1. What plans does the Minister have to make national parks more accountable to local people? OQ58580

Local accountability is intrinsic to governance of our national parks. Two thirds of members are selected by local authorities, guaranteeing accountability back to local people and communities. We are improving accountability and governance, including a support package for Brecon Beacons National Park and a new strategic, pan-Wales post focused on diversity and governance.

Diolch, Minister. In our national parks, it is vital that local people feel that they are part of the decision-making process, and that the national parks actually stand up for them and that they have representation from that area. The Welsh Government appoints a number of people to national parks, but, unfortunately, some of those people aren't even from Wales. So, what I would like to see is a system where local people can feed into that appointments process to make sure that we have local people representing our national parks to make sure that our businesses and our communities feel that they are respected and listened to by our national parks in Wales. Diolch, Llywydd.

Yes, so, national parks absolutely do need to respond to local people and their concerns and they must, of course, be representative of the communities they serve, but national parks also serve all of the people of Wales—they are, obviously, our 'national' parks, and it's very important that the national park authorities respond to both local and national needs. And so, we must make sure that their governance and their accountability reflect the need to reflect that engaged community inside the national park and on the edges of the national park, but also that they're there for the future of all of the people of Wales.

So, we work very closely with the national parks to engage widely when we develop the management plans and the other priorities. We need to have specific expertise on the national parks, as well as the local councillors who contribute so much. So, I'm very keen to make sure that we have a range of expert voices as well from the Welsh Government appointments. So, I'm not entirely certain that I agree with you that they should be people who live in Wales, although, obviously, where we have the expertise in Wales, we would certainly seek to do that. What we're much more keen on is making sure that the national park has a range of expertise available to it, both on its board, if you like—because that's what the council itself actually is—and then in the range of experts that we engage with in order to get the best possible outcome for both the people in the community itself, but very importantly for all of the people of Wales and, actually, the UK and globally, because the national parks are, of course, part of our protected landscape.

I also believe that the views of local people are important. I more importantly believe that it is important to protect our national parks, areas of outstanding natural beauty and green belt—we all benefit from them. Does the Minister agree with me that it is important to protect these areas for future generations, as opposed to the Conservative leader in the Senedd, who said that development is okay, as long as the infrastructure is put in place, such as doctors' surgeries, schools and transport infrastructure?

Well, I wholeheartedly agree with you, Mike. I really would like to stress that we have no intention of following the UK Government in considering opening up development near national parks in our areas of outstanding natural beauty or our sites of special scientific interest. 'Future Wales' and 'Planning Policy Wales' provide a comprehensive framework of protection for our national parks and AONBs for inappropriate development, and I, for one, am very determined that it stays that way.