Rural Fuel Rebate

Written by Kirsty Williams AM and published in Mid Wales Journal Friday 27th June 2008 on Fri 27th Jun 2008

It cannot be said that we are not lucky to live in Brecon and Radnorshire - with its beautiful green rolling landscape right on our door step. We are living closely with nature and in communities that have strong identities and strong support networks. I would not change any of this for the world. Yet at the same time it feels like we are having to continuously fight for the very survival of this way of life and for the lifelines that link these communities. The Government may state policy on sustainable communities but at every turn they are acting to erode rural communities; from our post offices to our hospitals to our public transport to our schools - these essential services that not only serve our communities but are often at the very heart of their existence and without which will slowly wither away. As these services are taken away from us the transport links between services and settlements become ever more important. With an aging population and the rising cost of fuel we cannot afford to reduce our transport network and allow the elderly and vulnerable to fall into isolation we must build a sound and sustainable transport service in preparation.

The Welsh Liberal Democrats this week held a debate calling for the Assembly Government to fully realise the potential of buses in developing an integrated and sustainable transport network. In our rural county the vast area and sparse population inevitably means, that for the time being at least, cars do have a role to play in filling in the gaps that public transport do not reach and where walking and cycling are not an option. Whilst in the long-term we must increase public transport provisions, extend walking and cycling facilities and look to alternative sources of fuel for vehicles in the short term the Welsh Liberal Democrats have launched a campaign for a rural fuel rebate. We are calling upon the Government to obtain permission from the EU so that they can introduce a fuel rebate for those living in rural areas as our research shows that parts of Wales are paying more for their petrol than others. France, Portugal and Greece have already obtained permission from the EU so that they can apply a lower rate of fuel duty in rural and inaccessible areas. But the UK government has yet to apply for a similar permission that would see some of the burden lifted on rural communities. Our research shows that Welsh fuel prices are typically higher than in England. This is particularly true of rural areas where people in Powys have to pay around 2p more for a litre of unleaded than in places such as Shrewsbury and Birmingham. A similar picture emerges from looking at the price of diesel. Not only do we have to pay more for fuel because we use more, we also pay a higher price at the pump because of the extra costs involved in distributing petrol to more remote areas. The Liberal Democrats in Westminster have for the past two years proposed amendments to the Finance Bill to seek this permission, but the Government have always rejected these moves and the Conservatives have abstained on these measures. Clearly this action must be taken in conjunction with other measures to move us away from our dependency on cars and oil but we feel that the Government should take all the action available to ease the pressure on rural communities. We are calling upon the Prime Minister to help people in rural areas and show that he and his government care about rural communities and the very particular difficulties we face.