The next item is a statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Local Government and Public Services: the Valleys Regional Park. I call on the Cabinet Secretary, Alun Davies.

Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer, for this opportunity to update Members about the progress we are making in creating a Valleys regional park.

Deputy Presiding Officer, all of us who were born and brought up in the south Wales Valleys understand the history of the landscape. We also recognise the importance of the place in terms of our national story. The communities in the Valleys of south Wales have always had a special connection to the landscape. It was this landscape that gave birth to our communities and people, and it is to recreate and deepen and grow that connection between people, community and landscape and place that the Valleys regional park seeks to achieve, in order to enable others to understand and enjoy that same connection.

The Valleys are home to some of the most distinctive and breathtaking natural landscapes in Wales and the United Kingdom, but for too long their potential to attract visitors and to be used fully and recognised by the communities themselves has been overlooked and undervalued. We are rightly proud of our rich and unique industrial heritage. It was south Wales after all that powered the industrial revolution, but we have tended to view the Valleys as a single homogenous community, through the prism of the coal dust thrown up by the pits and the unemployment left in the wake of their closure.

Deputy Presiding Officer, nothing could be further from the truth. Over the course of the last 50 years, the Valleys’ landscapes have undergone a remarkable transformation, probably more than we have witnessed anywhere else in Wales, the UK or beyond. The challenge for us today, in twenty-first century Wales and in twenty-first century post-industrial Valleys communities, is how we make the most of our landscapes and our heritage, reconnecting us with our environment and our history. How can we use these rich landscapes to help address existing issues in our communities, including some of the deep-seated health and socioeconomic problems and to address some new and emerging challenges, such as the creation of a prosperous and resilient, inclusive economy to improve the well-being of communities and reduce the environmental threats associated with climate change, water management and biodiversity?

Since the ministerial taskforce for the south Wales Valleys was set up, we have worked closely with people living and working in the Valleys to find out what they want for their communities and what they value about where they live. Our conversations revealed a strong feeling that the Valleys’ natural and cultural heritage should provide the backdrop to a new future for the Valleys. The taskforce has spent much of the last year developing an exciting, dynamic approach that will co-ordinate, drive and promote activities related to the environment, the people and the economy of the Valleys.

This was originally captured in the concept of a landscape park, but the range of opportunities we now have available to us is much broader, hence the focus on a wider Valleys regional park. Our aim is to put the Valleys in the vanguard globally, with a national and international profile that will serve the needs of future generations. Based on previous experience, emerging and existing best-practice research and extensive engagement, the Valleys regional park will have three interlinked delivery themes: landscape, culture and identity; recreation and well-being; and communities and enterprise.

We will build on what we already have in terms of our assets, delivering ambitious plans that will connect the Valleys with high-quality walking trails and cycle routes. We will develop a highly visible, high-quality network of uplands, woodlands, nature reserves and country parks, rivers, reservoirs and canals, heritage sites and attractions, crucially connected with our towns and villages. And we will invest in and develop existing sites across the Valleys as gateways to better tell the stories of the Valleys. These will encourage people to discover our towns and villages and encourage wider exploration of what the Valleys have to offer.

Deputy Presiding Officer, Members will be aware that earlier this month the Cabinet Secretary for Finance announced £7 million of capital funding over two years to establish the Valleys regional park in the draft budget. This funding will be used to develop the park, including investing in the gateways. We will work closely with local authorities and other partners in the Valleys as we progress the regional park. I intend to announce the location of the gateways by the end of this year and deliver phase 1 by spring 2019.

The park should and must support outdoor activities in the Valleys, not only for leisure and tourism, but to help address the increasing issues we face with respect to physical and mental health and well-being. We will build on the inspiring, innovative projects and initiatives already being undertaken and developed by communities across the Valleys, involving more communities and creating a peer-to-peer, skill-sharing network.

Today I have published a prospectus for the Valleys regional park as a guide to our intention and to outline our vision, but it is also an invitation for everybody in the Valleys and beyond to be a part of this initiative. The prospectus builds on experience over the past 20 years and more. It reflects worldwide best practice and it is a statement of ambition about what we believe we can achieve.

Deputy Presiding Officer, the Valleys regional park is not and will not be a one-off project or initiative. It is at the very heart of our ambition to enable our communities across the valleys of south Wales to maximise the opportunities afforded by our natural and cultural heritage to deliver significant social, economic and environmental benefits today and into the future. Thank you.

