A former teacher and education officer for the Welsh Government will appear in court on Wednesday for refusing to pay a parking fine that was served in English only. Toni Schiavone, from Saron near Llandysul, refused to pay a parking fine as the penalty notice and all subsequent correspondence was in English only.
Mr Schiavone was fined with a parking notice in a car park in the Ceredigion seaside village of Llangrannog in September 2020. The car park is under the management of One Parking Solutions, which has its headquarters in Worthing in West Sussex.
Read more: Film made about a Welsh farmer who has eaten the same supper for 10 years
According to Welsh language pressure group, Cymdeithas yr Iaith, Toni Schiavone contacted the company requesting the penalty notice and further correspondence in Welsh several times. He states that he would only pay the fine if it was served in Welsh.
Prior to the court hearing, he said: "In an area as Welsh as Llangrannog why can't we expect a Welsh language service? I have asked several times to get the penalty notice and correspondence in Welsh, but One Parking Solutions has refused, arguing that it is a company based in England and that they are not obliged to issue the penalty notice in Welsh.
"It would be nothing for them to issue a penalty notice in Welsh, but they have ignored the request and decided to take me to court. They are the ones causing trouble for themselves."
He added: "This clearly shows the need to extend the language measure to include the private sector. Private companies like this have said many times over the years that they will not provide Welsh language services voluntarily.
"Clearly legislation is needed to put expectations on them to provide a Welsh language service. It's been more than ten years since the Language Measure was passed, and the Welsh Language Standards have a made a difference in the public sector - more people can and do use Welsh language services provided by their councils' and so on. So when will we see the same change in the private sector?"
Mr Schiavone is due to appear in Aberystwyth Magistrates' Court on Wednesday, May 11.
