English: Thank you very much, John Griffiths. I'm really looking forward to working with the committee on this, so I'll be delighted to come and give evidence to the committee on their inquiry. This is a big issue right across Wales, actually. Some areas, though, have a real hotspot for it. The pilot was chosen because we had been in conversation with Gwynedd Council for some considerable time before hitting on a pilot about the problems in Gwynedd. Gwynedd has one of the highest levels of second homes, as in people who aren't using them for their primary residence, in Wales, and it's a concern that the council had expressed to me in my previous role as the Minister for Housing and Local Government on a number of occasions. So, we were able to work well with Gwynedd Council, who were able to work with their community to make sure that the community wished to have the pilot. So, that's how the pilot came to be. We were also very keen to pilot it in an area with a high level of second houses and holiday lets, and in a Welsh-speaking area, for obvious reasons, because some of the concerns are around what happens to the Welsh language if you have a large number of people who don't live all the time in the community. I'd just like to make the point, though, that you have absolutely hit on, that during the pandemic, people became aware that they could work from pretty much anywhere as long as they had a decent broadband connection, and are moving out of the cities. My own personal point of view is that Wales is a welcoming nation. If you want to come and make your home in Wales and integrate with the local community and put your kids in the local school, you are very welcome. That is a completely different thing to saying that what you want to do is to have a lovely house on a coastal path somewhere, overlooking a beautiful sea, that you're going to come to three weekends a year. That is a very different kettle of fish altogether. Expanding our communities because people want to come and live and work and be in them is one thing. Emptying them out, or hollowing them out, because we have a large number of houses that are largely empty, is quite another. We know that we want sustainable communities. Sustainable communities are communities that can sustain things like shops and pubs and community facilities. If there aren't enough people in the community to do that, then the whole community has that tipping point that you mentioned. So, the pilot is there to see whether the interventions that we are suggesting will make a difference to that, whether the people of Dwyfor are happy with the interventions or have other things to suggest, and the data coming back from it will be invaluable. It's an action learning contract that we're letting for the data from the pilot. So, I'll be delighted to be able to share that with Members of the Senedd and with the committee, John, as the data starts to come in, so we have a dynamic set of data that we can share.
Welsh: Diolch yn fawr iawn, John Griffiths. Rwy'n edrych ymlaen yn fawr at weithio gyda'r pwyllgor ar hyn, felly byddaf wrth fy modd yn dod i roi tystiolaeth i'r pwyllgor ar eu hymchwiliad. Mae hwn yn fater mawr ledled Cymru, mewn gwirionedd. Fodd bynnag, mae gan rai ardaloedd fan poblogaidd iawn ar ei gyfer. Dewiswyd y cynllun treialu am ein bod wedi bod yn sgwrsio gyda Chyngor Gwynedd ers cryn amser cyn taro ar gynllun treialu, am y problemau yng Ngwynedd. Mae gan Wynedd un o'r lefelau uchaf o ail gartrefi, hynny yw pobl nad ydyn nhw yn eu defnyddio ar gyfer eu prif breswylfa, yng Nghymru, ac mae'n bryder y mae'r cyngor wedi mynegi i mi yn fy swyddogaeth flaenorol fel y Gweinidog Tai a Llywodraeth Leol ar sawl achlysur. Felly, roeddem yn gallu gweithio'n dda gyda Chyngor Gwynedd, a oedd yn gallu gweithio gyda'u cymuned i sicrhau bod y gymuned yn dymuno cael y cynllun treialu. Felly, dyna sut y daeth y cynllun treialu i fodolaeth. Roeddem hefyd yn awyddus iawn i'w dreialu mewn ardal gyda lefel uchel o ail dai ac eiddo a osodir ar gyfer gwyliau, ac mewn ardal Gymraeg ei hiaith, am resymau amlwg, oherwydd mae rhai o'r pryderon yn ymwneud â'r hyn sy'n digwydd i'r Gymraeg os oes gennych chi nifer fawr o bobl nad ydyn nhw yn byw drwy'r amser yn y gymuned. Hoffwn wneud y pwynt, serch hynny, eich bod wedi taro'n llwyr ar y ffaith, yn ystod y pandemig, daeth pobl yn ymwybodol y gallen nhw weithio o unrhyw le cyn belled â bod ganddyn nhw gysylltiad band eang digon da, ac maen nhw'n symud allan o'r dinasoedd. Fy safbwynt personol i yw bod Cymru'n genedl groesawgar. Os ydych chi eisiau dod i wneud eich cartref yng Nghymru ac integreiddio â'r gymuned leol a rhoi eich plant yn yr ysgol leol, mae croeso mawr i chi. Mae hynny'n beth hollol wahanol i ddweud mai'r hyn yr ydych chi eisiau ei wneud yw cael tŷ hyfryd ar lwybr arfordirol yn rhywle, sy'n edrych dros fôr hardd, y byddwch chi'n dod iddo dri phenwythnos y flwyddyn. Mae hynny'n beth arall yn gyfan gwbl. Mae ehangu ein cymunedau oherwydd bod pobl eisiau dod i fyw a gweithio a bod ynddyn nhw yn un peth. Mae eu gwagio, neu eu cafnu nhw, oherwydd bod gennym nifer fawr o dai sy'n wag i raddau helaeth, yn beth arall. Gwyddom ein bod eisiau cymunedau cynaliadwy. Mae cymunedau cynaliadwy yn gymunedau sy'n gallu cynnal pethau fel siopau a thafarndai a chyfleusterau cymunedol. Os nad oes digon o bobl yn y gymuned i wneud hynny, yna mae gan y gymuned gyfan y pwynt tyngedfennol hwnnw y gwnaethoch chi sôn amdano. Felly, mae'r cynllun treialu yno i weld a fydd yr ymyriadau yr ydym yn eu hawgrymu yn gwneud gwahaniaeth i hynny, p'un a yw pobl Dwyfor yn hapus â'r ymyriadau neu a oes ganddyn nhw bethau eraill i'w hawgrymu, a bydd y data sy'n dod yn ôl ohono yn amhrisiadwy. Mae'n gontract dysgu gweithredol yr ydym yn ei osod ar gyfer y data o'r cynllun treialu. Felly, byddaf yn falch iawn o allu rhannu hynny gydag Aelodau'r Senedd a gyda'r pwyllgor, John, wrth i'r data ddechrau dod i mewn, fel bod gennym set ddeinamig o ddata y gallwn ei rannu.