Well, as you say, you were born and brought up in the south Wales Valleys and understand the history and beauty of the landscape. Clearly, I wasn't born and brought up in the south Wales Valleys, but I can assure you I fully appreciate the history of the area and love the beauty of that landscape, and, of course, the tremendous people who live within it. 

You say you've worked closely with people living and working in the Valleys. You referred to a large number of meetings and conversations. You referred to the Valleys' natural and cultural heritage as something that should provide the backdrop to a new future for the area. But, in the spirit of co-production, in the spirit of Welsh legislation in the well-being of future generations Act, how will that go beyond consultation and even design to co-delivery outside the statutory sector, not just with established organisations but by reaching into and unlocking the strengths and assets within the people in the communities of the Valleys?

Why is it, do you think, that, in the eighteenth year of Welsh Government, when the last official figures were produced, the value of goods and services produced per head of population in west Wales and the Valleys was still the lowest out of the 12 UK nations and regions, despite billions spent on economic regeneration and anti-poverty programmes, with Anglesey bottom, at 52 per cent, Gwent not far behind at 56 per cent, and the central Valleys at 63 per cent of the UK average? I hope you will answer that in the context of, for instance, Poland, which began in a similar position on the starting block, but closed the gap, whereas Wales in relative terms has gone backwards. If you decide to take the classic reactionary Welsh Government approach to react against the UK Government and blame the Tories, remember you're speaking to the great-grandson of a miner, whose own father was made redundant in 1978, who worked for a manufacturing company that was one of the many that crashed because of the economic meltdown, and who suffered, as a family, the consequences. So, I hope you won't patronise me with trite responses accordingly. 

You refer to the £7 million announcement of capital funding by the Cabinet Secretary for Finance to establish the Valleys regional park in the draft budget over two years. I referred to west Wales and the Valleys, which includes four north Wales counties, which includes the areas with the least prosperity—even lower than Gwent, as referred to. So, how do they fit into this picture? Where is their fund for equivalent regeneration? Because west Wales and the Valleys, under the GVA description, which we're still working under as we're still in the EU, does include four north Wales counties, and the poorest part is in the north-west. 

You rightly refer to opportunities for green social prescribing—something we're also very committed to as part of the broader co-production agenda. Clearly, there have been a number of failed schemes to ignite regeneration and growth in the Valleys, from the regeneration investment fund for Wales, which the Public Accounts Committee said was

'poorly executed due to fundamental flaws in Welsh Government oversight and governance arrangements', not dissimilar to the 2009 Wales Audit Office report findings regarding Communities First, which I'd asked them to conduct—in fact, that only produced a new car park in Neath—or the Ebbw Vale enterprise zone, which failed to generate any meaningful support to create local jobs, or the collapse of the Circuit of Wales. How will you therefore be doing things differently to ensure that this investment is not merely a sticking plaster for the long-standing needs of people in that region?

I'll end on a more, hopefully, constructive and upbeat note, but I think these questions do need to be answered. This programme has introduced a community tourism ambassador scheme, which I am personally interested to discover more about. I grew up, of course, in north Wales, with North Wales Tourism, which has, I think, 1,500 members, and 3,000 people if you include those within those membership groups—or 3,000 organisations in the membership groups. How will you ensure that this community tourism ambassador scheme not only engages with the statutory sector and the third sector, but also hospitality and tourism providers, to ensure that all the buttons can be pressed together to mutual benefit?

Deputy Presiding Officer, I am in a surprisingly good and generous mood this afternoon, Members will be pleased to hear, so I won't accept the Conservative spokesperson's invitation to turn this debate this afternoon into a partisan disagreement or a competition between regions of Wales. I think both propositions would be the wrong way to go about answering both the questions, the very fair questions, he set to me, but also the sort of debate that I believe we should be having this afternoon.

Let me say this: the creation of a regional park in the south Wales Valleys should be something that can be celebrated across the whole country. The first speech, Deputy Presiding Officer, I made in this place, actually, something like 11 or 12 years ago, was on the dangers of parochialism, setting village against village, place against place, county against county, north against south, east against west, rural against urban. I think quite often Members do fall into the mistake of making that the proposition of their debate, and I hope that we able to move beyond that, and I hope that we are able to celebrate success in Wales wherever that happens to be. Certainly, what we're debating today is a model that can be—I hope, if it is successful, which I think it will be—extended elsewhere. I hope that, by creating a regional park in the Valleys of south Wales, we're also creating something where lessons can be learned for other parts of Wales as well. I hope also it's a means of uniting Wales so that people will be able to visit parts of Wales that perhaps they haven't done so before and to learn more about our own country, our own history, on our own terms. I think that can only be a good thing.

