Following comments by the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in the House of Commons on 23 June 2022, which suggested that the definition of 'best and most versatile agricultural land' is 3b and above, does the Welsh Government also have any intention of changing the definition?
Answered by Minister for Climate Change | Answered on 05/08/2022
Agricultural land of grades 1, 2 and 3a of the Agricultural Land Classification system (ALC) is the best and most versatile and should be conserved as a finite resource for the future. Planning Policy Wales states considerable weight should be given to protecting such land from development, because of its special importance. There are no proposals to change the grades forming this category