Saturday 7th May 2016

Forest rallying in Wales under threat

A £200,000 disagreement over the cost of repairing forest roads threatens the future of rallying in Wales

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Forest rallying in Wales is under threat as public body Natural Resources Wales looks set to double access fees paid by the MSA to £665,000 next month. And why? Because it believes rallying is not paying its fair share to repair the roads after events have run. An agreement for 2015 was extended to May 2016 but, as of 1 June, no new agreement is in place. And the two bodies are at loggerheads over a new deal. No deal means no rallying.

This has led MSA chief executive Rob Jones to write an open letter in response to NRW recently publishing the 2015 repair cost figures on its website - which state that although the MSA paid £339,000, the actual cost of repairing the forest roads was £665,000. And NRW is, says Jones, "currently negotiating on the firm basis that it will seek reimbursement of the total cost of reinstatement."

To explain why it's doing this, David Edwell, head of enterprise for Natural Resources Wales, told PistonHeads: "We understand that any increase in cost is difficult to manage and as a result we agreed to hold the existing charges until May and we have discussed several options, including giving the MSA the opportunity to carry out the road repairs themselves.

"We cannot continue to use public funds to subsidise the sport to this degree. It is important that the costs we incur in preparing the forests for these events and repairing the roads afterwards are recovered so we can continue to deliver the wide range of other services these areas provide to the people of Wales."

And here is where the MSA disagrees with NRW. Because while rallying may cause damage to forest roads that needs fixing afterwards (although there is discussion elsewhere on the true extent of damage and whether forestry commission vehicles and lorries using the same roads aren't causing similar amounts of damage daily...), Jones and the MSA are encouraging the NRW, MPs and Welsh Assembly members to look beyond the pure financial hit of road repairs.

The wider economic benefits of rallying to Wales are clear, it says: a single one-day event for 120 cars can generate £100,000 in rural economic benefit from competitors alone - that's staying in hotels, filling up with fuel, eating, drinking tea and so on. Add on marshalls, official and visitors and you've an additional £345,000 - so that's £445k from one event; there are 10 national forest events in Wales each year, making almost £5m. Add on £10m from Wales Rally GB and the Welsh economy is benefitting enormously from the presence of rallying that's now under threat by the NRW's firm duty to the public purse.

We hope that NRW can look beyond its balance sheet and fully appreciate these many benefits," says Jones, and consider "far more realistic charges that are introduced over a greater period," not simply billed in full from June 1. Because if this goes ahead, it "could potentially have a catastrophic impact upon a proud part of Wales' sporting heritage."

The MSA "will continue to seek the best possible deal but we should not be in any doubt that the immediate and long-term future of rallying in the Welsh forests is currently very uncertain." Which, to anyone with a love of grass-roots motorsport (such as our Lizzie on Wales Rally GB last year), is worrying news indeed.

Both organisations are keen to stress they are still working together to find a resolution, but it seems there's a big difference in view that's yet to be bridged, hence both parties now taking their own side into the public arena.

We'll watch with interest and report back with new developments as the clock potentially ticks on forest rallying in Wales: in the meantime, showing your own support with officials, Welsh Assembly members, MPs (and, via #rally4wales, on social media) would do no harm whatsoever, suggests Jones. Because, inconceivable as it may seem, by this time next month there may no longer be any MSA-run forest rallying in Wales.

[framerateuk]

It would be a shame if they can't sort this out, but I can see where Natural Resources Wales are coming from.

Having watched the Wales Rally GB most years at the "Halfway" stage, what are fairly well compacted gravel tracks in the morning are completely rutted by the afternoon. I'd imagine it would take several months of normal transport to achieve what 40 rally cars do in a day. You wouldn't believe how much of the surface they move!

I guess the problem is, unlike F1, WRC isn't bringing in the money it once was, so someone is bound to loose out somewhere.

Edited by framerateuk on Thursday 5th May 18:10

[framerateuk]

Alex Langheck said:

I don't think the WRC has ever really brought much money in - for a 'global' sport it's pretty poor.
And the many club events held in Wales will hardly bring in much despite people saying otherwise. Rallying is a small community, other leisure pursuits will likely bring more to the areas were there are forests.

Perhaps not. I just meant that the crowds I used to see climbing the mountains to get a got spot back in the Mcrae days were far larger than anything I've seen in the last 10 years.

I have to admit, in recent years I've always gone to watch the National B more than WRC - far more interesting cars!

[framerateuk]

r1monkey said:

i think it is time it moved away from wales too. I used to go regularly when it was run in the north of England but it lost all its appeal when it was moved to wales.

In fairness, that's a "I used to go when it was near me" argument. So did I, it's up in North Wales now, hence I haven't been lately. It's good for these things to move around though. Ideally it would be in a different place every year. I miss the old "RAC Rally" format when it was all over the place and much longer.