So, I hope that the Conservative spokesperson will endeavour to look beyond some of the easy lines and will look towards an initiative that will be a unifying initiative, and not something that can be created to divide again, on either party or geographical grounds or social grounds. So, let us not do that.

I hope that the way in which we are taking time to develop the model demonstrates that we are listening to what people are telling us, and listening to what is being said. I hope that when we come to deliver the sorts of governance and the structure of delivery that we will do exactly what the Conservative spokesperson has suggested and do that through co-delivery and through consultation and create a structure of delivery that brings people together from across the region, but at the same time is able to maximise the impact of people, with the different skills, different resources, available to them.

The £7 million that we have allocated to us in the budget is there in order to enable us to do that, to establish that structure, to establish the way of working, to establish the initiative in the first instance, and then, of course, we need to be able to fund that through revenue funding in years to come. But, at the moment, we are looking at how we establish it and how we do co-deliver that with local authorities, with NRW, with the third sector and with different community groups throughout the communities. By doing that I hope we will be able to do more than simply point to numbers on a chart. I recognise only too well the impact of not simply austerity, but of economic chaos, in the community that I represent. I have seen the impact of the closure of a steelworks on my constituency. I've seen the impact of the closure of mines in my constituency. I've seen that happen, and I've seen the impact it's had, not just in the economic graphs the Conservative spokesperson quoted, but I've seen the impact on people and families. What this is about is about creating—. I don't suggest it's a unique experience, but what I'm saying is that we will be measuring the success of this in human terms as well as economic terms, and I hope that we'll also be measuring the success of this in terms of our environment, in terms of our biodiversity, in terms of how we're able to manage our landscapes, in terms of how we're able to teach our own history to our people.

So, I want this to be a far more holistic approach to the future of the south Wales Valleys than simply a structure or a sign on the side of the road. I hope that, when we're able to do that, we will create something that will demonstrate that it has both the resilience and the sustainability of something that we're able to learn from for the future. The tourism ambassador scheme that the Member quotes is exactly the way that we can bring people together and ensure that the businesses, the initiatives, the facilities that we have available in the Valleys are actually generating support and employment for people in the Valleys, and it is the people of the Valleys who are telling their own stories.

Can I welcome the statement and also welcome the ambition that the Cabinet Secretary for Local Government and Public Services has outlined in this excellent statement, I have to say? I'd just like to tease out some of the details because, obviously, as the Cabinet Secretary mentions, we respect and are rightly proud of our rich, unique industrial heritage. Obviously, south Wales powered the industrial revolution after all—yes, indeed, breathtaking in its achievements and also devastating in its effects on the people here in equal measure, as we survey the graves of nine-year-old boys killed in mining accidents and disasters like Senghennydd and Aberfan.

So, I welcome that ambition but also the emphasis of the work that's been going on with the taskforce as regards, particularly, the cultural heritage and identity section. And I was just going to tease out some fundamentals, I think, as regards the importance of the south Wales Valleys in terms of Wales's cultural heritage and identity, first of all as regards the Welsh language. Many people think that the industrial revolution here in south Wales was actually the saviour of the Welsh language. As the Cabinet Secretary will be aware, the history of the grinding rural poverty of Wales meant that thousands of Welsh speakers moved to the south Wales Valleys to be coal miners from tuberculosis-ridden, poor agricultural farms, as a number of my family did in the past. And when we talk of achieving 1 million Welsh speakers here in Wales, well, just over a century ago, we did have 1 million Welsh speakers, and most of them worked in the south Wales Valleys in the middle of that industrial revolution. So, some recognition of that, I hope, is happening amongst all the work that is going on with the ministerial taskforce and this whole Valleys regional park idea.

And the second point that I want to emphasise as regards the cultural identity is, actually, the Christian legacy that involves the south Wales Valleys. We see it now in hundreds of non-conformist chapels—most of them shut; some, occasionally, thriving—and the history of powerful preachers and revivals dotted around the last 250 years. And, obviously, some of us—Mike Hedges and I and Dafydd Elis-Thomas—were together in Tabernacle, Morriston, last Friday, to celebrate this exact legacy of the coming together of heavy industry, Welsh language and Christian history—celebrated in Tabernacle, Morriston then, obviously, with a piece of work being done in another Government department.

