The case for handing Crown Estate assets in Wales to the Welsh Government is no longer merely persuasive. It is overwhelming. Wales is being denied control over wealth created by its own land, coastline and seas, and that must end.

The figures should make ministers in London uncomfortable. Profits from Crown Estate assets in Wales have surged from £8.7m in 2020-21 to £210m in 2025-26. That extraordinary rise has been generated by Welsh resources, yet Wales is still left waiting at the door while others decide how the proceeds are handled.

This is indefensible. Wales carries the responsibilities that come with its coastline, riverbeds, seabed and renewable energy potential, but key powers and revenues remain out of Welsh hands. These are not distant, technical assets. They shape coastal access, marine development, local authority finances and the future of green energy. Decisions about them should be made in Wales, for Wales.

Scotland has already proved the point. Since 2017, Crown Estate assets there have been managed for Scotland, with income reinvested for Scottish priorities. Wales deserves no less. If devolution is to be taken seriously, it cannot stop at the shoreline while profits from Welsh waters are directed elsewhere.

The need is urgent in rural and coastal counties such as Ceredigion, Pembrokeshire, Gwynedd and Powys, where councils are struggling to protect basic services and communities are being asked to absorb ever greater pressures. Several councils have already backed devolution of the Crown Estate. They are right. Money raised from Welsh assets should be working for Welsh communities, not disappearing into a system that leaves Wales with too little say.

This is not a constitutional gesture. It is a practical demand for investment and control. Managed in Wales, Crown Estate revenues could help fund coastal protection, housing, community regeneration, public services and the clean energy transition. Just as importantly, decisions would be made closer to the people who live with the consequences.

Those defending the current arrangement will say the system works. For whom? It does not work for councils paying lease fees for assets on their own doorstep. It does not work for coastal communities watching wealth leave their shores. And it does not work for a nation expected to lead on renewable energy while lacking control over the assets that make that future possible.

The UK Government should stop resisting the inevitable. The status quo is outdated, unfair and increasingly hard to justify. Devolving the Crown Estate to Wales would not answer every funding challenge, but it would mark a serious step towards justice, responsibility and genuine devolution.

Wales should control the assets rooted in its land and seas. The profits they generate should stay here, strengthening the communities that create them. The demand is simple: Welsh assets, Welsh decisions, Welsh benefit.