Part of 1. 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:17 pm on 17 January 2017.
I met yesterday with the contractors for this programme—Jones Brothers and Balfour Beatty—and they are hugely concerned that no date has been announced for a public inquiry. That, in turn, will lead to a delay unless moves are made very shortly in that regard. The proposal has already been delayed by 12 months, as you will well know, because of arguments about bats. Certainly we don’t want any further delay. Can you give us an assurance that the contractors can proceed with this proposal early in 2018, which is according to the current timetable?