MAKING A DECENT LIVING

I welcome the new report (from the National Assembly's rural development sub committee) that recognises that for our hill farmers to survive and make a decent living that they will need new sources of income. With the right level of support (and encouragement) there may be real opportunities for our hill farmers to diversify into areas such as carbon management, renewable energy, and tourism. The report recognises that there is a need for much more help with planning and research.

The committee's seventh month inquiry wants to change the established view of the uplands as a physical barrier in the heart of Wales. Our uplands have been rightly identified as the "backbone" of Wales. The report also recognises that unless action is taken to stem the flow of young farmers out of its communities then there will be a real rural farming crisis. Assembly members on the committee have recognised that our uplands should be "a resource pool" which the whole of Wales can draw on, not just for food and recreation, but also clean water, clean air and clean energy.

Small scale green energy schemes along the lines of what has been developed in the Green Valleys project in the Brecon Beacons, which generates power from 10 wild mountain streams and aims to make the Brecon area a net exporter of electricity, has won (one of three) awards for helping to a £1m prize for saving carbon emissions at the local level, from Nesta, a lottery-funded body, which encourages innovation in the UK, may provide the key to helping our hill farmers to develop alternative income streams, secure a decent living and stay in the farming business.

The Green Valleys project uses small scale hydro-power which does not rely on a traditional dam, but uses what’s called micro-hydro, which actually diverts up to 50% of a stream's flow into buried pipes that lead to camouflaged generators. The Green Valleys project plans to build 40 more of such micro-power stations. Nesta estimates that with advice from energy advice surgeries, super-efficient vehicles and wood-burning stoves, 13 local communities in Brecon have cut carbon emissions by about 20% in a year.

The Green Valleys project (which was established in May 2009) is a not for profit Community Interest Company based in the Brecon Beacons National Park, which takes ideal geography and topography for small scale hydro-electric generation by making use of the small streams and steep sided valleys within the National Park area. The project was Wales' only finalist in NESTA's Big Green Challenge competition. This is creative thinking, combined with local ownership which is benefiting the local community - another excellent example of people motivating themselves.