Would it be possible to have a way to turn off the time to next raid countdown without using the advanced layout options? (as they are currently behond my skills with CSS)

Turning this on or off in Advanced layout doesn't require any CSS skill. Just a little HTML. You simply need to remove the tags labeled:
These tags identify the placement of the next event as it appears the title header area of your site.

<!-- System:NextEventName -->
<!-- System:NextEventDate -->
<!-- System:NextEventTime -->

And for the actual countdown.

<!-- System:CountDown -->

Admittably I think it would be a good option for Chops to add the Header to the Menu administration section to provide options for turning on or off elements like this.