“Where’s the beef?” in support for the rural economy in the Welsh Government’s Economic Policy?

Responding to Welsh Government Economy Minister, Vaughan Gething MS’s Economic Mission, Priorities for a Stronger Economy, published recently, Director CLA Cymru, Victoria Bond says, “It’s time to drop the platitudes and political jargon and think more strategically about how the rural economy really works as a complex network of diversified businesses often built around – or rubbing shoulders with - the core of essential agriculture.”

“The Welsh Government must give rural businesses a crystal clear message about how they will support them. We’re calling on the Welsh Government to develop a robust rural economic strategy to inject confidence across Wales and ensure widely distributed countryside communities in vast tracts of rural Wales do not become a Welsh economic wasteland.”

“Ahead of the Senedd Cross Party Group (CPG) on Rural Growth’s report following its inquiry into Rural Productivity, this policy document is a lost opportunity to address major issues raised in the inquiry.”

“Our farms form the backbone of a complex and diverse rural economy, vital to all parts of Wales. A new approach to supporting sustainable agriculture and land management needs to be at the heart of today’s Welsh Government economic policy that prioritises green growth. Farmers and land managers cannot be left in doubt about their critical role: land management has important roles in natural resource management, combating climate change, bio-conservation and landscape management, and as a foundation of a dynamic, diverse and entrepreneurial rural economy.”