Agreement on repairing roads after rallies
The organisations involved in negotiations to repair forest roads after rallying events have reached agreement to enable rallying in Welsh forests to continue.
The contract was signed yesterday (Thursday 9 February) between Rally 4 Wales Contracts Ltd and Natural Resources Wales (NRW) in Welshpool, Powys.
The formal agreement means that Rally 4 Wales will be responsible for repairing NRW’s roads after motorsport events for the next two years.
Tim Jones, NRW’s Executive Director of Operations for North and Mid Wales, said:
“This agreement is great news for rally fans and for Wales’ rural economy.
“It is also great news for Welsh taxpayers as the cost of repairing the roads after each event will be borne by the event organisers, rather than being subsidised by public money.”
Jamie Edwards, Managing Director of Rally 4 Wales, said: “We've come a very long way to reach this point.
“Our thanks go to Natural Resources Wales and their staff for working hard with us to develop this unique agreement from scratch.
“There's been a great deal of discussion and input required from different departments in NRW, and we appreciate everyone's efforts in enabling this agreement to be concluded.
“We now have the necessary approval and permissions in place to access NRW land to complete our repair works from the Cambrian Rally onwards.
“This is great news for motorsport in Wales and concludes nearly six months of planning and discussion.
“After months of uncertainty, I hope that the signing of this agreement now paves the way for motorsport to have a long-term, settled and sustainable future in the forests of Wales."
As the agreement was being signed Rally 4 Wales staff were completing video surveys of the forest stages to be used on the Cambrian Rally this weekend as part of their pre-event planning process.
The video survey will help to demonstrate road conditions before and after rallies, and after Rally 4 Wales has completed repairs.
Pictured in the photograph of the agreement being signed are (from left) Jamie Edwards of Rally4Wales Contracts Limited, Mari Sibley and David Liddy from NRW.