So, my essential question, when I'm going on about both the Welsh language and the Christian heritage is: what work is happening to ensure that different governmental pursuits in different portfolios are actually complementing one another rather than driving across? Because the south Wales Valleys do have an extremely rich Christian heritage. My own great-uncle had to leave a very poor farm near Dolgellau to settle in Aberdare and became a hymn writer and a printer there. And, in fact, Ap Hefin, Henry Lloyd, is the author of the hymn 'I Bob Un Sy'n Ffyddlon', which we still sing around rugby theatres these days, not just in our chapels. Some unkind members of my family have suggested he was the only one with any talent in the Lloyd genealogy. 

But other hymn tunes come to mind, like 'Cwm Rhondda'. There's no wider encapsulation of the south Wales Valleys culture—one of the most inspirational hymn tunes ever—as is 'Calon Lân'. Both the words and the tunes come from Swansea. And that's not withstanding our rich history of male voice choirs and brass bands that came about because of that same rich industrial history of all of our south Wales Valleys. So, I would hope that, in terms of the cultural heritage and identity, full rein is being made and not just some sort of lip service to—at some point in the past some Welsh was  spoken in these Valleys and occasionally some people did go to chapel. It is actually a very rich, inspiring history that is quite often forgotten. Diolch yn fawr. 

The Member for South Wales West has made me feel quite inadequate. None of my family, as far as I know, have written any hymns at all—

There's still time.

I hope so—although a number of us have, at different times, tried to sing them. I did fear for a moment that the Member was going to go through the whole caniedydd at one point, which would have left me feeling even more inadequate.

However, he also touched on some fascinating points. He might not wish to know this, but the book by the side of my bed at the moment is 'I Know Another Way'. It's brought together by Jon Gower and it builds upon the work of the late and much missed Robin Reeves—Members may be familiar—who spoke and wrote about the pilgrims' routes across the Valleys of south Wales. He wrote about the route from Tintern across to St David's, that pilgrim route that, at the time, was equivalent to a visit to Rome—two visits to St David's were equivalent to a visit to Rome. But going to Rome, of course, doesn't necessitate going to the shrine of St Mary's at Penrhys. So, there are some advantages of following Tintern to St David's rather than bothering with Rome. 

We have a history there that I believe is not simply a unique history of a time and a place, but it is something that we, I believe, have a duty to teach ourselves, if you like. I was speaking in my constituency last week about the Chartists and the Chartist march from Twyn Star in Tredegar and elsewhere down to Newport. Many of the men who assembled in Twyn Star on that night in November would have been speaking Welsh, unable to speak English. The linguistic history of the Valleys is reflected in the lives of many of us who are from the Valleys. My own family left Aberystwyth to work in Tredegar. My grandmother was born in Penparcau, arrived in Glanhowy in Tredegar unable to speak a word of English. She brought up my father to speak only English, and I spoke only English as a child. I've learnt to speak Welsh, and now my children are first language Welsh speakers. That history of the language is something that is reflected in the personal and family histories of many of us.

The social, linguistic and industrial heritage can be brought together. We've seen the Soar centre in Merthyr, of course, which is doing a fantastic job of recreating these great cathedrals to nonconformity, as you saw in Morriston the other day, and developing a new Welsh language culture and a new Welsh heritage, which are being created by ourselves in these Valleys. I think it is important that we do talk to each other and tell these stories.

I remember Gwyn Alf Williams speaking some years ago now and describing the arc of fire from Blaenavon to Merthyr and talking about himself as a schoolboy in Merthyr—he always referred to his parents as the schoolteachers of Dowlais, of course, with the emphasis on both the schoolteachers and the Dowlais—and talking there about what he had learnt, talking about the hearth of the furnace and how that created the Merthyr Tydfil of his childhood and how we today have an opportunity to do that again.

That is why this gateways concept is so important, so that somewhere like Merthyr, with the Crucible project that the local authority are pursuing at the moment, can, once again, recreate these stories, recreate these ideas of who we were and who we can be. What we're seeking to do in teaching our children about that history—we're learning more about ourselves.

Certainly, at the celebration of the seventieth anniversary of the national health service, myself and the Cabinet Secretary for Finance were lucky enough to speak on that day in Tredegar, where we celebrated not simply the seventieth anniversary of the Act of Parliament but the one-hundred-and-twenty-eighth anniversary of the establishment of the Tredegar Medical Aid Society that predated it, talking about not just the social history but the socialist history of the Valleys as well. I've been tempted, sorry, to break my own remarks earlier, so I won't go down that route this afternoon, but I hope that we will be able to bring together this idea of our heritage, our place and our landscape. I think the word 'place' is important, because it brings together all these different elements of what we're seeking to do.

