Part of 3. 3. Topical Questions – in the Senedd at 2:44 pm on 10 May 2017.
I thank Lee Waters for that question, and clearly, the importance of understanding and identifying the reasons why there has been that increased cockle mortality is vital. In fact, Welsh Government commissioned research into this. As you will be aware, findings did show water quality in the area was unlikely to be the cause of problems experienced by the cockle industry, but engagement with the cockle industry, the cocklers themselves, and their representatives and, as I said, local elected representatives and businesses, have been vital in addressing this and making sure that action is taken. I think it’s also important to recognise that Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water undertook monitoring and developed a programme of works to reduce the number of spills. I’ve already mentioned this. For example, at the wastewater treatment storm tank assets in Llanelli and Gowerton, which you will be aware of, spills occurred much more frequently, and, whilst they conform to current UK urban waste water treatment directive implementation, they were in excess of what the Commission would consider to be acceptable. So, I think, again, I hope that the evidence of engagement locally, the action taken, the investment by 2020 in RainScape, of course, are ensuring that this can be addressed and will reassure those in the community and the businesses, in particular in terms of the cocklers, and enable, of course, the water quality to be improved and the risk of flooding to be reduced.