00:00I can all love, James Evans.
00:02Diolch, Presiding Officer.
00:03Cabinet Secretary, you mentioned green growth in your statement,
00:06but green growth does come at a cost to communities.
00:10Many people in Brecon and Radnorshire
00:12are very concerned about the industrialisation of mid Wales
00:15by large-scale wind turbines.
00:17The First Minister and the Prime Minister's visit
00:20to an onshore wind farm caused alarm
00:22to many in my constituency.
00:24And also, Ed Miliband's rhetoric isn't really
00:26helping that either.
00:28Cabinet Secretary, will this Welsh Government
00:31stand up for the people of mid Wales
00:34and stop the industrialisation of the countryside?
00:38Or will you stand with big corporations
00:40and allow wind farms to be put all over my constituency
00:44on the road to net zero?
00:47I think the important point here is
00:50that Welsh Government is on a journey towards net zero,
00:53and renewable energy will absolutely
00:55play an important part of that.
00:57But there are a range of sources of renewable energy.
00:59We've talked a lot this afternoon
01:01about floating offshore wind.
01:03There's more traditional offshore wind, solar.
01:06We haven't really talked much this afternoon,
01:08although I've got a statement on energy next week,
01:10so we might get into that a bit more then,
01:12about community generation and so on.
01:15So, there are a whole range of ways
01:18in which we would go about our journey to net zero
01:21and delivering on our approach to renewable energy.
01:26What is the most important thing, really,
01:27is that communities are always involved and engaged,
01:31and that consultation process is really important.
01:33And I know that consultation can take time.
01:37Developers find the time sometimes frustrating,
01:40but I think that that is something in the system
01:42that we have to absolutely respect
01:44to give communities their chance to have their say,
01:47and then also to make sure that the community benefits
01:50which are aligned to that are sufficient and appropriate.
01:54And I think that's one of the things
01:56that Tradyngwydd Cymru gives us a real opportunity
01:59to consider, and that's community benefits.
02:02So, with Welsh Government developing these projects,
02:05we'll have the opportunity, I think,
02:06to think differently about community benefits,
02:09and I'm keen to hear colleagues' views on that.
02:12And diolch i as go fein.
02:14I thank the Cabinet Secretary.
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