2. Will the First Minister make a statement on the development of an active travel network in Montgomeryshire? OAQ(5)0653(FM)

Well, the first stage of the Active Travel (Wales) Act 2013 has been completed, and a number of active travel routes have been identified in Montgomeryshire.

Thank you, First Minister. I’m sure you will agree that the Newtown bypass will provide an opportunity to develop a meaningful active travel network for Newtown. Regrettably, Powys County Council were recently unsuccessful in securing funding from the local transport fund, which would have gone some way to securing the town’s aspirations to be an active travel town. Now, I understand the bid was supported as a project, but not funded. So, could I ask you, First Minister, to ask officials to take a fresh look at this bid, with a view to funding the scheme if additional funding can be made available?

Well, I understand Powys will be launching the new Llanfyllin Safe Routes in Communities facility on Friday. That was made possible through allocated funding from the Welsh Government—an example of that funding being made available to Powys. The two Powys local transport fund schemes are at the top of our reserve list for 2017-18, as part of our wider work associated with the Newtown bypass, and we are looking at options to see how we could allocate some in-year funds to the Powys active travel bid for Newtown.

Isn’t part of the problem, First Minister, that some Members seem to think that bypasses are part of active travel networks? Sixty per cent of all car journeys are for journeys of less than five miles, and an emphasis on everyday journeys is one of the key ways of making the active travel Act achieve its potential. In Carmarthenshire, the council’s draft strategy has an emphasis on sports cycling and on leisure cycling—

I’m sorry, I’m going to have to intervene. This question is about Montgomeryshire.

I did preface my remarks, Llywydd, to talk about the Newtown bypass, which has just been referenced.

It’s stretching it slightly to talk about Carmarthenshire.

Indeed. I’m talking about the way local authorities are implementing and interpreting this Act, and whether the First Minister, and the Welsh Government, will issue strong guidance to local authorities, to make sure the emphasis is on short journeys, practical journeys, and not bypasses.

The Member should not get the idea that there is a plan to merge Montgomeryshire with Carmarthenshire—at this stage. The point that the Member makes is important, and he has been consistent in his view that it’s absolutely crucial to promote cycling as more than just recreation—that it is seen as an integral part of the transport system, if I can put it that way. That’s what the active travel Act was designed to do, and that’s why it’s so important that, where funding is available, then cycle routes, for example, are provided, when road schemes are in place. The Church Village bypass is an example of that. And it is something, of course, that we seek to promote through funding, and also through the legislation itself.