Thank you, Cabinet Secretary. I think it's fair to say that there's an awful lot of goodwill across this Chamber for the Valleys taskforce initiative, but, perhaps, at the start, that was tempered with some cautious optimism when it was thought that there were wouldn't be a discrete budget line for it. So, I very much welcome the commitment of £7 million towards the Valleys regional park.

I was looking through the regional park's prospectus earlier today, and I was very pleased to see the mention of developing opportunities for the foundational economy within that. As one of the Assembly Members who has been keen to champion the benefits of the foundational economy, I think this is really great news. I know, for instance, there may be opportunities presented to communities like Ynysybwl, where there are plans to host a range of foundational activities, linking into the Valleys regional park there. So, I wonder if you're able to expand for us on the potential for the foundational economy within this agenda.

I'd also like to pick up a few other points from the prospectus, firstly around feedback. I welcome your comments in the Chamber today around inviting communities to take part in moving this initiative forward, but could you give us some further details on how communities can continue to be engaged in developing the priorities and objectives of the regional park for themselves? As the document notes, our Valleys communities are not homogenous, and I know that's something that you yourself have said several times within this Chamber, so how will that engagement work reflect the nature of those different communities?

Additionally, I know this is something I've flagged up with other Ministers, but I think there are real opportunities within the regional parks for exploiting our network of disused railway tunnels—that's in terms of active travel links, heritage tourism and so much more. How could you see this fitting into the wider Valleys regional park policy? I'm thinking specifically of the Abernant tunnel, which links my constituency with my colleague Dawn Bowden's constituency in Merthyr Tydfil, and comes out, really, right at the entrance to BikePark Wales. So, the potential there, in my opinion, and I know in Dawn's opinion too, is absolutely massive.

Lastly, last week, I took part in a guided walk of the old Gadlys ironworks. I'm in danger of upsetting my colleague Dawn Bowden, who represents, obviously, the seat that is most known for its iron heritage, but the Gadlys ironworks in Aberdare are actually described as the best-preserved set of blast furnaces in the UK. This was a real eye-opener, but one that far too few people actually know about. Projects like that carry major financial undertakings, and this one in particular is reliant on a team of volunteers linked to the Cynon Valley Museum, so it's really hard to tap the potential of that. Will there be the potential for organisations like that to tap into the regional park agenda and put forward a case for linking in heritage sites such as that? 

Of course, the Gadlys ironworks are well known, and their comparison with Merthyr has been well made, but they both, of course, fade into insignificance when compared with Sirhowy, where the ironworks there—. It's a good example, actually, of where an extraordinarily important part of our heritage was left to rot and to decay for decade after decade, because we—all of us here from the region—never understood its importance in historical terms. It's us who left it there—we can't blame a London Government or far-away places for allowing that to happen. It is to ensure that future generations are able to learn and understand that that we wish to invest in these places today.

I look at these places—my poor old eight-year-old son has spent far too much of his holidays, I think, being taken by his father to visit various places. I get the sense quite often he would prefer to be watching tv, but he's dragged across to—. He's been to Blaenavon on many occasions, he's too short to go down to Big Pit, but it'll come. He hasn't visited Gadlys yet, but he will do so, and he's visited the history of Merthyr as well, where you've got the history of railways as well, of course, taking place there. 

But let's look at that issue about the tunnels. I visited the Rhondda last week, I went to Blaencwm and spoke to the group of people there who were hoping to reopen the tunnel between Blaencwm and Blaengwynfi. When I was driving away from there, I was left with the idea of fantastic creativity more than anything else—the creativity of people who know their place, and the creativity of people who understand their place, and the creativity of people who have ambition for their place and their community. In driving this project forward, it won't be civil servants in Cathays Park, or even Ministers in Cardiff Bay, it'll be those people who have an idea, a dream, an identity, a sense of place and a sense of history that will drive forward this project, and make a great success of it. And that is why the Member for the Cynon Valley talks about the foundational economy. It is essential, in doing so, that the wealth that we create remains in the community, and it remains as part of that community, helping to not simply regenerate that community, but recreate those communities. And, you know, for me—and the Conservatives spokesperson outlined this himself—the success of this project will be measured in cultural and historic terms, but we must always recognise the importance of creating sustainable work in our Valley communities. I hope that we'll be able to do that, and that the wealth that we generate will be able to remain in the community.

