8. Statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Local Government and Public Services: The Valleys Regional Park

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:44 pm on 16 October 2018.

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Photo of Alun Davies Alun Davies Labour 5:44, 16 October 2018

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.