Sustainable farming and our land: simplifying agricultural support

RTPI Cymru submitted the following response to the Welsh Government's consultation on simplifying agricultural support for when the UK leaves the European Union (EU) on 31 December 2020, which includes proposals to continue and simplify support for farmers and the wider rural economy.

With regard to the ‘Domestic Rural Development Proposals’, we would agree to replacing the EU mission, objectives and priorities for rural development support with Welsh specific definitions for rural development. There is support for the four environmental principles and the objectives based on the objective to maintain and enhance the resilience of ecosystems and the benefits they provide. These will serve to meet the needs of present generations of people without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs and contribute to the achievement of the well-being goals in section 4 of the Well-being of Future Generations Act. 

In addition to the above, the need to plan for long term food production and security and wider climate change/action is now more important than ever, at a time when the UK leaves the European Union and we are facing a climate and health crisis.  Welsh Government should seek to reduce the loss of the best agricultural land by ensuring that planning policy on this topic is up to date, with long term objectives.  We would suggest that Technical Advice Note 6 (2010) is reviewed to ensure it is serving rural areas and dealing with current key issues.