Can I just say a word about Ynysybwl? The last time I visited Ynysybwl, I was on my way to Llanwonno, and I called into the Fountain up there; some Members may be aware of it. And walking around—I didn't follow Nyth Brân's example of running to Mountain Ash, but I walked through the forestry of Llanwonno, and I have to say you could be anywhere in the world, the spectacular forestry we have there, natural woodland as well. It's something that I think we should think hard about: how do we in Wales create a forestry or a woodland that is part of our identity? And, I was walking through the Clydach Gorge above my own constituency down to Abergavenny some weeks ago, looking at the natural woodland there. That is a historic woodland of Wales. It is a historical environment, a historical ecosystem, so how do we safeguard that into the future, and how do we ensure that we have not only the water management we need to have, the ecosystem management that we need to have, but then ensure that we have access as well, so that people are able to access these wonderful sites, understand what those sites mean? And then address the issues that were brought up in a statement on access for disabled people, to ensure that this access is available to everybody throughout the community, and that we manage that to enable everybody to benefit from it.

So, I think all of the opportunities we have here are opportunities that we will realise if we work together, and if we co-produce together something that none of us could achieve independently or apart.   

Thanks to the Minister for his statement today. As we've noted, the Valleys have always boasted dramatic landscapes, so it makes sense to utilise that as far as we can. So, I think the basic idea of a Valleys regional park is quite a sound one, and I wish you well with progressing it, and I hope it comes to fruition as something that people from outside the area can enjoy as visitors, and people within the area can also enjoy as a facility that's local to them. 

Now, Dai Lloyd took us on a very evocative journey through the history and the culture of the Valleys. Nobody here is going to be able to match that. A lot of elements were—[Interruption.] I know. Yes, I acknowledge that, Bethan, myself. Now, Dai took us through a lot of different elements. Miners halls, he didn't mention because a lot of them are still there, but of course some of them are struggling, and they are part of that cultural fabric of the Valleys as well. So, I wonder how far they can be integrated into this vision of the Valleys regional park. I think they're an important part of the landscape. Rugby, I suppose, is another thing—some of the famous rugby clubs are struggling. I'm not sure if that has any relevance, but possibly it does.

I think that there are maybe three main issues that we need to tackle. There's a problem of transport connectivity, related to that there's an issue of infrastructure and facilities, and finally the issue of how far we can utilise the landscape to help with achieving future generations goals. As we know, there are problems in the Valleys—there are problems throughout Wales but sometimes in the Valleys they're worse with things like physical fitness, obesity, stuff like that. Can we use the proximity of the Valleys to the very dramatic scenery to encourage more physical activity? Is that going to form part of the plan? 

With the transport connectivity, we need things like the tunnels—the tunnels are a very good idea. I met people from the Rhondda Tunnel Society over the summer. They have come and they've developed the scheme from nothing. It is very much their vision and I'm glad that it's getting help from the Welsh Government. So, can you give us any more information on how that is going to be advanced? Obviously, we've heard from another Member—the Cynon Valley Member—that that's not the only tunnel, there are other tunnels as well connecting other valleys. 

There are also issues of public facilities. A lot of people go cycling up the Valleys as it is. They go up to places like the Rhigos and the Bwlch. Currently, there are a lack of facilities like cafes and public toilets. So, if we want to get more people there, we do need to look at the infrastructure, so what can we do—what can you do, rather, Minister, to encourage more infrastructure? Diolch yn fawr iawn. 

The Llywydd took the Chair.

In terms of taking forward a number of different issues, we've seen through the community asset transfer process a number of community assets that are having life breathed into them afresh. I visited the Blaenavon Workmen's Hall some time ago and it's extraordinary to see it reborn again. In my own constituency, Llanhilleth Miners Institute continues to be a centre of the community. You know, you drive across the Valleys or you move across the Valleys, you have Maesteg Town Hall and the miners welfare in Ystradgynlais. You can name a number of different facilities that are at the heart of those communities. What I hope we'll be able to do is to ensure that they remain at the heart of their communities.

