that this has not been designated as a competition section, yet the confinement of residents except at designated times and only with a pass to gain access to the road implies that it will be deemed too dangerous to venture out. We now feel there is a significant risk of injury, disability or even death and makes us feel like prisoners in our own homes.

The road is only wide enough for one vehicle to pass, 30 houses are very close to the road, some with their doorsteps on the highway, and the most elderly and vulnerable members of the community fear a significantly increased risk for vehicle incursions with potential damage to verges, fences, shrubbery, walls, fuel tanks and buildings. We will be subjected to the noise of acceleration and deceleration as they pass, we see this as a deliberate act of nuisance and environmental anti-social behaviour which will cause inconvenience, annoyance and distress to a community within their buildings and public spaces.

About 150 inconsiderate individuals who have no regard for those around them, who want your attention and reaction, who try to appear cool, who enjoy turning heads by revving their turbocharged toys excessively, struggling to keep them from stalling.

120 cars took part in the 2019 rally, 150 last year, they will be allowed to drive the route twice in advance, which means that all the cars will pass our properties three times over the course of the weekend.

The rally cars, although road legal, are heavily modified to achieve competitive performance and are therefore noisy.

Their exhaust noise is limited to 100dB by motorsport regulations, what does that mean? 50dB is the sound experienced around an average suburban house, 100dB is 100,000 times louder than a sound of 50dB, we humans perceive this difference as 32 times louder.

The road behind and above St Michaels church has no barrier to the steep drop through the ancient cemetery and woodland should a vehicle leave the road, a hairpin bend whose outermost boundary is only held together by fallen trees and an unstable gravel bank.

The entire length presents an unwelcome amplified sound stage to beyond the entire village lying in the valley.

Residents do not accept the disturbance even for access and egress as it exposes them to noise pollution, toxic fumes and excessive traffic that the whole event brings.

We do not welcome the road closure and pre-race maps that will encourage competitors and members of the public to test the route before the race, encourage people emulate the racers to speed and, once the race is over, encourage those who are so inclined to see if they can match the race times through an area used by many walkers and cyclists.

The organisers will respond and tell us what a success the rally is, how much money it brings into the economy.

What they will not tell us are some inconvenient truths about this event. The environmental impact, the carbon emissions generated by the rally, including the ancillary journeys associated with the event by marshals, officials and mechanics required on the day, or journeys by competitors and spectators.

How many miles and numbers of public roads will Ceredigion’s highways and environmental services close to enable the rally, have restrictions placed on many others including public footpaths. This prompts me to remind readers of the many villages in Ceredigion who plead with the same council services and are denied traffic calming measures.

Over a number of years the people of Llandre have sought dialogue with Ceredigion council, highway services and police about their misplaced 30mph sign, concerns about inadequate weight and length restrictions on heavy goods vehicles, about vehicles damaging their narrow and unstable lanes, about lorries reversing across the railway line, about speeding, parking on pavements and unsociable traffic nuisance. Solutions to reduce and even prevent the negative impact of traffic on this community have not been satisfactory and residents now feel they are being punished.

Such is the irrationality of Ceredigion County Council proudly declaring a global climate emergency at a council meeting in March 2020, stating ‘We are committed to protecting the environment’, and supporting this rally just as the speed limit is to be reduced to 20mph nationally, not to mention where this sits in the recent ‘hierarchy of road users’.

Ceredigion County Council is demonstrating that it has the power to expose its residents to the adverse effects of decisions it supports, now it must also show that it has responsibility and begin to show some basic commitment to its residents, to our environmental protection, and ban this rally as a fuel wasting, pointless carbon emitting, sensory assaulting and damaging irrelevance.

T. Olewicz,

Llandre