English: I'd like to thank my fellow Members for bringing this item to debate. As many here already know, I'm disheartened to see so many historical buildings across Wales being abandoned and then, consequently, torn down and demolished to be replaced by newer, nondescript buildings that do not contribute to the identity of an area. Removing buildings such as former churches and chapels ultimately changes our urban landscape, and, in my mind, is having a negative effect on the way we relate and identify ourselves with the place we live. Moreover, we are losing our tangible connection to our own history. Whilst museums do provide appropriate examples, as we develop our urban areas, we risk eroding the identity of our communities. Personally, and as has already been said, religious buildings are very much a part of our community, and they have provided a place of security and hope for generations of people through some of the most troubling times of our nation's history. As we remove our places of worship, we are unintentionally signalling that our loss of religiosity is a good thing, which in my mind is a sad state of affairs, because it normalises the view that our spirituality and connection to a higher power are no longer relevant. In my home village of Llantwit Fardre, the Bethesda Calvinistic Methodist chapel and the green corrugated iron St Andrew's church are now but distant memories. I'll never forget Trinity Calvinistic Methodist chapel and the impact that it had on me when I drove around the corner one day to see the building that had been in my community since 1913 was, without warning to the rest of us in the village, just a pile of bricks on the ground. All of these buildings contributed to the history of my village and shaped it in one way or another, and now I fear that the next generation and people moving into the area will see my home village as just one massive housing estate without a history or distinct identity of its own. I believe that, whilst communities may have moved away from worshipping in these buildings, and so their original use has faded, we should not be so ready to allow their destruction, because there's no doubt in my mind that communities still want and would welcome them being saved and repurposed, still serving the community in the spirit in which they were built. I would also argue that organisations that own these religious buildings would welcome their reuse rather than their demolition and would be willing to offer their help and services to do so in one way or another. With this in mind, I want to emphasise that as a nation that recognises the importance of the well-being of our communities, we need to do more to help them repurpose these religious and other historic buildings. Recently, I met with a housing association concerning their plans to demolish an old school in my region, and one of the reasons why they're doing this instead of renovating it is because of the building's poor energy efficiency and the lack of financial support to do anything to improve it. Given this and the unprecedented need to build an energy-efficient future, we need to provide a more suitable level of public resource for communities, agencies and religious groups to upgrade the energy efficiency of these buildings and to help them meet decarbonisation targets. Finally, as has already been mentioned, I think that given the value of religious buildings to the community and their potential value to tourism, such as pilgrimage routes and historic trails, we should be providing clear evidence and support that communities can repurpose or rejuvenate their religious buildings and enable them to continue to serve their communities before any more are lost. Thank you, acting Llywydd, and I would urge my fellow Members to support this motion. Thank you.