In many ways, the cultural issues that the Plaid Cymru Member for South Wales West has already referred to are at the heart of our ambition. But if we are to succeed, then the infrastructure that is being described is absolutely essential: the transport infrastructure, an infrastructure of facilities—whether it be public toilets or whether it be visitor centres or cafes, restaurants, hotels, accommodation—has to be in place. It is this sort of infrastructure that we would be looking towards developing and putting in place over time. That is why, in developing the concept, we are working with, not simply local authorities and NRW and other public bodies, but working with all of those people who are able to deliver and support those facilities across the Valleys region. 

Can I say, before I even start, that I think—in terms of the historical nature of our constituencies and the heritage—can I just say that the tunnel goes from Merthyr to Abernant, not the other way around? [Laughter.] Richard Trevithick discovered the steam locomotive in 1803 and he went from Penydarren in Merthyr to Aberdare. Okay.

Can I just say—can I thank you first of all—? [Interruption.] [Laughter.] Not that we're competitive at all about our history, but there we are. Can I thank you, Cabinet Secretary, for your statement? I'm going to bring it back to some slightly more mundane areas. We've had many conversations about the concerns around the upper Rhymney valley and I'd like to take this opportunity of thanking you and the Cabinet Secretary for economy for coming with me to visit local representatives and organisations and members of the public, and talking to them and sharing those concerns. But it does seem to me that, in many of our former industrial areas like Rhymney, looking at new innovative ways of regeneration is vital, so I very much welcome the interlinked delivery themes around the proposals for the regional park, particularly the aspects of it that cross the Heads of the Valleys.

You'll know that, in parts of Rhymney, we still have large areas of derelict former industrial land, which is symbolic of the decline in those communities over the last 30 years or so, and those areas have still failed to attract significant business investment. But, having said that, the whole area, as you've already said, is surrounded by breathtaking natural beauty. So, we have this industrial dereliction in the centre of something that is surrounded by such beauty, and we do need to clearly exploit that, to meet both the economic and the well-being goals.

And I look at some of the success, the huge success, of some of the leisure activities that we've seen developed in the former slate quarries in north Wales, and I wonder whether that represents a kind of blueprint for what we could do in some of our former industrial areas in the south Wales Valleys. Given that the well-being of the Valleys communities is such a vital component of the work of the taskforce, can I ask whether it's part of your vision for a Valleys regional park to look at those areas of dereliction with a view to possibly redeveloping for leisure activity and accommodation, to kind of complement the areas of natural beauty, turning them into visitor attractions in their own right and using this as one of the alternatives to just bringing back in industry to regenerate industrial or former industrial areas?

I was also very pleased to hear you mention, I think in answer to Dai Lloyd, about the Design Commission for Wales in Merthyr Tydfil, and I'd welcome your expanding a little bit more on that, because the proposals around the Design Commission charrette, what comes out of that is not just the buildings—Cyfarthfa castle and the blast furnaces and so on—but it's also about telling the whole story of the iron industry in Merthyr and the people who created it, right the way through to the Merthyr rising and beyond, and whether that forms part of your vision of the Valleys landscape park. Will that kind of experience around the history and the heritage be part of the landscape park as well?

Yes, absolutely, it will be, and the litmus test will be Rhymney—I have no doubt about that. If we are to look at the development of the regional park as a concept, as a framework for other developments taking place within it, then if we succeed then we will succeed in Rhymney. You look at those sorts of communities where you've had major towns close by—we've seen some significant investment and development, and smaller towns have not seen that same level of investment, and we both saw the impact of that on the town centre there at that time. We need to be able to ensure that people, whether it be in Rhymney or elsewhere, are able to see the benefit of that and that it isn't just a speech made in Cardiff Bay, but a reality on people's doorsteps and in people's lives.

I was inspired when I went through and spoke to people about the Crucible project in Merthyr, for the reason that you give: that it isn't simply about the built environment—of course it is, but it isn't simply about that—it's about the people who live there as well and the people who live in our communities, and it's about our stories, our history, our futures. And our ability to do that, I think, is absolutely key and fundamental to the success of this project. The Minister for culture and tourism and heritage is in his place this afternoon and will be listening to these exchanges, and the conversations that we've had about how our heritage is a part of our future are absolutely central to what we want to be able to achieve. He was kind enough to visit my constituency to discuss the legacy of Aneurin Bevan in the spring, and it is bringing together those different threads that we want to be able to do and to ensure that we are able to reinvent these communities. The Member for Merthyr—. The Member for Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney is right to—I nearly made a mistake, a terrible mistake, there—is right to identify the derelict land we see around the town and the top end of the Rhymney valley. I'm familiar with that. We need to look at how we recreate these communities. It's not only in Rhymney, but it's elsewhere, where we see that land that has been previously used for heavy industry is no longer required in that same way.

