4. Statement by the Minister for Climate Change: Gwent Levels / Nature Recovery Exemplar Areas

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:53 pm on 14 June 2022.

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Photo of Julie James Julie James Labour 3:53, 14 June 2022

Diolch, John. I know, John, you're very enthusiastic, and I'm very grateful for your chairing of the Living Levels partnership, which has certainly helped us move it on. We absolutely do need to improve the strategic planning guidance for the areas I mentioned previously. I can't comment on a number of outstanding planning applications for obvious reasons, so I'm not going anywhere near that. But just in general terms, as I said, this is going to be the first pilot of 'Future Wales' policy 9, the approach for mainstreaming biodiversity and ecosystem resilience into planning policies, and to ensure that as part of that pilot of policy 9, we get the right social, economic, cultural and environmental developments in the right place to enhance that biodiversity and ecosystem resilience. That's going to take the form of a masterplan for the area, which we've got, as you know, consultants working on.

We've sought views—as I know you know, John, from the Gwent Living Levels working group—on the governance approach needed to represent the political and technical interests around building this policy up and the guidance that needs to go with it on biodiversity and ecosystem resilience. I'm absolutely determined to make this a pilot area for this model of governance and planning policy, because this is a vital area—alongside many others in Wales, of course—of biodiversity and resilience. It's the green lungs of a big set of urban conurbations around its edges, as you know, John, and it's a source of rich carbon depositing and biodiversity. It's a really good example of carbon capture in a non-tree form as well, because, as I keep saying to people, the tree's just the iconic symbol for a whole range of different landscape types across Wales that support a range of biodiversity. I'm very determined to get that pilot up and running ASAP. We'll get the strategic planning guidance out and I remain very grateful indeed for your part in chairing the group.