Plaid: Wales west coast poorer than Communist Eastern Europe

Much of Wales’ rural western coastline is now poorer than former Communist Eastern Europe, according to Plaid Cymru.

Launching their rural strategy today, the nationalist party claimed that young people were moving away and local services were disappearing. It calculates that the regional GDP of West Wales and the Valleys is 73.8 per cent of the EU average – with Slovenia on 74.4 per cent.

It proposes the establishment of a directly elected West Coast Development Authority with real powers, more affordable housing and better access to NHS dentists.

Plaid Cymru’s policy director Simon Thomas commented: “There is a real East-West split in the fortunes of the Welsh economy that has to be tackled. The establishment of a West Coast Development Authority, which will have specific duties to counter the problems of peripheral areas in the West, would help deal with the split.”