6. Statement by the Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs: Brexit and Our Land

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 6:17 pm on 4 June 2019.

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Photo of Lesley Griffiths Lesley Griffiths Labour 6:17, 4 June 2019

Thank you, Joyce Watson, for those comments and questions. I have not met a farmer who doesn't take his or her environmental responsibilities very seriously. Just this week, NFU Cymru are holding a conference, which unfortunately I can't attend, to focus on the environment. And, certainly, NFU announced that they wanted to be carbon neutral by 2040, and I think our beautiful landscapes are because of farming. However, we do have an issue with agricultural pollution, which, again, farmers accept they have their part to play in that, and you'll be aware the new regulations are coming in in 2020.

I think the point you made about flood risk is really important and, again, I'd like to see fewer concrete flood schemes and the use of our natural resources, and I think that is something that we can certainly look at. Woodland, too—obviously that's a very good use of land. And whilst tree planting will be a voluntary element of any scheme, I think, again, planting trees will have economic benefits for some farms. That would give improved shelter, for instance. Certainly it could give biosecurity barriers to improve livestock production. So, I think looking at how we can make them more productive and resilient is part of the scheme. You only have to look at last year and the weather that we had last year. We had that very wet spring, heavy snow at times, we had a long, hot summer, we had storms in the autumn and we've had a mild winter. So, you can see why we need to help farm businesses be resilient, and, clearly, the basic payment scheme didn't do that and we've got to make sure this scheme is absolutely right. 

You mentioned SuDS, and I was very pleased to bring in that regulation earlier in the year to make it mandatory. I think that's also very important in relation to what you were talking about: houses.