Countryside Manifesto

Countryside Manifesto Food, Farming, Forestry and Fishing

Countryside Manifesto Plaid Cymru wants to see our countryside as a vibrant, productive community. It is brimming with natural resources and economic potential.

In this Countryside Manifesto, Plaid Cymru seeks to consolidate and grow this potential for the people of Wales. It focuses on those areas of policy that are principally, although not exclusively, rural. Other areas of policy also important to rural Wales, such as health, education and transport, are considered in our general Manifesto.

Elin Jones

Farming The family farm is the cornerstone of Welsh agriculture. The ownership and management of farm land and the means of food production remain with Welsh farmers. We want to see more food produced in Wales, and a wider diversity of food. However, this needs to be done with a decreasing impact on our environment and our climate. We will support the sustainable intensification of our agriculture.

We want to see Wales play a full part in influencing the Review of the CAP. There is a continuing need to sustain the CAP budget in order to correct market deficiencies and promote sustainable land management. We consider that the balance between Pillar 1 and Pillar 2 activity should be maintained at its current level.

The ConDem Coalition position on CAP would lead to severely reduced incomes for Welsh farmers with their proposal to substantially cut the CAP budget and phase out Single Farm Payments. As Elin Jones has done, we would continue to resist this approach and seek to influence European discussions directly.

We believe that on-farm environmental measures are best delivered on a voluntary basis under Pillar 2 arrangements. We will continue to review Glastir in order to ensure that it is a scheme that meets the challenges of climate change, biodiversity decline, water management and renewable energy, whilst integrating well with dayto-day farm activity.

The enthusiasm of young people to enter the agriculture industry is evident in the successful uptake of the Young Farmers Entrant Scheme and dramatically increasing numbers of young people studying agriculture-related subjects at our colleges. We will seek to build further on this success, and continue to develop the Young Farmers Entrant Scheme.

Dairy farming is a capital-intensive sector. We will look to provide an Investment Grant/Loan to dairy farmers to aid their investment plans in promoting efficiency and increasing productivity.

The priority given by the One Wales Government to TB Eradication must be continued by the next Government. The foot cannot now be taken off the accelerator, otherwise Eradication will never be achieved. TB will be tackled in cattle and wildlife.

Wales needs to provide Veterinary Education. We will commission a full Feasibility study into the establishment of a Veterinary School in Wales.

We will continue to put pressure on the UK Government to introduce a Supermarket Ombudsman.

We will ensure Local Authorities will implement in full Welsh Government’s new TAN 6 planning policy for housing in rural areas. However, in the next Assembly we will also fundamentally review the planning system and create a new Planning Law for Wales – to support development, not hinder it.

We will continue to promote on-farm renewable energy production and energy efficiency measures.

Forestry The Welsh Assembly Government’s National Forest Estate will remain in public ownership.

We will continue to invest in this woodland to ensure public access, an economic resource and greater environmental benefits. We will create the first Welsh Forestry Act. We will look to use this public land for other public goods – creation of renewable energy and sites for mobile phone masts to improve coverage in rural areas.

There will be considerable investment in on-farm woodland creation, thus contributing to greenhouse gas mitigation.

Fishing We will continue to develop our coastal fishery and look to Common Fisheries Policy reform to enable Wales to manage our fishery more sustainably, for the benefit of our fishermen and our marine life.

We will invest in quayside processing and refrigeration facilities to enable our fishermen to develop more local markets for their catch.

Our inland angling sector is an important economic sector and our rivers are important natural and recreational habitats. We believe it is time to implement the Assembly’s Sustainability Committee’s Report Recommendation and to create a licencing scheme for all river users.

Food Wales needs to produce more food and a wider variety of food. We need to process more of that food in Wales, to increase its economic value to Wales.

We will continue to support the Food Sector and build on the branding of Wales as a country producing excellent quality food.

We will pilot ‘Square Meal, Square Mile’ to improve the public procurement of local food. This would see one hospital or a group of hospitals in one area buying local food. The same could be replicated for schools and public sector canteens.

For more information go to www.plaidcymru.org