What is a community made of? Wales is known for its tight-knit communities. I see it every day in Torfaen, and it is the case across Monmouthshire too.

The places where we come together locally give a community its sense of identity: pubs, village halls, clubs, shops, places of worship. So every time we lose a place like this, especially one that has been around for a long time, we lose something special – more than just the service that place might have provided.

So my visit to Grosmont to hear about the fate of the village shop was bittersweet. To hear that the shop had to closed after being so central to the village was frustrating, but it was also so encouraging to speak to some of the locals working to bring it back.

Community and co-operative ownership – supporting passionate people like the residents of Grosmont to take control of the assets, businesses or services they rely on is important to me, and it is in Plaid Cymru’s DNA.

The closure of Grosmont’s shop is just one example of how Wales’s community assets have been allowed to dwindle despite a great enthusiasm in many communities to keep them going. But Plaid Cymru wants to change that. The Plaid Cymru Welsh Government will soon be bringing in legislation for a Community Right to Buy. If passed by the Senedd, it would allow communities to put the destiny of the assets they benefit from into their own hands if that asset is being sold.

This has huge potential in Wales’ more rural areas where something like a village shop or pub can be far more than a place to buy a pint of milk, or a pint of beer. These places can be a lifeline, a place to meet, a noticeboard, a reason to come into the village, an outlet for a local farmer, or a local job.

The Plaid Cymru Government is taking action in towns as well, because our highstreets can give us the same sense of community that our rural shops do, but for too long they’ve been disadvantaged in favour of out-of-town shopping. Highstreet leisure and hospitality businesses will shortly benefit from a 30% cut in business rates, and Monmouth Bus Station will benefit from remodelling thanks to new Welsh Government funding.

So what is a community made of? Its people, and the places that bring them together. Plaid Cymru will fight to protect both.