Welsh: Hoffwn ddiolch i fy nghyd-Aelodau am gyflwyno'r eitem hon i'w thrafod. Fel y gŵyr nifer yma eisoes, rwy'n siomedig o weld cynifer o adeiladau hanesyddol ledled Cymru yn cael eu gadael yn segur ac yna, o ganlyniad, yn cael eu chwalu a'u dymchwel er mwyn codi adeiladau mwy newydd a mwy dinod yn eu lle, adeiladau nad ydynt yn cyfrannu at hunaniaeth ardal. Mae cael gwared ar adeiladau fel hen eglwysi a chapeli yn newid ein tirwedd drefol yn y pen draw, ac yn fy marn i, mae'n cael effaith negyddol ar y ffordd yr ydym yn cysylltu ac yn uniaethu â'r mannau lle'r ydym yn byw. At hynny, rydym yn colli ein cysylltiad diriaethol â'n hanes ein hunain. Er bod amgueddfeydd yn darparu enghreifftiau priodol, wrth inni ddatblygu ein hardaloedd trefol, mae perygl inni erydu hunaniaeth ein cymunedau. Yn bersonol, ac fel y dywedwyd eisoes, mae adeiladau crefyddol yn rhan bwysig iawn o'n cymuned, ac maent wedi darparu lloches a gobaith i genedlaethau o bobl drwy rai o'r adegau mwyaf cythryblus yn hanes ein cenedl. Wrth inni gael gwared ar ein mannau addoli, rydym yn dynodi'n anfwriadol fod colli ein crefydd yn beth da, sydd yn fy marn i yn sefyllfa drist, oherwydd mae'n normaleiddio'r farn nad yw ein hysbrydolrwydd a'n cysylltiad â phŵer uwch yn berthnasol mwyach. Yn y pentref lle rwy'n byw, Llanilltud Faerdref, mae capel Methodistiaid Calfinaidd Bethesda ac eglwys haearn rhychiog gwyrdd Sant Andrew bellach yn atgofion pell. Nid anghofiaf gapel Methodistiaid Calfinaidd Trinity a'r effaith a gafodd arnaf pan yrrais rownd y gornel un diwrnod i weld yr adeilad a fu yn fy nghymuned ers 1913, heb rybudd i'r gweddill ohonom yn y pentref, yn ddim byd ond pentwr o frics ar y ddaear. Cyfrannodd pob un o'r adeiladau hyn at hanes fy mhentref a'i siapio mewn rhyw ffordd neu'i gilydd, a bellach rwy'n ofni y bydd y genhedlaeth nesaf a phobl sy'n symud i'r ardal yn gweld fy mhentref fel dim mwy nag ystâd enfawr o dai heb hanes na hunaniaeth unigryw ei hun. Er bod cymunedau o bosibl wedi cefnu ar addoli yn yr adeiladau hyn, a bod y rheswm dros eu defnydd gwreiddiol wedi pylu, ni ddylem fod mor barod i ganiatáu iddynt gael eu dinistrio, oherwydd nid oes amheuaeth yn fy meddwl i fod cymunedau'n dal i fod eu heisiau ac y byddent yn falch o'u gweld yn cael eu hachub a'u haddasu at ddibenion gwahanol, gan barhau i wasanaethu'r gymuned yn yr ysbryd y cawsant eu hadeiladu. Byddwn hefyd yn dadlau y byddai sefydliadau sy'n berchen ar yr adeiladau crefyddol hyn yn croesawu eu gweld yn cael eu hailddefnyddio yn hytrach na'u dymchwel ac y byddent yn barod i gynnig eu cymorth a'u gwasanaethau i wneud hynny mewn rhyw ffordd neu'i gilydd. Gyda hyn mewn golwg, hoffwn bwysleisio bod angen inni wneud mwy fel cenedl sy'n cydnabod pwysigrwydd llesiant ein cymunedau i'w helpu i addasu'r adeiladau crefyddol a hanesyddol eraill hyn at ddibenion gwahanol. Yn ddiweddar, cyfarfûm â chymdeithas dai ynglŷn â'u cynlluniau i ddymchwel hen ysgol yn fy rhanbarth, ac un o'r rhesymau pam y maent yn gwneud hyn yn hytrach na'i hadnewyddu yw oherwydd defnydd aneffeithlon yr adeilad o ynni a'r diffyg cymorth ariannol i wneud unrhyw beth i'w wella. O ystyried hyn a'r angen digynsail i adeiladu dyfodol sy'n defnyddio ynni'n effeithlon, mae angen inni ddarparu lefel fwy addas o adnoddau cyhoeddus i gymunedau, asiantaethau a grwpiau crefyddol allu uwchraddio effeithlonrwydd ynni'r adeiladau hyn a'u helpu i gyrraedd targedau datgarboneiddio. Yn olaf, fel y soniwyd eisoes, o ystyried gwerth adeiladau crefyddol i'r gymuned a'u gwerth posibl i dwristiaeth, fel teithiau pererindod a llwybrau hanesyddol, rwy'n credu y dylem ddarparu tystiolaeth a chefnogaeth glir y gall cymunedau addasu neu adfywio eu hadeiladau crefyddol a'u galluogi i barhau i wasanaethu eu cymunedau cyn y caiff rhagor eu colli. Diolch, Lywydd dros dro, a hoffwn annog fy nghyd-Aelodau i gefnogi'r cynnig hwn. Diolch.