Part of 2. Questions to the Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd – in the Senedd at 2:43 pm on 23 June 2021.
Thank you very much. I hope that you won't be like John Redwood, taking pride in the fact that we would be sending Welsh funding back to the Treasury.
The second question: tree planting on farmland. Another important issue for our rural communities is plans for tree planting on farmland. Recently, I met with representatives from Myddfai Community Council in Carmarthenshire and some local farmers in that area to hear increasing evidence of whole farms, as much as 300 acres, being purchased by rich businesspeople and major international companies for the planting of trees for carbon offsetting. And they gave me examples of farms in Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion and south Powys that have recently been purchased for this end. And it seems that Glastir funding is being used to support these plans. In one case, this had prevented a young farmer, who had intended to return and buy land close to the family farm, and he was prevented from doing that because this farm had been bought for carbon-offsetting purposes.
Now, I am sure you would agree with me that once our family farms are lost and covered in trees, they won't be returned to agricultural usage. And this is a disaster, of course, not just for food production in Wales, but also for the sustainability of our rural communities, as it leads to more rural depopulation and a damaging impact on the sustainability of our rural schools and public services in rural areas too.
Nobody doubts the importance of tree planting in delivering against our environmental policies, but we must do this while safeguarding the viability of our agricultural businesses. So, the question for the Minister is this: do you agree with me that it is entirely absurd that companies and wealthy people from outside of Wales, for example, can get hold of farming support payments through the Glastir scheme to plant trees when that policy should ensure that the funding remains in Wales? And will the Government ensure that it's only active farmers who can access support payments through this scheme and that we cap the percentage of farm acres that can be allocated for tree planting and that planning permission is needed in order to do so? Thank you.