51AVÊÓƵ

AFTER reading Rachael Brown's article 'Welsh sheep dip disposal charges blow' (FG, July 7), I can only say how unjustified and appalling Martyn Evans and his Welsh Government quango, Natural Resources Wales (NRW), have treated Welsh farmers and the rural community.Ìý

Increasing the sheep dip disposal permit fee from £402 to £3,728 is an abuse of NRW's monopoly status at a time of rampant inflation. No private business would be legally allowed to increase its charges tenfold. Yet Martyn Evans of NRW states that this was allowed after a consultation with the Welsh Government.Ìý

I have news for him - as a taxpayer I fund his wages and also that of the Welsh Government. Sheep scab is a brutal endemic parasitic disease that virtually causes a sheep to scratch itself to death. The only effective way to combat this dreadful disease is sheep dip.

So why does NRW and the Welsh Government not consider the welfare of sheep and also that of the Welsh farming industry?

See also: Letters: 'We are losing land all the time by building houses'

Many sheep owners have 50 or less ewes so to treat this awful condition would be unaffordable.

The true reality for attaining a permit for sheep dip disposal requires a site visit from one member of NRW staff who, after inspecting the watercourses then checks soil data on the computer (samples are generally not taken).Ìý

Mr Martyn Evans should not exaggerate the expertise or time taken to complete the application which any competent person should be able to issue a permit in a few hours. How then does he justify £3,728?

Mr Evans should [perhaps learn a lesson in parasitology in that a good parasite will take sustenance from its host without destroying the host and hence any future sustenance.

John Jenkins, Pontarddulais, Swansea