ENERGY, WATER, THE CROWN ESTATES

News that a future Plaid Government will formally request that responsibility over the country's natural resources be transferred to Wales should come as no surprise. The request for devolution of decision-making over large-scale energy production; control of the nation's water resources; and control and ownership over the vast Crown Estates is absolutely the right call.

The transfer of these responsibilities would give Wales the ability to properly plan its energy and water needs for the crucial 50 years ahead and would build our nation's resilience and reduce dependency on external un-secure energy sources. Gaining control over the nation's resources would give Welsh businesses the opportunity to take full advantage of Welsh natural resources in the decades to come.

This is a key election issue which clearly shows that only Plaid has the ambition to see all our communities really benefit from our own natural resources while the old Westminster parties are more than happy to sit back and let decisions about our future remain in London. Our country is blessed with a huge energy potential which we need to develop, yet control over many parts of it remains in Westminster.

It cannot be right that our National Assembly continues to have no control over an area of such importance and potential to Wales. We need Wales to become a world leader in sustainable green energy production, and we could also create thousands of green jobs.

However,unlike in Scotland, decisions over all large energy projects have been deliberately retained in London by the previous Labour Government. The transfer of these responsibilities would give Wales the ability to properly plan its energy and water needs in the crucial 50 years ahead, building our nation's resilience and reducing dependency on external energy sources.

At present countries all around the world are very busy planning their energy needs, we need the control to do the same. Wales needs to have responsibility over its resources in order to make the decisions that will help develop Welsh businesses in a key growth sector.

The old New Labour Government in Westminster made sure that control over water and large energy projects was specifically kept under the control of Westminster. And this situation has continued under the current Conservative–Liberal Democrat Government. Plaid's manifesto will include a pledge to seek control of our own natural resources.

If it's good enough for Scotland, then it's more than good enough for Wales. The Westminster-based parties are sending a very clear message in the coming election that they clearly don’t believe the people of Wales are capable of taking control over our own natural resources.

So the clear message of this election is that - if you vote Plaid, we will demand responsibility over our nation's natural resources in order to ensure our nation can take full advantage of our wind, water, land and sea.