Lee Waters: Thank you very much for that series of comments and questions. In terms of your last point, on the threat to urban trees, I'd said very clearly at the very beginning that we need to protect the trees that we have. Now, that doesn't mean that in every circumstance every tree can be preserved. One of the points that struck me during this exercise is that we have lost our relationship with our...
Lee Waters: Thank you very much, and that's an inspired idea of, 'Plant a tree in 2023 and another in 2024'. I will shamelessly take that off you, I think, Mike Hedges—I think that's brilliant. I will take that away and work up something. Thank you very, very much; that's an excellent suggestion. In terms of a forestry commission-type body, perhaps I was too coded in my response, but I did say looking...
Lee Waters: Perhaps I can give Buffy Williams points for trying to turn this into a discussion of the situation of flooding in Pentre. I'm afraid that's not something we explicitly looked at. I'd be happy to write on an update of how NRW are getting on with that review. But I would say what this exercise has highlighted is the important role of tree planting in alleviating and preventing flooding, and...
Lee Waters: Thank you for that constructive intervention, and I've called Darren Millar many things in my time, but never a major tree enthusiast. So, that's one to add to the list. I think he rightly points that there are policy tensions and sometimes absurd and unintended consequences, and he gives a very good example there. So, I would be very happy to look at that, because I think it is a problem.
Lee Waters: Thank you very much. I completely agree with all the points that she made. I think the pandemic has shown us the connection to nature that taking an interest in your garden and planting trees can have, and I've certainly seen it in the case of my own garden. If we are going to meet the challenge of climate change, as we've discussed in this Chamber in recent weeks, we need to significantly...
Lee Waters: Thank you. As I said when discussing transport, we need to make the right thing to do the easy thing to do, and I think that applies right across the behaviour change challenges for tackling climate change. I think the hedges and edges concept, which was brought to my attention by the Woodland Trust, who have done some really good work on this, is a really important one, because there is a...
Lee Waters: Thank you. Our clean air plan sets out ambitious measures to improve air quality. This includes implementation of new and cleaner technologies across a range of sectors. We're also committed to enhancing our air quality monitoring network and are considering new and emerging technologies as part of this work.
Lee Waters: Thank you. There's no doubt that decarbonising our bus stock is a huge challenge for us at the pace at which we need to do it in order to meet our net-zero emissions targets. I recently saw and got to sit behind the wheel of, in fact—a childhood dream come true—one of the new Newport electric buses. It's an incredibly impressive piece of kit—significantly more expensive than its petrol...
Lee Waters: Well, I always look forward to receiving letters from Huw Irranca-Davies and this one will be no exception. [Laughter.] I agree with him it's a very important Bill, and it's one we're very keen to proceed with as soon as we possibly can. He alludes to the fact that there is a tension between the available time we have dealing with coronavirus regulations and Brexit regulations, and our...
Lee Waters: Well, I think all businesses need to have an effective integrated transport system, and that includes sustainable transport as well as road transport. We've been very clear that this roads review is not saying we're never going to build any roads again. It is saying that the challenge that all of us face, businesses especially, of an unstable environment and an unstable economy from the...
Lee Waters: I think, yes, absolutely, and to apologise for not directly answering every part of her first question, let me address it now. We will absolutely be looking at air quality and what to do in situations where there is a real problem with air quality. Now, at the moment, the often default response to that is to build a bypass, and simply going on building bypasses not only diverts funding away...
Lee Waters: There isn't really a meeting of minds here on this one. Despite attempts by both of us to persuade the other one, I don't think we're going to. I don't think endless bypasses and motorway studies are going to help with the problem of congestion in the medium term and indeed, especially not with the problem of air quality or of carbon reduction. So, we flatly disagree, as we've discussed...
Lee Waters: Renewable generation in Wales already provides on average half of our electricity. Marine energy, including tidal lagoons, could play a part in delivering the energy ambition we set out in the Wales national marine plan.
Lee Waters: Thank you for that very fair question. I think Sioned Williams is right to point out that there was cross-party support in this Chamber for a Swansea tidal lagoon, and the UK Government, despite lots of noises, let us down. I also noted in the report of the Welsh affairs select committee this morning the cross-party support for the electrification of the railway line to Swansea, which we...
Lee Waters: Drwyddi draw, roedd cyfradd ailgylchu trefol Cymru yn 2019-20 yn uwch na’r targed o 64 y cant. O ran yr awdurdodau lleol sy’n methu’r targed ailgylchu, cynhelir proses i ddeall y rhesymau pam a chynllunio sut i daro’r targed yn y blynyddoedd wedi hynny. Bydd hynny’n sail i’r penderfyniad a ddylid codi dirwy neu beidio.
Lee Waters: Our clean air plan and plan to tackle roadside nitrogen dioxide concentrations set out ambitious cross-Government actions being delivered to address air pollution. We are working with Caerphilly County Borough Council to deliver compliance with nitrogen dioxide limits at A472 Hafodyrynys, alongside developing our own measures to ensure compliance at M4 Newport.
Lee Waters: The Welsh Government published 'Future Wales: the national plan 2040' in February 2021. This identifies 10 pre-assessed areas for wind energy developments of national significance. Detailed assessments supporting 'Future Wales' including the integrated sustainability appraisal, a habitats regulations assessment and an assessment of on-shore wind and solar energy potential in Wales have been...
Lee Waters: Formally.
Lee Waters: Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. Members are going to have to answer their grandchildren's questions one day as to what they did when the United Nations issued a red alert for the state of the planet, and based on their contributions this afternoon, all we've heard are attempts to look for wedge issues. That's what we've heard this afternoon. Time and again, trying to divide based on falsehoods. We...
Lee Waters: Now, there was a series of points made that I will try to address in turn. I was struck by Joel James's argument. He said he's in favour of a clean air Act but he's against disincentives, and his account of what cycling was like left me quite puzzled. We heard about people ending up in verges surrounded by dead animals and litter, which, I must say, has not been my experience of riding a...
