Nothing short of scandalous

I WANT to express my deep disappointment with the many county council members who voted against curtailing the growth of second homes in Carmarthenshire and West Wales.

There is an undeniable need for planning regulations that will ensure that less advantaged local families are not priced out of the housing market and that those who buy properties here are fully contributing to the villages and communities.

It is not just the rise of house prices inflated from rich people coming from outside of Wales that causes issues.

People only living and shopping part of the year make it less feasible for those to survive at best and are the reason those do go under at worst.

My disappointment is particularly with the Labour Party who used to protect the poorer and disadvantaged.

Yes, members voted against the Plaid motion to call upon the Welsh Government to follow examples from similar regions in the UK and take action.

Said Labour councillors spent their time on definitions of second homes and at best abstained from voting because of a declared interest.

Being in government in Cardiff, I would have expected the Labour party to particularly be on the case to protect their core voters and the people they aim to safeguard in their manifesto.

Whether this is a rejection on principle because it comes from a rival party or a genuine lack of interest for rural Wales by a Cardifffocused party, this is nothing short of scandalous.

Christoph Fischer Llandeilo