Issue - meetings

In accordance with the Notice of Motion received under Section 4.19 of the Constitution, Councillor Gruffydd Williams will propose as follows:-

We note the increasing threats to farmers and the farming world from unelected super-national bodies that want to force them off their land.

This was seen at work recently in the Netherlands, Ireland and other places, and now the Welsh Government wants to transform 10% of agricultural land in Wales into forests.  This reduces our organic food supply once again even though nearly half the population here are living in poverty.

In light of all this, I call on Cyngor Gwynedd to commit to support the Welsh family farm that contributes so much to the Gwynedd economy, which is also a way of maintaining the unique linguistic and cultural identity of the county, and that Cyngor Gwynedd calls on the Welsh Government to reconsider the decision to transform 10% of agricultural land into forests.

That Cyngor Gwynedd commits to support the Welsh family farm that contributes so much to the Gwynedd economy, which is also a way of maintaining the unique linguistic and cultural identity of the county, and calls on the Welsh Government to reconsider its decision to insist that every agricultural unit has to assign 10% of their lands as forests.

Submitted - the following notice of motion by Councillor Gruffydd Williams, under Section 4.19 of the Constitution, and it was seconded:-

"We note the increasing threats to farmers and the farming world from unelected supra-national bodies that want to force them off their land.

This was seen at work recently in the Netherlands, Ireland and other places, and now the Welsh Government wants to transform 10% of agricultural land in Wales into woodland. This reduces our organic food supply once again even though nearly half the population here are living in poverty.

In light of all this, I call on Cyngor Gwynedd to commit to support the Welsh family farm that contributes so much to the Gwynedd economy, which is also a way of maintaining the unique linguistic and cultural identity of the county, and that Cyngor Gwynedd calls on the Welsh Government to reconsider the decision to transform 10% of agricultural land into woodland."

The member also noted that the reference to 'organic food supply' in the English translation of his motion should be corrected to read 'locally sourced food supply'.

An amendment to the proposal was proposed, as follows:

"That Cyngor Gwynedd commits to support the Welsh family farm that contributes so much to the Gwynedd economy, which is also a way of maintaining the unique linguistic and cultural identity of the county, and to call on the Welsh Government to reconsider its decision to insist that every agricultural unit has to assign 10% of their lands as forests."

The reasons for the decision were noted as follows:-

·         The two first paragraphs of the original motion referred to some sort of international conspiracy by supra-national bodies, and it was not believed that they were relevant to the motion at all, and therefore they should be deleted.

·         Having been given to understand by the farmers' unions that around 7.5% of land that was currently being farmed was woodland, that reaching 10% was not difficult work, but there was a need to be flexible in terms of the 10% as not all farms had land that was suitable for tree planting.

·         It was important to plant the right trees in the right place, and a blanket policy would make it difficult for farmers to implement.

·         As tenants would not be able to turn farming land into woodland without the landlord's approval, this could also be problematic.

·         It was therefore suggested that the Government should be asked to reconsider its decision to insist that every agricultural unit has to allocate 10% of its land as woodland.

The amendment was discussed. Support was expressed for the improvement by some members on grounds of:-

·         That the 2 first paragraphs linked the motion, which in essence was quite sensible, to some extreme right-wing Anglo-american conspiracy theories, which significantly weakened the seriousness of the remainder of the motion.  It would be repugnant for the Council to be associated in any way with the poisonous international politics that believes that we are controlled by undemocratic bodies,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11