Part of 3. Topical Questions – in the Senedd at 3:12 pm on 18 May 2022.
Thank you to James Evans for bringing this important question before us. What we've got here in Gilestone Farm is good agricultural land, and the danger is that we're going to see good agricultural land once again being lost for other commercial purposes. We know that the Welsh Government doesn't have a good record when it comes to buying agricultural land, because we've seen agricultural land being bought by the Government and being turned into forests. So, what assurances can you provide us today for the long term that this land and this farm will be retained and kept for agricultural purposes, namely producing food?
Also, a number of local farmers have got in touch with my office to complain that they haven't had any opportunity to be part of this process to tender for the farm, for the land, and to be tenants. What consultation did you undertake locally in order to ensure that the new tenants would be the best ones for this land, and why were other local farmers not given the opportunity to be tenants on the farm?
And finally, it's good to see that Welsh Government is providing funding for agriculture. Unfortunately, we've seen local authorities having to sell farms over the years. Are we now able to look forward to Welsh Government giving more money to local authorities to rebuy these farms so that there are opportunities for young farmers to return into agriculture again?