10. Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on the importance of green spaces and parks in Wales? OAQ(5)0086(ERA)

Thank you. The availability of quality green spaces and parks is important to people’s health and well-being. They provide opportunities for healthy recreation, support biodiversity and contribute to reducing flood risk and air pollution. Everyone should have access to quality green space near to where they live.

Thank you. I was absolutely delighted that Pontypool Park was named the best park in Wales for 2016, following a public vote by the charity Fields in Trust towards the end of last year. The park was also shortlisted from 214 entries for the UK’s best park award, narrowly missing out to Rouken Glen Park in Scotland. We have so much to be proud of in Pontypool, and the park itself is unique. How many parks in Wales, or across the UK, can say that they are home to ponds, Italian gardens, a playground, an historical shell grotto and folly, Pontypool rugby club, a leisure centre and even a ski slope? Will you join me in congratulating Pontypool Park, and also in paying tribute to all the hard work and dedication of the friends of Pontypool Park who give up their own time to ensure that the park is kept clean and tidy for everyone to enjoy?

Well, I was hoping that was a rhetorical question and you didn’t want me to actually give you a figure. Yes, I’m absolutely very happy to congratulate Pontypool Park. Maybe the Member would like to invite me to visit.

I suppose, really, everybody is entitled and deserves green spaces, except in the west of the capital city. Could you justify the environmental vandalism and destruction of ancient woodlands and fields in the west of Cardiff? Can you justify that please?

Well, no; I wouldn’t be able to justify that.

Cabinet Secretary, the Open Spaces Society has called on local authorities and developers to make 2017 the year of the village green. They urge developers to include registered village greens within their sites, so that local people have a guaranteed green space for recreation. Will the Cabinet Secretary agree to raise this issue with her Cabinet colleagues to see what can be done to increase the number of village greens in Wales?

Yes, I would be very happy to discuss with Cabinet colleagues if that’s appropriate.