SUPPORT must be offered to businesses in rural areas of Wales as well as cities and towns, Caerphilly AM Hefin David has said.

Speaking in the Senedd last week during a debate on the so-called foundational economy, which involves essential services such as health, education, infrastructure and utilities, the Labour AM said attention must be paid to rural areas in the South Wales Valleys and further afield.

“In preparation for this debate today I took a walk down Hanbury Road and High Street in Bargoed and I reflected on the businesses that operate there, from Rossi’s cafe and Chisholms’ carpets to Thomas’s pet and garden supplies, which has been there since the 1950s,” he said.

“I took time to appreciate their existence, the role that they’ve played in my background and in my life as I went to school at Heolddu.”

Saying locally-owned and run businesses are “the necessary foundation to our local economies”, Mr David said these kinds of firms were able to “grow and contribute to regeneration within our town centres”.

“We should consider our communities from Cynon to Blaenau Gwent as the northern valleys, connected and interdependent places and not spokes linking to a vibrant city hub,” he said. “By doing so, we will gain a better understanding of how we can regenerate our economic prosperity, tackle infrastructural challenges, and grow social capital.

“A foundational economy should stretch across the northern valleys.”