My understanding, certainly from Pembrokeshire Coast National Park, is that they can only promote economic and social development of the area if it’s in relation to points 1 and 2. That’s what I’ve been told very clearly, so if you’re able to do that differently, I’d be very interested to understand how.

Unless we create sustainable communities where people can live and work, there’ll be nobody to look after and serve the incredible number of visitors who bring so much wealth into these communities, but also to serve the people who live there. Where will the carers of those who live in national parks be able to live if there’s no affordable housing available for them to live in?

Now, one of the problems that national parks face at the moment is that there’s a lack of clarity between the responsibilities of the 1995 Environment Act, the responsibilities of adhering to the Sandford principles, and adhering to the seven goals of the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015. I hope that’s what will happen now in the next phase—that there’ll be a better legal framework for these national parks to be able to adhere to those three areas that they need to.

I think that we should, of course, keep to those Marsden recommendations, which would allow economic development to occur—yes, even in national parks, if, of course, the development is done sympathetically, with a view to the ecology and natural beauty of the area, and if it helps to support services and employment for people who have lived in the area for a number of years. For example, in years to come we’re going to have to provide adequate accommodation for older people. That’s why one of the main recommendations in our rural economic development plan will be that we need to try and build eco-homes for older people—yes, even within national parks. It has been done in Pembrokeshire. It is possible, it’s possible to do it tastefully, and these projects have provided local jobs and enhanced local supply chains, allowing younger people to stay in the parks. We mustn’t forget that these national parks are living places. There’s a residential population of over 80,000 people. We need to make life easy for the people working there so we don’t lose more young people to the bright lights of the cities.

Now, national parks make up around 20 per cent of the land area of Wales. They cannot and must not be pickled in aspic. They need to be vibrant communities where different generations can live and work, and, of course, we must do that as far as possible whilst preserving the beauty of the environment.