Land Use

Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Climate Change – in the Senedd at 1:59 pm on 22 June 2022.

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Photo of Julie James Julie James Labour 1:59, 22 June 2022

I'm very much on board with that, Jenny. We have a national plan system in Wales—a planned system that allows us to have a robust framework for ensuring agricultural land is protected for productive use through 'Planning Policy Wales' and 'Future Wales: the national plan 2040'. 'Planning Policy Wales' seeks to ensure the best use is made for land. For example, it has a clear preference for the use of suitable and sustainable previously developed land for development within existing settlements, it has a strong policy to protect peri-urban areas against development, including urban sprawl, and seeks to conserve the best and most versatile agricultural land as a finite resource for the future. It requires local planning authorities to undertake a search sequence when preparing local development plans to prioritise the allocation of suitable and sustainable sites. Best and most versatile agricultural land, grades 1, 2 and 3A, should only be developed if there is what's called 'an overriding need'. That's a legal term; it's a very high bar. It doesn't mean 'just because you can't think of anywhere better'; they have to show that no other suitable land is available before that's permitted to that overriding need.

We've also got a long-term strategy to promote a dietary shift and encourage Welsh consumers to eat a healthier, more sustainable food source. While we want to encourage people to buy high-quality, local Welsh produce, we can work with our food production sector to ensure it's produced in a truly sustainable manner and avoid simply offshoring emissions to other countries. I had a very good meeting with the Country Land and Business Association very recently where we discussed the various ways, for example, that you could produce Welsh breed cattle without importing any kind of soy produce, reducing not only the food miles if you buy and eat that meat, but the food miles to produce it in the first place. So, we're doing a very good piece of work with my colleague Lesley Griffiths on that while protecting the peri-urban land. And then, in conjunction with a conversation with Jayne and with Natasha, making sure that all available land is used to bring particularly urban populations back into touch with how food is grown and where it's best produced.