4. Statement by the Deputy Minister for Housing and Local Government: The Wales Coast Path

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:05 pm on 14 May 2019.

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Photo of David Lloyd David Lloyd Plaid Cymru 4:05, 14 May 2019

(Translated)

Yes, it's a matter to be welcomed, of course, but there are two points to make, though: of course, conservation is vitally important, and, of course, as David Melding has mentioned, health issues are also very important, and we also pay tribute to the Ramblers for promoting walking in our nation. It's a fairly easy way to keep fit. You don't need membership of any gym that costs thousands of pounds. Walking is the way forward—10,000 steps every day. And just going on the Wales coast path—you will have achieved that in the blink of an eye, and it wouldn't feel like 10,000 steps either. And this is vitally important when we talk about conservation. This is an element of tourism that attracts tourists, attracts money and boosts the economy, but, thinking about responsible tourism, therefore, that also safeguards the environment, and that whole conservation aspect is vitally important.

And, of course, there's caring for our environment, and also, taking advantage of the opportunity, I'd like to see the Deputy Minister emphasising this: it's not just a case of looking after our natural environment, but also about looking after our linguistic and cultural environment, because, for many parts of it, it is the Welsh language and Welsh culture that are inextricably linked to this coastline. There are some examples where we are losing our old traditional Welsh names, and not just those traditional Welsh names but historic Welsh names, and names in several other languages. We've lost Porth Trecastell on Anglesey, which is now Cable bay, and there are some other examples, just because people can't pronounce the name of the island or the name of the river or the name of a particular headland. But I can't think of any other countries on earth that would be willing to change the names that they've had on various geographical places for centuries in order to please those people who don't want to give the indigenous language a go.

So, just because somewhere looks isolated or remote on our coastline, that doesn't mean that it doesn't have a traditional name—either a Welsh name or a Brythonic name or a Viking-inspired name. So, we need to keep those names, not just in terms of natural conservation but because of the linguistic and cultural conservation of our nation, given the natural wealth of all of our names. Every headland and every part of the coastal map has a name. If you look at the historic maps of our nation and at the wealth of names and the descriptions that are there in the Welsh language—of course, some of the modern maps don't include all of those names, so people will think, 'Well, this place doesn't have a name. Why don't we give another name to it—a name from another nation?' No, it will have a name—it's a matter of finding that original name. So, I'd like to have some sort of assurance from the Deputy Minister that we are considering these matters of safeguarding and conserving natural place names on our coastline as well.

The second point, as well as congratulating everything that is going on with regard to the path that you can walk on around our coastline, some have mentioned the creation of an all-Wales cycling route. Some Ministers in this place are very fond of cycling, so what about developing a cycling route alongside the walking route, because I think that there is a valuable resource there as well?

To conclude, therefore, we'll be tackling the health agenda, the fitness agenda, the obesity agenda, as well as getting to grips with the tourism issue, that considerate tourism, that does not just mean turning up and thinking, 'Well, if it rains, what do we do then?' It's about thinking about the development of our nation and explaining to people the rich history of our nation, and our language and our culture, without being ashamed of it at all, and what is there with our coast path. What is there not to like about the coast path? Long live the Wales coast path. Thank you.