3. Statement by the Minister for Environment: Air Quality

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:35 pm on 24 April 2018.

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Photo of Mark Isherwood Mark Isherwood Conservative 3:35, 24 April 2018

Despite the valued contribution of the Wales health impact assessment support unit to the A494 Queensferry-Ewloe public inquiry in 2007, the lack of teeth given to it led to my giving evidence on air quality to the public inquiry, which the inspector accepted, and which contributed to the successful recommendation that that programme or that proposal at that time should not go ahead. How will you ensure, therefore, that your new air quality monitoring assessment centre for Wales works with the Wales health impact assessment support unit, and has more teeth in circumstances such as that to be able to make direct representations, for example, during public inquiries? 

Secondly, and finally, we heard reference during the business statement to the Caernarfon-Bontnewydd A487 bypass. How can you ensure, or will you ensure that in the Welsh Government's further consideration, referred to earlier, of proposed routes for this bypass, that the black option, which received 75 per cent public support in the consultation in 2011, against just 6 per cent for the yellow option chosen by the Welsh Government—? The black option found that a number of properties with an improvement in air quality would be 2,730 compared to a deterioration of just 192.