Following the announcement to downgrade the wool collection site at Dinas Mawddwy, members from the two farming unions in Wales (NFU Cymru and FUW) held an urgent meeting with representatives from British Wool.
NFU Cymru Meirionnydd County Chairman Rhodri Jones said: “We’re pleased to have had the opportunity to meet with representatives of British Wool and to voice our concerns over their plans for wool collections in North Wales. During the meeting we expressed our disappointment and outlined our concerns with their new plans, particularly the increased transport costs that would fall directly on the producer.
“During the discussions British Wool officials explained that they would revoke the original recommendations to raise the cost of wool transport directly to producers and that there would be a one-year delay to any changes to the Dinas Mawddwy site. This is good news for producers in the area and will give time to reassess the effects of Covid and whether the wool market will reconcile in 2022.
“I look forward to our next meeting with British Wool at the end of the summer for an update on their plans for the latter part of the year.”
Liz Saville-Roberts said: “I am grateful to the farming unions for drawing this matter to my attention. The results of the discussions are encouraging and we will make every effort to safeguard the provision in the long term, in co-operation with British Wool.”
During the meeting members also discussed the need for wider savings within British Wool in seeking to mitigate the costs faced in a weak wool market. British Wool will look at steps that can be taken to secure business support funding in the wake of the pandemic, which has so far been rejected by the government.