4. What plans does the Welsh Government have to mark 10 years of the Wales coast path? OQ57530

I thank John Griffiths, Llywydd. Plans for the Wales coastal path anniversary are well advanced. In all parts of Wales, new ideas to reach new audiences will celebrate this iconic achievement of the devolution era, including, of course, new opportunities for walking by people of all ages and abilities.

First Minister, it was a great privilege for me as environment Minister at the time to open our wonderful Wales coast path, and, since then, local authorities, volunteers and others have worked hard to maintain and improve it. There are circular walks connecting it to local communities, and software apps signposting walkers to heritage features, points of interest, food, drink and accommodation. It's very important for visitor spend and tourism, so important to our economy, and of course it's important for everyone in Wales to have that access to our great outdoors, to connect more strongly to our environment, to have the health and well-being advantages. So, I think with such fantastic assets here in Wales, First Minister, it's absolutely right that we should celebrate the 10-year anniversary, and I think one very effective way of doing it is to walk that path, to organise local walks within local authority boundaries through schools, communities and local walking groups, so, at the time of that anniversary, the whole of the path is walked as part of that great celebration.

I completely agree with John Griffiths, Llywydd. It is a fantastic national asset. I well remember his involvement at the very beginning and, 10 years on, the Welsh Government want to build further on the achievement of the path, and we've asked Huw Irranca-Davies to lead a review of everything that the Wales coastal path has achieved so far and how we can make sure that its next 10 years are just as successful as the first 10, and to expand its use in different ways. I think the best way, as John Griffiths says, of celebrating the path is to use it, and to use it in all parts of Wales.

And could I say to John as well, Llywydd, that I think Newport County Borough Council does a fantastic job in promoting the 23 miles of the path that lie within the borough? The Newport wetlands centre is one of the places that has created one of those circular walks that John Griffiths referred to, and, as part of the celebration of the 10 years, there are plans to link the coastal path to the Sirhowy valley walk, the Usk valley walk, and to do more to bring children and young people out to celebrate it. We've been talking about the centenary of the Urdd already; it's over 1,000 years, Llywydd, since Gerallt Gymro, Gerald of Wales, described part of where the coastal path in Newport runs as 'glittering with a wonderful brightness', and, if we can bring a bit of that wonderful brightness to celebrate the coastal path during this year, I'm certain that the success that John Griffiths set off 10 years ago will go on being celebrated right across our nation.

It's quite right that we mark the tenth anniversary of the coastal path. It's not often I say that I completely agree and welcome the words of John Griffiths and the First Minister in regards to the coastal path, because it helps link our coastal communities together and helps to promote active travel, and we should be proud of the fact that the path was a world first too. The path passes through my hometown of Prestatyn, which was the first town in Wales to achieve a Walkers are Welcome status, and is also at one end of the Offa's Dyke path, and, from Prestatyn, you can not only walk along the entire length of the Wales coast, you can also walk along its border. So, First Minister, with that in mind, what plans does the Welsh Government have to capitalise on this, as we emerge out of COVID, to give the sector a boost, which has been really hit hard by the pandemic?

I thank the Member for drawing attention to the fantastic conjunction at Prestatyn of the coastal path and north-south route as well. He will know that the path has been consistently featured in national awards and leading international travel guides—the Lonely Planet, the Rough Guides—and, as a result of work that the Welsh Government has done to mark the tenth anniversary, we are pretty confident now that the National Geographic, which is an international-reach publication, will carry a major feature on the coastal path around St David's Day, once again making sure that everything that Wales has to offer, and the hospitality and tourism offer that we make particularly, is celebrated and communicated to an audience not just here in Wales, but beyond the shores of the United Kingdom.

Question 5 [OQ57534] is withdrawn. Question 6, Mike Hedges.