3. Statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Local Government and Public Services: 'Our Valleys, Our Future' Progress Report

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:27 pm on 10 July 2018.

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Photo of Alun Davies Alun Davies Labour 3:27, 10 July 2018

I can absolutely make that confirmation today. When you take decisions about strategic investment, you do create that sort of situation whereby some people feel they're in and others feel that they are not. I recognise that, and I know that others have made very similar points to me at different times. But let me say this: I think all of us who have travelled through the Afan valley and have travelled up to Blaengwynfi, and over the top there, have seen a landscape that is comparable with anywhere in the world. It's a fantastic place to be; it's a fantastic proposition, if you like, for tourism. It brings together some fantastic opportunities, and certainly, the conversations that we've had about the future of tourism in the Afan valley are, I think, some of the most positive conversations I've had about the future of the valleys. Certainly, the investments that we've debated and discussed in the Afan valley, I think, will transform not just the Afan valley, but the perception of the valleys and the place of the valleys, both in terms of tourism from Wales and the rest of the UK, but also our own perception of ourselves.

I think the Valleys, in terms of tourism, have more potential than almost any other part of Wales; that potential is currently untapped. What we have to do is to ensure that we put in place the structures that enable tourism to be a key part of our future, but also—and this is important for me in finishing, Deputy Presiding Officer—that the benefits of that tourism stay within the valleys, and that we see Valleys communities benefiting from that in a very real way, and also, returning to the point made by the Member for the Cynon Valley, that we do also ensure that it's a part of who we are in the future in terms of public health, and in terms of providing opportunities for people to explore and understand in a way that we've been losing in the last few decades. So, the reopening of the tunnels is one way, an understanding of our heritage is another way. Opening up access to the hills and the mountains and the countryside around the Valleys, and within the Valleys, I think, is a way of reconnecting ourselves with our past to create a very different future.