Part of 1. 1. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Environment and Rural Affairs – in the Senedd at 1:53 pm on 14 December 2016.
Thank you for that answer. I listened very carefully to what you had to say to other Members around the Chamber, because, already, farmers are struggling to get permission for slurry lagoons. You talk about the 65 per cent who don’t comply—I would ask you, Minister, how many of those farm holdings have struggled to get planning permission and have faced incredibly fierce opposition from locals who do not want to have a slurry lagoon on their doorstep? That is the reality, and the question I would like to pose to you is: we have the potential of the NVZs coming through, what discussions have you had with your Cabinet colleagues as to how you can change the planning system, which has a negative bias built into it, and what can you do to overcome the costs involved and the objection of local residents so that farmers can go ahead and put lagoons in where appropriate and where they’re not going to be damaged by any potential NVZ? Because I would like to remind you, with the greatest respect, Cabinet Secretary, that farmers are very good stewards of our land and they do face an enormous uphill struggle, particularly against planning authorities.