Neil McEvoy: Leanne Wood.
Neil McEvoy: With the opportunity of local government reform, will the First Minister urgently take steps to ensure that a new regional structure is put in place, to allow flawed local development plans, with unnecessary use of greenfield sites, to be amended to avoid developer-led urban sprawl? Because, if you recall, on 24 April 2012, First Minister, you said that it was completely untrue that you had...
Neil McEvoy: Everybody in the Plaid group wishes the Wales football team and all supporters a successful, enjoyable and safe trip to France. Reaching the Euro finals is a dream come true for many of us, and the achievement of the players, the manager and the FAW has been enormous, and I just really hope they go to France, play football with a smile on their faces and do us all proud. I’m really glad...
Neil McEvoy: 1. Will the First Minister make a statement on local development plans? OAQ(5)0054(FM)[R]
Neil McEvoy: Sorry, Presiding Officer, do I read out the one in writing?
Neil McEvoy: Thank you.
Neil McEvoy: Thank you. First Minister, the integrity of, and the people of Wales’s confidence in this Assembly are based on being able to believe what is said in this Chamber. In April 2012, you stated in public that Labour would implement its local development plan. Labour’s plans included allowing big business to concrete huge swathes of greenfield sites and, as a result, I published that you had...
Neil McEvoy: Last week, you stated that you did not say what you have already said on the record.
Neil McEvoy: Do you think that it is at all acceptable for Wales’s First Minister to come here and deny what you’ve already said? Will you set the record straight?
Neil McEvoy: Point of order.
Neil McEvoy: Presiding Officer, am I right in—
Neil McEvoy: Am I right in—
Neil McEvoy: 5. How will Cardiff’s local development plan improve the local environment? OAQ(5)0006(ERA)
Neil McEvoy: Okay. I think the reality is that the plan forecasts huge increases in traffic, there is mass building on greenfield sites, and most people consider it to be an environmental disaster. The question to you is: how do you think that the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 could be used to improve the local environment in relation to the local development plan?
Neil McEvoy: I just want to add one thing to the debate, really, when we talk about ministerial codes and codes of conduct, because, constitutionally, there’s one person in this building who is not affected by any of this, and that is the First Minister. Now, in terms of democratic accountability, that cannot be right, because if some of us think that, perhaps, the First Minister may have misled this...
Neil McEvoy: Diolch. What we have here is a democratic Chamber where we all should come and listen to people giving their points of view, no matter what the points of view are, no matter which party, and I ask every single Member to respect that. Right, moving on. So, if there is a dispute, as I mentioned earlier, there is absolutely no recourse for any member of the public, any Member here, and that...
Neil McEvoy: I have finished.
Neil McEvoy: What I did say, to qualify, was ‘potentially’—’potential untruths’, shall we say? I don’t know. I’ll go with your guidance, Chair.
Neil McEvoy: As my colleague said earlier, the World Health Organization states that 29,000 people in the UK are affected by premature deaths due to air pollution, and 1,500 by road accidents. Listening to what has been said around the Chamber in this debate is very worrying, and it’s good to hear the warm words from every AM. But, I think probably part of the reason I’m stood here now, actually, is...
Neil McEvoy: Well, in speaking for my constituency, the action taken by your Government and your council—[Interruption.]—your Government and your council—is to increase air pollution where we live. And that is the irony—that is the irony—because you may very well monitor it but your policies increase it, and that is the key point. Now, I’ll give you some local examples. Llantrisant Road—if...
