With three national parks, and four and a half areas of outstanding natural beauty, designated landscapes account for 25 per cent of our nation, and I would like to also pay tribute to the officers and staff at Snowdonia National Park, much of which lies within my constituency of Aberconwy also, for their hard work and tremendous efforts to protect and upkeep our spectacular areas, our ‘crown jewels’ as they’re often referred to. Reading between the lines of this report, though, I do question the fundamentals of two particular omissions. The basic omission of the word ‘conservation’ has given me great concern, and has certainly been raised with me by many living within the community of Aberconwy, and, as many Members here have said, the fact that the Sandford principle has no mention. With any report that’s ever written, people look for what’s not said equally as much as what is stated there, and this causes me concern. Certainly, this has caused and alarmed many within my own community, many who use the national park, many of our volunteer groups, such as the Snowdonia Society, and they are calling for the Welsh Government—and I support these calls—to defend the proper protection, management, and resources for the designated landscapes to ensure that conservation and quiet enjoyment of the special qualities of the designated areas remain central to their purpose, to ensure that the Sandford principle is retained to secure protection from inappropriate development, hold a full public consultation before making any changes to the purposes of designated landscapes, and to revisit the Marsden report and its recommendations. These are vital given that one of the express purposes of the designation of national parks under the Environment Act 1995 is to conserve and enhance the natural beauty, wildlife and heritage. As noted by this report, the 2015 Marsden review mentioned the promotion of sustainable forms of economic and community development based on the management of natural resources and the cultural heritage of the area. In addition, however, recommendation 7 of that same, again, called for the Sandford principle to be applied across all of our designated landscapes, to include areas of outstanding natural beauty. I put it to you, Cabinet Secretary: you should make it clear that here today you will recognise the importance of conservation, protection, and, of course, the Sandford principle to be applied across all the designated landscapes. I’m not sure, really, what Sandford plus will mean to all the people who have written in on e-mails to me. Make your position here clear.

Certainly, we will be strongly supporting both amendments today. To protect, conserve, enhance, and support our natural landscapes comes at a cost, and it is fair to say that there is a general thinking within my own constituency that, before devolution, Snowdonia National Park was regarded by the Government as the jewel in the crown of UK national parks, but now seems to be far less highly regarded by this Government.

As we enjoy an increased global profile as a tourism destination, depleted budgets mean tough decisions for our national parks, all of which come at the cost of our environmental and visitor safety. A 19 per cent budget cut since 2011, annually—yet, in England, with Government support, they have secured until 2020 annual increases of 1.7 per cent. So, it shows who values their national parks. So, we should be alarmed that the average cost of park authorities’ external audits as a percentage of their income stands at 0.82 per cent in Wales, disproportionately more than 0.2 per cent in England and 0.16 per cent in Scotland. I therefore welcome the commitment to reduce the regulatory burden of audit on national parks. But I ask also for a Welsh Government commitment to secure in-budget settlements in advance, and not not knowing what they have—you know, months that they’ve got to then plan for for the following year. They need their budget assertions and knowing what they’re going to get long before that.

Llywydd, the Marsden review called for the national landscapes of Wales to be valued by the nation as important factories of well-being, to be supported, to be protected, and to continue their role of improving the lives of current and future generations, and for their special qualities to be maintained, enhanced, and widely appreciated, and I support those calls.