Sir,

As a contribution to the debate concerning the higher taxation of second homes in Pembrokeshire I would be happy to share our response to the county council’s recent actions:

We wish to raise objections to the proposal that Pembrokeshire County Council intend to raise the community tax rate for those who have homes in the county, but whose main residence is elsewhere. We are taxed, but have no representation and that contravenes the basic tenet of democratic government. Many of us who have homes in Pembrokeshire which are not our main place of residence, nevertheless have roots in the county and have the county’s heritage and future close to our hearts,

Our own situation may be instructive:

As a young boy I was a frequent visitor to Pembrokeshire from the early 1950s when we visited our relatives in the Kilgetty and Pwllcrochan areas. My family on my grandmother’s side were Barrahs and Thomases from the Rosemarket and Jeffreyston areas. They were tenant farmers and miners, traced back to before the 1831 census. My grandmother’s cousin Thomas Barrah left Rosemarket to fight and die at Cambrai in the First World War. My father served on the defences for Milford Haven in 1939-41.

My parents and I moved from Carmarthen to Kilgetty in 1960 when I was 13 and I completed my schooling at Greenhill, playing rugby for Pembrokeshire Schoolboys and being Deputy Head Boy of the school. Both my parents died in the county and their ashes are scattered on Lydstep Headland. My background is surely not unique in terms of those who wish to have a home in the county.

As a schoolteachers in England from 1969 -74, my wife and I returned each vacation to the county and organised literary events at the St. David’s Festival. In 1974 I edited Pembrokeshire Poems (Pembrokeshire Handbooks) and in 1989 The Poetry of Pembrokeshire (Seren). In 2014 I published the psycho-geography Real Pembrokeshire (Seren).

My wife and I are life members of Tenby Museum and Friends of Oriel Q in Narberth. I have contributed talks and readings to the Tenby Festival, Pembrokeshire Art Fund and other groups. My play ‘Augustus, Gwen and Nina’ was performed at the Tenby Festival in 2014. I have curated art exhibitions at Tenby Museum and have lent art works to them. Our family as a whole value their time in south Pembrokeshire; our five grandchildren regard Lydstep and Manorbier as their special places. Caldey Island is more special than the Canaries or the West Indies for them.

Those of us born or brought up in the county do not take our commitment to Pembrokeshire lightly; we remain committed to the county, its history, cultural life and unique circumstances. Because our lives have also rooted elsewhere does not mean that we are in some way passing through.

The fact that many of us will grow old and increasing frail elsewhere means that the county, its social services and NHS provisions, will not be burdened by us. However, we continue to contribute significantly to the county by spending our money in local shops, visitor attractions and by employing local people to maintain and enhance our property. An increase to this would be unfair and punitive.

We also already pay 100 per cent community tax, without being able to vote or choose a local council representive. Now we are being asked to pay 150 per cent. We have taxation without representation, one of the cornerstones of democracy. We can vote for no local or county councils, for an Assembly Member or for the Police Commissioner. Who, therefore, are our democratic representatives for our interests in the county?

My wife and I completed the PCC’s consultation questionnaire to the best of our ability. Though the point made about the percentage of homes currently falling into the category of second residences seemed to us ambiguous, dubious and confusing (page two, unnumbered, paragraph two).

What exactly is at stake here? How many properties are concerned? Is this not a misguided attempt to tax those who are in a position to bring more than money to Pembrokeshire, as I hope I have indicated. In lectures I always stress that the course of art in the UK in the 20th century owes as much to Pembrokeshire as St. Ives. Would Grahame Sutherland and John Piper now feel as welcomed under your proposals? How much would this draconian tax measure bring in to the council? What might be lost as a consequence of the negative publicity and the bad feeling? It seems that Pembrokeshire and Wales are about to discover.

Pembrokeshire County Council, who seem to feature with depressing regularity in the pages of Private Eye, including the current issue, might well consider putting its own house in order before penalising those of others.

Professor Tony and

Mrs. Margaret Curtis