Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs – in the Senedd at 1:30 pm on 23 January 2019.
I thank the Minister for that response. It was very encouraging to see one of the outcomes of the Valleys taskforce work was the idea of a south Wales Valleys woodland and park that would spread across the whole of the Valleys from east to west. Of course, there's amazing potential with that, but the denudation through larch disease has had a significant impact, and I see it in the Llynfi, the Garw and the Ogmore valleys. And I'm wondering, in their approach to reforestation, what discussions, what consultation does NRW do with local communities, what does it do with local landowners, local businesses, including, potentially, if it gets up and running, the Afan adventure park at the top of David Rees's constituency and mine, which has been totally scalped because of larch disease, but they anticipate bringing there, if they get through the planning permission, a Center Parcs with adrenaline, but it will need that reforestation to make it work? So, what support can you give to local communities, to businesses, to engage with the reforestation programme?