One of the issues that we're addressing as part of the wider work of the Valleys taskforce, which we'll debate on other occasions this afternoon, is the issue of the upper Valleys. I think there are specific issues in the Heads of the Valleys that are more difficult, if you like, than in other parts of the Valleys. So, we will be looking at that, specifically. But certainly, I hope that we'll be able, in the coming years, to demonstrate that the work we're putting in place today will be seen in the future as a turning point for the Valleys and will be seen as something that didn't just lead to economic growth, but led to social change as well, and a change to our futures. I hope that we can achieve that.

We're out of time on the statement, but I'll take two further short contributions and questions. Suzy Davies.

Okay. Diolch yn fawr, Llywydd. Just briefly, then, we're not finished on top trumps with ironworks—I'm going to raise you all with Neath ironworks. But I do it very specifically, because, of course, there's no mention of co-production in the prospectus itself, but it does refer to community stewardship, and I really hope that you will look on the Neath and Dulais valleys as good candidates for gateways—as examples where community stewardship of natural and cultural heritage assets are very apparent. And, of course, an area where tourism—part of the Valleys taskforce work—can be developed in a way that is mutually beneficial for the well-being of residents and for the economy, without Disneyfying what the offer is there.

You have the example of the Dyfi biosphere before you, Cabinet Secretary, about where that balance is achievable. It's internationally recognised and there may be some lessons we can learn down south from that as well. So, my primary question is: where will these grass-roots bodies, while responsible for community stewardship, get access to these funds? Is it all just to be spent at strategic level?

And then, I wonder if you could answer a question that Dai Lloyd raised, but you didn't answer at the time about cross-Government working. Because we have a situation in Neath at the moment, where there have been some deficiencies or difficulties and an inability for Welsh Government to spend money on restoring the Cefn Coed headframes at the mining museum there. Is the strategy you're talking about able to backfill problems like that or should we not be looking for money from this source to disguise the deficiencies elsewhere? Thank you.

Presiding Officer, all discussions about the Valleys of south Wales must include a discussion on Neath. It is absolutely essential that we pay attention to the history and the culture of that fantastic place. Let me say this: I visited Cefn Coed, I understand the issues—I hope I understand some of the issues there—and we do need to look at how we ensure that Government works together across all different portfolios and changing portfolios to ensure that we deliver for people.

Now, one of the issues I want to address over the coming weeks and months is to put together a structure of delivery in place. We have a prospectus being launched today, we have the concept being launched today and what we need to do now is to ensure that we have the governance in place and a delivery structure in place that will enable us to make it a reality and that is what we'll be working on next. And certainly, the issues around the community and ensuring that community groups are able to be a part of that is absolutely essential and it will be a litmus test, as I've already said, for how we will seek to deliver this concept.

Finally, Rhianon Passmore.

Diolch, Llywydd. Thank you. First of all, can I very much welcome this exciting initiative and also the principles that underpin it? Can I ask what impact the £7 million investment within the Valleys regional park initiative will have on the former industrialised valleys of Islwyn, with all of the natural beauty, the landscapes that have already been referenced and its heritage? In particular, I have to mention the Navigation colliery in Crumlin, but of course, the iconic scenic drive within Cwmcarn. So, will the Minister commit to doing everything within this initiative to secure its very important place, both culturally and economically, and its continued success, both tourism wise and in training, across south Wales but also internationally?

Yes, and Cwmcarn is, in many ways, a model for what we would seek to be able to achieve, ensuring that we have public access to a fantastic landscape, to an experience that the family can enjoy, and to ensure that people understand the place in which they live or are visiting. So, Cwmcarn, in many ways, is the sort of model that we want to develop in other places, and to ensure that there are other opportunities. We spoke earlier about Llanwonno forestry area, and about how we can ensure that this environment is a part of our future in a way that, perhaps, it isn't at the moment. When I drive past Navigation and I see the pit structures in place there, I am not simply reminded of the past, but I am reminded of the opportunities that we will have in the future. The buildings around the Navigation I think are a fantastic industrial part of our heritage. The bridge has gone now, the Crumlin viaduct has disappeared, but it's important to ensure that we do have a use and an ongoing sustainable use for the industrial buildings that created the communities in which we now live.

Thank you, Cabinet Secretary.