Part of 3. 3. Topical Questions – in the Senedd at 2:46 pm on 10 May 2017.
Well, I agree that it’s very disappointing that these breaches have taken place and that there’s been a second court ruling now on exactly the same issue. Natural Resources Wales may well be right that the resolution of the problem is difficult, but, bearing in mind it’s not just breaches of the law that we’re talking about, but serious changes to the ecology of this area, I don’t think that it’s particularly appropriate to pin all the blame on NRW and Welsh Water in this.
Now, Welsh Water, of course, does insist that the breach isn’t the cause of the cockle deaths that have already been raised here. It may well be the case, but it has been five years since that parasitology report that you’ve referred to obliquely, leader of the house, and that report didn’t talk necessarily straightforwardly about water quality, but said that parasites weren’t the sole reason for any mortalities. So, we’re talking about five years ago and, since that time, NRW kept what it’s called ‘an overview’ of the science. There’s a plethora of research initiatives either at application or final bid stage. So, in short, it strikes me that, since 2012, it doesn’t seem there’s been an awful lot of intervention in trying to maintain what is, potentially, still a profitable local industry and, obviously, one of local cultural significance as well. Would it be fair for me to say that, perhaps, the focus on infrastructure that you’ve referred to in some of your answers today has being at the expense of scientific research that could have solved the problem regarding the cockles? Thank you.