The Welsh Government’s 2017 Taking Forward Wales’ Management of Sustainable Resources consultation put forward 56 proposals relating to a diverse range of issues, including forestry, agriculture, public access and littering, and posed 40 questions.

On 4th April 2019, Hannah Blythyn AM, the Welsh Government’s Deputy Minister for Housing & Local Government, told the National Assembly for Wales that in response to the consultation she the Welsh Government intended, amongst other things, to:

• Introduce multi use paths (allowing cycling and horse riding on footpaths)
• Reduce the restrictions associated with open access land
• Lift the restrictions on cycling and horse riding, hang-gliding and paragliding, bathing or using a vessel or sailboard on natural bodies of water. 
• Retain restrictions on use of manmade bodies of water, organised games and camping.
• Extend access land to the coast and cliffs
• Enable temporary diversions and exclusions to be applied across access land.
• Create a new type of public right of way - ‘cycle paths’
• Remove the anomaly that prevents organised cycling events on bridleways
• Enforce placing dogs on a short fixed length lead in the vicinity of livestock at all times of year                 
• Amend technical provisions around creating, diverting and extinguishing rights of way
• Allow more flexibility around livestock control                     
• Amend the requirement for a decadal review of access maps to a process of continual review                              
• Repeal some areas of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act that are proving costly and inefficient                              
• Change the role of Local Access Forums

The Welsh Government has since announced that three expert groups will be established to look at Changes to Open Access / CRoW Land, Flexibility on public paths and Communicating access rights.

The FUW has applied to sit on all three groups, but has made it clear that its views on access remain unchanged since the response to the 2017 consultation paper was submitted. 

In particular, the FUW argues that the Welsh Government’s own statistics show that the massive increase in access to the countryside that has occurred since 2000, through the creation of new paths and open access legislation, has had no noticeable impact on public health, and that the focus should therefore be on encouraging responsible use of what’s already there rather than merely increasing access.

The Farmers’ Union of Wales played its part in supporting constituencies across Wales by organising, in partnership with NFU and YFC on occasions, a total of 12 hustings to allow the people of Wales to question their respective MPs.  Specifically, it provided an opportunity for FUW members to question the candidates on their plans for agriculture both nationally and locally.

The Conserative Party won 365 seats across the UK, 47 more than in 2017, while Labour won 203 seats, the Scotish National Party (SNP) 48 seats and the Liberal Democrats just 11 seats. Plaid Cymru retained their four seats in Wales.

So where do we stand now?  Briefly, it seems now that as the Conservatives have a majority Government, the revised Withdrawal Agreement is likely to be passed by Parliament and we will formally leave the EU on the 31st January 2020 and enter a transition period until the end of 2020 during which all negotiations and implementation of policies such as border controls must be completed.

As well as continuing to argue for a close trading arrangement with the EU, the FUW will also be fighting any moves which introduce unfair competition from farmers in other countries, especially where those countries have health, hygiene, welfare and environmental standards which would be illegal here in the UK.  Such priorities relating directly to Brexit are made clear in the FUW’s 2019 Manifesto, which also highlights key priorities such as long term funding for agriculture, how climate change must be tackled without compromising food production and the need to ensure TB is recognised as a threat to international trade.

The FUW is committed to lobbying and working with all those in Westminster to ensure that Welsh agriculture and Wales’ family farms receive the attention and respect that they warrant.

At a recent meeting with First Minister, Mark Drakeford, and Minister for Environmental, Energy and Rural Affairs, Lesley Griffiths, the Farmers’ Union of Wales called for an independent review of the current Bovine TB evidence base.

Alongside the call for an independent review, the FUW presented the First Minister with the latest TB statistics for Wales, including the significant rise in the number of cattle slaughtered.  The First Minister also heard how the TB testing regime used in an Enhanced Management Herd can mean 5 weeks of work just to test cattle on a family farm over an 18 month period. 

During the meeting, the FUW called for an independent review of the current bovine TB evidence base with a view to assessing the suitability of current wildlife control measures and to make recommendations on future badger culling policies in Wales.   The union called for funding to be made available through the EU transition fund. 

If accepted, the review would benefit from evidence of bovine TB in wildlife, as reported by Badger Found Dead, spoligotyping to identify the TB strain and the potential of whole genome sequencing in cattle and badgers. 

The FUW’s call for an independent review by analysts with no connection to the issue is an approach which has been utilised successfully in other sectors.  

The First Minister was also reminded of the substantial physical, mental and financial pressures conferred upon farmers due to bovine TB and the potential risks that it may bring to future trade relations.