Thank you very much, Llywydd. We could spend a great deal of time going through the individual recommendations made in the committee’s report, many of which I agree with, but I have more fundamental issues with the foundations of the development framework, which are, of course, highlighted in the amendments tabled by Plaid Cymru, and by the fact that the committee’s report, ultimately, is a minority report.

One of the problems I have is that the spatial footprint of the NDF is flawed. It, in my view, puts in place the United Kingdom Conservative Government's vision, a unionist vision, which is entrenching Wales’s reliance on the English economy. There are four regions, of course, modelled on Boris Johnson’s growth deal areas, and it’s disappointing that the Wales map for the future is based on serving the Northern Powerhouse, the Bristol and Western Gateway, and the Midlands Engine—the east-west axis that means, of course, that the economic future of Wales will be based on crumbs from someone else’s table. Yes, we need cross-border collaboration to bring benefits to Wales from these entities, of course we do, but we shouldn’t base the whole vision of 'Future Wales' on that model. And the failure to prioritise building the Welsh economy in its own right does create, of course, more reliance on decisions taken by Conservatives in London and less likelihood that Wales, of course, will grow stronger and stand on its own two feet.

Now, rather than providing a vision that unites Wales, Labour, in doing this, are risking pushing south, mid and north Wales further apart. It does neglect the need—the great need—for better connectivity between north and south Wales, in my view. The Minister has said in her evidence that the framework was flexible enough to respond to north-south transport policies. But we shouldn’t be responding, we should be driving the vision and the ambitious policies that we need in order to bring Wales together. And that, of course, is reflected in one of the committee’s recommendations, which refers to the lack of focus on connectivity within Wales.

The second fundamental problem I have, of course, is the way in which the NDF does centralise growth in certain specific areas, and that inevitably will be at the expense of other areas. And Dr Neil Harris, an expert from Cardiff University, drew our attention as a committee, in his evidence, to the fact that the plan is based on growth that is focused on urban areas, but only mentions stability in other areas. Now, that isn’t the vision of sharing prosperity across Wales that we would want to see. It’s that failure to distribute wealth, growth and development in an equal way throughout Wales that is one of the features that I want to see overturned. You could say that that is one of the failings of devolution over the past 20 years. But what’s happening now, of course, is that that is being entrenched as a permanent feature of the Welsh Government vision until 2040.

There isn’t sufficient emphasis on Arfor and the need for growth in the west of Wales, as I’ve previously raised with the Minister, or on the Valleys as a specific entity that needs a stronger focus, in my view. There’s also a risk, of course, that these growth areas will ultimately face overdevelopment. We’ve seen it happening in certain parts of Wales already. When you look at those areas that are prioritised as favoured locations for significant residential developments, well, of course there’s risk of overdevelopment there, when there’s virtually nothing, on the other hand, to tackle the need for sustainable developments in other parts of Wales, particularly when it comes to the need for social housing and affordable housing to meet the housing crisis.

There are also problems, of course, with the top-down nature when it comes to the planning system. We had that debate at the time of the passing of the Planning (Wales) Act 2015, some years ago, but this takes the problem to the next level, through the regional development plans and through the reliance on the corporate joint committees, which take those key decisions further away from the communities affected by those decisions.

So, to conclude, Plaid Cymru cannot support this plan, which plays into the hands of the unionist agenda and the agenda of the Conservatives in London, which will weaken rather than strengthen Wales as an economic entity, a social and cultural and political entity. In light of that, we feel strongly that we must make fundamental changes to the national development framework for Wales.